Mascarpone Flavor And Uses

Mascarpone in the strictest sense is not  really a cheese since it is not made with rennet or any other starter to form curds. It's production is quite simple. The cream from cow's milk is poured into cheese cloth or muslin bags and lemon juice is poured over the cream and it is left to drain. The lemon juice contains citric acid which removes the whey in the cream. After the whey has been expelled the coagulated mass of high lactose heavy cream is left in a cool room for 2 days. The result is a milky white soft and smooth cream.

Mascarpone owes a lot of it's popularity from being the main ingredient in the ever popular dessert tiramisu. It's  production began in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy but it is such a simple "cheese" to make that it is now made almost everywhere.

Flavor and uses: Mascarpone has a buttery lactic sweet taste, and is not salty or acidic. As in it's production it has a simple almost neutral flavor that does not overpower a recipe. However mascarpone shines as an ingredient and it can be used to thicken soups or pasta sauces. It can also be blended with fresh herbs to be used as a dip, spread on croissants or crusty bread or as a simple dessert dolloped on top of sweet fruits and drizzled with honey. Mascarpone has a very short shelf life after it's container has been opened so plan on trying to use it as quickly as possible.

 Substitutes for Mascarpone that would work in similar ways are English clotted cream and crème fraiche. Clotted cream might need to be thickened to work in some recipes and crème fraiche has a slight acidic tang so be aware of that when planning on using it in recipes that tend to be sweet.

Mascarpone can be purchased in almost every supermarket or any local specialty food store. When shopping for it do not buy any that are near or past the expiration date. If you open the container and it tastes bitter discard it because it is past it's usability.

An Easy Vegetable Salad Recipe Using Sliced Parmesan Cheese

Another Great Recipe using Parmigiano-Reggiano

(Parmesan) Cheese

This is a colorful salad that is light and refreshing. It is easy to prepare and is nice to serve during the summer as a salad course or a midday treat with a nice Italian wine.

Prep time 30 min. Serves 6

Ingredients

1 lb of cleaned beets without the tops

3 oranges peeled and separated or sliced

12 leaves from hearts of Romaine lettuce

1/3 cup of cleaned walnuts

3 Tbsp. of orange juice

1 tsp. of lemon juice

1/4 tsp. of salt or to taste

3 Tbsp. of walnut oil or extra virgin olive oil

2-3oz of Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese slivered as thin as possible (use a vegetable peeler)

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Prep and Cooking

1) Boil or steam the beets until they are tender, let cool and then pat dry and slice thin

2) Place 2 leaves of Romaine lettuce on each plate

3) Arrange the beet slices and the orange sections in an overlapping pattern over the lettuce
4) Place the walnuts in the oven and toast until slightly golden brown (about 10 min.)
5) When ready finely chop the walnuts and sprinkle over the beets and oranges

6) Whisk the orange and lemon juices with the salt. Then add the walnut or olive oil while continuing to whisk the mixture.

7) Pour the dressing over each salad

8) Arrange the cheese slivers in a circle around the outside of the salad

9) Season with fresh ground black pepper

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This wonderful salad is complimented by a glass of wine like Chianti Riserva, Barolo or Barbaresco

Hirtenkase A Great German Mountain Style Cheese

I took a Rhine river cruise in Germany with my family and enjoyed it immensely. While on board ship the topic of Oktoberfest was brought up several times by our fellow shipmates. German beer was the focal point of most of these conversations but I was surprised to hear several people rave about German cheeses. Now being a cheese monger I am always looking for new and exciting cheeses to sample and hopefully to import back into the US. Our host and guide, after hearing our cheese conversation provided us with a truly great cheese named Hirtenkase which translates loosely as shepherd cheese.

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Details: Hirtenkase is produced during the summer months in the Allgau Mountains of Germany. The dairy farmers in this region allow their cows to eat only fresh mountain grass during the summer and hay during the winter, no silage, therefore they produce a very high grade of milk. This system of pure grazing and cheese production is similar to the one employed by Swiss dairy farmers. Hirtenkase can truly be considered a great mountain style cheese and can proudly stand next to Gruyere, Emmentaler and Fontina Val D'Aosta. 

Flavor: When aged it has a hard outer rind and the interior paste is hard and flinty with an orange tint. It has a slight citrus/ apple aroma and nutty and butterscotch flavor that lingers on the palate, I personally think that it has a much deeper flavor than French Comte 

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The Hirtenkase cheese that is produced in the summer starts arriving in small quantities beginning in late September and its availability ebbs during late March, so now would be a great time to search it out. Hirtenkase is a great table cheese and can be served with grapes , figs, dates and nuts. Also try shaving it over a salad for a nice appetizer, melted over vegetables or for fondue. Check out this link for a great Hirtenkase recipe .

