Great Balls of Cheese

Ah yes, the bland old cheese ball. You love to dig into one with some nice crackers, but you don't want to admit that you actually ever made one. You never show up at a pot luck with a cheese ball. You never take a cheese ball to a wine and cheese.

Well, Michelle Buffardi is going to change all that. Crack open Great Balls of Cheese and you will find and illustrious collection of hand crafted cheese balls. Yes, there are some fine recipes, but the truly wonderful aspect of the book is the cheese ball design. Seeing is believing. There is the owl on the cover.

The is a lovely kitty cat, and many more uber-creative balls. There is even a requisite football. Since the Super Bowl is upon us, make this game day extravaganza.

The Pigskin

1 1⁄2 pounds sliced bacon
1 medium jalapeño, cored, seeded, and finely chopped (if you want extra heat in your cheese ball, retain some of the seeds)
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese, plus 1 tablespoon, for decorating
1 tablespoon chopped scallions
Crackers, for serving

Cook the bacon: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lay the bacon slices in a single layer on 2 baking sheets.Bake until crispy, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the bacon on paper towels and let cool. Reserve 2 tablespoonsof the bacon grease from the pans, and discard the rest. Once the bacon has cooled, coarsely chop andset aside.

Cook the jalapeño in the reserved bacon grease in a small skillet over medium heat until soft, about 5minutes. Using a stand mixer or a bowl and a spatula, mix together 1 cup of the chopped bacon, thesautéed jalapeño, cream cheese, 1 cup of the cheddar, and the scallions until combined. Form themixture into a ball and cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Before serving, form the ball into an oblong football shape and roll in the remaining chopped bacon tocoat. Decorate the top of the football cheese ball with the remaining 1 tablespoon cheddar to resemblelaces.

Serve with crackers.

So,the next time you need to take something to that boring old pot luck, whip up a zippy cheese ball. You will be the belle of the ball.

 

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Tasia's Table

I am totally convinced that I have written about this book.   I waited months and months for it to be published.  It was on my waiting list forever.  How did I not post about it?   I am here to rectify that over site.   Largely, because Tasia Malakasis was featured in the new issue of Country Living.  I said to myself, Self, you love that book and you did a great post.  But I looked and couldn't find it.  I am going crazy!!

Anyway...

Malakasis has a great story.  In this great migration back to the farm era, she was a forerunner.  Here is the the Cliff Notes version.

Small town Alabama girl makes it big in NYC.
She goes into her local cheese shop and finds a chèvre from Alabama.  
Becomes obsessed.  
Visits the cheesemaker.  
Harasses the cheesemaker till they let her intern at the dairy.  
Buys the dairy and moves back to Alabama.   
Makes a fine cheese.
Then writes a cookbook.
But not, "The End."

Malakasis is Greek but also Southern and with lots of goat cheese around, she has managed to write a cookbook that encompasses all the parts of her life.  There is a recipe for moussaka right along side a recipe for grits and goat cheese.  While the recipes rely on a lot of Belle Chèvre, there is a definite Southern breeze flowing through them.  If you have ever complained that all Southern cookbooks are basically alike, this is one that will change your view.

Take the sideboard staple, potato salad.  Here it becomes a warm and unctuous side.  It looks like potato salad but with a classy twist.

Warm Potato and Belle Chèvre Salad

2 lbs Fingerling Or Yukon Gold Potatoes, cut in 1” dice 

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup dry white wine 

Clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste 

1/4 cup sour cream

1 medium red onion,  diced 

1/4 cup fromage blanc

1/2 cup fresh parsley 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup Belle Chèvre Confetti 

4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh tarragon

Steam potatoes until tender. Drain and toss with with wine, salt and pepper. Add cheese, onion, and parsley. Stir together remaining ingredients. Toss with potatoes and serve immediately.

To read more about the Country Living article, head over to Lucindaville.

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Simple Fresh Southern

To give you an idea of how far behind I am... I went to see Matt and Ted Lee in April and I am just now writing about it.

The Lee Bros. were quite charming and proved that you don't have to be born in the South to be a Southern Gentleman. The Lee Bros. told stories of their love of food and talked a bit about searching through old cookbooks, which of course, is a favorite pastime here. I attended with Harry Lowe and both ANN(e)'s. Ann is a photographer who's work has graced the cover of Life Magazine but alas, she doesn't cook. Anne can cook but taking pictures with her nifty iPhone needs some work! Still, the Lee Bros. were game.

