The Summer of Grandchildren

What’s cooking? Ham-Jam Sandwiches and Blueberry-Beaujolais Jam

It must be something in the water or the air, or maybe it’s just the age my friends and I have reached, but the bottom line is an explosion of grandchildren. Just this summer, my cousin and four of my friends have either become new grandmothers or have expanded their collections. Another friend has two of her three children bringing tiny people into the world this fall, and if I include last summer in the accounting, I can add a sister-in-law and three more friends into the club.

To the new Dee-Dees/Memaws/Nonas or whatever they’re calling themselves, I’ve passed along a copy of Anna Quindlen’s recently released book of essays, Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting (Random House 2019). As a writer, Quindlen has long been a favorite of mine, and this collection of inspiring thoughts has not disappointed me.

When that first grandchild arrived, I had only one issue: what will she call me? It will not surprise you that on this subject, I have fairly strong feelings. Many of my friends and family say they’ll let the little darlings come up with something on their own. And many of the resulting monikers are admittedly darling. (My brother’s children called their maternal grandfather “Honey” because that’s what they heard his wife call him.) I imagine that’s how my own grandmothers – “Mamo” and “Gam” – got their nicknames, as mishmashed versions of “Grandmother.”

But I prefer not to leave these things to chance. How do I know it’ll be something I like? And how will their mothers and fathers refer to me with the children if I don’t already have a name? These questions haunted me. It’s probably also the influence of my mother, who, once I became an adult, complained that she was tired of being “Mama,” and said my brother and I should call her something with more flair, like “Mumzy.” Which is what I called her ever after and what my children called her.

So I tested quite a few handles on my own before arriving at “Lita.” It’s short for “abuelita,” which in Spanish is an affectionate term for “grandmother.” Of course, my grandchildren couldn’t pronounce it early – a fact that my husband, who’s in the “whatever” camp, was kind enough to point out – but I was happy to be “Ita” until they could manage the “L.” I suggested they call him “Grumpy,” but he wouldn’t go along.

And now the mints I carry for them in my purse are known as “Lita mints,” and the cookies I send on Halloween, Christmas, etc. are “Lita cookies.” So everyone is happy.

* * *

One of my grandchildren’s favorite lunches is PB&J. And a few adults I know will occasionally indulge themselves in that. Now you can have the grown-up version of PB&J: the Ham-Jam Sandwich.

I spotted it in a recent issue of Food & Wine Magazine, and couldn’t wait to make it. Both the sandwich and the jam are from genius chef Gabriel Rucker, a two-time James Beard Award winner, a 2007 Food & Wine Best New Chef, and co-owner of Le Pigeon, Little Bird Bistro, and Canard in Portland, Oregon.

As in the classic PB&J, this sandwich is a perfect symphony of flavors – the high notes of sweet blueberry jam, the smoky, meaty low notes of the salty prosciutto, and the first two mellowed out with the cool creaminess of the goat cheese/butter combo. A truly sophisticated take on a truly simple treat. And you can play with the combo even more: serve thin slices as hors d’oeuvres, or pile the ingredients on crostini (goat cheese butter on bottom, prosciutto on next, dollop of jam on top).

I’ve included the recipe for the Blueberry-Beaujolais Jam because that’s what Chef Rucker uses; so, of course, that’s what the Kitchen Goddess used. But you can substitute whatever good blueberry jam you like best. I will say that if you aren’t averse to jam-making, this one is outstanding (note the full bottle of wine in the mix). If you don’t want to end up with 7 jars of the stuff, just cut the recipe in half and drink half of the wine.

Chef Rucker designed these sandwiches to be part of a summer picnic. The Kitchen Goddess served them to her prince, with a salad, for a light summer dinner, and he was mighty pleased.

Ham-Jam Sandwiches

Adapted from Chef Gabriel Rucker in Food & Wine, July 2019.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

3 ounces goat cheese, softened
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) of unsalted butter, softened
1 20-inch, good-quality baguette
5-6 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
⅓-½ cup Blueberry-Beaujolais Jam (or any high-quality store-bought blueberry jam)

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the goat cheese and butter until the mixture is smooth. (You can make this mixture earlier in the day, and refrigerate it; but be sure to set it out for at least a half-hour, to bring it to room temperature, before assembling the sandwiches. Alternatively, you can leave it out, covered, for up to 2 hours before serving.)

Slice the bread in half lengthwise, and spread the jam liberally on one side. On the other side, spread the goat cheese butter and drape the ribbons of prosciutto on top. Season with a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper if you like. Fold the baguette halves together and cut into even pieces to serve.

