Bringing Home the Turkey

November New Ampsterdam market was even more bountiful and delicious than last month. And the bonus this month was that my gorgeous thanksgiving turkey was there waiting for me when I arrived. Yes all 17.7 lbs of him. The next best thing is that I have a new camera to shoot all the gorgeousness that ensued under the bridge downtown... Some highlights included: Saxelby and Formaggio representing Essex Market, $3 Brisket, Porchetta Rolls, Luke's Lobster Roll, Baby turnips and root veg, gorgeous funghi and Oysters - all of the above by 11:30am breakfast!

High Sodium Diet...

While this quickly improvised cheese plate was not perfectly balanced, it did envoke happiness and fond memories of by its tasters... Pecorino (salty), Olives (saltier) and Radishes dipped in salt (saltiest).

Will rent room for Cheese...

Reality. Renting second bedroom in my apartment as I can't afford the rent on my own. Accompanying Cheese - gooey goodness from Paris on a monthly basis. Roomie lives part time in France and always arrives with a vacu pack of cheese and sausison! Yipee!!!!
Only bummer besides less personal space is that I don't have any info on these particular goodies as she didn't get the names. Cheese with the pressed fern leaf was unbelievable. Anyone reading able to identify?

Cheese fit for a Rockefeller

This weekend, a friend and I made our annual outing to see historic homes in Tarrytown, NY (aka Sleepy Hollow, home of Washington Irving and the Headless Horsemen and Rip Van Winkle).

Every year, the trip includes a scenic trainride along the Hudson River, a tour of a historic home (this year we visited Kikuit, home of four generations of the Rockefeller family), and a pub lunch at the Horsefeathers Pub. A perfect day.

This year's outing was taken to a new level with the discovery of Tarrytown's farmers' market. We ate delicious roasted, curried cashews from Tierra Farm, bought the most gorgeous Baby French Breakfast radishes and carrots and, of course, tasted cheeses.

Calkins Creamery in Wayne Co, Delaware. Calkins Creamery is a sixth generation family farm. They make 14 different cheeses, including this the delicious, nutty "farmer boy" tomme. In addition to cheese, they raise beef, pork and vegetables.

Now that's a work ethic that John D. Rockefeller would approve of!

Tredieci anni fa.... a trip down memory lane

Thirteen years ago, I discovered the best pizza in the world at Lanterna Verde in Lanciano, Italia. Seriously, the best. It's the dough that makes them so unique, especially among all those thin crust pizzas.

After years of reminiscing and salivating, an old friend and I went back to Lanciano last weekend and ordered the same pizzas we ate as 18 year olds living the Italian dream. Elenio -- the genius behind Lanterna Verde -- remembered our orders. Truly.

My order is mushrooms, artichokes and olives (pictured here, missing a slice) and hers was the same plus garlic. The other pizza pictured here is mushroom with truffle oil.

Mozzarella 101

A somewhat underwhelming experience at the Obika mozzarella bar in Rome was redeemed by their great table mats depicting the mozzarella-producing regions in Italy.

A great resource for every cheese fanatic.

Fromaggi, four ways

Pictured here:

Zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and mushrooms with a timbale of mushroom mousse. If you love zucchini, it's hard to imagine ever thwarting one's development but if stealing zucchini blossoms means the most delicate, delightful dish on earth, who am I to stand in the way? In Capri, we also ate dozens of deep fried stuffed zucchini flowers that were divine -- the lightest batter imaginable -- a healthy gourmet doughnut.

Rucola con porcini e parmigiano: One of my favourite things in Italy are the porcini mushrooms. We had them grilled, roasted and here as a salad with roast porcini (still warm), arugula and parmigiano.

Insalata Capreses: Creamy mozzarrella, perfectly ripe tomatoes, basil and a little olive oil is a gift from the gods to be enjoyed daily (or twice daily) in Italy. Here are a few examples: on a pizza (with proscuitto crudo) at Laterna Verde in Lanciano and at a mozzarella bar in Rome.

Prima colazione -- breakfast, Italian style

Just back from a delightful holiday in Italy. Every day started with a mini cheese plate. Paradiso.

In Sorrento, (see the all-white cheese photograph), I enjoyed a taleggio, a bel paese and a mozzarella scamorza (smoked).

In Capri, breakfast included what else... a few bites of insalata caprese along with some olives, capers and salami.

Che bella vita.

New Amsterdam Market

I was one of many food blogger enthusists at the second New Amsterdam market yesterday afternoon. The vendors are unbelievably generous (one can fill up on just sampling alone...), the shoppers were excitable and keen to learn, taste and run home to their computers and blog...

