Between work (which has been odd and stressful) and the theatre, which has been great, but busy, Kathy could tell I needed something to help reset my mood and mind-frame… She suggested: FONDUE! As discussed in a previous post, fondue is one of my favorite meals with cheese. Kathy said she’d pick up the bread on the way home if I prepared the fondue… I grabbed about half a dozen of the fondue books we own, took stock of the cheeses we had in the fridge and decided to make a Gouda-based Fondue.

We still had a fair amount of Gouda left over from Saturday’s picnic, and I picked out a Gouda recipe from, The Book of Fondues by Lorna Rhodes (Rhodes, Lorna. 1988. The Book of Fondues. HPBooks. New York, New York). Since I didn’t quite have a pound of Gouda, I added a little bit of Jarlsberg to the mix. Jarlsberg has a similar consistency to Gouda, so I knew they’d blend easily. 

Although the various hand-held graters we have around the kitchen are good for some jobs, I start to get lazy if I have to shred a pound or more of cheese. Particularly true if it doesn’t have to do anything besides melt evenly. Thus; a food processor is perfect. I’ve learned my lesson concerning food processors too; if you can own a good quality one, do. Through years of low-income jobs, I used to own cheap processors bought at Target for around $25. Due primarily to cheese, I’ve burned out the motor on three of those cheap ones in my life. The one we currently own is by far the best one we’ve ever had. IF you plan on using a food processor for cheese, however, remember the following things; the cheese grating blade is OK for softer, domestic, mass-produced cheeses (i.e. domestic Cheddar). If, however, you need to grate a harder semi-soft cheese, or a hard cheese, then you MUST use the blade, and ONLY after you have cut the cheese into small cubes, then use the “pulse” button so that you don’t over-tax the motor. The result on the hard and semi-soft cheeses with this method is kind of a milled meal (see last picture on this posting, below right), not shreds. This is perfect for melting in fondue or sauces, but not as perfect if you need to spread thin layers of shredded cheese into a dish.

Again, for a sort of over-view about making fondue, and how to cut bread for it, look at this previous post.

I’m going to transcribe the recipe below. It’s a thinner (less viscous) fondue than “traditional” or Glarner, and it has a nice sharp tasting edge to it, provided by the gin which plays the role that Kirschwasser plays in the “traditional” fondue recipe. If you like to have your caraway less crunchy, but also want their flavor more integrated into the fondue, do as I do and soak it in the gin along with the cornstarch ahead of time.

The meal greatly improved my outlook on everything, and I feel renewed. Ahhh, cheese!            …what sets you right with the world again? Use the comment section.

 Dutch Fondue

 Ingredients:

1 small onion, halved

1 cup milk

4 cups (1 lb.) shredded Gouda cheese

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3 tablespoons gin

Pepper

Instructions:

Measure ingredients. Rub inside of fondue pot with cut side of onion.

Add milk and heat until bubbly; then gradually sir in cheese. Continue to heat until cheese melts.

Stir in caraway seeds. In a small bowl blend cornstarch with gin. Blend into cheese mixture and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Season with pepper. Suggestion; serve with mushrooms and light cubed rye bread. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Before I begin, you’ll be happy to know that there are NO MIMES in this post. The San Francisco Mime Troupe, however, “mimes” or mimics for the sake of political satire, and has been doing so for nearly forty years. Their plays are presented for free and their writing and production values are very high.

Thanks to our friends Martin and Dylan inviting us to meet up for a picnic, we had the chance to spend part of the afternoon this Saturday watching the Mime Troupe at Cedar-Rose Park in Berkeley, California. We were fortunate to have Dylan direct for us last year with the Thunderbird when we presented “Aaah! Rosebud“, as well as enlist her husband Martin, a professional stage-craft carpenter, who was able to do things like construct remote-control curling stones for us. Theatre people “relax” by going to other theatre events. Odd, no? Naturally a picnic in the park was yet another opportunity to eat cheese…

This is my chance to offer a few words of advice concerning cheese and picnics. As you may recall, most cheeses should be served at room temperature when in the home, removing them from the fridge a half hour to an hour prior to serving them. In a picnic situation, however, semi-soft and hard cheeses are likely to sweat and/or begin to melt (separate their liquids from solids) when in the sun. This has an effect of potentially changing the taste of the cheese, but also it can make the cheese appear unappetizing. To avoid this, you’d need to keep the cheeses that you decide to bring both shaded AND cool. If you can, keeping the cheese in containers which are then resting on ice can help, but you also want to choose your cheeses wisely. If the cheeses are harder cheeses, you could potentially pre-slice them before going on the picnic, as long as you can keep then shaded and cool.