This jam is wonderfully fruity without being overly sweet. The Gamay-based wine adds a bright acidity to the fat, ripe summer blueberries. This sweet-tart jam also makes a fun addition to a cheese and charcuterie board.

Blueberry-Beaujolais Jam

Adapted from Chef Gabriel Rucker in Food & Wine, July 2019.

Yield: Makes 7 cups

Ingredients

1 (750-milliliter) bottle of Beaujolais wine
6 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
8 cups fresh blueberries (about 2½ pounds)
5 tablespoons (or 1 packet) powdered fruit pectin (I used RealFruit Classic Pectin)

Kitchen Goddess note on pectin: Pectin is a substance – a polysaccharide, if you must know, but the KG’s mind is already swimming with this tiny walk past a chemistry book – whose principal use is as a gelling agent, thickening agent, and stabilizer in food. Pears, apples, guavas, quince, plums, gooseberries, and citrus skins contain large amounts of pectin, though in declining levels as the fruit ripens. So if you’re making jam or jelly from any of these fruits, you don’t need to add pectin to get the mixture to gel.


Blueberries, on the other hand, have almost no pectin, so you must add commercial pectin to get your jam to set. (The tiny amount of zest in this recipe won’t do the trick.) Pectin is sold in liquid and powdered form, but they’re not exactly interchangeable, so if you’re making this jam, get some powdered pectin. I bought a plastic tub of it; it also comes in packets that weigh 1.6 ounces if you buy Ball RealFruit, or 1.75 ounces if you buy Sure-Jell. I don’t think the difference in weight can make a real difference in your jam. If you buy the tub, use 5 tablespoons, which is somewhere in between.






Directions

Using a large French oven (mine was a 5-quart Le Creuset) over medium-high heat, bring the wine, sugar, lemon zest, and cardamom to a boil. Maintain a low boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon for about 30 minutes. The mixture should reduce by about half.

Add the blueberries, and return the mixture to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries begin to burst, which will take 5-7 minutes. Stash a saucer or other small plate in your freezer, for testing the jam. Then stir the pectin into the mix and continue to cook, stirring often, for 20-25 minutes, at which point the jam should be thick and syrupy. When you think it’s about done, turn off the heat.

Spoon a teaspoon of jam onto the plate from the freezer and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Gently prod the puddle of jam with your finger. If you can see a sort of wrinkled skin on the puddle, and the jam on the plate seems to be no longer runny, it should be done. If not, return the pot of jam to a boil for a few more minutes.

Once the jam is done, add the lemon juice and move the pan off the burner.

Option 1: If you aren’t planning to preserve the jam, let it cool for about an hour, until it reaches room temperature. Ladle the jam into jars or other airtight containers and chill at least overnight.

Option 2: If you are planning to preserve the jam, don’t bother to let it cool. Just load it into your prepared jars and process it. If you don’t know processing for preserves, check out my link HERE. The best thing about preserving jams and chutneys and jellies and whatever is that they will last for months – well over a year, in fact, without refrigeration. It’s what the Kitchen Goddess gives her friends for Christmas or hostess gifts or just about any occasion.

So-Easy Sides for a Thanksgiving Marathon: Day 1 What’s Cooking? Roasted Cauliflower with Tangy Whipped Cheese Sauce

Every year, the Kitchen Goddess goes a little nuts trying to find new ways to fill your Thanksgiving plate with veggies. And last year, one of my friends pointed out that these ideas don’t actually emerge from the KG’s thought process until rather late in the game – the point at which you’ve already made many of those critical menu decisions, and the KG’s fabulous suggestions only muddy the waters. So this year, I thought I’d start waaay earlier. But you have to walk before you can run, and the word “early” has always been a bit problematic for me. So here we are a full two days before the usual launch point. It’s the best I could do this year.

I did have a focus this time around on dishes that will at least ease the stress level in your kitchen. No elaborate processes or hard-to-find ingredients, no unfamiliar terms, no special garnishes that require a trip to God-knows-where. And each a refreshing take on a veggie that will pique the interest of your Thanksgiving guests.

So without further ado, I present to you a whole cauliflower. Yessiree. You take that sucker, trim the leaves and stem, and roast it whole. But first, you give it a nice warm bath in wine and a bit of flavoring. Whew – you could make a sponge taste good with that bath. Okay, maybe not a sponge. But the cauliflower is tender and perfectly seasoned throughout. The subsequent roasting adds a browning and a bit of flavorful crust.  My skeptical hubby practically inhaled it.

And then there’s the cheese sauce. No cook-ee, no worry. Make the whole thing in a food processor, and drizzle a little olive oil on top. Serve at room temp. (If you don’t have a food processor, you’ll have to wait for tomorrow’s recipe.)

