Coupole

Serving cheese for outdoor entertaining may bring to mind several favorite options, but serving the right cheese does make a difference this time of year. You don’t want to feel weighed down by nibbling on too heavy a cheese in warm weather, or have a cheese that appears to be melting on your serving tray right before your eyes.

The solution is as easy as taking cheese out of its package. And, in this case, I’m offering a suggestion for serving an artesian handcrafted and slightly aged goat cheese. A distinct goat cheese, called Coupole. It is easily cut into wedges, making it an ideal way to serve in warmer and more humid weather.  

The Coupole is a fresh, young goat's milk cheese shaped like a small dome and lightly dusted with vegetable ash. It hails from the ambitious new Loire-Valley-style production facility at Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery which has been pioneering innovative dairy products for over 25 years. Their fresh chèvres, spreads, butters and fermented creams can be found in chef's kitchens across the country. As the Coupole ages, a slightly wrinkled skin develops, and the paste softens. This creamy, delightful goat's milk cheese is a wonderful addition to America's dairy products. One piece weighs approximately 8 ounces.

Goat cheese is an ideal lead-in to most summer foods which are on the lighter side and also pairs well served along side grilled fruit, grilled vegetables and grilled fish.   

Serve with quartered fresh figs and spiced nuts, or drizzled with honey for dessert. You may also go Genoa style by topping it with a freshly made pesto. If you really want to gild the lily, top with pesto & honey; a serving suggestion that was served to me from the master himself, Val Manning of Manning’s Food Emporium in Ballylickey, West Cork, Ireland.

Serve with summer beverages; lagers to wines such as sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, or rose.

 image credit: Vermont Creamery

British Blue

Flying for some can be challenging; dealing with airline delays, seasonal crowds and adjusting to time changes. So let's look at it with the upside of travel perspective. I Focus on the local foods that will greet me upon my arrival. Specialty foods are always at their best where they are locally produced. Here is one great example of a local cheese that pairs well with the upside of traveling to the U.K - Stilton cheese.

The Skinny on Stilton:

- Stilton Cheese is produced only in the three Counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

- Must be made from locally produced milk that has been pasteurized before use

- Can only be made in a cylindrical shape

- Must be allowed to form its own coat or crust; must never be pressed  

- Must have the magical blue veins radiating from the centre of the cheese

- It takes 136 pints milk to make one 17 lb Stilton cheese

Tip: Best to take Stilton out of the fridge up to 2 hours before serving, to reach room temperature of at least 68 degrees F.

Think of Stilton beyond appetizers, salads and main courses. Stilton makes a perfect finish to spring and summer menus for dessert.

Serve crumbled Stilton with ladyfingers on top of sweet strawberries or figs. Add a few spiced nuts and drizzle a few drops of well-aged balsamic vinegar on top for a unique dessert finale. 

Sweet dessert wines go especially well with Stilton; such as Port or a full-bodied robust red.

Coulommiers Rouzaire

You know I like to pass along good stuff when I come across it. Today's topic, the ever important wedge of soft cheese - that you don't need to hold on to your hat, when buying, this quality of product.

Fromagerie Rouzairein, is a third generation cheese factory owned by the Rouzaire family. The factory is located less than one hour from Paris center, in the heart of the Seine et Marne, the Île-de-France region. 

Old Ourcq canal dockside in Meaux, France, image; LundeuxMeaux medieval passage

Coulommiers, made from cows milk, is considered a member of the Brie family made in Meaux, aka the "land of Brie," about 40 miles east of Paris. It is smaller and thicker than the more typical Brie-style cheeses, and some say that Coulommiers is the predecessor of Brie. 

Coulommiers' hand molded artisanal cheese is described as "the color of fresh churned butter with a supple paste and well-developed rind with a hint of hazelnut." 

The famous Brie de Meaux, crowned "king of cheeses" at the 1815 Congress of Vienna, has a Label of Controlled Origin. It is a distinctively soft cheese, encased in a covering of white skin, scattered with reddish pigments, with a light hazelnut taste

Coulommiers is delightful on crackers, spread on a baguette and pairs well with with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, or even Merlot.

Available at fine specialty shops and artisianalcheese.com

Don't Cry For Me Sardo

Having a good stock of cheese in my fridge is one of those things that's very important to me. It goes hand in hand with having good bread and wine at the ready. Today - I have a good cheese find for you, I found it at my local Citarella Market and it's of Argentine origin, called Sardo. Sardo is similar to the familiar Pecorino Romano, but milder, a bit salty and made from cow's milk rather than sheep's milk. It is wonderful to see cheeses imported from Argentina gaining in popularity; I have been a long time fan of Argentine wines such as Malbec. 

Sardo is delicious grated on pastas or risotto. To get you inspired for a quick weekday dinner, with or without the Malbec - enjoy my recipe.

Eggplant And Rigatoni 
Makes 4 servings

From George Hirsch Living it UP! TV series
chefgeorgehirsch.com

1 pound rigatoni pasta, cooked
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups eggplant, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
6 plum tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup pitted calamata olives, chopped
1/2 cup white whine
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon each: dried basil, oregano, thyme, hot pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons pine nuts, toasted in a sauté pan or oven
2 Tablespoons fresh basil
Parmesan or Sardo cheese to taste and fresh black pepper

Preheat a large nonstick saucepan.  

Add half the olive oil; then eggplant, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and bell pepper. Cook 5-10 minutes or until light brown.  

Add the wine, chicken broth, olives, dried basil, oregano, thyme and hot sauce. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes; mix in the cooked rigatoni. Top with remaining olive oil.

Top with fresh basil, toasted pine nuts and grated cheese.