Goat cheese cracker spread

Last night we had some people over for a beer tasting bonanza.  It was more beer tasting and less bonanza, but a good time none the less.

I put out 3 kinds of cheese to have with the beer: chevre (goat cheese), taleggio (love love love), and smoked gouda.

I left the taleggio and smoked gouda alone, but I made the chevre into a dip.  It was a hit!
Here are the ingredients:
Chevre
A little milk to make it creamier
Chopped dates
Chopped pecans
Chopped Basil

That's it!  I just mixed it all together and we ate it on crackers.  It was easy and a great combo of sweet&savory. mmm!

Road Trip Restaurants

We just got back from a roadtrip, and we ate at 4 awesome restaurants:

For a light lunch, we stopped at Madhatter's Bakeshop and Cafe in Durham.

I had a delish chicken salad sandwich, and the seasonal side was a cucumber salad that was super tasty and fresh. It's so nice to stop on the road and have something healthy for a change.

In Old Town Alexandria we had lunch at Fontaine Caffe and Creperie. 

We started with a cheese plate, then split an Italian crepe with mozzerella, eggplant, and tomato. Scrumptious! The decor was delightful...  the walls are a slightly shimmery almost-dark blue, the furniture is rich brown wood, the light fixtures have mini lamp shades with all different patterns, and the dark wood bar was beautiful.  Somehow fancy and sweet all at once.We finished off the meal with a soft and sweet and mouth-watering mascarpone and dark cherry crepe.  I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Another great spot we found is Pupatella Pizzeria and Friggitoria in Arlington.  Boy was this some incredible pizza.  It was fun to watch the guys make the pizza and then cook it for just one minute in the burning hot wood fire oven!

Their pizza is the real deal, with Italian flour, San Marzano tomato sauce, olive oil, and buffalo mozerella. YUMmmmm!

The last great restaurant we hit up was Ettamae's Cafe in Richmond. This place is soooo cute.  It's  small but has multiple floors and an outdoor patio.  We ate inside, which is painted pink and decorated with cute and kitschy old school items.  Each table has a unique matching set of salt and pepper shakers that I'm sure were found at Goodwill, and the walls have old china plates and blown up black and white photos on them. Super cute.

Since we hadn't had breakfast and it was pretty much lunch time, we started with a cup of coffee and a peach butter tart.  Umm hello delicious.  It came with raspberry sauce and whipped cream. Love.  Then I had a sweet and savory salad of arugula, peaches, pecans, and bleu cheese with juicy grilled chicken. So good!  It was dressed lightly with a raspberry vinaigrette.  I am definitely going to attempt to make this salad at home while peaches are season.  

PS: I looked up "friggitoria" and I still don't know what the hell it is!

Is anything better than a spread?

One of my favorite meals is what we like to call a spread.

Today's spread:
Roasted beets in spinach salad with red peppers, sweet onion, and balsamic vinaigrette
Goat cheese
2 types of salami-like deli meats
Taleggio (so good I bought it again!)
Rustic wheat bread
Cantaloupe

Yummm!  I felt like I could've grazed for hours!

Food Glorious Food!

Yesterday and today Chris and I ate deeeeeeeeeelicious lunches (same lunch both days. Too good not to have again).  On the skillet we grilled sandwiches that could be called crunchy-gooey-savory-comfort-food-that-makes-you-feel-better-about-your day-of-torturing-testing-students-and-busing-and-walking-commuting-through-the chilly-rain-sandwiches.
Ingredients:
Modesto sesame wheat bread
mayo
Lusty Monk honey mustard (love it!)
sliced cheddar
sweet onion (sauteed briefly in butter)
ham
egg, over-medium

Boy oh boy those are some tasty sandwiches!

found this on Etsy by BettyTurbo

And now I'm making these cinnamon cookies, and I've added some chopped toasted pecans. Yummm!

Tomato Pie

 I looooooooove tomato pie.  I learned the recipe listening to All Things Considered on NPR a couple of years ago. Story. Recipe.  Oh man it is sooo good.  I made one yesterday (I know, I know, tomatoes stink right now, but I couldn't wait!  Once I have tomato pie on the brain, I gotta have it!).