Kitchen Goddess note on cauliflower: Yes, it’s good for you, and a great low-fat, low-carb substitute for rice or potatoes. But did you know it’s also popular with mathematicians for its fractal dimension? (Careful what you’re thinking – the KG is a mathematician.) Uh-huh. That means two things. First, every branch, or “module,” is similar to the entire cauliflower. And then, as modules become more distant from the center, the angle between them is 360º divided by the golden ratio. Aren’t you glad you asked?

Back in the real world, here it is – the first of the Kitchen Goddess’s so-easy sides. It’s adapted from the pages of Food52.com’s Genius Recipes, one of my new go-to sources. To help you have a happy, stress-free Thanksgiving!

Roasted Cauliflower with Tangy Whipped Cheese Sauce

Adapted from Alon Shaya in Food52’s Genius Recipes.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients
For the cauliflower:
1 whole head cauliflower (white, orange, purple, or even a fantastic Romanesco)
6 cups water
2½ cups dry white wine
⅓ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
¼ cup kosher salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper (can substitute crushed red pepper flakes)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 large bay leaf

For the cheese sauce:
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
3 ounces cream cheese
3 ounces crumbled feta cheese
⅓ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
Finely ground salt such as sea salt or Maldon salt

Directions

Before you start on the cauliflower, take the three cheeses for the sauce out of the fridge and set them aside. And now that you’ve done that,...

Remove the leaves on the cauliflower and trim the stem back to where the florets start.








In a large pot, combine the water, white wine, olive oil, salt, lemon juice, butter, Aleppo pepper, sugar and bay leaf. Stir well to combine until the sugar and salt dissolve. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Slowly and carefully – no splashing! – lower the cauliflower into the broth, and spoon some of the broth over the top. (It doesn’t matter if it’s crown up or down, as you’ll be turning it occasionally.) Reduce the heat and simmer the cauliflower for 20 minutes, turning it over occasionally. When it’s done, you should be able to pierce the center easily with a knife.

While the cauliflower is poaching, preheat the oven to 475º.

When the cauliflower has finished poaching, turn off the heat and, using a sieve or a couple of slotted spoons, carefully transfer the cauliflower to a rimmed baking pan. Drain the cauliflower well before putting it into the oven. Roast 35-40 minutes at 475º, rotating the pan after 20 minutes.

While the cauliflower is roasting, put all the cheese sauce ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add salt to taste, and transfer the sauce to a small bowl. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on top. Kitchen Goddess note: You can make the cheese sauce up to a day earlier, and refrigerate it. Bring it out 30 minutes before serving.






When the cauliflower is well browned, move it to a plate and drizzle it lightly with olive oil. Serve with tangy cheese sauce.

And come back tomorrow for number 2 of my So-Easy Sides.

When You Just Have to Have It Now What’s cooking? Twice-Baked Potatoes with Carrots, Onion, and Goat Cheese

A Note from the Kitchen Goddess: The KG has been away on a Caribbean island for a week, and now is working on a nice post about some island flavors. But it’s taking a while. So in the meantime,...

You know how sometimes you just get a craving for a particular food, and nothing will do until you satisfy that craving? Most of the time, for me, it’s a chocolate thing. This time, though, it was twice-baked potatoes.

I’ve mentioned my delightful book group before, and the format of potluck dinners. At our last meeting, my friend Ellen prepared twice-baked potatoes made with carrots mixed into the potato filling. Oh my, they were fluffy and carroty, and I’m pretty sure they had some cheese in them. Ellen said they were really easy – low cal, too! – and she promised to give me the recipe.

Then a couple of days later, as I noted above, my hubby and I left for a vacation in the Dominican Republic. After a week of chowing down on the most wonderful seafood and lots of drinks with little umbrellas in them, I was in desperate need of food that would put me back on track with my eternal diet. I couldn’t really picture myself switching from broiled lobster and rum punch to chicken broth and celery sticks, so I thought about those twice-baked potatoes, and the more I thought about them, the more obsessed I became. I had to have them. Now.

I called Ellen, and she wasn’t home. I left a desperate, pleading message, but as the minutes ticked on (I’m really not the most patient person when it comes to culinary needs), I decided I’d just make up my own damn recipe. Truly not patient.

It’s amazing what you can do when you have the drive. You picture a dish, you think about the flavors and textures involved, and you look in the fridge and your pantry for a little inspiration. And you prepare yourself for pizza if it doesn’t work out. More often than not, you can come up with something that’s at least edible, and maybe you’ll make some notes as to what was missing, or what you had too much of, and the next time you make it, you’ll get closer to that ideal.

