Kath, thanks for the recipe. i agree simplicity is king, but! one must procure the freshest and finest ingridients if one chooses the easy way out.
generally, anything involving food processor is off my radar right away. i'm used to the old fashioned tools (hands and knives) and even make my own bread crumbs by hand. the problem with food processor is in the blade. metallic blades heat up and raise the temperature of your ingridients, changing the way the final product tastes. mayonese, pesto, simple salsas, all are better when prepared by hand and with as little contact with metal as possible.
here is how i make it,
take few slices of rustic bread (levain), cover each slice with two slices of aged goat cheese(log shape), place under the grill for few minutes.
for the dressing comnbine half&half with Dijon, some Sherry vinegar and some walnut or hazelnut oil, whisk and season.
for the salad i usually choose what's the freshest, but my favorite right now is mixed lettuces. drizzle the dressing over your greens, place the grilled bread&cheese on top and sprinkle with chives.

who needs a food processor? especially when energy is in high demand. just remember every time you turn your small appliance you're supporting...oops, wrong venue.
cheerios, Kath.

p.s. i'm going to keep my mesclun comments for future use in MTH.

Did I really write that -

Of course I meant mesclun - (through truthfully I use arugula instead - but tried to copy the recipe from the book.)

However I agree the consequences of my original
post might be a little more "experimental" dudes

Once more - I know it doesn't sound like much - with only two ingredients - but trust me it is
superb -

Grunhauser - going to try your rustic bread tonight - but I am curious now - phillistine that I seem to be - just what DO you use to beat your eggs. Please try to keep it clean.

Kath

a wooden fork.

Awesome - good for you - I am a huge fan of this kind of thinking - so will try it your way and tell you if I think there is a difference.
Kath

i had nine cheeses for cheese course last night. the look my wife gave me...

i'm gonna have to scale down somewhat.

what were they?

I bought an Epoisses today. Now what to pair it with....

Just one more sip.

not in alphabetical order:
Tetilla(oh, mama)
Morbier
Cabecou de Rocamadour
Camembert ( de Chateilan)
Valencay
Perail
Brebis de something
Vacherin
and a Tomme de Savoie

not ...........................

sorry, had to attend an emergency kitchen session, i completely forgot about the lamb tongues i bought yesterday and my wife gently reminded me about it...
ouch!
in go the mirepoix, wine, water, bay leaf, peppercorns and sea salt. tomorrow - lamb tongues and roasted beets salad.
any wine suggestions?

quote:

---

Originally posted by grunhauser:
..... i completely forgot about the lamb tongues i bought yesterday and my wife gently reminded me about it...ouch!
in go the mirepoix, wine, water, bay leaf, peppercorns and sea salt. tomorrow - lamb tongues and roasted beets salad.
any wine suggestions?

---

Sure;
'02 EURODOON Domaine des Blagueurs Syrah-Sirrah

Hey, I'm not saying, I'm just saying .....

Mr.B,
something white, regional( need i say it, i don't think so) and nothing too fancy(Pouilly or Montagny). the cheese will be doing the talking.
got any Marc?

My 3 favs:

Pecorino
Manchego
Parm. Regianno

all paired with a nice Riesling

try Campo de Montalban with white Rioja.

We had the Epoisses with a 1988 Beaucastel tonight. Great pairing.

Just one more sip.

once again...the rules are there for breaking

This was the "Wine / Cheese" table


'00 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Reserve
w/ brie de meaux

'03 Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc Stellenbosch
w/ fresh goat cheese

'02 Antinori Orvieto Classico Superiore Castello della Sala
w/ young pecorino

'02 Chateau Souverain Chardonnay Sonoma County
w/ gruyere

'01 Isenhower Syrah Columbia Valley Wild Alfalfa
w/ aged cheddar

'01 Marchesi di Barolo Barbera d'Alba Ruvei
w/ brin d'amore

'01 Bonny Doon Muscat California Vin de Glacière
w/ roquefort

##
- no politics

creating buffer zone.

...it took me a moment, but thanks for the protection, grun! ...and scrolling up, I see you've done it twice now!

in the past two weeks i was lucky to obtain some really nice quesos from Spain and a really fresh Clochette from Haut Poitou.