For this picnic, Kathy and I brought two types of cheese; a Gouda from Holland, and the Stout Cow cheese from Predrozo Dairy, which I wrote about a few posts back (more about Gouda in a few moments). This appetizer went quite well with the excellent foods that Dylan and Martin brought; Martin’s mother’s recipe for excellent potato salad, and her “secret” recipe for some of the best home-made fried chicken Kathy and I have had in a long, long time. Without giving away the actual recipe, it involved one of Kathy’s favorite ingredients; fresh ginger. Kathy made a Moist Walnut Chocolate Cake (from a Chronicle Books publication; “Picnics“), and Kathy asked me to find a Deviled Eggs recipe worth making. Truth is, I’m not a huge Deviled Egg fan, but as soon as I found a recipe which involved both Parmesan and prosciutto, I knew that would be the one we’d make. Found the recipe off the Internet by doing a few choice searches. Ultimately it came from Allrecipes.com, and although I’ll link it here, I’ll also place the recipe below.

GOUDA
Gouda hails from Holland and is pressed cow-milk cheese. Pressed cheeses are ones in which the curds (solid cheese mater) and the whey (the liquid separated from the curds) are separated, and then the curds are gathered into buckets or form-molds which have holes in the bottom to allow for more whey to drain away from the curds. Pressure is then placed upon the curds while they are in the form-molds to accomplish two things; continue to drain away the excess whey, and also to force the curds to bond together to form a shape (such as a “wheel” of cheese). After a specific amount of pressure and time, the formed cheeses are then treated in any number of ways from being put into a “wash” or brine, rubbed with oils, or even given a coating of wax, which is what is typically done with Goudas from Holland. The majority of Gouda imported to the United States has only been aged for about six weeks, and although creamy and delicious, it doesn’t have quite the complexity of flavor offered by Goudas which have been aged longer. For this reason, at the picnic I had paired it with the Predrozo Stout Cow.  Although Stout Cow begins very much like a Gouda, and its curd is pressed into forms, it is soaked in a mixture of Sierra Nevada Stout Beer instead of being covered by wax. It is then aged anywhere from 60 days to six months. It is amazing how different the cheeses taste, although their basic roots are almost the same.

The performance by the Mime Troupe of “Red State” was excellent; fun musical political satire about voting and American’s expectations of our government. Although we all enjoyed it, I couldn’t help feel a little as if it was preaching to the choir since we were in the middle of Berkeley, California. The best part was certainly the chance to relax and catch up with Dylan and Martin, and even spend some time with their dog Lacey too. Below is the “Italian Style Deviled Eggs” recipe which we enjoyed. Get a medium to good quality Parmesan for it when you make it; save your best Parmesan for dishes which more predominately feature the cheese.

Do YOU have a favorite deviled egg recipe, or cheese to bring to picnics? Let us know; use the comment section.

Italian-Style Deviled Eggs

When it takes me a week (or longer) to post, which is rare, you can bet that I am either; A] busy with the theatre, and/or; B] cheese starved (unlikely). This week it has been primarily the theatre. Tickets are starting to sell since “Pride & Succubus” opens on August 7th. Many fantastic fans/audience members think to themselves, “oh, I’m going to see that,” but then find that when they finally get around to getting tickets (during the run of the show), the night they want to go is sold out. BUY TICKETS EARLY to events and plays you hope to see. But enough of that for the moment; onward to cheese…

Although I enjoy fresh goat cheeses, they aren’t always my first choice. Me, I’m attracted to all cheese, but my “comfort food” cheeses are typical cow-milk aged cheeses such as Gruyère. However, there are a LOT of farmstead goat cheeses in California these days, and I’ve recently tried another. From the town of Cottonwood, California comes North Valley Chèvre. They are “new” to the scene having only gone into production last year (2007). North Valley has incredible practices regarding sustainability and the care of their animals, all of which you can read about on their website. As to their Chèvre, well… hmm, I feel that it is important and great to buy locally, but considering how many different California Chèvres I have had in the last few months (lots), this one failed to impress me much. This creamery is in its infancy, however, and should be encouraged. Chèvre is/can be a heavenly experience, or it can be like slightly moistened chalk-dust. North Valley’s has a wonderful consistency, but lacked a certain sharpness which I prefer (and again, this can/should be to personal taste). Although fine on its own, Chèvre is a cheese which can help round out flavors and textures when combined with other foods. Briny foods in particular (i.e. olives which are stored/soaked in brine) benefit from the texture of Chèvre, and the two tastes marry quite well.