This particular dish wasn’t that much of a challenge – after all, there are lots of recipes out there for twice-baked potatoes, and what you’re adding is mostly carrots. In the end, I included a few items – like the onion and the garlic and the cream – that I’m pretty sure weren’t in Ellen’s dish, but this version turned out so well that I had to practically slap my husband’s hands to hang onto enough of the filled spuds for a decent photograph the next day. And now I can share the recipe with you.

Kitchen Goddess note: I’m pretty sure Ellen used cheddar cheese in her recipe. I’ll bet that would be good, too. But herbed chèvre is what I had in my fridge, so herbed chèvre is what I used. You can try both and let me know what you liked. I did think the herbs added nice flavor.

Twice-Baked Potatoes with Carrots, Onion, and Goat Cheese

Makes 8 servings.

4 medium-sized (6-8 ounces each) russet potatoes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, cut in ½-inch dice (about 1 cup)
2 cups carrots, cut in ½-inch dice
2 large cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chicken broth
2 ounces goat cheese (herbed or plain)
¼ cup cream (heavy or light)
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
Garnish: chopped chives

Special equipment: potato masher or ricer or food mill, for mashing the potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 425º (400º if using a convection setting). Scrub the potatoes under cold running water and pat dry. With a fork, poke holes in 3-4 places around the potatoes, to let moisture escape during baking. Place potatoes directly on a rack in center of the oven, and bake 50-60 minutes or until a fork or a metal skewer easily goes into the potato. (The Kitchen goddess prefers a skewer because she can poke it the length of the spud, making sure it’s soft all the way through.)

While the potatoes are baking, heat the butter in a medium skillet and add the onion. Cook the onion over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until it’s soft, then add the carrots and garlic. Continue to sauté the vegetables for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken broth, bring the mixture to a simmer, then lower the heat and cook the vegetables, covered, for 10 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Check occasionally to make sure the liquid stays at a simmer.




Transfer the skillet mixture – including any broth – to the bowl of a food processor. Add the goat cheese and process until smooth. Set aside until the potatoes are done.

When the potatoes are done, let them cool enough to handle, then cut them in half lengthwise and use a spoon to gently scoop out the potato flesh, leaving enough potato in the shell that it stays intact. Put the potato flesh into a large bowl and, using your tool of choice, mash until the texture is as lumpy or smooth as you prefer. Food processors are not recommended for this part, as they turn potatoes gummy.

Add the processed carrot mixture to the mashed potatoes, along with the cream, the salt, and 10-12 grinds of black pepper. Stir well. Fill the potato shells with the mixture and arrange the filled shells on a baking sheet.

If you’ll be serving the potatoes soon, put the filled shells into the oven at 400º for 20 minutes. If you prefer to make them ahead of time, the filled shells can rest in the refrigerator, covered tightly with cellophane wrap, overnight, then reheated at 400º for 30-40 minutes, until warm. The filled shells can also be frozen on a cookie sheet, to maintain their shape, then stored in the freezer in zip-lock bags. Reheat as noted above.

When ready to serve, garnish with chopped chives, if desired.

A Holiday Giveaway!! Season’s Greetings from the Kitchen Goddess What’s cooking? Italian Veggie Gratin

In the spirit of holiday cheer, my friends at Hamilton Beach have offered another giveaway to Spoon & Ink readers: a Stack & Snap™ 10-Cup Food Processor. They sent me one for testing, and I used it to make an Italian-inspired vegetable gratin. But more on that later. First let’s talk about how you can get your own Stack & Snap – free!

Win a Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap 10-Cup Food Processor!

If you’d like to participate in the drawing for one of these handy time-saving, work-saving machines, all you have to do is leave a comment – either at the bottom of this post or on the Spoon & Ink Facebook page. Just be sure to sign it, and you’ll be entered to win. I’ll be drawing a name and announcing it in a post on Monday, December 22. So leave your comment before then.





The Kitchen Goddess is not one to insist on all the latest appliances. But a food processor is something that even the non-serious cooks among you should have. In fact, many of my favorite recipes would be complete non-starters in the absence of a food processor: Arugula Pesto, Fromage Fort, Greek Almond Cookies, and 3 of the 4 veggie sides I posted about for Thanksgiving (Asparagus Flan, Sweet Potato-Ginger Soufflé, and Watercress Purée). Moreover, the Stack & Snap Processor is so reasonably priced that, even if you don’t win the drawing, it’s easy to fit one into your budget.

The Machine

The Kitchen Goddess was totally in her element with this road test. First, I tried out the processor’s most basic feature: the chopping blade. It nicely pulverized the almonds for a meringue in a recipe I’ll tell you about another day.

