Tag Archives: guest post

Your Spring Goat Cheese Primer (part 1)

9 Comments

A couple of posts back I had Tenaya Darlington, aka Madame Fromage, as a guest here on the blog. She wrote a beautiful and fun post about How to Turn Your Desk Into a Cheese Board. We enjoyed working together and decided to continue with a series that will highlight great dairy and pairings for each season. For our first seasonal post: what can be better in life than Spring, flowers and goat cheese?

Your Spring Goat Cheese Primer
By Madame Fromage

Along with daffodils and Easter bonnets, spring is the season of great goat cheeses. They appear like ice-white confections at cheese counters across the U.S. and in Europe, where they are often spectacularly cloaked in petals, pink peppercorns, or green herbs.

Some of the most sought-after specimen look like pug puppies, with ashy coloring and heavy wrinkles. Don’t be afraid. Most of these come from the Loire Valley, the seat of sweet, tender goat cheese that the whole world admires. In Paris, pairing one of these gems with a glass of Sancerre or rosé is a rite of passage.

The taste of Paris in spring can be yours, too, if you know how to identify superb fresh goat cheese (it should taste balanced, never sour) and what to serve with it. If you want to be clever, you can tell your friends why fresh goat cheese enjoys it’s fashion season in spring: it has to do with wee shoots and wildflowers.

The first meadow greenery is essentially extra-virgin grass, and when those lady goats enjoy their first romps’n nibbles, they produce milk that is sweetly delicate, even herbaceous. This makes the finest cheese.
Oh, bliss! Here are a few of my spring favorites…

Five Must-Try Goat Cheeses

The best place to shop is a reputable cheese counter. Remember, darlings, buying nice cheese is like buying diamonds — if you go bargain hunting, you won’t get the Tiffany-blue box. Avoid shrink-wrapped logs that are mass-manufactured. They’re fine for crumbling onto salads but, trust me, they will not induce reverie.

kindvall-Selles-sur-Cher

Selles-sur-Cher
This ash-coated round the size of your palm should resemble a very large Girl Scout Thin Mint. Selles-sur-Cher (pronounced sell-sur-SHARE)  is Loire Valley goat cheese at its best. Mild and very fresh, it has the consistency of damp earth. After several weeks of proper ripening, it becomes oozy around the edges and a little more pungent. Serve with rosé and anything raspberry. I love to eat it for breakfast with raspberry jam.

Caprino Fiorito
If you spy a little muffin topper from Piedmont rolled in petals – often chamomile blossoms – nab it before anyone else does. Great goat cheese starts with great milk, and the pastures of Piedmont produce lovely chèvre that tastes as pretty as it looks. Pour a glass of Prosecco, and enjoy Caprino Fiorito without any trappings, preferably after a long bath. It’s basically a cheese bath bomb; it will fill you with warmth, ease, and delight.

Saint Maure
You simply can’t miss this silvery log because it has a shaft of wheat running through its center. It’s really the Prada bag of goat cheeses, gorgeous and functional. The reed stabilizes the cheese and creates a little air tunnel so that the center won’t be mushy. Expect a light, dry texture, and a slightly flinty taste. This is a pretty cheese to drizzle with honey as you sip Sancerre over a plate of sliced Asian pear. Watch a French weepy, and call it your spring cleanse.

Clochette
Beautiful Clochette is bell-shaped (no surprise: the name means “little bell”), making it a perfect selection for Sunday brunch or an engagement party. Some refer to the rind as “wrinkly,” while others prefer to call it “textured.” Either way, don’t be afraid of the fleecy surface. It’s delicate and supple, a lovely contrast to the dense, damp center which is as rich as night cream. Pair this with lemon marmalade and French 75s after a vampish night on the town.

kindvall-cannonball

Wabash Cannonball
This little snowdrop speckled with peppercorns represents one of the best goat cheeses coming out the United States. Any cheese made by Judy Schad of Capriole Farm in Indiana is a must-nibble. It’s so compact and perfect, you should share it with a lover over glasses of sparkling lambic or eat it alone on a park bench without any disruptions, other than butterflies. Wabash C. is hard to find and very spendy, but worth every penny. Psst…don’t try to slather this on a baguette. It should be devoured like the best bon-bon in the world.