As for wine pairings serve it with a good Merlot or any big red German wine . It also goes well with good hearty German beers during Oktoberfest.

8 Quick Gourmet Panini Recipes

Panini

What is a panini you may ask. Well it is really just a grilled sandwich, but it can become much more if you put some thought into its ingredients. The limits are only the ones which you impose on yourself. Try a goat cheese with sliced fruit panini for a midday snack. There is no end to the possibilities! Now for just for a few basics for making a panini.
Ideally I would suggest that you purchase a panini grill or panini press as it will make your life easier if you plan to make paninis more than just a few times. Frying them on a skillet works but can become a bit messy when trying to flip them over and the cooking time will be a bit longer.

When selecting a panini grill try to find one where you can regulate the heat and the pressure on the sandwich. Also look for one that will allow you to take off the grates so clean up will go smoothly.

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Try to use a bread like ciabatta, a French baguette or thick crusty Italian bread cut down the middle. The idea is to have just enough bread so that your ingredients don't squirt out or that your bread is so thick that you only notice the bread. Then brush on a bit of olive oil on the outside of the bread before you grill it, add your sandwich ingredients and grill away!

Here are a few of our favorite paninis try them if you like or start creating paninis with your own ideas.

Set Your Grill at 375 degrees and just enough pressure to compact the slices of bread. For the following combinations feel free to use any type of bread you like.

1) Roasted Ham, Sonoma Dry Jack Cheese spicy mustard

2) Serrano Ham, Idiazabal cheese, and sun dried tomato pesto

3) Madrange French Ham, organic Morbier cheese, and Dijon mustard

4) Herbed Salami, Ossau Iraty cheese and basil pesto

5) Soppressata, Pecorino Tuscano cheese, and roasted red pepper pesto

6) Finocchiona, Taleggio cheese and cilantro chutney

7) Herbed Salami, Pecorino Tuscano cheese, and sun dried tomato pesto

8) Mozzarella, tomato, avocado, romaine lettuce and roasted red pepper pesto

Brindamour A Wonderful Herb Covered Sheep's Milk Cheese

Brindamour

Brin d'Amour

Brindamour is an herb covered sheep's milk cheese produced on the island of Corsica. It is also known by the name Fleur du Maquis (flower of the maquis) which references the ubiquitous brambly underbrush that covers the island. This cheese is Corsica's most famous cheese and is made entirely by small independent farms and dairies. It is transported in bulk to the major markets on the French mainland for distribution around the world. Brin d'Amour is usually made from unpasteurized sheep's milk but the cheeses you will find in the United States will almost always be the pasteurized version due to its short aging time. These versions are usually called Fleur du Maquis . Both versions are very good so this is not a major issue.

Details: Brindamour is a rindless cheese that is densely covered with dried herbs which impart their flavors to the cheese. It is shaped into round edged squares or round disks that weigh about 1.25 to1.75lbs each. The types of herbs used varies by the producer but they are always locally grown. The most popular herbs being used are rosemary, thyme, and savory, in addition to juniper berries, and coriander seeds. 

Flavor: When Brindamour arrives in the US it is young and has been aged for about two weeks. The inner paste will be pure white, soft and moist but not wet and will have a mild flavor. It can be bought this way, but many cheese sellers let it age for one to two months to develop its true flavor. At one month the interior paste will be bone white and a bit runny and will have taken on a nutty sheepy flavor. If you find Brin d'Amour with faded and dried out herbs it will feel harder because the interior paste has thickened. At this point it will be close to two months old and will have lost most of its moisture. The flavor will have evolved and will now be much stronger but not extremely sheepy and the herb flavor will be more pronounced. This is a great cheese at this stage. 

The entire cheese is edible but the coating of herbs can be tough to chew through so just scrape them off. You may see spots of mold on older versions but they can easily be scraped off. 

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When shopping for Brindamour ask your cheese retailer approximately how old the cheese is so you can get the age that you want. Remember all stages of ripening are wonderful and you may want to try them all to see which ones you prefer. This is a hearty cheese but ask for a sample to see if the age is right for you. Do not be turned off by the faded color of the herbs or specks of mold, as noted above this is a natural process of aging and it will give you an indication as to how old it might be.  NOTE: You may also find another Corsican cheese like Brindamour named Niolo, it is not very common but a few really good gourmet cheese shops may some in stock.

Serve Brindamour at lunchtime as a salad course that contains olives, tomatoes, ripe fresh peppers and savory greens. This is also a great table cheese served with a glass of wine.

