Goats are Great

If A. and I ever start a farm on the outskirts of Ottawa (as conceptualized while driving around Nova Scotia a few weeks ago), I told her that I want to have goats, in part because I would like to learn to make goat cheese. Over the course of this year, I have found it to be reliably good as you may have gathered by reading the many posts I've made about the stuff (particularly during my summer salad days).

The latest one to cross my plate comes from the good folks at Alexis de Portneuf: Paillot de chevre is a soft surface-ripened cheese whose name comes from the straw that's used traditionally in the transport of goat cheese.

I've tried two of this fromagerie's products in the summer—Do Re Mi, their halloumi, and Capriny, one of their chevres—but didn't write about them, though both were good. However, I am frequently seduced by Alexis de Portneuf's labels at the grocery store: have a peek at the website and see how lovely they are (and award-winning it turns out).

Anyway, I bought the mini-round of Paillot for $5.77 at Whole Foods after trying a most delicious cheese that was out of my price range. Even though the cheaper cheese was not the same, it still hit a couple of the same notes:

• Creamy
  
• Strong-flavoured
• Somewhat stinky
  

Much of the flavour of this cheese is in the rind (remember it's "surface-ripened") and that flavour totally recalls blue cheese (which is why B. didn't really like it when I gave him some to try) but slightly more sour (the website uses the word "acidulous"). In any case, it pairs nicely with rye crackers (followed maybe by a bit of jam or fruit paste) and the cheesemakers recommend eating it with Saumur red wine ("Saumur Champigny are among the best red wines in the Loire Valley").

100-mile Cheese

On the website of the Toronto-based cheese educators Cheese Culture, I found an entire newsletter article devoted to Toronto's 100-mile cheeses. You can download the newsletter and read it yourself, but here are some interesting nuggets of information I learned from it about cheddar and the names of a number of local cheesemakers (a number of which are new to me!):

LOCAL CHEDDAR

• "In 1903 there were 3000 cheddar makers throughout Quebec and Ontario... Most of these producers closed or were bought out as cow milk cheese operations mega-sized during ensuing years."
  
• "The unfortunate thing about cow dairying is that with the exception of on-farm processors (none currently making cheddar in Ontario), milk comes from pooled sources, and in some cases has traveled quite a distance to arrive at the cheese maker. This mixed and unidentifiable provenance frustrates localists, cheese makers, environmentalists, and raw-milk cheese advocates alike."
• Toronto's 100-mile cheddar: Pine River Cheese (Kincardine)
• Under 150 miles: Black River Cheese Company (Prince Edward County), Jensen Cheese (Simcoe), and Maple Dale (Plainfield)
  

Other 100-mile cheesemakers mentioned in the article:

• Paron Cheese (Hannon) for Montasio (and other Italian-style cheese)
  
• International Cheese (Toronto) for pizza cheeses
• Portuguese Canadian Cheese [PDF] (Etobicoke) for cow and goat's milk cheeses named after individual Azores islands
• Monforte Dairy (Millbank) and Ewenity Dairy Co-op (Conn) for sheep's milk cheeses
• C’est Bon Cheese (St. Mary’s) and Woolwich Dairy (Orangeville) for goat's milk cheeses

More 100-mile cheese options for Torontonians
(based on my own research):

• Salerno Dairy (Hamilton) for Italian-style cheeses
• Mornington Heritage Cheese (Millbank) and River's Edge Goat Dairy (Arthur) for goat's milk cheeses
• Upper Canada Cheese Company (Jordan Station) for single-herd cow's milk cheese
  
• Under 150 miles: Ivanhoe Cheese (Ivanhoe), Empire Cheese and Butter Cooperative (Campbellford), Eldorado Golden Cheese Company (Eldorado), Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company (Picton),
  

Omeleterrific

Spinach Omelet for One (avec tomates)

Mark Bittman, aka the NY Times Minimalist, taught me to make a decent omelet. Previously, my attempts would end up scrambled but reading his recipe for "Spinach Omelet for One" in an older cookbook of his I have out from the library taught me a few things:

