chop A Culinary Playground

Cheese and a Glass of Wine V

For this installment of Cheese and a Glass of Wine I choose Burrata.

Burrata is a cheese that is comprised of an outer layer of  fresh mozzarella cheese and is filled with a mixture of panna (cream and the mozzarella)  It is light and delicious.

Burrata was originally made with buffalo milk but now is made with cows milk.  From my research it should be eaten with in 24 – 48 hours of it being made.  So the fact that I live in Hawaii and the cheese was shipped means that the cheese was at least one week old.  Even so it was very nice.  It would be great for an afternoon luncheon paired with tomatoes and basil.

I paired it with a Riesling called Kung Fu Girl from K Vintners.  I found out about this wine when I went to a wine showcase last month and really  loved the wines from this small vintner from Walla Walla  Washington.  I was lucky to find a bottle from a small store here called The Wine Stop.  It is a great Riesling with a pear, apricot nose.  It reminds me of one of my favorite domestic Rieslings Stony Hill.  It may have not been the perfect pairing with the tomatoes in my dish, but it was a lovely summer afternoon wine.

Cheese and a Glass of Wine IV

This week I decided to try a Mexican cheese that was given to me a Cotijo Tajo.  It was smuggled across the border SHHH! by a friend.

It is a salty, semi hard cheese reminiscent of feta but to me also had some of the nuttiness of Parmesan.  It is a delightful cheese that is great on its own but also perfect for tacos, sprinkled on enchiladas, and tostadas.

I garnished it with pepitas, minced dried chili and olive oil.

I should have had a Mojito to go with my Cotijo but I paired it with a Lanikai Sunset, a mixture of fresh guava juice and prosecco.

The dish I made with the cheese is a basic Potato Gratin.  The recipe is really easy.

Slice potatoes really thin, place in baking dish, cover  half way with heavy cream, salt and pepper and add a little thyme, crumbled cheese and top potatoes, dab with butter, Bake until potatoes are fork tender and top is golden brown.

 

Thinking of cheese to choose next, any suggestions?

Cheese and a Glass of Wine III

This weeks cheese selection is a Soignon Zeigenbrie.  I couldn’t find much information about this cheese (By the way, if anyone has a good online resource for information about cheese, please send it my way.)  All the articles I could find were in German so I used Google to translate.  What did we do before Google???

Soignon is a major German cheese producer but 22% of their market is in France.  They make many different products.  The one I picked was a goat brie.  This brie is 45% fat which explains its creaminess.  The cheese is very mild and creamy.  Lets say it is the polar opposite of last weeks Cabrales. 

I paired the cheese with Toad Hollow’s Eye of the Toad, a Pinot Noir Rose.  This wine is very low alcohol, with subtle strawberry and grapefruit tones.  It is also very dry, a perfect wine for a warm afternoon.  I thought it paired very nicely with the cheese.  I garnished the cheese with apples and walnuts which also blended nicely with the wine.

My recipe for the Zeigenbrie was a quesadilla with walnuts, and apple topped with a Piquillo pepper salsa.

Brie Quesadilla with Piquillo Pepper Salsa

makes one quesadilla

2     Tablespoons Soft Brie cheese

3     Walnuts chopped

4     Thin slices of apple

1     Flour tortilla

  Olive oil spray

Spread cheese on tortilla.  On one half of the tortilla spread out evenly the apple and walnuts. Fold over in half. Spray a non stick pan with olive oil spray. Turn on high heat, place tortilla in pan heat until golden brown on each side.  serve with Salsa

Piquillo Salsa

1   Piquillo pepper

4   Grapes

Chop the pepper, half the grapes, mix together.

Cheese and a Glass of Wine II

This weeks cheese choice was Mitica Cabrales, a mix of cows and sheep milk cheese from Spain. From my research it was to be a very strong blue cheese. I looked up potential wines to pair with it and the recommendations were either a Sherry or a Sauterne.  I decided to go with a Alvear Pedro Ximenez sherry.  This sherry is made with sun dried Pedro Ximenez grapes.  It is very sweet. 

The cheese was unbelievably strong, salty and pungent.  I thought that if it was paired with the sweet wine that the strong taste would balance out.  It did not, the cheese just stood out with a almost acrid taste.  The sherry was almost too sweet.  I also put some Kumquat preserves on it and that  still did not balance the taste.  I really can not recommend the cheese. 

I also made it into a tart with figs that were macerated in the sherry.  I filled the tart shell with the figs and topped it with the cheese and it was still overwhelming.   I made the tart shell with David Lebovitz’s method of making the pastry with melted butter.  It really turned out nice.

Cheese and a Glass of Wine I

Today, I am starting a new weekly feature  which I am going to call Cheese and a Glass of Wine.   With summer coming it is the perfect time to sit on my lanai and enjoy cheese and wine at sunset.  I will try to give you some information about the cheeses and interesting ways to serve them.

 

Today we will start with a Caprino d’ Latte de Capra and Argiolas Costaomolino Vementino.

 

 

The cheese is a goat cheese from

Italy

.  I found it very creamy, much creamier than the every day French chevre that is available.  It was very mild tasting and not very salty.  It had a very fresh taste to it. I served it with Sage Honey that I picked up in

Northern California

, and fresh thyme and edible flowers.   I paired the cheese with the Sardinian varietal, Vermrntino, it was a perfect paring because the wine honey, peach and lemon flavors matched well with the cheese and they both had a smoothness to them.  A perfect spring wine and cheese paring.

 

The cheese is so creamy that it would be great to cook with, especially in pastas.  I also made a dish that we used to serve in our restaurant, Goat Cheese Gratin.

 

 

1          Large very ripe tomato, quartered

1          Small shallot, roughly chopped

4          Large basil leaves

            Salt and Pepper

1          Pinch chopped thyme

1          Pinch red chili flakes

2          Ounces goat cheese

5          Olives

            Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

Place tomato, shallot, salt and pepper in food processor, puree until smooth. Place in small gratin dish, put goat cheese in center, sprinkle if thyme and chili.  Broil in oven until, bubbly.  Drizzle with olive oil and serve with crusty bread.