Day Three Hundred and Twenty Five - A New Year's GCF

"Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind ? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne ? " Will you be singing the classic words of the New Year's Eve tune originally a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 while cheers-ing with good friends and family this evening to ring in 2011? A new decade and a new start!

So I thought for tonight's New Year's Eve GCF you would want something decadent, heavy on the creamy notes, with a fabulous round mouth feel -- good at the end of the night or even good with a glass of bubbly to ring in the New Year. 

What cheese would fit the bill here? 

How about Nettle Meadow's Kunik? Hailing from the Southern Adirondacks, in Thurman New York, this is 75% goat's milk and 25% cow's milk bloomy rind disk of unctuous milky goodness. A triple cream style cheese -- easily spreadable and moist with a nice citrusy tang to cut the creamy weight of the cheese -- supremely fabulous!

Why not put the Kunik on a nice crusty French baguette with some chopped chives and a traditional New Year's food in Spain, grapes. At the stroke of midnight in Spain, revelers eat twelve grapes for each of the strokes of the clock. Each grape also represents one month in the new year. So let's have some Spanish luck this year with twelve grapes in our GCF. 

Toast away and enjoy with a glass of your favorite bubbly!

Happy New Year!

All the best wishes for a happy and healthy 2011!!

Day Three Hundred and Twenty Four - A preview and a spotlight

Tomorrow my good friend is having a Southern New Year's feast and so I thought for cheeses, I'd try to do all cheeses from south of the Mason Dixon line, a tough challenge at this time of year and this far North. Travel a few hours south by car and your selection would be much greater of cheeses from the Carolinas, Maryland, Virginia, etc but their offerings from Massachusetts, Maine, and Connecticut would be much less.

As a preview of tomorrow evening's cheese plate, I thought I'd focus on a fabulous creamery, Meadow Creek Dairy located in the mountains in Virginia at an elevation of 2800ft. Meadow Creek has been hand crafting cheeses since 1980 and boy have they got it right! They are a seasonal grazing dairy --obviously being so high up in the mountains, it would be tough to allow their cows outside in the dead of winter. Therefore they milk their eighty cows from March to December. But fret not, that does not mean you cannot purchase Meadow Creek cheeses year round, there is always at least one of their cheeses available at all times of year, it varies depending on season because of the differences in aging processes.

Meadow Creek's most well known cheese is a washed rind stinker inspired by the Italian Taleggio, Grayson. Dialed up stink is present in the Grayson as it is aged for longer than its inspiration. A true example of the depth and breadth of the successful experimentation of American artisanal cheese making.  Best with full bodied or even late harvest wines.

Appalachian was the first cheese produced by Meadow Creek, modeled on a classic French tomme. This cooked, pressed curd cheese is a crowd pleasing and very versatile creamy morsel of goodness. Buttery yet with a light crisp citrus finish, great with nice light white wines.

And their final cheese, the Mountaineer is modeled on the French and Swiss Great Big Guys. By that I mean -- Beaufort, Gruyere, Comte, etc...Aged for at least six months, this firm cheese is nutty, caramelly, butterscotchy, and all around fabulous! Great for this time of year melted into a fondue, enjoyed with a nice beer or glass of red wine, it's a perfect winter cheese.

So which of Meadow Creek's superstars do you think I chose for tomorrow's New Year's feast?

Image Courtesy of www.meadowcreekdairy.com

Day Three Hundred and Twenty Three - An Impromptu mid-week GCF

This morning I decided after a nice run to make a simple yet delish breakfast, a perfect lazy morning sort of treat. Quick and easy today after a long preparation yesterday...

Yesterday afternoon while doing some work from my apartment, I decided that I would use up some old cherries and make a confiture out of them. By that I mean I basically boiled them down for hours with some water, a little bit of white port since I didn't have any brandy, two tablespoons of brown sugar and a little sea salt. Cooked over low heat for about three hours, you could savory yet sweet confiture perfect for this morning's breakfast.

How to showcase the confiture?

How about on a whole wheat cinnamon raisin English muffin with some Gorgonzola Piccante? Fruit forward and somewhat sweet with the nice spicy bite of the cheese on the backdrop of a flavorful yet light English muffin. A great breakfast for relaxing staycation morning or a weekend brunch treat!

Day Three Hundred and Twenty Two - Snow Day Results

Life began to resume somewhat as normal today -- mass transportation was still slow but people were able to get to where they needed to go, albeit with a little bit of patience and perseverance.

Upon returning home to your cozy homes, what cheese did you decide to have from yesterday's contestants?

You want something warming that will complement a nice pint of dark ale or a glass of red wine, right?

Well that rules out our third contestant, the wasabi disk which albeit will awaken your senses, will not pair well with a warming cocktail. Westfield's Wasabi begs for a glass of crisp white wine with a nice acidic finish or even a glass of cloudy sake perhaps? Therefore that leaves us in a head to head duel between Cowgirl Creamery's Red Hawk and the Harpersfield with Ommegang.