Wine Pairing:  Sharp earthy reds from Corsica like Sciacarello and Patrimonio if you can not find them look for similar reds from France and Italy.

Swiss Raclette The Famous Swiss Melting Cheese

The name Raclette traces its name back to the French word racler meaning "to scrape". Swiss Raclette in essence is really a group of similar cheeses that are produced in small towns and dairies. The names of the cheeses reflect the names of these towns and dairies . Raclette cheeses are made from raw unpasteurized cows milk although there are some pasteurized versions available. The milk for Raclette comes from cows that graze on grass and flowers in the high alpine meadows of Switzerland and is considered a mountain style cheese. 

 Details: The production of Raclette is localized and is made using time honored traditions. The fresh curds are gathered and placed into hand carved wooden molds and pressed to expel the excess water and whey. The newly formed cheeses are then soaked in a brine solution and brushed with a yeast solution which helps to form the hard outer rind. They are then placed on wooden benches and left to age for three to six months in local cellars. The aged cheeses do not have any holes and will have a faint yellow inner paste that is semi-firm and an inedible dark beige rind. The wooden molds used to age the cheeses leave impressions of the name of the town or dairy where they were produced on the rind.

Flavor: Raclette has a stronger flavor and is smoother and less hard than Gruyere. The flavor is  nutty and not too salty however longer aged versions are sharper and more pronounced.

When shopping for Raclette look for a dark beige rind that does not look dry and is not cracked or shows signs of reddening or mold. Try to find cheeses from the canton of Valais with the names Bagnes, Conches, Gomser, and Orsieres on the rind. Swiss Raclette is more difficult to find than the French version but it is worth looking for. Raclette can be found in most cheese shops or on line at Amazon. Raclette Cheese

Since Raclette is produced as a 12 pound wheel it is usually bought in smaller wedges and heated in the oven or on a Raclette grill. When the cheese is melted in the rind it is shaved onto casseroles or hot vegetable dishes. Raclette is often a component of cheese blends for fondue along with Gruyere, Emmental or Appenzeller and is also a wonderful table cheese  served with fresh fruit.

Wine Pairings: white Swiss Fendant or light fruity reds or any Beaujolais.

Alpha Tolma Vermont Alpine Style Cheese

Over the recent extended Memorial Day weekend I had the pleasure of visiting the Jasper Hill Cellars and Creamery in Greensboro Vermont.The facility is state of the art and simply quite amazing. I was truly impressed by the attention to detail throughout all the stages of production and aging  of their cheeses and the mandatory sanitary procedures throughout the facility.

I will be reviewing all of the cheeses that are produced or aged at Jasper Hill. I would like to note that all of these cheeses are wonderful examples of artisan cheese production and affinage.

The Cellars at Jasper Hill is an innovative 22,00 sq ft underground facility. The Cellars were constructed for the purpose of providing affinage, or aging expertise, as well as distribution and marketing services for local cheesemakers so that they may access the burgeoning market for artisan cheese nationwide.

I would like to thank the marketing team at Jasper Hill for allowing me to liberally use their ad copy and photos.

ALPHA TOLMAN is named for a philanthropic dairy farmer who built the Greensboro library in 1900. Alpha's grandfather, Enoch, was one of the town's original settlers. Alpha's namesake cheese is made in a satellite creamery, located within the Vermont Food Venture Center in Hardwick, VT - a facility designed to incubate value-added projects and enrich our agricultural economy.

Details: True to the Alpine cheese making tradition Alpha Tolman is a cooked raw milk cheese. Rennet is added to the milk to form the curd, which is then pressed into molds to expel any whey that is left. The newly formed cheeses are then washed in brine which helps to form the rind and gives them a funky edge. The formed cheeses are then set to age between 8 to 11 months in the Cellars humidity and temperature controlled cave.. Alpha Tolman has a buttery, nutty and fruity flavor when young, developing bold meaty, caramelized onion flavors as it matures. The inner paste has a light straw color and has a thin outer rind. The texture is dense and pliant, easy to cut and ideal for melting.

When shopping for Alpha Tolman look for a cheese that is not dry or cracked as this is a sign of a wonderful cheese past it's prime. Alpha Tolman can be found in good specialty cheese shops and possibly in Whole Foods.  The texture, aesthetic, and flavor make Alpha Tolman an ideal choice for fans of Appenzeller (or fondue!).For a satisfying meal, follow the lead of Swiss/French raclette – melt onto a serving of fingerling potatoes, cured meat and natural sour pickles.