As to the other two cheeses we had this past Monday night, I can already feel gourmet cheese connoisseurs possibly cringing concerning some mid-to-low-shelf cheeses that I used for the dinner I made for Kathy and myself. Again, if you can always afford to be a cheese snob, go right ahead, but I believe that if you (anyone) can and does raise their cheese palate by trying a variety of cheeses, and purchasing farmstead cheeses when they can, then you’re already fighting the good fight. My advice is simple: always be willing to try cheeses which are unfamiliar to you, and try to buy the best quality that you can.

So what did you use that wasn’t “gourmet”?

We had an inexpensive Gorgonzola, mass produced by the Stella/Saputo cheese company (part of Saputo’s motto is; “…and dedication to growth.” It’s a corporate kind of thing, not exactly a goal of quality). And some nice cow-milk Mozzarella ”pearls” (small fresh Mozzarella) from Trader Joe’s. Again, neither were by any means bad, and both cheeses more than acceptable for a quick, good, after-work, home cooked meal.

After work on Monday I ran 5K (and hurt like heck the next day; I haven’t been running much lately), and decided that gave me leave to have three different cheeses as part of dinner. The type of Caprese salad we typically make at home is basically just basil leaves, Mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, red onion, fresh ground pepper and then some drizzled olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.  Thanks to Kathy’s father’s incredible garden, we have some very fresh tomatoes and red onions. Caprese Salad (the colors of which represent the Italian flag), is so simple to make and is excellent for summer. If you chill all the ingredients in the fridge before cutting and serving, it’s a particularly nice treat on a hot day.

We also had some amazing green beans from  the garden, so I decided to make a green bean quiche. I’ll type up my version of the recipe below, it’s modified slightly from an out of print cookbook I have, Crêpes & Quiches.

Where did the Chèvre fit into this meal?

I ate it for dessert. Kathy opted for ice cream. Here’s the quiche recipe:

Green Bean and Gorgonzola Quiche

Serves four as a main dish.

Active time ½ hour

Full time: 1 hour, 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed

1 pre-made pie crust in a 9” pie tin/plate.

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 to 2 Tablespoons butter

1 cup heavy cream

2 shallots

3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese

salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions:

If thinking ahead, let your pie crust become room temperature (an hour if frozen).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat lightly salted water to boiling, (enough water to cook the green beans in).

Once the oven is pre-heated, poke holes in your pie crust with a fork to that the dough won’t form “bubbles” during pre-baking, and/or use pie weights. Pre-bake your pie crust for 5 to 10 minutes so that it is just starting to brown, but not becoming too dark. Set aside.

[Cook’s note: when baking quiches which have a lot of liquid like this one, I take a cookie sheet, line it with parchment paper and then put the pie pan on top of that. In case of liquid spillage, it cooks onto the paper/cookie sheet and not the bottom of your oven.]

While the oven is pre-heating and/or while the crust is pre-baking and the water is heating, wash and trim your green beans. Cut into 1 inch segments. Thinly slice your Shallots.

Cook the beans in the boiling lightly salted water until just soft, roughly 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix your three eggs, one egg yolk, and cup of cream together. Crumble and add the Gorgonzola. Mix together, season to taste.

Once the beans are done, drain well. Melt the butter in a large fry pan, add the thin shallot slices and green beans to pan. Salt and pepper to taste as you sauté over a medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Place green bean-shallot mixture into the pre-cooked pie crust. Give your liquid mixture one last mix and then pour into pie crust. If there is too much liquid, don’t overfill, but be sure to get all the crumbled cheese into the pie.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Excellent when served with a fresh salad.