They were at the Smithsonian not only to talk about food, but also to sell their latest cookbook, Simple Fresh Southern. The pages are rich with lovely photos of drinks and salads and desserts. Not to despair, there are also a few fried items sprinkled here and there. Like most regional cuisine, "Southern" cooking is about as diverse as can be. When I cook, one of my goals is to take the essence of something traditional and serve it up in a unique way. The Lee Bros. have the same aesthetic in their cooking, which is why I always love to read their recipes and listen to them talk about food. If you haven't seen them "throwdown" with Bobby Flay making Country Captain, you must hunt it down and watch. (I won't spoil it by telling you the winner.) For that matter, why does Bobby Flay have two or three shows on TV and Lee Bros. don't???

They talked about the various methods of making collards, from the cooking for many hours version that is the traditional way to the quicker, dice and cook method. They also told a wonderful story about potlikker. Later I shared with them one of my favorite potlikker uses. You can check it out at Lucindaville.

When I ran across this dish in Simple Fresh Southern, I realized it was a similar to a dish a friend in Mississippi used to make. It was a wonderful potato dish that contained frozen potatoes, cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and jarred peppers. It was a bit like watching sausage being made, you didn't really want to watch, but in the end, it was delicious.

This dish is not as dicey to watch being put together and it is, well -- simple, fresh and Southern.

Pimento-Cheese Potato Gratin

3 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 shallots, finely diced (scant 1/2 cup)
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried red chile flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
One 9-ounce jar roasted red peppers or piquillo peppers, with their liquid
8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 2 cups)

1. Heat the oven to 375°F, with racks positioned in the middle and the top third of the oven.

2. In a 3- to 4-quart stockpot, bring 2 quarts water and 2 teaspoons of the salt to a boil. Add the potatoes, and cook for 10 minutes. Then drain, and set them aside.

3. Combine the cream, shallots, chile flakes, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the liquid from the jar of roasted peppers in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and cook until the chile flakes have begun to stain the cream, about 2 minutes. Add half of the cheese and stir until it melts, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

4. Layer roughly a third of the potatoes in a 6-cup baking dish, overlapping them slightly so that they fit in an even layer. Scatter half of the roasted peppers on top of the potatoes (cut up any peppers that have remained whole so that they lie flat), and repeat layering potatoes and peppers until all the peppers and potatoes have been used. Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes and peppers, and agitate the dish to distribute the liquid throughout. Cover with aluminum foil, and bake on the middle rack for 15 minutes.

5. Uncover the dish, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, and place the dish on the top oven rack. Bake for 8 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and gently browned on top. Serve immediately.

The Lee Bros. refer to pimento-cheese as a Southern pâté. While we are on the subject of pimento-cheese...
it was always a staple in my house. Like many things, it fell out of favor, but came back with vengeance. Not just as a sandwich, but for me, a quick meal. Her are a few ideas:

I make pimento-cheese mashed potatoes -- throw a spoonful into the hot potatoes and mash.

Top some tortillas chips with pimento-cheese and some ground beef for a Southern twist on nachos.

Try mixing three cup of pimento-cheese into cooked macaroni and baking for a quick mac and pimento-cheese.

In July, Ann was visiting and she asked me to make a Tomato Pie. I asked her if she had read a recipe somewhere and she said no. She had just heard someone mention it and she wanted a savory tomato pie, because it sounded good. For a quick Tomato Pie, take a store-bought crust, layer it with sliced tomatoes and pimento-cheese, with the pimento-cheese last. Bake in a 375 oven for about 40 minutes.

Now I want you to drag out those old junior league cookbooks and find a recipe that you can update and make simple, fresh, and lovely.

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A Platter of Figs

I love A Platter of Figs by David Tanis.

He asks the age-old question: Do you really need a recipe for a platter of figs?
(OK, maybe it's not an age-old question, but still...)

Truth be told, much of what we cook really doesn't need a recipe. Too many cookbooks out there have long, involved recipes for ... well, a platter of figs.

David Tanis respects his food. He spends half of his year as the chef at Chez Panisse and the other half of the years cooking in Paris. (So, really we HATE him!)

This book has lovely, practical advice. If you can shop, you can cook from this cookbook, and in the end, isn't that what you want to do? Here's what Tanis says about his book:

"What can you learn from this book? That a party can be any gathering of eaters at a table. That a fine meal doesn't have to necessarily be elaborate. The best meals mirror nature and celebrate the seasonal."

What more do you want? Or need?

Goat Cheese with Honey

Two 6-ounce logs mild goat cheese
Chestnut honey or other artisanal honey

Slice each goat cheese log into 5 pieces with a thin sharp knife or cheese wire. Arrange the cheese on a platter. Top each round with a good teaspoonful of honey.

You so want to eat this for dessert. P.S. if you don't have a cheese wire, use dental floss -- the best cheese wire in your medicine cabinet! Unflavored, please.