By noon I had already eaten fresh oysters from W&T Seafood (moon shoal was my fav), lobster roll from Luke's lobster, crab claws, chicken pot pie, dozens of artisinal cheeses, truffles, jellies, fresh yogurt, sausages and pulled pork!!! I also ordered my thanksgiving turkey which I will pick up at the next market on Nov. 20th. I highly recommend you check out this monthly foodie showdown - get there early...

Hangover Cheeseplate

Saturday hangover from two nights of music and debauchery at CMJ. Included cheeses from the new sampling baskets at the fromagerie in wholefoods - favorites starred. Emmenthaler (raw cow), St Nectare (cow), *Cabecoli (goat), *Rookass Gouda (goat) and Kasseri (sheep and goat). Grapes, olives, riveta (with currants) and Anne Rosés Black Cherry Jam.

The Ansonia

One of my most favorite places to visit in the city has been visiting a friend who's been living at the Ansonia on the UWS. The landmark building stands on the corner of Broadway and 72nd in all her glory- every single detail about her, from the entryway to the mailboxes is exquisite and upon stepping into the grand entryway one is immediately transported to New York City in all it's grandeur in the early 19th century.

Last night we bid adieu to our evenings in the Ansonia with a gorgeous Rhone and a tasty dutch cheese called Vlaskaas. Surprisingly complex and yet relatively inexpensive, this cheese is firm but creamy with end notes of caramel and hazelnuts.

Deck the Halls with balls of...

WASABI!!! Canadian Thanksgiving (October 1oth) comes along a little early to be thinking about holiday entertaining but luckily for me, I can take a cue from my mother and steal her simple dishes to serve up to the Yanks in November. Here's a simple recipe from the LCBO magazine... An update on the cheeseball with wasibi and ginger. Perfect amount of zang and zest to spark those holiday spirits...

Cheese n' Pickles

Pictured here: [Saxelby Cheese ladies make a delicious quesidillas with Pickled Corn Relish]; deep fried pickles, pickle bouquet: new dill, brown mustard and spicy pickle.

Falling into Feta

Acorn squash stuffed with quinoa, toasted hazelnuts and feta, topped with tomato.

Quiz: Cheese or Font

Thank you, Kanwal, for this hilarious game. Totally brilliant -- who thinks of this stuff?

http://cheeseorfont.mogrify.org/

My favourite font du jour is Tahoma (though I'm also partial to Book Antiqua). A humanist, sans-serif typeface designed in 1994, Tahoma is similar to Verdana, but with a narrower body, less generous counters and tighter letter spacing. Mount Tahoma is the Native American name for Mount Rainier in Washington State.

To best enjoy the Tahoma font (typing while eating cheese, for example), check out these cheesemakers in Washington State: http://www.washingtoncheesemakers.org/members.shtml.

Essential reading: THE CHEESE CHRONICLES by Liz Thorpe (Ecco, 2009)

http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/the-cheese-chronicles-liz-thorpe-and-american-artisanal-cheese/10002

Have Cheese, Will Travel...

Marks and Spencers has a delictable assortment of sample cheeses that are perfect for travelling. A much more sophisticated variety than the North American travel friendly Baby Bell... Port Salut, Roulade, Saint Argur, Wensleydale & Cranberry with travel size Cabernet Sauvignon, toasted wheat crackers, cashews and some fresh cherries - perfect for an hour long train jaunt from Edinburgh to Cooper.

Highland, High Tea, High Cheese

On a 2 day trip up to the mystical (and very rainy) Scottish highlands, I sampled a local cheese called "Gauda". One might think that it's gouda pronounced with a thick pikey accent but my waitress assured me that was not the case. I have to say it it had a unique flavour of it's own. Soft with tiny airy holes similar to havarti but a little harder and with a nutty aroma. I have been searching and googling to find out more about it but my search comes up empty. I guess that means a second more in depth trip is in order. Below, "gauda" with oatcakes and blackberry jame. Toast and Marmite and coffee at the Torridon Hotel. Loch Torridon, Scotland.

http://www.thetorridon.com/

Greener pastures... Or should we say greener unpastures?

A few pics to show the plethora of artisanal cheese vendors on Rue des Martyrs in Montmatres... I love how most of the selection comes in single serving portions perfect for snacking or compiling a very in depth cheese tasting menu for 2!

Je T'aime, Je T'aime

Oh Paris Paris. Where do I begin? The cheese, the wine, the confitures... It's taken me over 3 weeks to post about my little romp to Paris mid-august, I think I want to pretend I never left... I must first post the cheese and and black cherry jam I had for dessert at L'Entrecote - a famous steak frites restaurant near the St Germain station. The cheese was great but in this case it was the accoutrements that stole the show. I had our waitress ask the chef about the black cherry compote served on the side and she came down with a note that had a woman's name and phone number in the south of France. Crap, I thought this must be something uniquely made for the restaurant. Something I cannot export. Fast forward a few days later, cheese browsing on Rue Des Martyrs, what do I see out of the corner in the corner of a cooler nuzzling up to a fantastic blue...