So I moved on to the slicing/shredding blade. For convenience, it's a single blade, with "Slice" clearly marked on one side and "Shred" on the other. I wanted to use both features in a single recipe, so I looked around my kitchen and found onions, zucchini, crimini mushrooms, and a package of those adorable grape tomatoes. I took inspiration from a zucchini gratin posted by the great Ina Garten, whose recipes are known to be easy and straightforward, and I tweaked it in so many ways that it no longer looks like Ina’s at all, though it’s still easy and straightforward.

The Stack & Snap performed beautifully, except on the mushrooms, which – frankly – don’t really stand up to any food processor. (Not that it didn’t slice them but it’s too hard to control the position of a mushroom in the feeder tube, so more than a few came out looking like tiny frisbees. I sliced the rest of the mushrooms with my mandoline.) But my Stack & Snap sliced through the onions, the squash, and even the tomatoes like a hot knife through butter. (It’s a Southernism. Forgive me.)

The shredding side of the slicing/shredding disk made short work of a chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and in no time flat, I had the mise en place for my gratin. Which, by the way, is completely delicious and redolent of Italy.

Italian Veggie Gratin

Serves 6.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, separated
2 large onions (12-13 ounces total), halved and thinly sliced
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
5 small zucchini (about 1¾ pounds), thinly sliced
10 ounces grape tomatoes, thinly sliced
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
2½ ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
1½ cups fresh bread crumbs (or panko or a combination)

Preheat oven to 400º and lightly grease a 2-quart gratin dish (about 12 x 9 x 2 inches).

Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauté pan or skillet over medium-low heat and add the onions. Sauté the onions for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should cook but not brown, so if they begin to brown, turn the heat down.

While the onions are cooking, take a small skillet (preferably non-stick) and heat another tablespoon of the butter on medium-high. When the butter is hot, add the mushrooms and sauté, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Once the onions have cooked, add the zucchini, stir, and cook covered for 8-10 more minutes, until the zucchini are tender. Stir in the tomatoes, the reserved cooked mushrooms, and the salt and pepper. Crumble the goat cheese over the mixture and stir it in. Cover and cook another 5 minutes.

Remove the vegetable mixture to the prepared gratin dish. In a small bowl, stir together the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the bread crumbs. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and stir it into the cheese/bread crumbs, mixing enough to get the bread crumbs well moistened with the butter. Sprinkle the mix over the vegetables and bake at 400º for 20 minutes or until the top bubbles and browns.

Don’t forget to sign up for the drawing to win your own Stack & Snap Food Processor!

Happy 200th Post! What’s cooking? Cheese Platter Secrets

A sampling of cheeses from Italy (L to R): Il Forteto Boschetto Tartufo (with truffles), oil-and-herb-marinated Mozzarella balls, Gelmini Mountain Gorgonzola, and cubes of Pecorino Romano. Served with grapes, sliced pear, olives, Acacia honey, roasted pistachios, and Genoa salami.

Thinking online – about life and food and cooking. What a crazy idea, to start a blog. And in retrospect, when the Kitchen Goddess jumped into the world of writing online, she had no idea what she was doing. It seemed easy enough in the conceptual phase – write about some funny episode, link it to some kind of food or adventure in the kitchen, and hit “Go.” Then it turned out you also have to know about recipe writing, food styling, photography, and even a bit of new technology.

So here we are, 200 posts later. What a headache. And what a joy. I’ve made new friends – some of whom I’ve yet to meet in person – renewed old acquaintances, explored new foods and cooking techniques, learned a lot, and aggravated my poor husband-cum-sous chef beyond the normal limits of human endurance.

“Okay, let’s eat,” he says.

“No, wait – I have to take a picture.”

“But I’m hungry. And it’s 8:30 – you said dinner would be ready by 7:30.” [expletive deleted]

It’s a good thing he likes the food.

Being at Ease with Cheese

Let's talk about cheese.

I’ve always loved serving a cheese board at a party. Especially in the winter, when you want the food to be a bit hearty. And especially for an event like the Super Bowl, when your guests are jumping up, sitting down, wandering to and from the food. A cheese board seems like a fairly effortless way to satisfy your guests’ hunger – after all, the cows/sheep/goats did part of the work, and the cheesemaker did the rest. If you just pick a nice assortment of cheese, you can be good to go.

Aye, but there’s the rub. Choosing from the literally thousands of cheeses available – French cheesemakers alone offer more than 650 varieties – is only the first headache. Then you worry about how many to buy, and how much, and then how do you serve them? It’s enough to make a host or hostess give up and put out some chips and dip.

