Q: The California Artisan Cheese Festival coincides with the release of Pliny The Younger Triple Ipa from Russian River Brewing Co. What cheese would you recommend to associate with high alcohol beer, like that?
A: Any type of fresh goat cheese. I love the Laura Chenel which is packed in oil with pepper grains and herbs. Point Reyes Toma is this chameleon of a cheese that goes with everything. He goes with IPA, he goes with malted beers, it’s my withdrawal position.
Q: You have an unusual tip for blue cheese, which suggests freezing it for a recipe. Isn’t cheese freezing generally a non-no?
A: I never do it other than in this case. I learned that from (fire) Michael Chiarello. If you freeze a small piece of blue cheese for 15 to 20 minutes, just so that it is not soft – you don’t want it to switch hard – you can shave it on a salad (with a microplane grater) and that makes a burst like a snowfall. It is a different experience from that of collapsing, especially for people who are not sure of blue cheese. He just melts in your mouth.
Buried and radicchio salad with grilled nuts, pears and blue cheese
Made 4 portions
Janet Fletcher, author of kitchen books and publisher of Planet Cheese, adapted this recipe for the late Chef Michael Chiarello. Fletcher suggests freezing only the amount of cheese you need for the recipe rather than a full corner so you can enjoy the cheese remaining at best. Do not hesitate to replace the bitter green vegetables with mixed green vegetables and replace the apples or beets with pears, if you prefer.
Chunde of 2 ounces of tangy blue cheese
1/2 Grand Radicchio of the head, again divided in two, at the carot
2 liters with loose packaged
1 small pear, ripe but firm, confined, audited and very finely shaved in the direction
½ cup of grilled roasted nuts, plus a few others for the garnish
For the vinaigrette:
1 average shallot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, and more if necessary
Case or sea salt
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of walnut oil (or replace with another tablespoon of olive oil)
Freshly ground black pepper
Make the vinaigrette: mix the shallot, vinegar and a large pinch of salt in a small bowl and let stand 30 minutes to soften the shallot. Incorporate the oils and several pepper pods. Taste and add another touch of vinegar if you wish.
About 1 hour before serving, wrap the blue cheese freely in aluminum foil and put it in the freezer.
In a large bowl, mix the radicchio, the curly, the shaved pear and the nuts. Add enough vinaigrette to slightly coat the salad and mix gently. Taste for the seasoning, then divide the salad between the individual plates. Using a grater grater (like a microplane), grate the thick blue cheese on each salad. Disadline a few more nuts on top and serve immediately.
Goat cheese and fried shallot dip
Make about 1 cup
Fletcher likes this dip for the summer vegetable season. It is an excellent pair for cherry tomatoes, red peppers and cucumber, but it can also work to dip spring vegetables such as carrots, radishes and sugar peas. Do not throw away the tasty oil drained of the fried shallots. Use it in a vinaigrette, in a tomato sauce for pasta or on cooked green vegetables.
1 cup of shallots in thin slices
¼ cup of olive oil or canola oil
4 ounces fresh goat cheese without rinde, like Laura Chenel, at room temperature
4 to 5 tablespoons of BABEUR
Fresh chiache in thin slices
1 small clove of garlic, grated with a microplane or finely chopped
Freshly ground sea and black pepper
Type the dry shallots on paper towels. Heat the oil in a 10-inch pan over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and sauté, stirring often, until they become dark brown, 12 to 15 minutes. During the first minutes, it will seem that nothing happens, but once the shallots are starting to brown, they darken quickly. Stir almost constantly for the last minutes so that they darken uniformly without burning.
Drain the shallots in a small sieve placed on a bowl. Spread the drainage shallots on a paper towel and let cool until it is crisp.
Put the goat cheese in a bowl and play enough babereter to make the consistency. Stir in shallots and most chives, reserving some for the garnish. Add the garlic to taste, then season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and garnish with reserved chives. Serve immediately with summer vegetables to soak.
You can reach editor Jennifer Graue at 707-521-5262 or jennifer.graue@pressdemocrat.com. On x (twitter) @jeninoz.