How To Dress Your Goat Cheese
Great fresh goat cheese needs no accompaniment, but if you’re searching for good matches, then reach for other spring fare. Every fresh thing from the farmers’ market pairs well, especially…

Wild strawberries
Raspberries
Homemade berry jam
Meyer lemon marmalade
Rhubarb compote
Honey, light and dark
Sautéed ramps
Sautéed fiddleheads
Steamed baby vegetables
Baby greens or micro greens
Radishes, thinly sliced with salt
Rosemary crackers

Describing Goat Cheese to Your Lover

Good goat cheese tastes bright. Like sunlight, like citrus. That’s because it’s acidic (think: lemons), more so than cheeses made from other milks. Fatty, it’s not. Goat cheese is very light and easy on the stomach. If you want to eat a cheese in bed, this is the one. If you have eaten goat cheese that tastes sour, tangy, or gamy (called “bucky,” after a male buck), you’ve probably eaten a goat cheese of poor quality.

Here’s what good fresh goat cheese often tastes like (saying these words makes for lovely pillow talk): herbaceous, floral, delicate, grassy, clean, bright, citrusy, mellow, woodsy, flinty.

Here are some common textures:
damp, dense, light, fluffy, smooth, creamy, clay-ey, icy, cool, downy (rind), rumpled (rind)

~

Note: Thank you for reading Part I of our 4-part series. We are excited to share these seasonal cheese posts with you and hope that they inspire you to dream, to eat, to explore. In June, look for our post on great summer cheeses. Once we’ve completed all four seasons, we hope to present a calendar!

Late Summer Cheese Picnic (part 2)
Smoke and Funk: A Fall Cheese Board (part 3)
Winter Blues: A Pairing Party for 8 to 12 (part 4)

 ~

This post was also published at Madame Fromage. 

 

 

Guest Post: How to Turn Your Desk Into a Cheese Board

9 Comments

kindvall-MF-cheese-desk

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Tenaya Darlington, aka Madame Fromage. We instantly connected and started to email back and forward, sharing thoughts and ideas around cheese. Compared to most cheese lovers (including me), she is an expert and has for the last 5 years kept records of cheeses that she tastes & eats, smells or just overheard when visiting a cheese shop.

In 2011 she started her website Madame Fromage where she shares her thoughts and stories about cheese. For example it can be a post about specific cheeses with pairings, study visits,  traveling reports or even tips on how to talk to a cheesemonger etc.

Tenaya knows how to tell a story, so for me its not a surprise that she also is an associate professor in English and teaches writing classes at the Department of English at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

In May 2013 her cheese book, Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese: A Guide to Wedges, Recipes and Pairings was published by Running Press. I think this book, with 170 cheese profiles, 30 recipes, and 10 themed cheese boards, is a mouth watering treasure. Tenaya’s storytelling skills really comes out in the book. It is well written and inspiring. It makes me smile and I want to draw everything. Di Bruno Bros. is a well known cheese shop in Philadelphia, opened in 1939 by the two brothers  Danny and Joe. The book is tastefully photographed by Jason Varney. House of Cheese is Tenaya’s third book, she has published poetry and one novel before.

So when I heard that Tenaya had a cheese cave at her office desk I instantly wanted to draw it. And to draw all the different kinds of cheeses was great fun… so now I can’t stop!

The cheeses and the desk are available as posters in the SHOP.

kindvall-MF-cheeseknife3

How to Turn Your Desk Into a Cheese Board
By Madame Fromage

At work, it can be nice to break for a spot of cheese. Clear the clutter, spread a tea towel, and set out a cutting board. Then reach into your secret desk drawer that is stocked with crackers and preserves, and set out an array of snacks. You can surprise your office mates with a spontaneous party (on someone’s birthday, say) or make it a private affair while you read a book over the lunch hour.
After all, there is nothing lovelier than kicking off your shoes, putting your feet up on the radiator, and enjoying a hunk of Cheddar with almonds and honey on a rainy afternoon. A cheese board makes a perfect lunch, and if you stock your desk pantry well, you’ll never have to remember to pack leftovers.

