Ask Trevor: Soft Ripened Brie on Pizza?

Trevor, have you used soft ripened brie on Pizza? Do you have any suggestions on how to use it? Do you keep the rind on?

Hello Fellow Cheese Enthusiast!

Brie on pizza, sandwiches, etc. is wonderful!...For a treat, try it in a fondue! 

Letting it come to room temperature 30 to 45 minutes before adding it to the recipe will ensure it melts properly. You can trim off the rind if you would like…but if you don’t, just keep in mind that the rind will not melt.

 Hope you enjoy cooking with it!....Let me know how it turns out and stay tuned for some Brie inspired recipes in the posts ahead

Happy travels through the cheese aisle!

Trevor

Ah, Summertime!…

Hello fellow traveler! 

I don’t even need to step foot outdoors to know what I am going to share this week! I just simply have to look at the calendar and the outside temperature to know what I want to eat!

Living in the ‘Farm to Fork’ capitol, we get some amazing produce year round, but tonight I am focused on the Heirloom Tomatoes and Peaches that I just picked up from my local Farmer’s Market.

Sure, I guess it would be easy enough to just make a Caprese Salad with the tomatoes, and a simple tart using the peaches, but I am in the mood for something different…that is just as simple and delicious.

Sometimes when searching for the perfect recipe for using an ingredient, instead of searching a cooking magazine, network, or celebrity, I will just put something like ‘Fresh Mozzarella Recipes’, then filter by images until I spot a recipe that catches my attention (and appetite). 

The first recipe that I searched for was to use the peaches. Oh sure, there were lots of recipes for grilling peaches, tarts, and galettes, but when I spotted the recipe for Peach and Beet Caprese, I knew I had a winner! 

I always have fun with the recipes and never can seem to follow them line for line, so here are a few of my notes for this one.

I chose to roast my own beets, but remember the red ones can bleed on to the cheese, so if you want to avoid that, just stick to golden beets. 

Now that I had my side dish, I was searching for a main entrée that I could use the tomatoes on. Then I spotted a Grilled Fresca Pizzette. It was the word ‘Grilled’ that caught my attention as I envisioned it on the BBQ grill as an easy and no fuss meal.

Here are some notes I took on this recipe:

First, I did not make my own crust, instead I used a Stonefire Naan Bread. Second, I did not cook it in the oven, I found that cooking it on a pizza stone on the grill gave me the perfect indirect heat that I needed, and what’s better is they made the perfect ‘personal size pizza’ 

I get asked a lot for cheese & wine (or beer) pairings, so with the salad I enjoyed a Bogle Winery Phantom Chardonnay, but I still enjoy a good beer with my pizza, so I chose Ruhstaller 1881 Beer. Both are locally produced and paired great.

Summertime – What a great time of the year to enjoy some of my favorite foods! 

Regional Cheeses of the Northeast

As mentioned in the “About Me” section of this blog, my job takes me to new and different parts of the country. While in these “new” parts, I always like to visit the local cheese shop, or cheese retailer to see what local gems I can find, that I don’t see in my local markets.

Recently, my travels took me into Albany in upstate New York. Other than being the Capitol of The Empire State, I really did not know much about the area (or how high up in the country I was – almost as high as Buffalo, NY).

While in one of these cheese shops, I found a brand called Nettle Meadow Artisan Cheese. It was the word “Nettle” that caught my eye, as Nettle is a type of plant that can be used in helping the milk coagulate in cheese making instead of using animal rennet (more about this in a future post).

The Nettle Meadow Artisan Cheese Company was founded in 1990 is owned and operated by Lorraine Lambiase and Sheila Flanagan in Warrensburg, NY which is about an hour North of Albany. 

While they produce many different styles of cheese (Bloomy Rind, Washed Rind, and Fresh Types) there were two that I had to try: Kunik Mini and Honey Lavender Fromage Blanc.

Kunik Mini is a Bloomy Rind “Button” (a petite 3.5 oz. round) that is made from Pasteurized Goat’s Milk, Cow’s Cream, and Sea Salt. This award-winning cheese had a wonderful earthy aroma and a creamy finish.

Honey Lavender Fromage Blanc is a soft, spreadable cheese that was perfect on a toasted bread and served with a good cup of Jasmine Pearls Green Tea from The Tao of Tea for Breakfast. I have seen Lavender turn up more and more as a flavoring in cheese and I love this trend!

Happy hunting for your own local brands and I look forward to sharing more finds from my travels… Until next time!

Wine & Cheese Unite

For the last 9 years, I have been fortunate enough to help lead a cheese and wine education event at Bogle Wineryin Clarksburg in Northern California. I have been approached many times over the years by different wineries to do a similar event, but I decline their generous offers…

Bogle is so fun to work with and they have an amazing selection and range of wines to pair with no matter what cheese I bring in every year.

Pairing cheeses and wines seems simple enough, but it is actually more complex than I first thought.

Here are a few examples that you might try at your next event: 

Triple Crème Brie with Champagne

Pure decadence! Creamy, luscious bloomy rind cheeses love Champagne and Sparkling Wines! Something about those silky, creamy and earthy notes of the cheese seem to be in perfect harmony with the fruity, crisp, and effervescent notes of this sparkling treat! Those beautiful bubbles effortlessly wash the creaminess away of this fine style of cheese…No wonder that both have been called the choice of royalty!

Fresh Chévre with Chenin Blanc

The beautiful Loire Valley in Western France is the home to one of the great regional cheese & wine pairings - Fresh Chévre (or aged varieties) served with Chenin Blanc is the classic “What Grows Together, Goes Together” pairing that perfectly captures the essence of “Terrior” (more about that in a future post). As the cheese and wine match each other in acidity and intensity. C'est Magnifique!

Roquefort with Ruby Port 

Some pairings seem to work best with contrasting (or “opposite”) flavors. In this case, you have a creamy sheep’s milk cheese that has a good “bite” of salt, paired with a sweet, almost syrupy gem that is delicious as a dessert or as an apértif. The sweet seems to cut right through the saltiness and balance it out.

Washed Rind Cheeses with Porters

While the Roquefort/Port combination was contrasting, this pairing is complementary, meaning that you have a stronger cheese that can stand up to a stronger beer. Washed Rind cheeses are “Monastery Cheeses” (more about these in a future post) which means that they have been washed with a salt water solution which can give the cheese an orange hue. These tend to be the “Stinky” cheeses varieties such as Limburger, Beer Käse, or Hand Cheese (all from Germany). Prost!

Photos courtesy of Bogle Winery