Last night we had the pleasure of having been invited to a friend’s house for dinner and games. Kathleen and Max decided on home-made pizza for the meal due, in part, to an article in the New York Times. In short, it is about a man named Jeff Varasano who had an obsession to create (or rather; recreate) his favorite Manhattan-style pizzas now that he is living in Atlanta. He has a detailed website about his success and failures, and instructs, in great detail how he did his work, and how you too can do the same. Perhaps it is the IT part of my brain which makes Varasano’s obsession appealing to me.  The detailed entries about types of flour used, the very specific instructions for making dough, etc… it’s not unlike the types of notes I have to take when fixing computer problems in my day job. I’m certain that this level of detail also appealed to Max and Kathleen, since Kathleen is a science writer, and Max is an IT manager. Although the article inspired them, they freely admitted that they used a recipe for last night’s pizza which was already familiar to them.  Jeff Varasano’s tome of information waits for you, however, if you’d care to reproduce his success.  Result of Max & Kathleen’s home-made pizza? Excellent. Much better tasting pizzas than recent restaurant pizzas I have had. Such as…

Last Thursday Kathy and I ate out in Albany, California, at an Italian restaurant named Cugini. Part of its appeal was that it has a “Wood Fired Oven” for its pizzas. The decor was nice, the service was good, but for the price and the quality of the food, we agreed we wouldn’t be returning there. Not that it was bad, it wasn’t, but let’s talk about cheese, shall we?

Two of the most common Italian pizzas you can get, and are often excellent when made in a wood fired oven, are Pizza Margherita (made with tomato, sliced mozzarella, basil and extra virgin olive oil) and Quattro Formaggi (typically made with tomatoes, Mozzarella, Stracchino, Fontina, Gorgonzola). At Cugini the Quattro Formaggi was listed as being made with Mozzarella, Provolone, Fontina, Pecorino cheese, and fresh herbs. This sounded great, so I ordered it. When it arrived, it looked beautiful (see picture) and the crust was perfectly baked. The taste? Forgettable. As far as I can tell, they took the four cheeses, shredded them, mixed them up together and simply scattered the mixture on the pizza. Instead of experiencing different layered tastes and textures in which the four cheeses could play both individually and together, each bite tasted the same; an indistinct combination of cheese. Also, due to the almost rubbery consistency, I’d say that some, or all, of the cheeses were not of a very good quality. I doubt very much that any of them were from Italy. Although I’m not attempting to vilify Cugini’s pizza-making abilities, I did get the impression that due to their wood fired oven, they have perhaps become lazy. If the average customer comes in and mentally compares Cugini’s pizza to the typical American-style pizzas from a chain that they consume, Cugini’s will (and should) win favor. If, however, you’re like me, and somehow looking for a cheese pizza which causes something akin to an epiphany; this wasn’t it.

What was excellent at Cugini, however, was a seasonal appetizer which wasn’t on the menu. Oven baked (again with the wood fired oven) figs with apple and Gorgonzola. Excellent. I’m a huge fan of figs, and the easy construction of a couple thin slices of baguette, covered with a thin layer of Gorgonzola, some thin apple slices, and the baked figs (which were also topped off with a dollop of Gorgonzola), was perfection. Due to the mingling tastes I was not able to pinpoint the quality or type of Gorgonzola, but it was far superior to the four cheeses on my pizza.

The picture with my arm, and Kathy’s dish of Manicotti is a joke; I’m by no means a professional photographer, but Kathy gets a kick out of how I “stage” some shots for perspective. If there’s nothing else in the picture, it’s hard sometimes to know what you are looking at. This picture led to discussion of more absurd “staging” we could accomplish, such as completely irrelevant props we could use; cheese next to reams of paper, a jet liner, or perhaps a cement mixer.

Back to Max & Kathleen’s pizza last night, again; excellent. Fresh ingredients, good quality Mozzarella, and exceedingly tasty. They also made a fantastic fresh fruit and custard torte that I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of. We played Settlers of Catan (which Kathy and I hadn’t played since we lived in Germany), and went home both full and happy.

As to some pizza places that serve pizza that I’ve had better luck with on the cheese-front of things, here in the Bay Area of California we have The Cheese Board Pizza Collective in Berkeley (and in Oakland at Arizmendi Bakery, plus a couple other locations), and I’m also partial to the pizzas at Jupiter in Berkeley.

As illustrated by Jeff Varasano in Tampa, pizza can be quite an obsessive passion. Do you have a favorite recipe or restaurant or comment to make on the subject? Please us the comment section at the end of this post. I look forward to hearing about it.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We certainly did; filled with family, fun, food, and yes; cheese. Chico, California is near and dear to my heart since it is where Kathy is from and where I met her. I had written a post mentioning Chico in the past, but I knew I’d get around to writing a bit more about it when I had the chance, since it is a place I love. Plus, Chico does have quite a cheese culture, due to a lot of nearby dairy farming.