1. Use a good non-stick pan
2. Lightly beat the eggs (2 of them or 2 whites + 1 yolk)
   
3. Medium-high heat
4. Melt some butter in the pan
5. "When butter stops foaming and just begins to color, pour in the eggs"
6. Once the edges of the omelet begin to set, add the filling*; spreading it mostly down the middle of the egg
7. When the bottom is browned, you're ready to fold the omelet
8. a) If you're talented and brave, follow Bittman's cookbook directions for doing this without using your hands; b) Or, if you're not (like me), use a spatula and your fingers to fold the omelet in half to seal in the filling.
   
9. Cook for a little bit longer, then gently slide the omelet out of the pan and onto a plate
10. Eat immediately
    

* Steam spinach separately in advance for the filling (and toss with a bit of nutmeg according to Bittman) and sprinkle with goat cheese (according to me)

My fridge is all fromage & fruit

Went raspberry-picking at Spring View Farms in the hamlet of Leaskdale yesterday afternoon with B. Very cute "chemical-free" farm about 80km north of Toronto that does U-Pick strawberries, blackcurrants, and raspberries. (I'd tried to go there two weeks ago with S.W. and M. for strawberries but they were sold out so had to pick at Twinkle Berry Farm down the road.) We didn't have much time for picking because we only had a car co-op Yaris until 5:30pm and we didn't get to the farm until almost 3pm but we still picked 9 pints! And the berries are delicious. After I returned the car (and broke my cellphone by dropping it!), I walked up to look at a room for rent near Dupont & Christie, along the way picking up the cherries, strawberries, and blueberries I'd left in the fridge at work on Thursday.

The room for rent was cute and little red house on Clinton had potential (lots of room, cheap rent, a designated "sewing room", backyard, basement with laundry...) but it didn't feel quite right for me. However, it was just a two-minute walk away from one of my favourite Toronto supermarkets: Fiesta Farms (which, if you remember, is the place I spent nearly $75 as a pre-birthday present to myself) . This store is a sort of Italian/organic grocery-store heaven: they have an entire aisle devoted to pasta & sauce, their selection of olive oils and balsamic vinegars is amazing, they have great produce, tonnes of reasonably priced organic "staples," and a not-bad selection of cheese. So, not only do I have a tonne of fruit in my fridge, I also have 3 new kinds of cheese to taste this weekend:

• Saint Morgon: a soft ripened cheese from Choisy Le Roi, France (website in Norwegian)
  
  
• Capriny: a soft unripened goat's milk cheese from Saint-Raymond de Portneuf, Quebec
  
  
• Doré-Mi: a semi-soft unripened cheese from Montreal, Quebec*

* labelled as "The Perfect Cheese to Grill," which means I will be calling up B. (once I have a phone again) and asking if we can grill it on her rooftop-deck BBQ...

Cheeses I Have Eaten This Summer

Some highlights from the first half of the summer...

Fig & Feta Salad:

Probably with pecans and pears
Maple Cheddar:
231-kilometre cheese

Maple Cheddar (closeup):
you can see the crumbly texture

Gluten-free Cheese & Tomato-filled Crepes:
Made with organic quinoa flour

Gluten-Free Crepes (interior):
I think that's Black River X-tra Old Cheddar
Black River Extra Old Cheddar:
Very sharp, almost tangy flavour

Asparagus & Red Pepper Crustless Quiche (pre-cooked):
With goat cheese, naturellement

The Cheapest Goat's Milk Cheese at my No Frills:
My #3 Choice for Chevre

The Most Local Goat's Milk Cheese at my No Frills:
My #2 choice for Chevre

The Not-Local & Most-Expensive Goat's Milk Cheese at my No Frills:
My #1 choice for Chevre (it's the best tasting!)

