restaurantgirl

Contributing writer: Cheese Girl aka Nadia

If you love melted cheese, fondue can be heaven on earth and nearly foolproof for even the most cooking-challenged.  A fondue can be a great way to hold a farewell bash for the cheese bits and pieces that have overstayed their welcome in your fridge.  And seeing that cheese and wine can be perfectly paired, cooking with different grape varietals can lead to endless fondue recipes and even an interesting dinner party.

WHAT'S IN A CHEESE FONDUE?

The classic fondue consists of Gruyere, with a little Appenzeller or Emmenthal (both Swiss cheeses) and a crisp dry wine, but don’t be afraid to experiment with different combinations of cheeses and different grape varietals.  But before you go wandering too far from this reliable combination, there are a few basic

FONDUE RULES TO COOK BY:

•    Stick to dry wine. Nothing kills a fondue like sickly sweetness, so steer clear of sugar-heavy or dessert wines.  Rosé wines go nicely, but keep in mind, you’ll end up with pink fondue (which may or may not turn you on).   You can even try substituting dry Champagne, apple cider or beer for the wine in your fondue recipe.

•    Meltability is key. Keep in mind that you want a good melting cheese.  Stay away from sheep and goat’s milk cheeses unless you’re very practiced at fondue making. Alpine style cheeses, cheddars and really any pressed cow’s milk cheese, all make great fondues. Softer cheeses like Brie are scrumptious (remember to remove the rind), but I would avoid triple-crèmes as the fondue can end up too heavy.

•    Taste everything first. Try the cheeses and wines you want to blend before you throw them in the fondue pot. If they clash from the start, they’re not going to get any better when melted together. Some interesting combinations are Brie and blue cheese (try blending with a dry Champagne), all-cheddar (try different lagers or ales), and all-blue cheese blends (try Stilton with a dry Sauternes).

When it comes to dipping, my favorite is plain country bread. I also love beef tips (order them with a fondue at Artisanal Bistro one day and you'll see what I mean), and green apples.  Red apples don’t have enough zing to cut through the cheesiness, and veggies are simply a vehicle for the cheese.  Boiled fingerling potatoes are much tastier and easy to make.

Check back with us next week for more cheese cooking ideas!  Until then, visit me for recipes and cheese rants at Cheeseaholic.

Contributing Writer: Nadia aka Cheese Girl

Cheese can make a mediocre meal memorable, revive a lifeless salad or flavor a bland soup.  Does your apple pie need a little zing?  Try grating some sharp cheddar into the crust dough. Your guests will never know what hit them.  Cooking with the curds is ease, just follow a few rules of thumb I eat by:

Best melting cheeses
Not all cheeses melt equally. Cheeses born to melt are typically made from cow’s milk.  Alpine-style (think Gruyere) or cheddar cheeses are perfect for a grilled cheese sandwich or melted over potatoes.  While sheep’s milk cheeses (like Manchego and Pecorino) tend to separate out when heated, with the fat permanently separating from the solids, goat’s milk cheeses don’t get gooey at all, so shy away from those when it comes to melting.

Cost-effective cooking
Cooking with real artisan cheese can burn a hole in your wallet, so look for the appropriately priced option. If you want to crumble goat’s cheese on your salad, look for a bulk chèvre, rather than the perfectly mold-encrusted and pricey artisan cheese. Great cheeses can be expensive and should saved for the cheese board.

Cheese staples for your fridge 

1. Parmigiano Reggiano should be a fixture in your fridge. Not only can you grate it over pretty much anything, but it also can be stored for about a month before it begins to head south. 

2. A melting or sandwich cheese is great to have on hand for an emergency grilled cheese or the munchies (I’m partial to Comte).

3. Lastly, a fresh sheep or goat’s milk cheese, like a briny feta or marinated labneh (kefir) balls, is versatile enough for omelettes, salads, sandwiches, the possibilities are endless.

Next week I’ll tip you off on ideas for cooking with cheese.  Until then, you can visit me at Cheesaholic for the latest news, recipes and summer cheese events.

