Caseus, a shop, a book, a give-away

Caseus means home. Ok, not really, it's Latin for cheese. But the book, Caseus Fromagerie Bistro Cookbook: Every Cheese Has a Story, strikes a balance and feels like home, weird uncle included.

I am totally biased. The author is a friend, and I helped test many of the recipes that don the pages, but you should keep reading because it's that good. There is a warmth and familiarity - the photos feel like you are thumbing through an old Time Life book, and are juxtaposed recipes that talk at and with you. (There are several fonts used throughout, one for the recipes, and others for tips, techniques, and stories.) So old-timey photography - check. Conversational writing - check. Oh and then there is the mildly lewd opening quote referencing a copy of Playboy. Weird uncle - check.

Caseus is filled with too many contradictions. It shouldn't work, but it does. There is a blending of family, friends, co-workers, personal favorites, restaurant classics, side-stories, gourmet and high-end ingredients peppered throughout comfort foods. On my second visit to the restaurant and cheese shop I saw t-shirt-and-jeans lunch goers enjoying an amazing grilled cheese, next to a couple in 3-piece suits celebrating with a bottle of very nice champagne. It shouldn't work, but it does, and Jason has done a pretty astounding job of capturing it, with humor, throughout 160 pages.

Mac n Cheese

Beef and Veal Stock - yes, the bovine are swimming

These staff and family profiles one of my favorite parts

Casoulette - this shot reminds me of 2008's fall bacon club

Really beautiful watercolors

A close up of the back wall in the cheese shop, covered with cheese stickers

Are you intrigued? Is your mouth watering? Do you want a copy... for free?!

Here are the rules. Follow them, and you are on your way to winning a copy of your own.

Book give-away rules:
-post a comment and tell me what your favorite cheese is
-one entry per person
-entries must be received before 10am on Friday, March 23
*Gluten-free special - if you win, I will convert 3 gluten-filled recipes of your choice, into gluten-free recipes

Restaurant week

My feelings have not wavered since I wrote about Restaurant Week. I have zero desire to go out in the middle of a week-long disaster of epic gustatory proportions. Recently recovering from food poisoning only adds fuel to my fury.

St. Patty's Day recipe round-up

St. Patrick's Day is one of my all time favorite holidays. I get to eat some of my favorite foods! (I am still holding out for a decent beer to round things up to a perfect meal.) Slightly sweet quick bread, garlic-y veggies and corned beef... it's food made to be shared. (There is no such thing as boiled dinner for one. Though if you are in a pinch, I did have a pretty decent version at Solas, in the Lenox hotel. They topped the cabbage, carrots, potatoes, turnips and beef, with a parsley butter. Traditional, no, but delicious - YES!)

If the mood strikes you, I present to you the choose-your-own-adventure, and difficulty level, recipes. Soda bread - easy. Corned Beef & Cabbage - medium. Brining your own beef from scratch - medium but time consuming and worth it!

Corned Beef & Cabbage (aka boiled dinner)

 Irish Soda Bread

Corned Beef (literally corning or pickling of the beef) recipe

What are some of your favorite March 17th traditions?

kale chips

I did not want to make them. Kale chips seem like the "hip new health food", and I admit that I am the type of person who baulks a bit at food trends. (I dislike cupcakes and 2008 did not change my mind.)

It took seeing a small 2oz package of kale chips for over $6 to break me. I got a pound of kale, went home, used the googler, and made a batch myself.

All the recipes seemed too simple. Wash kale. Remove stem. Toss with olive oil and salt. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

I was wrong. Really wrong. THESE ARE AWESOME!!
They have the crisp-ness and salt of a potato chip, but are more interesting and super thin. They almost shatter in your mouth (in a good way). They are so addictive I nearly polished off the entire batch!

Urfa pepper

It might be time, but I will never admit I have a problem. I collect dried herbs and spices. I sort of find unexplained joy and pleasure in trying a new one for the first time. There is a thrill to seeing something for the first time, mentally playing with what it might smell and taste like. Then there is the joy of trying to sniff the item through the packaging, without looking completely ridiculous (if you have figured this out, please share, I fail even when sniffing coffee). The whole way home I get to hem and haw about what this product MIGHT taste like, and what it might play well with in the kitchen.  