"Grilled" Cheese

I was introduced to the concept of barbecued cheese by K. in Montreal two summers ago. She used to host wonderful weekly all-comers' barbecues and if you were a vegetarian who arrived early enough there might be some grilled halloumi up for grabs before the grill became dominated by meat. Halloumi is Cypriot in origin and is typically made with sheep's milk or goat's milk (or a blend). It's similar to mozzarella but chewier and usually saltier. Halloumi can be fried or grilled quite successfully due to its higher-than-normal melting point (according to Wikipedia, this from "the fresh curd being heated before being shaped and placed in brine"). When I found out that the place I was going to be housesitting for a couple weeks had a BBQ, I decided that I had to track down some halloumi of my own and invite some friends over to try it...

THE BARBECUED CHEESE EXPERIMENT

Hypothesis: That halloomi grilled on the barbecue will be delicious

Procedure:

1. Ride your bike to several high-end food stores looking for the Ontario halloumi you read about recently, which its makers tout as being "the only 100% sheep’s milk Halloumi made in Canada."

2. Strike out at Pusateri's, All the Best Fine Foods, and Whole Foods but sample several delicious cheeses during the (re)search -- including David Wood's Salt Spring Island goat cheese that certain Toronto foodies are excited about since it hit stores recently.

3. Forty-five minutes before guests are to arrive, fly into your last-chance grocery store. Luck out: not only does Loblaws have President's Choice "Halloom" in stock but it's on sale for $4.99. Grab two packages.

4. Back at home, set up barbecue and wait for B. to arrive because she has previous cheese-barbecuing experience (and also the matches needed to light the barbecue). Distract guests with sweet-potato hummous and potato salad while awaiting B's arrival.

5. On advice of B, have W. cut cheese into slices and soak in olive oil. Appoint another friend to quarter lemons (so that they can be squeezed over hot cheese).

6. Try grilling cheese directly on the BBQ, which is only moderately successful (let's just say, it sticks) but friends still say it's delicious when they try it.

7. Decide that B. was right: it might be better to just pan fry the cheese so scavenge around until you find a cast-iron frying pan (it's still barbecuing even if you use a pan).

8. Figure out that the pan works pretty well (but still some sticking) and that putting lots of oil in the pan makes it even better.

9. Serve cheese to everyone present and conclude that hypothesis was correct: the halloumi is delicious...

YUM!

10. Plan to repeat experiment to doublecheck findings.

For another story of barbecuing halloumi (with prettier pictures), check out 101 Cookbooks.

Note: Halloumi is Cypriot but the Greeks also do a version of fried cheese: it's called Saganaki and typically uses Kefalograviera, Kasseri, or sheep's milk feta.

The best salad - as it's meant to look

With chèvre!

The best salad

I've been eating the BEST salad for almost a week now. There have been multiple variations but the dressing has been the same and I think that's what makes it so good. That and the chevre (aka, Cheese No. 18). I created the dressing by loosely adapting a recipe in the Rebar cookbook that uses olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey (it's for a salad with nectarines). There may have been some other ingredients but I don't remember them now and (stupidly) I didn't write down the proportions I used.

I first used the dressing on a salad of mixed greens, pears, pecans and chevre that I served to N., B., and E. when they came over for dinner last Sunday night. Because it was so good, I made myself the same salad for lunch on Wednesday and Thursday. Today, I had no more chevre left so I was forced to used some of my second block of President's Choice Organic cheddar, which I had in the fridge. It wasn't the same, though. The chevre, labelled "Fromage de Chevre" from Choisy le Roi and purchased at my local ultra-budget No Frills, definitely added some deliciousness to the salad. Since there's still leftover dressing, I think I'm going to have to buy some more before I make this salad again...

<< Even though this cheddar is pretty good (and organic!), it's no substitute for chevre in my new favourite salad.