When Katie was here, we made a mushroom tomato pie.  It was to. die. for.  It was basically the same recipe, but I made the pie 2 layers: A layer of sauteed mushrooms and onions (with white wine, garlic, and some other ingredients to jazz it up), and the original tomato layer (tomatoes, basil, sweet onion, s&p).  Yummmm.

The question is:  Is tomato pie better than pizza?  Gasp!

Taleggio and Garrotxa

After reading and writing about cheese, I was on a mission to get some.  At the nearest Whole Foods (aka the best cheese selection I've found so far in Asheville. I wish there was a cheese shop!), I got some help picking out two cheeses.  First, I wanted to try a washed rind, and ended up getting a taleggio. The friendly employee who helped me said it was a good washed rind for a beginner because it's stinky smelling, but not too strong tasting.

Taleggio

I was so excited when it was time to eat it!  I took it out of the fridge an hour early (as directed!) to bring it to room temperature. I made hummus. I cut some fresh bread and toasted it lightly.  I sliced up a pear. I poured myself a glass of wine. I cut into the soft, smooth, delicious stinkiness of the taleggio!  Yummmmm!  I really liked it.  I sat and munched for a long while. Delightful. 

On Sunday, I got a garrotxa, a firm, aged, goat cheese.  

Garrotxa

Chris and I really set up a spread with mango, olives, hummus, toast, salami, wine, and the two cheeses.  Heaven!!  We love a spread. =]

The garrotxa, I felt, I could take or leave.  I think it is probably the perfect match to something out there, but with this spread, it wasn't as tasty as the taleggio.  

Here's a little something funny Murray's has to say about taleggio:

Pungent, fruity and meaty - ripe wheels should eat like pudding… delicious, stinky pudding that goes with wine.

Weird, but I like it!

Say Cheese!

After reading this post on on of my favorite blogs, Cup of Jo, I really got in the mood for cheese.  Well, to be honest, I'm always in the mood for cheese.  This just made me re-motivated to learn more about it (I have a time-insensitive goal of learning all about cheeses, coffees, and olive oils), and of course want to do that in the best way, by eating it.

 

In her posting, Joanna Goddard, the author, talks about her favorite cheese shop, Murray's. Coincidentally, I've looked at their great website before for cheese info.

One nice bite-size step (hehe) for my cheese learning might be to learn the 7 types of cheese Murray's uses to categorize their many many cheeses.  Here are Murray's descriptions, and I've attempted to find a matching (I hope!) picture of cheese from igourmet to fit each:

Fresh
Think: Young. Tart. Tangy. Lemony. Smooth. Moist. Creamy. No rind. Find: Fresh goat cheese ("Chevre), Mozzarella

Bloomy
Refers to the snowy, fluffy, "blooming" rind. Think: White. Buttery. Decadent. Pillowy. Fluffy. Rich. Mild to Mushroomy. Edible rind. Find: Brie, Camembert, Triple-Crèmes (Cremeux de Bourgogne, St. Andre)

Semi-soft
Think: Pliable. Earthy. Wet straw. Hay. Leaves. Melting. Find: Fontina, Garrotxa, Morbier, Tomme de Savoie

Washed
These are washed during aging, in brine (salt water), beer, wine or spirits. Think: Pungent. Stinky. Fruity. Meaty. Intense. Aromatic. Vibrant pink to orange edible rind. Find: Epoisses, Livarot, Pont l'Eveque, Taleggio

Firm
Think: Dense but supple. Grassy. Eggy. Fruited. Sharp. Thick, natural rind not typically eaten. Find: Cheddar, Gruyère, Manchego, Ossau Iraty

Hard
Think: The super-aged big guns. Dry. Crunchy. Caramelly. Butterscotchy. Grainy. Find: Aged Gouda, Dry Jack, Parmigiano-Reggiano

Blue
Think: Mold! Veins. Craters. Big. Sharp-edged. Punchy. Complex. Find: Gorgonzola, Roquefort, Stilton

PS: In my internet hunt for local cheeses...


I found out that a local Asheville cheesemaker, Looking Glass Creamery, was one of only 6 artisanal  cheesemakers in the country to be chosen by Williams Sonoma to be highlighted and sold for the first half of 2011 (see here)!


I also found out about Spinning Spider Creamery, which is only a half hour away.  I hope to try their cheese soon!