What To Stock in A Desk Pantry

• Small wood cutting board
• Set of cheese knives or a paring knife + small spoon
• Tea towel+cloth napkin(s)
• Nuts: almonds, pecans, pistachios, hazelnuts, or walnuts
• Dried fruit: apricots, figs, dates, or cranberries
• Petit toasts and pretzels for triple crèmes
• Oat biscuits, wheat crackers, or flatbread for firm cheeses
• Savory things in jars: cornichons, olives, dilly beans, grainy mustard
• Sweet things in jars: sour cherry jam, fig spread, apple chutney, honey
• 1 bar dark chocolate (for blue cheese)

In a mini fridge: celery, radishes, 2-3 cheeses,
1 stick mild salami, a bag of fresh thyme (optional, nice with chèvre),
grapes, apples, pears, sparkling water

kindvall-MF-cheeses-progress

Good desk cheeses
(read: not too stinky)

• Cheddar
• Gouda
• Pantaleo (firm goat)
• Petit Basque (sheep)
• Stilton or Chiriboga Blue

kindvall-MF-cheeses-02

Good cheeses for one person

• A tub of quark or chèvre
• Saint Marcellin (creamy, comes in its own crock)
• Banon (small, wrapped in edible leaves)
• Purple Haze (small goat round dusted in fennel pollen)
• Vermont Creamery Bijou (picture: goat gumdrops)

*

You can also follow Tenaya on twitter, instagram and facebook (I do).

*

More by Madame Fromage and me…
Your Spring Goat Cheese Primer (part 1)
Late Summer Cheese Picnic (part 2)
Smoke and Funk: A Fall Cheese Board (part 3)
Winter Blues: A Pairing Party for 8 to 12 (part 4)

Guest post: Xuxos & Churros

2 Comments

My next guest here on kokblog is my brother Oskar Kindvall. Oskar is probably one of the biggest gottegris (directly translated to ‘sweet tooth pig’) I know. As long as I can remember he has been very specific with sweet (and savory) things he likes and desire. For birthdays and Christmas he wished for marzipan and olives while I was dreaming of a new barbie doll or drawing equipment (yes that was a passion already then).

Oskar was born in Valencia when my parents lived in Cullera, a small town by the east coast of Spain. This must obviously have had a great impact on his interest in Spanish treats (see below). During a journey we made together in the late 80’s, I remember him carefully mapping out where the best flan was made. He of course returned later to the very best. He also makes excellent paella all year around in his garden. A skill he learned from our mother and father.

From an early age Oskar also developed a huge interest in nature and especially small creatures such as frogs, beetles and later on birds, grasshoppers, bats and butterflies. Like his passion for sweet treats, this interest never stopped. Today he works as an IT Developer, researcher and environmental analysts at ArtDatabanken, Uppsala, Sweden. I’m not surprised that he has become an associate professor of ecology as for me he was a professor long before he reached university.

Xuxos & Churros
by Oskar Kindvall

When traveling in Mediterranean parts of Europe I have adopted a peculiar obsession for fried pastries. My favorites among these delicious pieces of edible art are the donut like creations called Xuxos. These can be found in north eastern Spain and Southernmost parts of France. When made by experienced hands according to the tradition at local bakeries, there is almost nothing that can stop my appetite for them, except for one more of them. The really good ones are quite big, stuffed with tasty vanilla cream, extraordinary greasy and full of sticky sugar all over which make them both a little bit hard to handle and extremely calorie rich. Usually you are quite full after one of them which is so frustrating.

For obvious reasons I have tried to make my own xuxos. However, even if my attempts have been really tasty most of the time, I still have not revealed the secret the experienced traditional bakers possess. I realize that it is time to make a visit behind the scenes of the bakery next time. Especially since the handmade Xuxos have become increasingly hard to find nowadays. In most areas where I used to find good Xuxos almost everywhere in the early 80’s, it seems that they have been totally outcompeted by machine made copies with no magic. It appears to me that the negative trend has been worse in France while really good xuxos still can be found around Barcelona.

Someday I hope to meet someone who can show me how real xuxos should be made. Meanwhile I enjoy baking another fried pastry, called Churros, which is much easier to bake without much experience. Churros can be found almost everywhere in Spain and southern France and very often you can watch the whole baking procedure while waiting for your order. Besides, there are a lot of recipes on the internet. No secrets, not much magic but still very tasty! Most churrerias serve the newly baked churros on a plate together with sugar and chocolate. Personally, I recommend eating them with whipped cream, strawberry jam and a little sugar on top. However, this combination I have never seen at the Spanish churrerias. As a consequence you have to make them yourself to really enjoy their potential.