Before we get to cheese, a few words about Chico; it is an island of culture in the Northstate. An hour and a half drive south of Chico is Sacramento, and north, about the same distance, is Redding. This isolates Chico as the only “large” town in that part of the central California valley which has a university, the third largest municipal park in the contiguous United States, and also happens to be where Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is located. There’s much, much more that I can tell you about Chico, but we’ll start here since I plan to work my way to cheese in this entry…

Kathy’s sister Janet, and her boyfriend Eddie (aka Edmund; film critic for BlackBook Magazine) had flown out from New York for the weekend, so we visited a lot of points of interest which Eddie got to explore for the first time. Not the least of which was the Sierra Nevada Brewery. Since Kathy and Janet were “locals” for so many years, we were treated to a rare behind the scenes tour of the Brewery. Our friends Meilani and her husband John, who both work for Sierra Nevada (and who actually met there), brought us into the many marvelous rooms of the expansive brewery. I’ve taken several brewery tours in my life, and in some ways it always feels a bit like Charlie & the Chocolate Factory due to the large and varied rooms and machinery. Do not get the wrong impression, however; although Sierra Nevada has grown exponentially over the years, it was and still is a Microbrew Craft Beer, and is one of the most influential pioneers in the movement of microbreweries which have gained favor in the past couple decades. Our friends have worked there for 13 and 15 years respectfully, and although about the same age as us, will most likely be able to retire in about another 9 years. This is due to the wonderful policies and respect that Sierra Nevada has for its employees as well as their various plans of sustainability. Meilani conducted the majority of the tour for us, and answered all of my detailed questions about the processes, the equipment, the company, etc. (much, perhaps, to the saturation point of Kathy, Janet and Eddie’s patience). Touring creameries and factories as often as I have allows for both insight and fascination on my part…  and when someone as well informed as Meilani can help further my understanding, I become “that guy” on tours who asks too many, and too specific of questions. This naturally brings us to the beer though, since it is impossible to go through a factory which smells like hops for an hour and a half and not want to try some as soon as you can…

The tap room and restaurant at the Brewery has on draft all 16 of the commercially produced beers that Sierra Nevada currently brews. Many of these you can almost only find in the taproom in Chico since they are either seasonally released or are not sent to all markets. If you click on the picture of the sampler platter, a three-page pdf file will open up with the same picture and the written description of each of the beers. Another area of the brewery’s policies that interested me was that of waste management and impact on the environment. Again, Sierra Nevada is ahead of its time and is doing as much as they can in this regard. The pictured two-page pdf can explain in better detail just how much is being done.

Are you getting off-track, Bryce? Where’s the cheese?

Ah, inner-cheese voice; not off track at all. While talking with John inside of the Brewery, I mentioned how similar much of the sanitizing processes used on the stainless steel beer equipment was to that of large creameries. He mentioned that some of the original equipment used by the brewery had been modified cheese-making equipment… But I sense you’d like me to move onto more specific cheese topics, so I’d like to talk about Pedrozo Diary & Cheese. About four years ago when I took a week-long “vacation” by attending a Farmstead Cheese making University Extension course (conducted by UC Davis, and given in Orland, California, which is very close to Chico), I was able to meet Tim & Jill Pedrozo. By that time I was already familiar with their farmstead cheeses since in the Chico-Orland area they were already well known and respected. My in-laws had purchased a few wheels for me for my birthday and/or Christmas.

Completely distinct to the herd of grass-fed dairy cows on the dairy, Pedrozo’s cheeses have their own well-crafted flavor, and as many awards attest; they produce world-class cheeses. It would be an injustice to compare the cheese to other types of cheese, but Tim himself once described their cheeses to me as being not unlike an aged gouda. A couple of their varieties include Tipsy Cow, which has been soaked in red wine for added flavor during the aging process. A cheese, new to me, that I got to try (and buy) at the Saturday morning Chico Farmer’s Market, was the Stout Cow. Like the Tipsy Cow, this cheese has been soaked in alcohol, specifically Sierra Nevada’s Stout beer (see inner-cheese voice; it all comes together!). During the Farmstead Cheese making course I had taken several years ago, our class got to assist Jill Pedrozo in making their wonderful cheese. This is certainly a farmstead cheese; there’s one vat (originally built in Holland, if memory serves…), and Pedrozo’s capacity for cheese making is entirely reliant on the milk production of their well-maintained herd. When I bought some of the Stout Cow this weekend, I was fortunate to meet Mandy Johnson, the Pedrozo’s daughter, who not only helps with all aspects of the dairy and cheesemaking, but also has her own wonderful cheese blog. If you have even half a chance to buy or try some of the Pedrozo’s cheese, I highly recommend it; this is some of Northern California’s hand made cheese at its best.

