A Trifecta of Cheeses

So, it’s official. Cheese dinner nights are my new favorite nights and I sincerely hope to entertain a number of my friends over the course of the next few months (until forever…?) with unique cheeses I purchase at Cured in Boulder.

My buddy Joe came over to be “spoiled” with my cheese, bread, wine, and seasonal veggie dinner. I bought some beautiful golden beets, carrots, and heirloom tomatoes from Ollin Farms and got the beets wrapped up in foil and roasting in the oven at 400 degrees well before Joe showed up. I chopped the carrots into bite sized chunks and roasted them with a sliced onion drizzled in olive oil, salt, and pepper. While the root veggies roasted, Joe picked up my flip video camera.  Here’s how the night got started…

I bought three cheeses at Cured: Fleur Vert (in the front), a French goat cheese covered in herbs de provence and red peppercorns; Délice (middle), a tripple cream cow’s milk cheese; and La Tur (in the back), an Italian cheese with a “trifecta” of milks: cow, goat, and sheep.

These three cheeses were nothing short of fantastic and I’m almost tempted to recreate this entire experience for all of my friends.  But, that would really halt my exploration, now wouldn’t it?

As I look through The Murray’s Handbook and The Cheese Chronicles, it is becoming more and more clear to me just how many cheeses there are.  Neither of the cheese-filled books talk about Fleur Vert. It is a goat cheese covered in herbs de provence and red peppercorns, and it’s not technically a chevre, but can be thought of as a slightly aged chevre (apparently chevre is a fresh cheese, not aged). It is spreadable, especially on warm bread, and the herbs and pepper combination is savory on top of the sweet, white goat cheese.  This also went especially well with the roasted beets.

The Murray’s Handbook eloquently refers to Délice as” a tiny treat of pale buttercup” that is “rich and luscious, with the texture of whipped butter.”  It is.  It is.  We spread this on the warm baguette and practically giggled like school kids at this experience.  This is an amazing cheese with a mild flavor, like a European butter, and it is addictive.

The third cheese, La Tur, is also featured in The Murray’s Handbook.  It says, “three milks and two textures merge into one cheese’s best approximation of ice cream.”  Joe and I refered to this as the trifecta cheese- a power-house cheese made of three milks.  It’s a must-try.

I bought a bottle of Pinot Gris from Elk Cove Vineyards in Willamette Valley, Oregon.  As usual, this Oregon wine did not disappoint.  It was crisp, just sweet enough, and refreshingly cut through the fat from all this cheese.  And, Joe and I always appreciate that first sip… “once it hits the lips…”

Overall, it was a fantastic night.  We had roasted golden beets marinated in Persian Lime Olive Oil and Peach Balsamic from EVOO Marketplace, roasted carrots and onions with cumin, fresh heirloom tomatoes that didn’t need even a pinch of salt, toasted bread, and cheese.  By the time the second bottle of wine was opened, I started sautéing some local pears in butter.  But… we devoured those before I even thought to snap a photo.

Goat Cheeses, Bread, and Rosé. I’ve been Cured.

I was really excited to jump right in and write about the four goat cheeses I bought at Cured.  But, that has to wait a bit so I can tell you how very happy I was upon leaving Cured.  It felt like a movie, or like I was magically somewhere else- walking through downtown Boulder with a small brown paper bag full of wine, plums, cheese, and a freshly baked baguette.  This baguette was teasing me with a freshly baked aroma as I ducked into Topo Ranch to buy a birthday present for one of my favorite people in the world.  I had a great conversation with the girl working at Topo Ranch about the baguette I got at Cured, my blog posts about cheese, the aroma of the baguette… and more about how I could hardly keep myself from biting right into the tip of the bread that stuck out of that slender brown bread bag.

Ahh… the baguette- it changed things that day.  After an unnecessary splurge on my new bracelet (which I justified since I was so excited about the fresh bread) in addition to the important bday gift, I kept walking towards my car.  It started to rain.  My umbrella saved the day as the most important thing was keeping the baguette dry. A woman asked me if I had bought the bread at Panera bread.  Oh, no ma’am.  I went to Cured because I’m a food blogger on a mission to explore cheese and wine.  And this baguette- well, it’s freshly baked by some guy named Steve who uses a local restaurant space to bake breads.  This is no Panera bread baguette.
And so, I got home and unpacked my brown bag.

