Category: Cheese

New Years Eve Raclette Style

Certain Someone and I needless to say were exhausted and jet lagged by the time New Years Eve rolled around. No overpriced parties and clubs for us. We decided to use the night as an occasion to catch up with couple who are old friends of ours. Last year Certain Someone purchased a Raclette grill for us. Many of his youthful single days were spent entertaining in this style. As I had kind of lost my kitchen mojo being inactive this was a perfect solution for New Years Eve. The first time I has Raclette was in Geneva visiting a friends house while in college. I remember the real authentic Raclette cheese . potatoes and the good wholesomeness of it. Certain Someone has taken more liberties than what I remember , but that even makes Raclette more fun.

Raclette is both a cheese and a type of grill with Swiss origins. It consists of a grill with individual melting pans and a grill top. Traditionally bread or small potatoes are served alongside melted cheeses, salamis and other charcuterie, vegetables, pickled vegetables,and toppings. One can assemble all sorts of creations to melt the cheese atop. Its communal , interactive, and very filling. Traditionally a good white wine is served with.There was an old superstition not to drink water with your raclette as the cheese balls formed in your stomach could expand and cause death. We served the following:

salami
pepperoni
smoked ham
pepperocini
pickled onions
sun dried tomatoes
tuna
corn
pineapple
green peppers
red peppers
onions
black olives
green olives
marinated arrtichokes
sliced leeks
broccoli
tomatoes
Gouda Cheese
Feta Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Smoked Gouda Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Pepper Jack Cheese
small potatoes
baguette
There was plenty leftover and all the veg and meat sliced up stretches well for a crowd. Maybe something to consider for your next Superbowl party or get together on a budget?

The next day Certain Someone actually cooked up this big baked gratin for us with the leftovers. He layered all the vegetables. meat , and cheeses with pasta. I have to say it was quite good and fattening. Just the right dish to kick of the New Year.

I’m So Perfect I Even Make My Own Chevre Cheese…I’m Joking About The Perfect Part.

My interest in making my own cheese was not motivated by anything more than pure curiosity. I love DIY stuff. In England I had purchased some rennet in the baking aisle that was supposed to be used for a dessert called Junket. In exploring that I found this brand wasn’t suitable to take it further and make cheese because it was diluted. So I searched the net and found this company that had all sorts of cheese making supplies and kits.

I was just going to order some strains, butter muslin, and rennent , and figure it out. The salesperson at the other end though I was one of many Martha Stewart watchers( seemed she just made some cheese) and advised me there was to more to cheese making than adding milk and rennet. So I purchased his easiest kit for soft cheese. This kit provided the strains to make Fromage Blanc, Chevre, Mascarpone, Creme Fraiche, and Neufchatel along with other necessary ingredients.
I just needed to supply either goats or cows milk and a few kitchen supplies.
It was really simple from this point. Heat the goats milk to 86 degrees,add Chevre culture, mix 1 teaspoon of Calcium Chloride with 2 tabelspoons Distilled water and put in the milk, cover overnight in a cast iron pot. Next morning separate the whey from the curds gently.
Tie up in the butter muslin and let drian for 6-8 hours( all done while I was at work).
Look at these beautiful curds!
Next add some flaked salt .
Put in the cheese molds that came with the kit.Let those set for 1-2 days and drain some more.
I was left with a cup of ready to eat cheese that I used up like this for Certain Someone and myself.
Baked Chevre with tomato sauce, olive oil, and basil. Delicious!
The next day I untapped my molds. I rolled one in herbs( provided in the kit) and the other set aside plain.
I cant tell you how excited I am. The finished product was excellent. Check it out for yourself.

Some Variations on Toast Hawaii Before I Hop Across The Pond


Well folks I fly to London tomorrow with my generous Auntie Mame for a wedding. This trip is an early 40th birthday present and will be a chance for us to have some fun like the old days. My aunt and I have had some adventures in Costa Rica, Budapest, Vienna, Miami, New York. But with my lack of funds and Certain Someone on the scene, we haven’t had a good ‘girl ‘ trip in a while.Her associates are getting married and we will spend a day in half in London, and then move onto the village of Thame .Unfortunately I wont be meeting any bloggers due to time restraints. Would you believe I have three on my list!Not to worry because I know one at least is coming to Chicago shortly.And yesterday I had the fortunate opportunity to meet Blog Princess who was visiting Chicago.

So in my haste to get things done but take care of Certain Someone for dinner,I decided on one of his favorites,Toast Hawaii. I had blogged about this before.But this time I had made some variations. I was in a fish mood and he was in a ham mood. So I got to thinking about tuna melts. What if I used the cheese and pineapple principle of toast Hawaii with a shrimp salad? So I made up both versions.Rather buttering bread,I used mayonnaise.
Then topped with either ham or shrimp salad, then fresh pineapple rounds,and then a combo of both Muenster and Colby Cheeses. Certain Someone normally uses Gouda, but he liked this mix because the Muenster melted so well. He even liked the milder shrimp salad version.
The shrimp salad was made with some frozen shrimp thawed,Old Bay,a bit of minced celery, cayenne peeper, salt, and mayo.Use your favorite recipe for the shrimp salad.My honey had a massive appetite I hope he behaves while I’m gone and eats healthy.I hope to have some posts from my trip and I’ll stop by and visit you guys when I get back.

German Retro Cusine…Toast Hawaii

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My Certain Someone introduced me to this retro dish back in Essen this past summer.I immediately thought “that’s so 50’s”. Its a favorite of his because its easy to cook/assemble and tastes pretty good. I even had it here as a appetizer at Chicago Brauhaus . It lives on, and on…Toast Hawaii is a typical open faced sandwich one finds in Germany( great on the carb cutting) and has a fascinating creator and history.So if you have some ham lying around , put it on some toast, add a pineapple ring or two, some Gouda, and melt away.

Aloha kãkou und Auf Wiedersehen!

Getting Figgy With It

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This is something that we have all had variations of. Essentially a wheel of Brie baked en croute. The most popular being with apricot preserves. I first had this starter wrapped in phyllo.I have even seen some take shortcuts and use refrigerated crescent dough. I decided to make my own pie crust and top off the Brie with some lovely fig preserves . Certain Someone and I devoured this prior to our dinner which was nicely roasting.He commented he didn’t need a entree .
Brie with Fig Preserves Wrapped in Pastry
Pie Crust
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup Manteca (lard , don’t frown it makes all the difference. Usually found in Baking aisles or Latin food sections.)well chilled.
2 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with 2 tablespoons water. Ice cold.

Also need 1 egg and heavy cream for egg wash.

1 wheel of Brie
Fig Preserves

Mix flour and salt in bowl.Cut in Manteca and butter into flour mixture until it resembles crumbs. Gradually add water/ vinegar mix . Mix until dough holds together. Divide into 2 balls and chill. Other ball can be frozen for later use depending on size of Brie.

Roll out between sheets of wax paper. Place Brie on top of crust. Top with Fig preserves liberally. Wrap crust up and around the cheese. Brush with egg wash.Bake at 350 degrees for approx 20-30 min or until crust is golden. You want the brie to be melted . Serve with crackers.