So, Bryce, what about Sierra Nevada Cheese Company?

Thanks for asking! Actually, I want to make sure that you don’t confuse Sierra Nevada Brewing Company with the Sierra Nevada Cheese Company. The Cheese Company, which is only about 30 miles south-west of the Brewery, named its self years after the Brewery had been around. Whether they had done so due to the pre-existing name recognition, or the fact that the Sierra Nevada mountain range is large enough to bear the name of many companies, is any one’s guess, but you should know that these are two separate companies. Sierra Nevada Cheese Company is a fairly large operation and nowadays also owns, operates and produces Gina Marie Cream Cheese. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting that facility too; if I can dig up those photos some time I’ll write a bit more about them…

To finish up this post I’ll throw in a few more pictures and let you know that the Honey Run Covered Bridge (built in 1886) in Chico survived all the recent California fires. Some of the fires which burned in nearby Paradise had threatened (and burned) many, many acres nearby. Here’s to having had a relaxing three-day weekend. I hope all of you dear readers also got to enjoy some cheese. Let me know about it. Use the comment section.

Apologies if I haven’t posted in a few days; had to take a quick trip down south again, and rehearsals have begun for the theatre (no, not in this one, but there’s a lot of organization that has to happen).  So, my cheese intake, although consistent, has not been spectacular. I did get to have some Cheddar Saturday night when our friends Jeff, Anna, and Sang came over for a pot-luck dinner, games, and the video game Rock Band which Jeff & Anna brought over.

I had nearly nothing to do with the excellent dinner’s preparation since I had driven all morning. Anna & Jeff wanted a slice of Americana, so they prepared the Bacon-Cheeseburger Potato Pie (recipe & pictures below). Kathy made a Jell-O, fruit and sour cream side dish, Ramakie appetizers (bacon wrapped water chestnuts with green onion), and Sang brought an excellent tomato, cucumber and onion salad as well as bread. Oh, we also had a lemon-poppy-seed Bundt cake that Kathy made with ice cream for desert.

Cheese, Bryce, what about the cheese?

Well, as I mentioned, I wasn’t part of preparing the meal, so I’ll tell you a thing or two about Cheddar cheese which you may or may not already know. Cheddar hails originally from England, and has been made since at least the year 1170. It is a cow-milk cheese and the majority of the Cheddars you enjoy these days (particularly if produced in the United States) are made with pasteurized milk. Although most English Cheddars tend to have a sharp taste and are crumbly, American Cheddars are often mass produced and made in much more mild forms then their predecessors. Also, Cheddar is a white-cream color naturally, it is America and Canada who color Cheddar the bright orange color that many Americans associate with Cheddar. Anna told me to go along with the “Americana”-style feel of the recipe (it uses, for example, instant potato mix), she bought pre-shredded, domestically produced orange Cheddar. For this recipe and the desired taste, it was perfect.

The meal was really quite fantastic, an excellent array of comfort foods. I’m putting the recipe below for the casserole, and submitting you all to photos of us attempting to “rock out” on full stomachs and too too much to drink (click on the pictures for larger pop-up windows of the pictures). Enjoy.

Bacon-Cheeseburger Potato Pie

Prep Time: 45 min. Start to finish: 1 hour, 15 min.

1 1/2 lb. pkg. extra lean ground beef
1/2 cup (6-oz.) pkg. plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup (6-oz.) pkg. finely chopped onion
1/4 cup (6-oz.) pkg. ketchup
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 slices bacon
1 1/4 cups water
3 tablespoons margarine or butter
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
3/4 cup (6-oz.) pkg. milk
2 cups Hungry Jack® Mashed Potato Flakes
4 oz. pkg. (1 cup) shredded Cheddar cheese
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 green onions, sliced, if desired

Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, ketchup, mustard and salt; mix well. Press mixture in bottom and up sides of un-greased 9-inch pie pan. Bake at 375°F. for 15 minutes.

   

Bringing us all back to wonderful slow food, I’m going to name another one of my favorite indulgences; cheese filled pupusas. In the Mission District of San Francisco are a great number of Mexican, Central and South American restaurants. Panchita’s Restaurant No. 2 is one central to everything, and has the best hand-made pupusas in the city that I’ve had the pleasure of eating. Pupusas are typically a Salvadoran dish, and are small hand-made stuffed corn tortillas (kind of like filled tortilla cakes) which have been cooked on a greased grill. The most common stuffings include Cheese (particularly/typically Quesillo or Queso Oaxaca, which is a soft South American cow-milk cheese which is stretched curd cheese, similar to how Mozzarella is made), pork and or/beans.