Coral Ferguson, co-owner of Cured, sent me home with four goat cheeses (beautifully wrapped like little cheese presents), locally grown plums, a bottle of Spanish rosé, and my baguette.  Time to explore some goat cheeses.

Cheese, Bread, and Wine Tasting #1

After my catharsis, I decided to put a positive spin on my lonely cheese, bread, and wine dinners.  I’m now going to plan on cheese, bread, and wine, and explore some new flavors, textures, and regions of wines and cheeses.  Why not?

So, with my Murray’s Cheese Handbook and The Cheese Chronicles as my reference books, I’m embarking on a new adventure.

The first three cheeses that I bought (from Whole Foods) are pictured below:

Beehive Seahive in the foreground- a cow milk cheese sweetened with honey.  This was really good.  I kept slicing it and snacking and snacking.  It’s smooth, just barely sweet, and quite enjoyable.

Romao in the middle- a raw sheep milk cheese that’s rubbed with olive oil and rosemary. Again- yum.  There’s just enough rosemary flavor for you to taste the herb without it smacking you in the face the way rosemary can from time to time.

And Taleggio in the back- a cow milk cheese that, according to the Murray’s handbook, is a cheese that “despite pungent, nearly offensive aromas” actually has a “gentle, buttery, mild” flavor.  I couldn’t agree more.  This cheese was a little scary at first with its moldy, stinky stink.  But it is smooth.

Why I’m Not Cooking. A Catharsis.

Um… I thought this was supposed to be a food blog, with like food, and stuff. Yeah, I did too.  That’s how it all started.  I so very much identified myself as a home cook for all of my adult life, which coincidentally, was spent with my boyfriend of 12 years.  Well, we broke up in April and I’ve been struggling to get back in the kitchen ever since.

I live alone now (with Owsley, my cat, of course), and let’s face it- cooking for one is just not any fun. There’s something so lonely about cooking for myself, I find.  Most nights now I eat bread and cheese, wash it down with red wine, and call it a night.  It’s a major lifestyle change and I really only find myself eating an actual dinner one or two nights each week.  That’s why the number of recipes I’ve posted has dropped significantly and I have mostly been reviewing food products, restaurants, etc.

So, not to spill my guts with how sad and lonely I’ve been as of late. This shall pass.  I know I’ll be inspired again… especially once I get a new camera (kind of let the ex take that special little device…). In the meantime, check out what some other awesome local Colorado food bloggers are up to:

Grace(Full) Plate
Use Real Butter
Boulder Foodie
Big World, Small Kitchen
Formation of a Foodie
I Cook, He Drinks
Elana’s Pantry
Chocolocateria

Door to Door Organics

Door to Door Organics delivered a local farm share box to my door a couple weeks ago, and, though I have not yet signed up for their grocery delivery service, they’ve been on my mind lately as I’ve been incredibly busy.  Being busy means it is sometimes a hassle for me to get to Whole Foods or the farmers’ market, so coming home to a box of food sounds like a great idea.  Especially a farm share box filled with locally grown organic produce.

The box I tried was filled with lettuce, cabbage, collard greens, cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, garlic, and green onions.  Door to Door Organics picked it all out for me, but, if you sign up for their service, you get to substitute up to five items per order.  So, if you don’t like collard greens, swap them out for carrots.  But, I must warn you… collard greens, when cooked correctly, are delicately delicious.  I found this out thanks to Door to Door Organics because I had never actually bought collard greens before, and having them delivered to my doorstep made me get a little creative in the kitchen, which is always fun.

Door to Door Organics isn’t just produce- you can order meats and freshly baked breads, too, as well as a variety of other products through the Door to Door Market.  You can also skip a delivery if you’re away, and cancel any time.  You’re not tied in to a lifetime of deliveries, though I do have some friends who have been hooked for a few years now.  So, unlike a CSA where you pay for the entire farm share up front and then get whatever the farm grows, whether you’re in town to pick it up or not, Door to Door Organics offers a wider variety at a good price for a convenient service.

Door to Door Organics has a great website that helps you shop, plan meals, find recipes, and learn about local organic produce. So, I suggest you check it out.  If you use the promo code “localtabletours” you’ll receive 40% off a bitty box.  You can’t beat that!