Eating a great cheese can be a palate-altering experience that can become even more blissful when paired with a great wine.  But finding the perfect pairing’s not as easy as you may think. Sure, there are plenty of cheeses and wines that get along, but I can help you find those marriages made in heaven.

A great pairing happens when both the cheese and wine taste better together than they did on their own.  Maybe you started with a so-so wine, but when combined with the cheese, you can suddenly taste complexities and nuances you never thought you could coax out of that $10 bottle of vino.  Here’s how you do it:

Take a piece of cheese in your mouth, throw a splash of wine on top, and mash it all together. Wait a few seconds, swallow and note the finish. Things to look for -

• Power struggle.   A delicate cheese will get lost if paired with a hearty red wine. Think   of where each falls in the spectrum of mild to strong and pair accordingly.
• Balance.   Sweet wines should be balanced with salty cheeses, and acidic (young)   wines work best with acidic (young) cheeses.
• Contrasting texture.   A bubbly wine might be exactly what you need to lift an ultra-buttery   cheese.  For instance, a triple-crème cheese goes great with Champagne.

Try these summer time cheese and wine pairings:

• Humboldt Fog   (California) – Fresh and tangy goat's milk tomme with a velvety brie-like   rind. Pairs with dry and minerally Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
• Monte Enebro   (Spain) - Nutty (hazelnut), spicy (white pepper) and distinctively goaty.   Pairs with aged Ribera del Duero (with soft tannins).
• La Tur (Italy)   - Barnyardy and buttery, mixed milk cheese. Pairs with Malvassia and   Champagne.
• Ossau Iraty   (France) - Nutty and round buttery flavors, sheep's milk cheese. Pairs   with dry Sauvignon Blanc and fruity Beaujolais.

If you can’t remember all that, print this crib sheet out, head to your local cheese store, and shop like a seasoned fromager.  Stay tuned for next week's lesson in Cooking With Cheese...
Until then, you can visit me for cheese-centric recipes & recommendations at cheeseaholic aka Nadia.

CHEESE TASTING EVENT - 
Where:  Telepan
What: Summertime cheeses & Telepan wines
When: Saturday July 29
$:65.00
Time: 12:30-2
Tickets: (212)580-4300 or at waldemar & nadia

Just as I was about to snack on cheese straight up, Cheese Girl returned to give us a quick lesson in cheese condiments... 

With the rapidly increasing popularity of all things cheese, it can be difficult to sort through the maze of accompaniments out there. So here are some words to shop by:

Bread is a no-brainer - a fresh French baguette is my first choice.  Bread should always play the supporting role, so festive breads, over-laden with dried fruits and nuts, are distracting (let’s reserve those for butter).  Dense breads (can we stop at 12 grains please) tend to fill you up too quickly and we need to maximize room for cheese.

Crackers are controversial. My business partner Waldemar has sworn off them entirely, deeming them “unnecessary”.  Me, I like my crackers plain and dry (like Italian baked flatbread crackers), so as not to interfere with the cheese experience.  Exceptions would be black pepper crackers (great with cheddar), and wine crackers, which are great with pretty much anything.

Cheese condiments span the map - everything from honey and fruit preserves, to nuts and fruitcakes. One fruit preserve expressly made for cheese is Spanish membrillo (quince paste). If you’re nervous about entering the world of condiments, I would start there. A basic rule of thumb is to balance the sweetness of the preserve with the saltiness of the cheese.  Nuts (marcona almonds are my favorite) and fruits (check out my cheesaholic's picks) are an easy way to make your cheese plate look more appetizing, and can practically turn a cheese plate into a meal. 

A few rules I play by:

•    Keep it simple. When you start to pile on too many flavors at once, there’s a good chance you’ll end up with a lot of yucks. So if you’re fond of the contrast of honey with Roquefort, leave the jasmine-chili-verbena-infused honey on the shelf and stick to the basics.
•    Go regional. If you’re serving Spanish cheeses, look for Spanish condiments. There’s a good chance people have been enjoying them together for centuries (even before supermarket shelves started looking like world food fairs).
•    Support the artisan. Many smaller artisan condiment and cracker makers have artisan cheeses in mind for their products. They look and taste more rustic, and usually match the cheeses in depth of flavor.

