Cheese

English Cheddar Cornbread

November 30, 2009 by Charles 4 Comments

In addition to cranberry sauce, cornbread and turkey just seem like one of those perfect pairings.

Cornbread is a so-called quick bread, because it doesn’t contain yeast, and doesn’t require any rising or kneading. These traits make it perfect for Thanksgiving, when the number of dishes and burners going at once can be overwhelming. Beyond being quick and easy to prepare, its hearty, yet uncomplicated – requiring basic pantry staples.

Another advantage to cornbread is its adaptability. Cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt are a given, but beyond that, …

Blue Cheese Souffle

November 9, 2009 by Charles 3 Comments

No one would ever accuse blue cheese of being timid.

With its blue veins and pungent smell, blue cheese is not hiding from anyone. And yet, for centuries, it was. That is, blue cheese developed when farmers left the cheese in damp and cold caves, letting the bluish-green mold create the distinctive flavor we now know.

This soufflé was not intuitive. When I first unwrapped the Roquefort, half of me wanted to return the cheese to that far-off cave. But somehow,…

Croque Norvegien

May 31, 2009 by Charles 2 Comments

If you’ve ever been in a Parisian café, you’ve seen Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle at work. In this environment, waiters move about like errant electrons, brushing past you with little care for their momentum, their movements, or their duties. To a stationary observer, it is impossible to know both the location of a server and the speed at which he is ignoring you.

The croque-monsieur made its debut in 1910, in a café on the Boulevard des Capucines. The origins of the name are unknown, but I suspect the etymology is quintessentially French. An exasperated Frenchman …

Three-Cheese Suppli al Telefono

April 19, 2009 by Charles 3 Comments

I wasn’t quite sure what to name this dish.

After making my three-cheese risotto, I ended up with several servings of left-over, cold risotto. Cold risotto, it turns out, is perfect for making fried risotto balls, alternately known as suppli or arancini.

Suppli is short for “Suppli al Telefono,” which translates as “telephone wires.” Traditional suppli is fried risotto that has been stuffed with mozzarella cheese. The idea, of course, is that biting into a good suppli produces a low-hanging mozzarella string, reminiscent of telephone wires.

Arancini is Italian for “little orange,” because …

Three-Cheese Risotto

April 15, 2009 by Charles 4 Comments

Having a food blog doesn’t stop me from asking silly food questions.

On a recent trip to the grocery store, I could not find the risotto. After several minutes of scrounging around the different rice and grain shelves, I decided to solicit help. As I explained to the store clerk, I was making three-cheese risotto, and all that was left on my list was what the recipe referred to as “risotto rice.” He kindly pointed me to arborio rice.

Risotto, I learned, does not refer to an ingredient, but rather to a dish.

The key to risotto…