Wine Pairing: Big jammy New York reds with a younger version or a locally brewed porter or ale with a more mature cheese.

Maytag Blue A Classic American Blue Cheese

Maytag Blue Cheese is made on the Maytag family farm in Newton Iowa and has been a prized American farmstead cheese since the early 1940's. 

 Details: Maytag Blue is made from unpasteurized cow's milk  from the Holstein - Friesian cows that graze on the farm. Each step of its production is still done by hand. The raw milk is entered into vats and rennet is added to form the curd. The curd is then ladled into hoops and formed into four pound wheels. The cheese wheels are then pierced and seeded with Penicillium Roqueforti  mold and left to age for six months in cellars on the farm. When the cheeses are fully aged they are wrapped in Maytag's iconic blue and silver foil.

 Flavor:The finished cheeses have a light straw colored paste and ample blue veining, a nice peppery zing and wonderful crumbly but creamy texture. Maytag Blue's flavor will become more assertive as it ages and this cheese holds up well so this is not a bad thing. If you enjoy Roquefort, Cabrales or Stilton give this American classic a try and I promise that you will not be disappointed.

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When shopping for Maytag Blue do not purchase any that have a grayish or pinkish tint to the paste or are excessively runny. These are signs of excessive aging and will make for a very unpleasant purchase . As noted above this cheese will hold up pretty well so wrap it in wax paper or tin foil and place it in the refrigerator but remember to keep it separated from other foods and cheeses. Maytag Blue can be found in most good cheese shops, Whole Foods and online at Amazon.

You can serve Maytag Blue crumbled over salads or melt it over grilled burgers. It also makes a great blue cheese dressing.

Wine pairing: Strong domestic reds or sweet whites like Sauternes. It also goes well with medium bodied ales.

Halloumi The Grilling Cheese From Cyprus

Halloumi is a cheese from the island of Cyprus and is often called the grilling cheese. In 2006 Halloumi was allowed to be promoted in the United States, Europe and Canada through an agreement with the Cyprus Ministry of Commerce and Tourism. This agreement has opened the doors of export to these three markets and has made this interesting and unique cheese easier to find.

Details:Halloumi is made from sheep milk in the old traditional way in both small villages and modern factories. The milk is pasteurized and then allowed cool before the rennet is added. When the curd has formed it is pressed into molds and cooked in the expelled whey water. The cheese is then dry salted, folded, seasoned with fresh mint and brined for 24 hours. The resulting cheeses are then vacuum packed and aged while being kept refrigerated below 7C /44.6F 

Halloumi has become quite popular and can be found in most supermarkets and specialty food shops or purchased online at Amazon. Halloumi cheese

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 Tasting:Halloumi has an odd mouth feel that is almost rubbery and it squeaks when chewed. This may seem strange or  unbelievable, but it is true. The cheese has an off white paste that has a semi firm texture, and a slightly salty milky flavor with a touch of mint. Another unique aspect of this cheese is that it does not melt when it is heated so it is great for grilling or skewered with meat and vegetables. This cheese is wonderful when it is grilled to a golden yellow on both sides and served with eggs or sautéed vegetables. It is also great grilled  on top of crusty bread covered with bruschetta. The locals in Cyprus enjoy it served at room temperature with chilled watermelon during the summer. Even though it is semi firm Halloumi can be shredded and used in omelets and over salads.

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Limburger Germany's Famous Stinky Cheese

Limburger was first produced  by Trappist monks in the Limburg region of Belgium during the early 19th century. The cheese quickly became popular and was copied by the Germans who began to produce it in the Allgau region. It's fame has grown worldwide and is now considered a German original.

Limburger is a washed rind, pasteurized cow's milk cheese that has a strong pungent aroma. The rind is thin, sticky and edible with a pale orange to light brown color and distinctive corrugated ridges.The interior paste has a pale straw or white color. As this cheese ages it will soften and become almost runny. The flavor is mild, grassy and mushroomy with a slight tang on the finish. Overall this is a one dimensional and somewhat disappointing cheese but this is not meant to say that it should be dismissed. However if you are looking for a stinky cheese with more depth of flavor try  French Alsatian Munster, Epoisse or Taleggio

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When shopping for Limbuger look for foil-wrapped 8oz packages that are not soft or bulging or you may be in for a very unpleasant purchase. Please remember that Limburger will have a strong aroma but then again that is part of it's allure. Limburger can be purchased in most supermarkets, Whole Foods and online at Amazon. Try to find an imported brand most domestically produced Limburger is forgettable.

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Limburger can be served with raw vegetables, fruit and crackers. It also goes well with salty fish like sardines and anchovies.

Parings: Malty Beers

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