Is washed rind stink what you crave after a long day outside in the cold? Not if you ask me, it's extra special pungency albeit fantastic in the right situations, is not my go-to recommendation for a cheese to have as an accompaniment to a warming beverage to make you feel cozy. Red Hawk is a special occasion cheese and definitely not a cheese for the novice -- it is nuanced, dynamic, unique, stinky, and all around fabulous. A nice cheese to cuddle up next to the fire with a significant other and a bottle of wine with for those of you who like that extra-special washed rind gooey-ness. Yum!

Therefore I'd probably choose the Harpersfield as the overall winner -- it is the ultimate in winter versatility -- it pairs perfectly with a nice glass of beer, cider, or mulled wine and can be served in slices with nuts and dried fruit and heated as the center of a GCF. Nutty, citrusy, light yet woodsy, and full of beer-ish notes with a nice creamy finish. A well rounded dynamic cheese that meets its match in any winter cocktail.

Enjoy!

Day Three Hundred and Twenty One - Snow Day Marriage Mondays

Central Park got twenty inches of snow in the past twenty four hours -- most major NYC airports were closed for most of the day, mass transportation was barely functioning on a Sunday schedule, restaurants and banks were largely closed, no mail was delivered...On days like these, I think Manhattan feels like a small town -- runners say hello to one another in the park, people are generally more open and friendly, and everyone comes together at their local movie theatres. 

So what sort of cheese would you want to have after a day out in the freezing cold sledding in Central Park, ice skating in Bryant Park, shoveling snow, or pretty much any sort of activity in this weather?

Contestant Number # 1: Cowgirl Creamery's Red Hawk - This cow's milk washed rind stinker hails from Marin County in California and is oozy and gooey in all the right sort of ways. It almost makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, the perfect way to get feeling back into your body after a long afternoon gallivanting in the snowy wonderland outside. Right?

Image Courtesy of www.cowgirlcreamery.com

Contestant Number # 2: Harpersfield Cheese washed with Ommegang Abbey Ale - Moving back to the North East for our second contestant and specifically to Upstate New York, Harpersfield is made in the Tilist style of cheese making. It is cow's milk cheese aged and washed for the first two months to develop an uneven rind full of little holes which insulates the creamy, buttery, semi-soft cheese on the interior.  Add some Ommegang to those cheese washes and you get a light fanciful citrus nuanced cheese with hints of beer. What could be better than beer and cheese after a day spent outdoors in the cold? 

Image courtesy of www.empirecheeseshop.com

Contestant Number # 3: Westfield Farm's Wasabi Disk -- Goat cheese plus that Japanese spicy green paste traditionally found accompanying sushi? Really? Yes, that is our last and final contestant hailing from Massachusetts. Fresh, young, lactic, tangy chevre is mixed with the sensory awakening wasabi paste finished off with a little bit of herbaceous-ness in the form of chives. Feeling like a snow colored nice spicy wake up when you return home into the warmth of your apartment?

Stay warm and cozy folks!

Day Three Hundred and Twenty - Brunch at Cafe Frida

It's our first snowstorm of the season here in New York and isn't snow the prettiest just as it falls to the ground? Otherwise it gets grey and gross. What are you doing to celebrate the snow? Are you home cuddled under covers near a fire with a significant other? Out gallivanting in Central Park? Going to the movies or a museum maybe? Or taking care of those chores around the house that you always put off? Or something else?

After a lovely run in the park, pre-snow, I went for a casual local brunch with a friend to Cafe Frida. I don't know about you but I much prefer going out to brunch when the dishes served are unique and have their own spin on classic brunch food. 

Cafe Frida is one of those Upper West Side institutions that flies under the radar. It is good Mexican food with an authentic feel. I find a lot of Mexican food to be greasy and this is not which is always nice. 

I had their Omelet Oaxaqueno which was a spinach, wild mushrooms, and oaxaca cheese omelet topped with their homemade salsa verde and served with hand-made flour tortillas and spiced home fries. 

A nice savory mixture of eggs, vegetables, cheese, and spices on the backdrop of their homemade flour tortilla, a filling and satisfying brunch.

Wondering what oaxaca cheese is? It's a Mexican cow's milk cheese somewhat similar in taste to un-aged Monterey Jack but made in a Mozzarella or pasta filata manner, meaning a stretched curd style cheese. In this case, the curds are stretched and formed into a ball which can then be sliced. You tend to find Oaxaca cheese utilized in quesadilla preparations. 

Enjoy the snow folks!!

Cafe Frida

368 Columbus Avenue

NYC

Day Three Hundred and Nineteen - A Cheese for a Christmas Lunch

Guess what I brought for today's Christmas lunch?

You guessed it! Cheese!

As my family tends to prefer the nuances of goat's milk cheeses, I decided to get us a cheese that we hadn't had yet. I chose a mixed milk cheese -- goat and cow's milk formed into a small bloomy round and entitled a Pearl. The Pearl is handcrafted by Seal Cove farm in Lamoine, Maine, on the way to Bar Harbor and Arcadia National Park. Seal Cove has been handcrafting French style chevre on American soil since 1976. Each cheese is infused with the fresh sea air from the rocky cliffs of Maine and the crisp green grassy notes of the pastures where their goat's graze.

Pearl is decadent yet light, a round mouth feel with the citrusy tang of a great goat's milk cheese. Perfect for a holiday celebration with a glass of bubbly.

Image courtesy of www.mainegoatcheese.com