Charcuterie & Me

At a recent wedding my dear friend Rita was told that she had a "keeper" by the father-of-the-bride. And by this, he was implying that her boyfriend, chef Grant Van Gameren, had garnered his favour by way of charcuterie. Guests, who arrived by ferry to Toronto's Ward Island, were greeted with cocktails and an overflowing spread of cured meats and crudité fashioned by Mr. Gameran. A true meatsman if I ever did meet one, Grant cures all his charcuterie himself in the basement of his Toronto restaurant The Black Hoof. He with the utmost delicacy, technique and skill. Each paper thin slice of fleshy goodness makes me forget that I was a vegitarian for almost 15 years (a confession I will not divulge in his company for sure).

Check out Grant's blog: http://charcuteriesundays.blogspot.com/

A bit confused but that's the fun part!

I previously mentioned Red Hawk from Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes, CA (a hand-washed cows milk) as one of the finalist cheeses at the American blue cheese competition held in Texas and I'd been dying to try it and its fellow finalists. When I saw it at Whole Food's today ($16.99 !!!), I was thrilled -- a chance to put my money where my mouth is. Well, it's not a blue cheese. Delicious, yes. Blue, no. But no matter. The real stand out, though, was the Hudson Valley Camembert from Old Chatham Sheepherding Co in Old Chatham, NY. It's a soft ripened cheese made from sheep and cows milk and was a big hit with Starbury's parents.

Winning blues

Everyone is saying how much more entertaining the Julia-in-France scenes are than the Julie-in-Queens scenes in JULIE AND JULIA. I won't be able to say myself until tomorrow night.

But in the meantime, I can say that the USA should be proud of its blue cheeses. A staggering 1327 American blue cheeses competed for the title of "Best Blue Cheese" last week in Texas. Taking top honours was Rogue River Blue from Oregon, a grape-leaf wrapped cows milk. The name itself is gorgeous; I can only imagine how delicious it tastes.

I'm dreaming of a cheese plate featuring Rogue River Blue and the runner-ups. In 2nd place was Red Hawk (triple cream cows milk; aged six weeks with a red-orange rind) from Cowgirl Creamery in California. In 3rd place, Rupert (cows milk; aged six months with a gruyere or comte firmness) from Consider Bardwell Farm in Vermont.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/08/serious-cheese-rogue-river-blue-wins-2009-american-cheese-society-award.html

And thanks to Jamie Forest at curdnerds.com for his summary of the results!

Sound of Music II -- no lonely goats here

Two goat cheeses, one plate.

Cypress Grove Humbolt Fog and Goat's Ziegenbrie (a goat-based brie).

High on a hill was a lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

16 going on 17 grams of fat

Things I love, in no particular order: Captain Von Trapp, edelweiss, cheese, refuge from the Nazis, building a new life in America.

And here's the perfect accompaniment: Oma cheese made by the Von Trapp family in Vermont.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/07/serious-cheese-von-trapp-farmsteads-oma-vermont-cows-milk.html#continued

O Canada, O Cheese

Having missed the prime opportunity of Canada Day, I'm using my trip home tonight as a reason to tip my hat to Canadian cheese.

http://www2.agr.ca/dairyinfo/english/chees-from-v_e.cfm
http://cheeseofcanada.ca/
http://www.artisanalcheese.com/products.asp?dept=1136

If you love cheese and you live in Toronto, you'll want to read this great summary of Toronto's best cheese stores:

http://www.blogto.com/toronto/the_best_cheese_shops_in_toronto/

And a little somethig from Quebec:

http://mediacentre.canada.travel/content/travel_story_ideas/quebec_cheese

Do It Yourself Room Service

While there is nothing quite as satisfying as ordering room service in a chic boutique hotel at the end of a work travel day, I must say I did a fine job sustaining and making my own plate on a budget last night. Thankfully spending twenty dollars at the nearby Wholefoods provided me with cheese plate for two evenings. A local California blush wine, full bodied paired with 2 cheeses, pita chips and fresh mixed berries.
Cheeses: Pictured (round) Mitica Cana Cabra - goats milk. Very strong flavor almost blue in taste- not for the pedestrian palette. Would have been nice with honey and nuts... Soignon Goat Brie, also goat. Gooey and creamy, has a nice nutty flavour without being too overpowering- great with the berries. An excellent treat at the end of the day. Not pictured- two squares of truffle pig dark chocolat with orange... And goodnight.