Yesterday we issued the:

Cookbook Of The Day Challenge:

1. Go to your shelf and pull out your favorite cookbook.

2. Check the purchase price.

3. Donate that amount to Feeding America.

We took the challenge with A Platter of Figs. Don't forget to donate!!

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Lorenza’s Antipasti

Lorenza de’Medici runs famous cooking classes at Badia a Coltibuono. There is always an afternoon break featuring a glass of white wine and an antipasto. She reminds us that no matter how it has been mistranslated, antipasto is NOT something you have before pasta, but something you have before the meal. Of course, she is not opposed to you eating antipasto as an appetizer, a lunch, or even a midnight snack.

The history of antipasto traces back to the ancient Romans who featured antipasto as a stimulant before the main meal. It evolved from two very different cultural conditions – extreme wealth and the poverty of necessity. The wealthy use the antipasto as a prelude to a multi-coursed banquet. For the poor, antipasto was a street food eaten while working or shopping.

Lorenza’s Antipasti is filled with recipes to fulfill your antipasto needs, whiter that is a little snack or the beginning of a grand meal. After going through the recipes in the book, you will probably want to fore go the banquet and instead, make a long table full of antipasti. This recipe involves two of my favorite things, cheese and pears.

Tartufi Di Pere E Formaggio

300g/10 oz gorgonzola cheese
300g/10 oz/1 1/4 cups mascarpone
2 Bosch pears, not too ripe
Juice of 1 lemon
120g/4oz/1 cup freshly grated parmesan

Mix the gorgonzola and mascarpone cheese together until well blended. Peel the pears, then core and cut the flesh into small dice. Sprinkle with juice and combine with the two cheeses. Using a spoon, form the mixture into walnut sized balls then roll them in the parmesan to coat well. Arrange on a platter and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

White wine, a roaring fire, Tartufi Di Pere E Formaggio, what could be better.

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The Cheese Course

I would rather have a cheese course at the end of a meal rather than dessert.

Janet Fletcher wrote The Cheese Course for those of you have never served a cheese course or eaten a cheese course. This book is a good basic primer, including how to pick cheese, how to serve it, and what to drink with it. If you eat cheese, you probably know how to do all this. Perhaps its best feature is just showing what a cheese course can look like.

The Cheese Course is about the cheese and the recipes are a kind of afterthought for accompaniments such as breads, vinaigrettes, marinades, and fruits. The recipes usually feature a single cheese with an accompaniment like this one.

Basque Sheep’s Milk Cheese with Poached Quince

2 quince (about 1 pound)
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds, crushed in a mortar or spice grinder
2 cups water
1 pound Pyrenees sheep’s milk cheese

Quarter, core, and peel the quinces. Cut each quarter into 4 slices. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cardamom, and water. Over moderate heat, bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the quince, cover and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the quince are tender and rosy pink, about 2 hours. Let cool in the liquid, cover, then refrigerate.

Divide cheese and quince evenly among 8 individual plates.

Quince is a favorite fruit to accompany cheese. The French like prunes in Armagnac. I make figs in Cointreau. What ever you choose, skip that sweet dessert and have a cheese course instead. OK fine, have the cheese course and then, HAVE dessert. That may be the best plan.

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Halloween Fun: 101 Ideas To Get In The Spirit

Halloween is looming. I was one of those rare children who HATED Halloween. I loved getting ready for the holiday and my father loved it. He made carmel apples and had a huge table filled with individual sacks of candy for every child in the neighborhood. He decorated the house and was ready for any fright. The big fright came the first time the doorbell rang and I went screaming into another room and hid behind a chair, crying

My poor father never had a spooktacular time with his only daughter!

Here's hoping you have better luck. And here's a good recipe that does not contain a speck of sugar.

Cheesy Spiders

1 pkg (8 oz), softened
black paste food coloring
1 pkg (16 oz) shredded four-cheese mixture
1 pkg (3.5 oz) round rice crunch crackers (or 24 of any round cracker)
1 cup chow mein noodles

1. Mix 2 Tbsp of the softened cream cheese with the food coloring to make black. Spoon into a ziptop bag; set aside.

2. Beat the remaining cream cheese with all but 1 cup of the shredded cheese until blended. shape mixture into 1 1/4-in. balls.

3. Place the remaining cheese in a shallow bowl. Roll the balls in cheese to coat. Place one ball on a cracker. Insert 8 chow mein noodles into each ball as the legs of the spider. Snip a very small corner from the bag with the black cream cheese. Pipe eyes on each spider.

4. Serve with stew. spiders can be made in advance. (Do not put on crackers until ready to serve.) Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight.

Enjoy this recitation of All Hallows Eve by Witches in Bikinis

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