So it’s lucky you stopped in. The Kitchen Goddess is here to help. Let’s take care of the easy stuff first.

How many to buy?
If you’re just serving a cheese plate at the end of a meal, you don’t need more than 3 cheeses, and even one good one will do. For a gathering like a Super Bowl party, where the cheese will get major noshing, you’ll want 4-5 choices.

How much to buy?
As a general rule, the Kitchen Goddess recommends buying 2 ounces (total) of cheese per person. I’ve seen suggestions of as little as 1 ounce (maybe for a dessert plate but not for hors d’oeuvres) and as much as 3.5 ounces (whose army are we feeding?). You may need more than 2 ounces per guest if that’s the main appetizer item. Get enough to have some left over, as I have a couple of dynamite recipes for those bits. Come back next week for those.

A European platter (clockwise from bottom left): Brie (France), Idiázabal (Spain), aged Gouda (Holland), Roquefort (France). Accompanied by dried apricots, Acacia honey, chutney, spiced walnuts, and pear slices.

How to serve?
First, remove your cheeses from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before the party. Hard cheeses need more time than soft ones. Set out small plates and cocktail napkins, so that guests can put together several samples and not be forced to hover over the selections like small children around a bowl of jellybeans. Each cheese should have its own knife (or fork if you’re cutting the cheese into bite-size pieces) for serving – you don’t want the tastes to get mixed.


Kitchen Goddess notes on cheese knives:
The all-purpose cheese knife has a serrated edge, holes in the blade (to keep soft cheeses from sticking), and tines at the end for spearing what you cut. But you still want one knife per cheese, so here’s what I prefer:

■ Spreadable cheeses like fresh goat cheese (chevre) or Gourmandise – butter knife (second from the left in the photo below) or one of those little hors d’oeuvre knives.
■ Semi-soft cheeses like Brie or Mozzarella – thin knife 
■ Crumbly cheeses like Roquefort and other blues – fork
■ Semi-hard cheeses like Cheddar and Swiss – bell-shaped knife
■ Hard cheeses like Pecorino Romano, Manchego, and Dry Jack – heart-shaped knife (the point helps you establish a starting point), mini-cleaver, or your basic paring knife.

A set makes life easy, but isn't necessary. This one is from Williams-Sonoma.

What to serve with your cheese?
This is big, folks, so pay attention. Cheese by itself – even with bread or crackers – can be a little heavy on the palate. And sometimes, a bit of chutney or meat or fruit will actually improve the taste. So it’s a good idea to include a few accompaniments with your cheeses; it’ll also add color and texture to your presentation. Here are some ideas:

Meat (cured): Prosciutto, Salami, Capicola, Culatello
Fresh fruits: apples, grapes, pears, figs
Dried fruits: apricots, Mission or Turkish figs, cranberries, Medjool dates, cherries
Fruit spreads: Chutneys, fig jam, quince paste (great stuff by the way – try it!), pear paste
Nuts (roasted, spiced, or honeyed): walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds (especially with sheep’s- and goat’s-milk cheeses), pecans, pistachios
Olives: Cerignola (especially with Italian cheeses), large black Greek olives (especially with Feta), California green olives, sundried tomato-stuffed olives (especially with goat cheese). Be sure to rinse brined olives.

A few pairings to get you started – with cheeses I like – and a couple of tips on selecting your cheese:

Brie de Meaux – The king of Brie, and once called the King of Cheese, period. Look for a foil label and A.O.C. (French name designation) to get the real thing. Ripe Brie should “bulge,” not run, and have a beige-mottled (edible) rind which should be tart but not bitter. Serve with apples or pears, candied walnuts, fig jam, or honey.

Blue-veined cheeses – Includes English Stilton, French Roquefort, and Italian Gorgonzola. Amazing with most fresh or dried fruits. Try it with pear slices or dried cranberries. There’s a range of sharpness that you have to taste before you can decide which you prefer. Among the American offerings, Maytag Blue is outstanding and has a reputation as good as any of its European cousins.

Cheddar – Originally an English cheese, but a few U.S. producers now make excellent Cheddar. Try Maytag Dairy Farms (white cheddar, from Iowa), Tillamook Cheddar (Oregon), and Sheldon Farms and Grafton Village Cheddar (both Vermont). Serve with chutneys – a life-changing experience – and aged meats, dried fruit, and nuts. Look for cloth-wrapped rind.

Dry Jack – One of only two cheeses that are original to the U.S. Made by aging Monterey Jack, it has a sharp, nutty flavor, similar to Parmigiano Reggiano. Try Bear Flag Dry Jack, from Vella Cheese, with toasted almonds and fresh fruit.

