Nothing makes the day go slower than a full schedule of staff meetings. Unless you've just received a package of cheeses to taste, and you can't do anything about it until the day is over. Then each minute feels like a minor eternity. So you can imagine my relief when my last meeting was over and it was finally time to get on to the real business of the day: tasting the three cheeses from Jasper Hill.
Tasting Table got their hands on this fantastic recipe from chef Nicole Krasinski of San Francisco. Tapioca alone is scrumptious (for those who don't mind the texture), but add dulce de leche and we think it might be a home run:
Nicole Krasinski didn't grow up in a particularly dessert-heavy household, but tapioca pudding, one of the few desserts she remembers eating regularly, was a post-dinner constant. When she opened State Bird Provisions in San Francisco with her husband, Stuart Brioza, pastry chef and co-owner Krasinski turned to the tender pearls of her youth. In this iteration, she stirs dulce de leche into tapioca-studded pudding and tops it with more dulce de leche and fresh strawberries. It’s a dessert that’s both simple to make and impossible to stop eating. Pearls of wisdom indeed.
The 2nd annual Great Canadian Cheese Festival promises to be bigger and better than its inaugural year. Attendees can sample over 36 Canadian cheeses, enjoy cooking demonstrations, and try local artisan food from the region. Enjoy this cheese-filled weekend June 1-3 and don't wait to make plans - tickets are selling out and B&Bs are filling up!
“There are so many phenomenal cheeses being made in this country,” says Kolesnikovs. “My mission is to show that Canadian artisan cheese is as good as, or better than, many international cheeses.”
Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread and Wine owners are set to open Bar Pastoral next door to their popular shop this fall. The wine bar will offer small, "grazing" plates, the occasional cocktail, and of course, a large selection of wine.
Guests can look forward to great products from around the globe, like fine cheese or small-production, earth-friendly wines and craft beers, as well as a number of hot and cold small plates featuring food made in house. As for specifics, O'Neill said the menu is still in development while they look for a chef to bring on board.
Los Angeles Times Food Test Kitchen brings us this helpful tip when grating cheese: spray your grater with a light coat of vegetable oil to prevent cheese from sticking to the grater. The oil coat can also be used on a knife to prevent dried fruit from sticking -- so break out that no-stick spray for a no-hassle fruit and cheese plate prep!
The local food movement is booming in the U.S., so why the hesitation to buy local wine? Eric Asimov argues it's the same reason consumers don't buy cheese simply because it's local: it is a product developed by people to be transportable, tradable and unique to its place of origin.
“Over time the wine of a region and the food of a region creates the cuisine of a region,” said Mr. Page, who previously was a chef in Northern California and New York City. “That can take decades, sometimes centuries, to build.”
“I watched it develop in California in the 1970s and ’80s,” he said. “I’m seeing it happen all over again, albeit in a much smaller way.”
Hello Culture readers! I'm Danielle, and I have the pleasure of being a 2012 Birth of a Cheese taste tester. Getting free, delicious cheese shipped directly to me from one of America's most highly regarded creameries is about the best thing that can happen in my book. And then I get to blab on and on about it to the world? Perfect.
I am the executive chef of a club at a military base in Texas. My husband, and co-taster, is also a chef and runs the kitchen of a catering company in Austin. Needless to say, we cook, eat, and talk a lot of food. But cheese holds a special place in my heart - I think it's alchemy is magical, and I am beginning to learn how to make it at home.
Boska USA, purveyors of fine cheese gadgetry and upholders of great European cheese traditions, recently sent along a sweet set of photographs of an event they'd held with the help of Jason Sobocinski, host of the Cooking Channel's The Big Cheese. Now, besides looking overwhelmingly delicious, the photos got me thinking—especially this one:
April was National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month and The Lady and I, your humble Feline Foodie, promised 30 new grilled cheese recipes… alas… to mis-quote the late, great John Lennon… “we had grilled cheese plans and then life got in the way”… so even into mid-May, we are still posting grilled cheese recipes… this one today is #26 and as with the last, this is actually an open-faced cheese melt.
The Lady took Jasper Hill Farm’s sample #120125 to make her latest cheese sammy…
Using Original La Panzanella Croccantini for her bread base, she topped it with Prosciutto and then JHF’s sample #120125. She sprinkled a little rosemary on top.
She popped it in the toaster oven and three minutes later… ta da… we had dinner.
Another terrific grilled/open-faced sammy for the grilled cheese recipe vaults and future reference… living with The Lady does have at least one good side… Cheese, Glorious Cheese…
-- Spaulding Gray, The Feline Foodie, for Marcella (The Lady)
First and Foremost thanks to Jasper Hill and Culture for selecting me to be a cheese tester.
My name is Joe and I live in Sun Prairie Wisconsin. By occupation I am a police sergeant and by hobby I am cheese maker. I have been married for 25 years and have two daughters. While I like cheese and live in the dairy state, I am a novice as a formal cheese tester. I was thrilled but a bit intimidated at being selected to test a new cheese. As a home cheese maker I have given birth to some cheese myself so I appreciate the desire to test one's cheese at various stages of development and the reaction of others while tasting the cheese. I hope that my feedback helps Jasper Hill with the successful delivery of their cheese.