A Recipe Diagram for Yellow Beet Salad

4 Comments

A couple of weeks ago David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl at Green Kitchen Stories asked me to illustrate a recipe for them. As I always enjoy visiting their site the answer was easy. The recipe is a beautiful Yellow Beet Salad with green lentils, sheep cheese, pea sprouts and apricots. The salad has a simple mustard dressing flavored with poppy seeds. I’m already in love with the combination of beets, lentils and sheep cheese. But with the addition of pea shoots, apricots and poppy seeds this dish becomes much richer in flavor and texture. Very inspiring! Read the whole article and get the recipe here.

David and Luise lives in Stockholm, Sweden together with their daughter Elsa. This Spring (in April) their first book, The Green Kitchen will be released in both UK, Australia and US. In the US the book will have the name Vegetarian Every Day. The recipes in the book (and the recipes on their website) are all creations of their own everyday vegetarian cooking.

Some of my favorites from their sites are their Lemon & Coconut Bars and this Spinach Kale Soup with Tahini Dressed Chickpeas.

 

Pide (by Jeremy Shapiro)

9 Comments

Let me present my next guest blogger here on kokblog: Jeremy Shapiro, a professional chef and incredible baker. For over 20 years Jeremy has been cooking in top kitchens in New York City and beyond. Today he is the head chef  in a super secret private club in New York where he lures customers with endless sweets and savory treats.

Jeremy is also creator and editor of  Stir the Pot, a food blog that he started in 2005. If you visit his site you will soon discover that bread is a major subject. Jeremy explores different kinds of baking methods as well as flour and grain types. He bakes both sweet and savory, including croissants, fruit tarts, rustic rye breads, pizza, baguettes, bagels, loaves and breads with airy crumbs & crispy crusts. This summer Jeremy started a Micro Bakery in his apartment kitchen (just bigger than a bread box according to him). I’m impressed by his energy; he seems to be active, baking and cooking 24 hours per day.

Jeremy also interviews people in the food world that he finds interesting, from professional chefs to home cooks like myself (ahem), including Ibán Yarza who has previously appeared here on kokblog as a guest blogger. He has also connected with Sandor Ellix Katz, Anthony Bourdain, Dan Lepard and many many more. I really recommend listening to his interviews, or just reading through the list of names. It’s a great and unusual recourse of inspiration.

Pide
by Jeremy Shapiro

While on my visits in Istanbul cooking for my friend in her restaurant, I would daily pass a pide restaurant. Though I never tried from this specific place, I was able to try some from a young knowledgeable baker employed by my friend. He’d show his amazing hand skills with dough’s supple and see through like durum, not the flour of the same name, but the roll up wrap style sandwich bread a common street food in Turkey. When I returned to NYC, I’d often yearn a good pide with suçuk or sujuk, a spicy sausage that can be ground or sliced to accompany a canoe shaped pide, filled with cheese, tomatoes, eggs. When I finally sourced an amazing Montenegro butchers suçuk I was in business. As well as playing with this dough for different guises, like a lamacjun or a Ramadan flat bread.

It’s a bit tricky to make pide with sourdough, so an easy and quick yeast dough is just as good.

Pide Recipe

500 grams flour (all purpose is fine)
15grams salt
12 grams yeast
25 grams sugar
300grams water

You could approach this basically like any straight dough, mix all the ingredients and bulk ferment till doubled. Then divide and shape according to your desired need. For a pide, or pizza you could take say 80g-100g of dough, roll it out with a rolling pin, or press your hands to flatten the dough oblong about 10 to 12 inches long. Keeping the ends pointy and the sides about 6 inches wide.

The choice of fillings can be anything, think local if you can, and seasonal… Though I love cheese, onion, tomatoes and egg, and yes, suçuk, that may not be a possibility to find those items. Some nice choices, beet tops and feta, or chorizo with pumpkin?

•••

more about Jeremy:
Bread Inspiration from a Master Baker – zen can cook meeting Jeremy Shapiro
You can also follow Jeremy and his work on twitter, @stirthepots