I bought cheese in the park

Just call me the omelette-master (mistress?): I have figured out how to make a one-egg omelette, which is perfect as a second course for breakfast. My latest favourite filling (as seen above) is garlic-sauteed organic rainbow chard and fresh feta from Monforte Dairy, both of which I bought at the Trinity Bellwoods' farmers' market on Tuesday afternoon.

There's something fun about buying cheese in a park direct from the cheesemaker. But the Monforte Dairy cheese is no novelty: it's delicious. The feta I bought for $5 (which I later saw in a store for $8.99) is the best I've had this summer.

As you may remember, I was trying to track down Monforte's Halloumi earlier this summer but had no luck. Next week, though, the cheesemaker (who also tried to sell me on the merits of an unlabelled smoked cheese that I thought might be Halloumi) has promised to bring some to the market. If it's as good as the feta, that would be excellent...

What's Your Desert Island Cheese?

About two weeks ago, in his Toronto Life blog review of C5, one of the new restaurants in the newly "crystallized" Royal Ontario Museum, food critic James Chatto mentioned that his favourite cheese is mimolette:

I was sitting in the ROM’s new restaurant, C5, late last week, when the mimolette question arose yet again. Properly aged mimolette is one of my absolute favourite cheeses. A whole one looks like a beaten-up stone cannonball until you prize it open. Inside, the paste is dark orange and so firm that it’s better to dig out fragments with a wedge than try to cut it with a knife. The flavour is bizarrely rich, like aged gouda only much more so—like hazelnuts and caramel and condensed milk and salt—incredibly delicious and with a finish as long and intense as Göttedamarung. I think it would be my desert island cheese. Indeed, I have always imagined this was the cheese that Ben Gunn fantasized about and begged for after his sad marooning.

Which makes me wonder, what's your desert island cheese?* Post your preference in the comments and I'll try to figure out what mine is...

*provided, of course, that your island came with a way of keeping the cheese from melting...

Two Little Bits o' Cheese

Two recommendations from my co-worker J.G. in Vancouver that I will have to track down:

Ok, the name of the cheese at my dinner party was “Fleur D’Aunis”- I’m not sure how widely available it is but it was delicious. It had a strong smell to me but the taste was smooth, creamy and a little nutty.
The other one you need to try when you are out west is San Pareil from Little Qualicum cheeseworks on the Island. A. brought some in last week. It is sharp like a cheddar but soft.

Also, while I keep promising to make a pilgrimage to Toronto's infamous Cheese Boutique, I haven't yet. However, one of the bloggers over at Taste TO did recently and you can read her report here.