Clochette was in an ideal stage, very fresh, soft, mild and creamy. we had '01 Domaine Dozon Chinon with it. this was yesterday.

and last week, i went on a spanish cheese buying spree and ended up with few fine examples: Murcia al Vino (known as Drunken Goat Cheese in US), Idiazabal, Tetilla, Manchego and out of this world Penamellera from the caves of Asturia.
the thing i like the most about spanish cheeses(besides the way they taste) is their ability to complement a wide variety of adult beverages, from beer to cider to wine...but where can i find spanish cider in the States? it's not a problem in EU, but out here we don't see it at all. french cider is available, and i love it and drink it regularly. it's great for cooking also. i make this really cool cider/creme fraiche and mussels gratin type of dish that leaves people speechless.
anyway, just sharing. cheerios, muchachos and muchachas!

if you are into blue veines, this is a must. not sharp and acidic, as some bleu cheeses are, this cheese is so disarmingly pleasant, we and could not stop eating it and finished the wedge with quite impressive speed.
i drizzled it with local honey and ate it with a glass of '96 Tirecul Graviere Monbazillac... it wasn't bad.

At a wine dinner last night, we had an outstanding Rocastin. It's going to be served here with some regularity. It's a creamy cheese that pairs extremely well with Cabernet and Cabernet-based wines.

Just one more sip.

try Syrah with it.

i'm making fennel soup tonight with grilled slice of italian batard rubbed with garlic and a good slice of ricotta salata on top of it. i will be eating in approximately 3 hours and 13 minutes.

"approximately..." LOL, grun!

Cheers!

grunhauser:
In your cheese shop, are the cashiers required to wear the anti-Israel shirt?
Anyway, we get much of our cheese from Whole Foods. Have you ever had "Doux de Montagne"? From the Pyrenees, I think. (My spelling looks poor).

Another of my favorites is a dessert cheese called Wensleydale, sometimes coming with cranberries, and sometimes with peach or apricot. There is a cheese store in New Hope, PA which has a fantastic Wensleydale.

Irwin

"Life is short....start with the dessert."

hi, buddy!
no, they are not required to wear them...not yet.

the chocolate/candy department voted to ban all israeli products in their section and since i haven't seen israeli feta in the cheese department for awhile, Hamas supporters may have infiltrated that part of the store as well. what a bunch of numbwits.

i have tried Doux de Montagne before, it's quite good. cheerios!

Now that's a nice and cheesy thread. Refreshing too! I smell the goodness through the cyberspace...

Anyway, I got screwed with tetilla yesterday - no queso delivery till wednesday.
And so...I go to another shop today, the famous Rainbow co-op, and as i approach the cheese counter and start poking through cheeses with my claws, i overhear a conversation...

"I bought a cheese here not too long ago, it was soft, very runny, and very pungent. I think it was french", the lady customer says.
"Oh, that was Mont d'Or, and I'm affraif the news are not good - we are not going to be getting it anymore", says the cheese girl.
"Why not? It was such a good cheese, we just ate with our spoons, it was so good...blah-blah-blah", says customer.
"We are not going to sell it because of ...(i'm not making this up, i swear) the Bush administartion and the Patriot Act. With all the new enforcements, unpasterized cheeses just end up rotting away in quarantine for months and we are paying the price for the stupidity of our government."

I was gonna open my mouth and tell the lady she was being bamboozled by this commie cheesemonger, and that whole unpasterized bs was just that - bs, and that there were several raw cheeses on the shelf right behind us (i know, i go there 2-3 times a week). I also wanted to tell her she could order herself a nice batch of raw milk goodness from the www.fromages.com, but...she says:"Yes, I was listening to Air America on the way here and...blah-blah-blah, blah-blah-blah-blah..." Forget it, lady, you're on your own. I don't know, people here.... are very special.

So, I just look at them in awe for a second, pick up my Gaperon au lait entier and walk away.

p.s. Gaperon tasting note: cow's cheese from Auvergne, one of the most beautiful places in France, with lots of green pastures and most gorgeous cows I've ever seen. The cheese is semi-soft with rude aromas of salami and green grass, texture is very agreable and very spreadable. Reenforced by garlic and fresh pepper, this bad boy is really good with medium body red wine.