Cheese No. 5

Today's lunch: Goat feta, smoked tofu, Ryvita, Gala apple, bread

Without further delay, allow me to introduce the cheese I have been chipping away at for the last ten days:

Goat Feta (22% M.F.), Woolwich Dairy (Orangeville, ON), $need to check the fridge

Definitely one of the most flavourful cheeses I have tried this year, though I've been mostly eating it "straight" with crackers and bread since the vegetable ingredients needed for greek salad are terribly out of season. As far as fetas go, this one by Canada's leading goat's milk cheese producer (motto: "We've Got Your Goat") is not at all crumbly and has a real strong (tangy?) goat-y taste to it, not too salty either. Also, for strict vegetarians, you'll be happy to learn that it's rennet-free.

However, like Jarlsberg, the history of feta may be more interesting than its taste.

Courtesy of Wikipedia, I learned that feta is one of the oldest cheeses in the world and the traditional way to make this cheese is to use exclusively goat's milk or sheep's milk -- cow's milk feta is viewed as "non-authentic" by purists and Greeks (more on them below). The cheese is formed into blocks which are salted, and, traditionally, served sliced, which is where the cheese gets its name: "fetta" means "slice in Italian.

Of course, being a cheese with European origins, Feta has been embroiled in the whole "regional foodstuffs" debate. So in the same way that Champagne can only be use to describe sparkling wine from a particular region in France, Feta is a protected designation of origin cheese, meaning that, within the European Union, the name "feta" can only be used for the Greek stuff - not that similar stuff made by the Danes (aka, The Cheese Formerly Known as Feta Until We Lost a Lengthy Legal Battle). Apparently in Canada, we only respect PDO names when it comes to wine and spirits, which is why it's okay for the Woolwich Dairy to label their product as "feta."

When I started doing further research, I discovered there's a whole website devoted to the promotion of Greek feta, complete with A CHEESE VIDEOGAME called Feta Invaders. Very cool, even if it is just a marketing tool to get young people more interested in the cheese.

Bonus info: on the Woolwich Dairy website, I learned that the foods that pair nicely with goat cheese are: figs, pears, grapes, and apples, and Pinot Noir should be your wine choice.

PS - I'm actually not doing that bad if we're only 3 weeks into January and I'm already on my fifth cheese of the month.

Cheese Recommendations

"3 types of pecorino and honey" (courtesy Flickr)

Apologies to anyone who thought I would be trying a new type of cheese every day. At the moment, I'm having a hard time just remembering to buy cheese on a biweekly basis. After a year of not eating the stuff, you sort of fall out of the habit of including it on your grocery list and when I have tried to buy cheese recently, I am baffled by all the choices. However, I have been soliciting recommendations from friends and family. Here are some of the suggestions for what I should try, in the hope that by making them public I will eventually get around to trying them all...

• "I recommend tracking down some Saint-Andre, a super-intense brie, and Epoisses, a stinky cheese par excellence. And if you're back on the West coast, check out Saltspring Island Cheese Company's Blue Joliette, which—though it looks disgusting—is surprisingly palatable."
• "One of my favourite cheese treats is to get a few types of pecorino (Pienza, Tuscany makes the best), one old and hard, one medium, and one young and soft. then you get a couple of types of runny honey, slice the pecorino and drizzle honey over them. I like to mix and match the honey and cheese. YUM."
• Applewood Smoked Cheddar
• Gruyere
• "As for cheese: you could always try the stuff we called "pikkeltjes kaas" as kids (roughly translated: "cheese with spots"). It’s also referred to a Leydse kaas (sp?) and is, I think, basically a Gouda with caraway seeds or fennel or some such thing in it. Very yummy. Then there’s always the stalwart Gouda. I remember living with an aunt in Amsterdam and being sent to the "kaas boer" (cheese farmer) at the street market for "jonge belegen" -- a young Gouda. (I’m not too sure what the "belegen" referred to...) Then there’s the old, old cheese with the black wax around the wheel. That one is trés yummy, but also trés expensive (at least, here in Canada)..."
• "Lately... I've been buying goat brie, which has opened up all sorts of possibilities for me. I also bought some fig preserve, which goes really well with the brie - highly recommended!"

Please feel free to post your recommendations in the comments section...