At Panchita’s I typically get the spinach & cheese, and/or the pork & cheese filled. Can you believe that the meal pictured at the bottom of this post (which is two pupusas, rice & beans) was $5.75? One of the best deals in the Mission.

To accentuate the Slow Food theme of this week, however, I must warn you that at Panchita’s that due to the individual care for the preparation of the hand-made meals, the service suffers. My friend Dana and I went there for dinner prior a theatre production meeting. We had an hour and 15 minutes. We were almost late to our meeting. It took 10 minutes before we got menus, another 10 to get water, and about an hour after arriving to get our meals. Only three of about four of the 15 tables were occupied by paying customers. Dirty plates from other prior patrons remained on tables the entire time we were there. Again, however, I have to stress that with their limited staff I’d rather that they do as they do; spend time putting care into all the food they make, than provide instantaneous service.

I’ll return here again and again… but if you have a favorite place to recommend for cheese pupusas, or have a fail-proof recipe for them that you want to share, please write in on the comment section. Thanks.

It’s both ironic and awful that on the same day (yesterday) that I write about Slow Food, Kathy and I, with our friends Jeff and Anna, ended up having fast food prior to seeing a movie together.

WHY?

Well, for a few reasons. We WERE in a hurry, plus my parents recently gave me a couple free Jack-in-the-Box cards that they had received for participating in a survey (they thought we might have an opportunity to use them). Also, it was another chance to provide content for Canyon of Cheese since I was curious to see what cheese might be found on the menu.

My childhood was spent in Southern California, which is kind of the birthplace of fast-food burger chains. There’s an excellent chapter in the book “Fast Food Nation” which describes how automobile culture, a year-round moderate climate, and a desire for consistency combined with speed gave birth to the uniformity of fast food franchises. If you aren’t familiar with Jack-in-the-Box, it is a burger franchise which originated in San Diego, California. Around the same time that other chains were having characters such as clowns and kings to attract younger customers and families, Jack-in-the-Box was already primed with its own ”fun” persona. Unlike McDonald’s, Jack-in-the-Box was named after its whimsical mascot (does Ronald McDonald look Scottish to you?). To further their recognition in the fast-food realm, all of their drive-throughs had Jack-in-the-boxes like the ones you see pictured here [Photo credit for the color Jack: Jenquin. Thanks for the permission!]. The speaker to place your order was in the ruff of Jack’s outfit. Not to be outdone by McDonaldland’s host of characters, Jack-in-the-Box developed their own in the 1970’s, such as Jack, Small Fry, the Onion Ring Thing, the Hamburger Meister, the Shakes and my favorite, the Secret Sauce Agent (see video at the end of this post). In 1980, with sales falling compared to the competition, Jack-in-the-Box (or its hired marketing company) reinvented its self by “blowing up” all of the old drive-through Jacks and revamping its menu. Fourteen years later, Jack “returned” making more marketing history. Actually, the history of Jack-in-the-Box is more interesting then their food ever was or will be…

Which brings us to the food, and the cheese.

Cheese at Jack-in-the-Box seems to come in two varieties; a yellow-orange, or white.  Both are a types of processed cheese, most commonly called American Cheese. There are a few reasons that fast-food places use processed cheese, but the main two are cost and uniform melting. Many “real” cheeses don’t melt well; the liquids (natural oils in particular) and solids may separate in such a way that the cheese looses its visual appeal, and/or the taste may be lost.

I’ve stated (including in my FAQs) that I’ll eat processed cheese when/if it is the only choice, but I’d also like to point out that I NEVER go out of my way to have processed or “American” cheese. This time, however, I specifically choose items with cheese. I got a Jumbo Jack, with cheese, as well as a sampler of deep-fried items; Jalapeno Poppers, Mozzarella Sticks and some kind of chicken nuggets. Please note by clicking on the picture how the color, size, and shape of the items are all practically the same.

Kathy decided to get a kid’s meal. A grilled-cheese sandwich, applesauce, and a chocolate milk. When she ordered, they told her they were out of applesauce, so her two healthy alternatives were fries or onion rings. Jeff went for the 2 tacos for 99 cents. Note from the picture that the tacos utilize a slice of American cheese. Anna got a “sirloin burger” (with cheese)… Kathy’s grilled cheese was perhaps the blandest food I have had in months. Iceberg lettuce has more flavor then this sandwich or cheese had. As to the fried foods, again, no distinction. I had to wonder; “am I eating fried mozzarella, or chicken?”