Parmigiano-Reggiano – You have to get the real thing – not parmesan, but Parmigiano-Reggiano; you’ll see the name printed on the edge of the rind. Nothing else is as good. Save the rind when you’re done, and freeze it for use in brothy vegetable soups. Serve with Prosciutto and other aged meats, or fruit spreads, especially fig jam. Think Italian.

Pecorino Romano – The sheep’s milk version of Parmigiano-Reggiano, but a little smoother. Ditto on serving. Widely available in excellent quality. Look for "genuino" embossed on the rind.

Manchego – Another aged sheep’s milk cheese, and the Spanish version of a hard cheese good for grating. Don’t get second best – look for the La Mancha origin on the label. Terrific served with Marcona almonds and Membrillo (quince paste). Think Spanish.

Manchego cheese from Spain, with Marcona almonds and slices of Membrillo (quince paste).

Goat Cheese – Fresh or aged, one of the simplest yet most flexible cheeses available. Fresh is creamy and slightly tart; aged has a bit of a nutty flavor. Serve with almonds and toasted hazelnuts, fresh and dried fruit – cherries are excellent – olives, and honey. (Think of where the goats graze.) Fresh goat cheese is amazing when drizzled with the Kitchen Goddess’s own Ground Cherry Shazam. One of the best brands that's also widely available – and award-winning – is from Vermont Creamery.

Share a crotin of aged goat cheese with your lover for Valentine's Day.

Say Cheese!

So here’s where you start: Find a good cheesemonger, preferably one who’ll let you taste the cheese before you buy. In New Jersey, we were lucky enough to have a delightful couple named Paul and Pam, who run The Summit Cheese Shop. They know volumes about the cheeses they carry, and even about some they don’t carry. They’ll give you little tastes, and they’re happy to spend time helping you develop an assortment that will please your guests.

A tasting of U.S. cheeses (L to R): Maytag Blue, Tillamook Cheddar, Vella Dry Jack. Sparked up by apple slices, toasted almonds, dried apricots, fig paste, hard salami, and dried cranberries.

In Texas, both of the larger gourmet grocery stores I shop at – Whole Foods and Central Market – offer extensive cheese departments manned by people who seem knowledgeable and helpful on putting together a selection. But I understand that Austin has at least a couple of specialty shops I have to try. Look around your town – find a cheesemonger you can trust. And try some new tastes!

P.S. When the party’s over, wrap those remnants in fresh cellophane – not the old wrapping – and hang onto them. Do not freeze them. The Kitchen Goddess has a couple of wonderful dishes to make with those leftovers. Coming soon...

Don't forget the crackers.

Valentine’s Day Truffle Reprise What’s Cooking? Goat Cheese & Nutella Truffles

I dreamed last night that I sent one of these chocolate truffles to every member of Congress. And I’m pretty sure that if I really did that, the mood in Washington would get better overnight. They’re that good.

Those of you with good memories or who are long-time readers of this blog will note that I’ve published this recipe before – almost exactly a year ago, in fact. But I think a really great recipe deserves a periodic reminder. Moreover, I’ve improved my technique with these truffles, and have discovered a handy little tool that made them easier to manage.

On the broader subject of chocolates, let me reiterate: these are the most amazing truffles I’ve ever had, and I really like truffles. Now if you haven’t the time or energy for making the ones here, but you also are a chocolate truffle fan, you should hop on down to your local Vosges Haut-Chocolat shop, where the name is a bit pretentious but they have the most amazing and beautiful chocolate truffles I’ve ever inhaled. Really excellent milk chocolate or dark chocolate wrapped around a delightfully exotic range of fillings and flavors. Also available online or at many Whole Foods. And no, they haven’t paid me a dime for this plug.

The tool I mentioned above is part of the set pictured here, sold in most kitchen stores in their candy-making aisle. The one I found most helpful is the middle one, that looks like a tiny whisk. It’ll let you dip the goat cheese/Nutella centers into your melted chocolate with a great deal more ease than with a spoon or fork, although I believe even a fork is better than a spoon if you’re trying not to dribble chocolate all over the kitchen.

 So here’s the truffle recipe, with revised instructions – from making them several times –  that I hope are easy enough to get you all to make some. Then if we coordinate our efforts and send them to Congress...

Remember, the recipe comes to us all courtesy of Chef Leigh Friend, the amazingly talented Pastry Chef at Casellula Cheese & Wine Café, at 401 West 52nd Street, in NYC.