My go-to pairing is cheese & honey, my top choice - Savannah Bee Company Honeycomb ($14.99 for 16 oz, available online at Savannah Bee). Think solid honey that magically dissolves on your tongue. It makes a gorgeous presentation and pairs fabulously with pretty much any aged blue cheese.

Most specialty and gourmet food shops will have great cheese accompaniments (try Whole Foods and Citarella), but if you don’t have one nearby, I would check online at Artisanal or Murray's Cheese.

Stay tuned for Cheese Girl's next lesson in starter cheese & wine pairings...

Even a Restaurant Girl can't possibly dine out every single time hunger strikes.  On that rare occassion when I entertain at home or get hungry during a snowstorm, I have a friend with a cheese addiction, who's eager and willing to share her shopping secrets and teach us Cheese 101 every Thursday.  So without further ado...

My name is Nadia and I’m a cheesaholic.  Thankfully, I live in New York City - home to some of the best cheese shops in North America - so I don’t have to look far for my next cheese fix.  Two of my favorites are Murray’s Cheese Shop and the newcomer Saxelby Cheesemongers in the Essex Market.  People often ask me what my favorite cheese is, but I don’t like to pick favorites (between you and me, Spanish sheep’s milk cheeses are my biggest weakness, especially a ripe Torta del Casar — a tart and grassy springtime cheese that you can eat with a spoon).

If you’ve ever appreciated a grilled cheese sandwich or insisted on blue cheese with your buffalo wings, you’re probably a cheesaholic, too.   Now that wasn’t so hard to admit, was it?  Cheese shops can be heaven on earth, you just have to arm yourself with a few simple tools and you’ll shop like a pro.  Never be intimidated, just follow these guidelines:

•    Survey the layout. To be able to really navigate a cheese counter, you have to first figure out how it’s arranged. Like most, Murray’s Cheese Shop more or less organizes by style of cheese: soft, semi-soft, semi-hard, hard and blues are each in a section of their own.  Soft cheeses are the least aged and tend to be mildest. Hard cheeses can range from crumbly Cheddar to a dense Parmigiano Reggiano. Other cheese shops may arrange by country, or even milk type (goat, sheep and cow). A mix & match strategy is key whenever you’re throwing together a cheese board at home.

•    Talk to the expert. If there’s a resident cheesemonger where you’re shopping, take advantage and ask him to recommend his favorite cheeses.  Ask a lot of questions.  Tell him your favorite cheeses and ask what else you should try.  Then sample the goods.  All good cheese shops will give samples, which is a great way to shop for food (and get a free lunch). 

•    Cut to order. The best kind of cheese is always the freshly-cut kind (from the actual wheel), so ask for your cheese cut to order whenever you can.  If you’re stuck with pre-cut cheeses (Whole Foods, Citarella, etc.), cellophane-wrapped aka suffocated cheeses, there’s no need to despair – it’s still cheese worthy of eating.  Search for the most recent “last wrapped on” date, but steer clear of any that have been wrapped for over three days.

You alone are master of your taste buds. There's a cheese out there for everyone - start looking for yours.  Next week stay tuned for a quick shopping lesson on cheese accessories (crackers, breads and preserves).  Until then, you can always visit me for  cheese-centric recipes & recommendations at cheeseaholic...

CHEESE(Y) TASTING EVENTS -

Where: The Park
What: 6 Artisanal cheeses & 3 Park wines
When: Wednesday June 21
$45.00
Time: 8:00-9:30
Tickets:(212)352-3313 ext. 211

Where:  Telepan
What: Summertime cheeses & Telepan wines
When: Saturday June 24
$:65.00
Time: 12:30-2
Tickets: (212)580-4300

For tickets: waldemar & nadia