Since I tend to eat fairly healthily, I’ve found that fast food has an adverse effect on my stomach, and at least for a half-hour after having some it feels like there is a rock in my stomach. I think you have to build some kind of resistance or acclimation to fast food to be able to digest it easily. The body is pretty resilient, but honestly, there’s no reason for you to torture yourself (as we did) by eating fast food. Particullarly if cheese suffers in the process. Fried foods can be great, but do it right: July’s Gourmet magazine arrived yesterday; here’s a fantastic recipe from them for Fried Mozzarella (LINK).

DO YOU love fast food cheese? Hate it? Have a story or comment? Please use the comment section.

Lately I’ve been reading a lot about the “Slow Food” movement.  Even this morning I read about it again in Triple-A’s VIA magazine. The  Executive Director of the “Slow Food Nation” event (Labor Day Weekend, 2008, in San Francisco; the California Artisan Cheese Guild will be present) defined it rather succinctly in the article:
Q What’s slow food?
A It’s an international movement that promotes devoting more time to how we buy and cook our food. A lot of families now think about food as just fuel or nutrients. We’re trying to get people to dedicate a little bit more bandwidth to the role food plays in their lives.

If you’re an adult, no longer in college, and the majority of your meals are either made by someone you don’t know (i.e. fast food) or it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare (i.e. frozen or microwavable food), then trust me, it is time for you to SLOW DOWN. For me, there is nothing quite as meditative as cooking, and when you’re able to use the freshest ingredients you can, not only will it be healthier for you, the taste will also be worth it.

As a kid I was never forced to eat Brussels sprouts, but as an adult, I know I really like them. Slightly crunchy (if cooked correctly) with a cabbage-like taste, and best of all; fantastic with the right types of cheese!

High on Kathy’s list of favorite cheeses are hard Italian cheeses such as Parmesan-Reggiano and Pecorino Romano. I found a recipe on-line which would use both the Brussels sprouts I had as well as some cheese we had waiting in the fridge. Pecorino Romano is a sheep’s milk cheese which has been made in Italy for over 2000 years. The cheese is typically aged between 5 and 8 months, and is good for grating. Like Parmesan, Pecorino Romano has a nice salty taste to it, but typically isn’t as sharp as Parmesan. In the pictures on this post you can see that I grated it for the recipe (here’s a review I wrote of the Microplane grater I have). Kathy called as I was cooking to let me know she got off of work early. I warned her that the meal would still be ready as late as originally planned, since in the process of utilizing Slow Food ideals, the meal’s preparation would not be rushed. …plus, feeling I had lots of time, I added caramelized onions to the recipe (it’s what you do when you have both time and lots of onions. Caramelizing onions can take about an hour and 15 minutes.).

The recipe below is from an excellent blog-like website named “101 Cookbooks“. I’ve written to its owner, Heidi Swanson, to hopefully receive permission to reprint her recipe, so if you are reading this, she has either given permission, or you are getting a sneak preview.

 
Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

This is the only way to eat brussels sprouts: cut in half and cooked until deliciously tender inside and perfectly brown and crusted on the outside.

Use brussels sprouts that are on the small size and tightly closed. You can finish these with many different types of cheese but I tend to go for Parmesan when the weather is good. I trade that in for heavier cheeses like gruyere or Gouda in colder weather. I finished them off with some toasted hazelnuts the other night - delicious!

24 small brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don’t overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they’re tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese. While you might be able to get away with keeping a platter of these warm in the oven for a few minutes, they are exponentially tastier if popped in your mouth immediately.

Serves 4.

Chanced upon a nice series of videos by Will Studd who’s; “extraordinary odyssey… to cover international artisan and farmhouse cheeses…”

Sounds like a dream job! If you’re familiar with San Francisco, you’ll recognize the well-established shoe shine stand on Market Street at the end of this clip. The gentleman being asked about his favorite cheeses also charges tourists to take photos of him and his stand. Wonder how much he got for this impromptu filming about his love of; “American, French, and Swiss cheese…”? I also wonder if the Sirens in Studd’s Odyssey sing the praises of locally produced cheese to knock him off course and trap him on the rocky isles of processed cheeses? Enjoy.