Kitchen Goddess note: Last year at this time, the bag of Ghirardelli bittersweet chips was 11.5 ounces, which shows you what kind of hidden inflation can take place in a year. The Kitchen Goddess used the entire bag, so if you are especially sloppy or heavy-handed with the chocolate coatings, you might want an extra bag or bar around. The bags are 60% cacao, but if you buy the bars, you have a choice between 60% and 70%. If anyone tries the 70% bars, let me know how you like it. And if you buy the 4-ounce bars, you’ll want to get 3 of them. I just think the chips are easier to deal with.

Goat Cheese and Nutella Truffles
Adapted from Leigh Friend, Pastry Chef at Casellula Cheese & Wine Café

Makes 32-34 truffles, each about 1½” in diameter.

4 ounces goat cheese (chèvre – any mild-flavored brand, as fresh as you can get)
4 ounces Nutella
5-6 ounces toasted, chopped hazelnuts (see note at #1 below)
10-ounce bag of Ghirardelli Bittersweet 60% Cacao Baking Chips
finishing salt (Maldon or other flaky sea salt)

1. A note on hazelnuts: If you can buy hazelnuts without skins, bravo. Move to Step 2. If, like me, you can only find whole hazelnuts with skins on, by far the best way to remove the skins is to boil them 3-4 minutes in a quart of water with 4 tablespoons of baking soda, then rinse them in a colander under cold water. Most of the skins will peel off on their own; the rest will come off easily with a little rubbing.

2. Chop the nuts and toast them 10-20 minutes in a 350º oven. The first time I made these, I chopped the nuts pretty finely; I now chop less finely and leave some good-sized chunks, as I think the look is more artistic. You should go with whatever look you like. Put the toasted nuts in a bowl and reserve.

3. Line a couple of small baking pans with baker’s parchment. I use 2 quarter-sheet pans, which are 8" x 12¼".

4. In a KitchenAid-style mixer with a paddle, combine the goat cheese and Nutella. Mix until smooth, making sure to scrape down the sides. If you are handy with a piping bag, transfer the mix to a piping bag and pipe out the truffles to balls about ¾ inch in diameter.

If you are NOT handy that way – and now we are talking about people like the Kitchen Goddess herself – chill the mix well (maybe stopping halfway and re-chilling, as the heat from your hands will start the melting process faster than you would guess), and use a teaspoon or melon baller to form the mix into balls about ¾ inch in diameter.

Put the balls on the parchment-lined trays. Cover with Saran Wrap and freeze 30-45 minutes.

5. Melt the chocolate. If you have bars of chocolate, chop them into uniform pieces about the size of a chocolate chip. To melt using a double-boiler, make sure the bottom of the pan with the chocolate doesn’t touch the water, and stir frequently with a spatula once it begins to melt. The easier way is to melt the chocolate in a microwave at 50%, in increments of 30-45 seconds. If you can’t do 50% power, use shorter increments. Stir well between each interval of heating. Be conservative with the power, as chocolate that has been overheated can turn grainy.

5. Working only one tray at a time, dip the truffles in the chocolate once to get a good thick shell on the outside. Refreeze each tray as you work on the other.

You may want to reheat the chocolate periodically, as it thickens in the dipping process, but do so carefully, and stir again after heating.

6. After coating all the truffles once, dip them a second time and, before the chocolate can harden, roll them in the chopped hazelnuts. Sprinkle sparingly with the salt. Chef Friend combines the toasted chopped nuts in a bowl mixed with a large pinch of the salt, but I prefer to sprinkle it on. Do whatever works for you.

If you are not serving the truffles the same day, I recommend freezing them. Frozen, they’ll keep well for at least a month.

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One of the great joys of arriving in Austin has been that I’ve discovered a community of blogging foodies. They are a most generous group who are always willing to trade recipes, restaurant recommendations, or simply good ideas. Click here for a compendium of Valentine-related recipes collected by one of these good souls.

Summer’s Over but Salad Season Is Still Going Strong What’s cooking? Poppy Seed Dressing

It’s been a salad-y week for me. I’m in Texas getting ready to spend 10 days in Italy, so you may not hear from me for a while. And in an effort to shed a few of the pounds that will no doubt reappear over these coming 10 days, I’ve been experimenting with just about every combination of salad ingredients available. But I haven’t lost any weight in the process. It must have been the ice cream I had for dessert.

As the weather gets a bit cooler, there’s a resurgence of lovely types of greens that don’t really like the heat of August. And you can still find wonderful, fresh salad items like tomatoes and figs and blackberries. I read somewhere that a new type of sprout – from sunflower seeds – is the latest rage among professional chefs, so I pounced on that, too, when it showed up at my local Whole Foods.