When I saw urfa pepper in the Armenian market in Watertown, MA I grabbed a bag and let out an audible "oooooh".

Here pictured next to a bag of alleppo pepper. (I couldn't resist them either, especially when I saw how oily the bright red flecks were)

The peppers are dried and sweated in the sun. The flavor is somewhat similar to an ancho; they are smokey and raisin-like, but urfas have an earthier quality, deeper smokey flavor that is less hot and less sweet. I love using it on roasted root vegetables and meat. It might be my new favor chile.

Gin for the win

After more than 2 weeks, the juniper infused vodka looked like this:

I am affectionately calling this the "boba" faze.
I sniffed the brew, and the STRONG, sharp smell of Christmas has dissipated from last week, so I decided it was officially done.

I strained the berries out, and combined the final product with a small amount of the original herbal "gin" to help balance it. Final product: 1.5 cups juniper infused vodka + 0.25 cup spice infused vodka = GIN!

No someone who likes gin please come taste it, because to me, it still tastes like licking the sap of a Christmas tree.

Gluten-free pumpernickel, almost there

This is my fourth attempt at gluten-free pumpernickel; its still not quite right. The last time the flavor was spot on, but it was too moist. This time, its a little bit dry. The inevitable Goldie Locks solution cannot be far away.

The first time I saw teff flour, I was pretty insistent that it looked like rye. My first go at fauxpernickel, I learned the major difference between the two - teff is partially fermented. My first loaf smelled like gym socks while dough and tasted quite sour when baked. Try #2 was a bit better. I cut the amount of teff down, to less than half the total flour content, which decreased the sourness, but also made it taste more like a generic loaf of multigrain bread, than pumpernickel. Try #3 was greatly improved by the addition of golden raisins and more teff, but the middle was "soggy-ish" and required toasting for it hold up to even a smidgen of butter to be run across its beautiful crumb.

Try #3 - too wet
2 1/2 cups preferment
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup teff
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp psyllim hush
2 tbsp flax seed meal
1 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp water - to loosen the batter

(The wed dough looked like chocolate pudding, but is the consistency of soft frosting.)
**
The best thing I learned from Try #3, was the addition of psyllium husks to the batter, in addition to the flax seed meal.  (Psyllium husks are the same ingredient in Metamucil, and if you have ever left a glass of that on your counter, you know their power to turn water into slimy sludge. Sounds gross, but totally helpful in binding together gluten-free flours.)

I also discovered that allowing the pre-ferment to go for more than 2 days, allowed time for the yeast flavors to develop beyond gym-sock-sour.

Here you can see the baked loaf. About half teff flour, plus a mix of millet, rice, potato starch, tapioca starch and arrowroot starch. It is dotted with golden raisins and sunflower seeds. The crumb is pretty even. The taste is on-point. The only problem - the texture. There is no push/give when one bites into it; it sort of crumbles. I think I might go back to adding an egg, or some oil (both I omitted in this batch). Other suggestions?

Gluten-free a waste?

This morning's most emailed article on boston.com is "Are gluten-free products a waste for those without celiac disease?". The question is obviously leading, but there is a poll at the bottom of the piece, and I am looking forward to seeing more of the results. (Also some of the comments are pretty hilarious)

BLT salad

This weekend I was in the midst of all the ingredients for a BLT sandwich, minus the bread. Thus, I present to you, the BLT salad.

This is how we do it
-wash and chop lettuce
-chop tomatoes
-very thinly slice red onion, and soak in ice water (removes some of the intensity)
-cook bacon, then rip or chop it
-dressing: 2 parts mayo + 1 part apple cider vinegar + a few grinds of black pepper

Assemble and enjoy.

Possible improvements: sliced avocado, corn chips, gf pita bread

Purple sweet potato

I have been eyeing these guys at the Asian food store for a while. They are labeled as PURPLE SWEET POTATO, and are twice the price of "regular" sweet potatoes (you can see one in the background), so I was staved off for a while. I finally broke down and purchased one.

Ok, hello awesome colored flesh!

I decided to roast them with sweet potato, kohlrabi, and carrots with a pinch of salt and oil. Side-by-side, the purple sweet potato was noticeably more earthy, slightly less sweet, and a bit drier, than the standard white-fleshed version. I really really really like them. I served them up with some homemade chana masala and some store bought saag paneer. My dinner ruled.