Notice the weird hobo doll passed out on the floor.
I am away for the weekend, and in what I can only imagine is a loving mockery of me— my photographer husband created this meal and posted it on Facebook. FYI–it may also be mocking you if you post your meals on Instagram. (Hey-I’m not taking the full brunt of this….. ) CLICK on the photo to see it bigger…..it’s cool.
I love the fish in the water glass!
DINNER por uno: a la pronto Tad:
Signature Cocktail: Home carbonated soda, 15 year old blended Scotch, mayonnaise and a slice of smoked salmon.
Starter: Celery and Ballpark mustard Gazpacho .
Protein: Feline Soft seafood medley (the cheapest canned meat you can find in a grocery store.)
Hey everyone– just a reminder that the annual cheese festival taking place in Picton on June 1-2 is not so far away. Perhaps farther than Spring…..but perhaps not. Sigh.
It’s an amazing weekend where you can sample cheese from across the country (Artisan Cheese and Fine Food Fair) while sipping local wine or cider and there are some fantastic seminars about everything from pairing beer and cheese, wine and cheese, different types of milk, Quebec cheese and so on. Plus all the dinner—Jamie Kennedy’s shin dig is sadly sold out–sorry.
Anyway–if you’re thinking of going to website has accommodation suggestions too (some lovely Inns and B&Bs in the area) and of course wineries to be toured and tasted.
As a special promotion for Cheese and Toast I can offer you a promo code to get yourself a discount on the event—just a little THANK YOU to all the people who follow the site.
Get 25% off tickets for The Great Canadian Cheese Festival by entering the promotional code CF13TOAST before starting your online ticket order ONLINE here. Good only on tickets purchased online in advance of the Festival on June 1-2. Visit cheesefestival.ca for information on the Festival.
Kelsie is back with an amazing video about the festivities at Fromagerie Presbytere and some cool viz of cheesemaking taking place. If you want to read more search “Curds and Eh” in the sidebar. Or focus on Kelsie’s favourite new Canadian cheesemakers from 2012. -SR
People often ask me what my favourite cheese is and I find that it’s such a hard question to answer. I usually change the question and respond, “Oh there are so many, but right now I’m enjoying ___________” or “well, if you were to limit my choices to goat milk blue cheeses from the Gulf Islands in British Columbia then I’d have to choose_______.”
But I wouldn’t hesitate if someone restricted all my future cheese consumption to only one fromagerie (ie. cheese factory). Before the challenge left their mouth, I’d blurt out “Fromagerie du Presbytère!”
Making cheese at Fromagerie-du-Presbytere
The aptly named Fromagerie du Presbytère is based out of a renovated Presbyterian rectory in Ste-Élizabeth-de-Warwick in the Centre-du-Québec region. It is home to two cheese companies, Fromagerie du Presbytère, maker of the multi award-winning Louis d’Or (among others); and Fromagerie Nouvelle France, producer of the multi award-winning Zacharie Cloutier.
There are three main reasons why I’d choose this fromagerie: the passion of the cheesemakers, their extraordinary cheeses and the community that comes together to support them.
Jean Morin serves samples of Louis d’Or at the party
The Cheesemakers
Jean Morin (Fromagerie du Presbytère) and Marie-Chantal Houde (Fromagerie Nouvelle France) are always smiling. They are welcoming and playful and their passion and love of cheese is obvious. Together, they are on a mission to make the best cheese in the world and seem to be having a great time doing it.
Laliberte cheese triple cream cheese
The Cheeses
Between the two cheese companies, they make every style of cheese that I need. There are fresh cheddar curds, a rich triple cream, a sweet and creamy blue, a raw alpine style cheese, and a raw sheep cheese similar to Manchego. Both companies make extraordinary cheeses, the names of which often evoke the rich local heritage and culture.
Laliberté is named after Alfred Laliberté, a sculptor from Ste-Elizabeth-de Warwick who became a founding member of the Sculptors Society of Canada. Unlike his sculptures which were typically made from marble or bronze, the cheese is soft and melts in the mouth like butter. Laliberté is a triple cream with a bloomy rind and boasts flavours of vegetables, fresh mushrooms and cream. It’s a truly indulgent cheese.
Louis d’Or is named after a French gold coin and shares its name with the Morin family farm. This cheese is made in 40kg wheels, has a nutty flavour similar to a Swiss Gruyere and seems to win every competition in which it’s entered. It was crowned the Grand Champion of the 2011 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix, earned a 3rd Place (Best of Show) spot at the 2011 American Cheese Society competition, and won five awards at the 2012 Selection Caseus in Quebec.
Zacharie Cloutier
Zacharie Cloutier has the same braided reed patterned rind as Manchego but lacks the wax coating of its Spanish ancestor. This washed rind cheese has flavours of nuts and hay and is one of my favourites (I have many favourites but sheep cheeses have a special place in my heart). Zacharie Cloutier shares its name with an early settler of New France who happens to be a distant relative of Marie-Chantal Houde (and other Canadian celebrities such as Alanis Morisette, Louis St Laurent, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion and Shania Twain, seriously).
Marie-Chantal separates the curds and whey
Recently, Jean and Marie-Chantal collaborated and released a cheese made from a combination of their milks, raw Holstein and Jersey milk from Presbytere and raw sheep milk from Nouvelle France. The resulting cheese is named Le Pioneer, weighs in at 40kg and has been aged for a year. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m anxious too. It promises to be another outstanding product from two of the very best cheesemakers in Canada.
The Community
The population of Ste-Élizabeth-de-Warwick literally doubles on Friday evenings during the warmer months of the year. Hundreds of visitors set up tables and chairs on the yard of the rectory where they enjoy fresh cheese with wine and beer. A retired baker bakes breads and sweets on site, musicians play from the balcony of the rectory, and people make new friends and catch up with old ones.
The Friday gatherings are, in a way, a celebration of fresh cheese. While visitors to the fromagerie eat, drink and are merry on the grounds of the rectory, Jean, Marie-Chantal and their team are busy making cheese inside. The fresh cheese is available at three stages during the production process:
4pm – Fromage de petit lait – curds in whey. To be eaten from a bowl with a spoon.
5pm – Slab cheese – unsalted, unmilled, slabs of cheese (this isn’t cheddar yet!). Customers can sprinkle salt to add extra flavour.
6pm – Fromage en grain – AKA cheddar curds. Straight from the vat to the customers! Warm curds are a real treat.
Louis D’Or at the American Cheese Society Competition
This past summer I spent a Friday evening at Fromagerie du Presbytère. Their Friday parties are, perhaps the most honest celebration of cheese I’ve witnessed. There’s no corporate sponsorship, no advertising, no pretension, and no need to buy tickets. It’s simply a bunch of cheese lovers coming together to celebrate the work of two talented cheesemakers.
Here’s a little video my buddy Ian Langohr and I put together about our experience.
Weather permitting, Fromagerie du Presbytère will host the first Friday fête of 2013 on April 19th and they will continue EVERY Friday afternoon until the autumn.
I seriously hope no one will actually restrict all my future cheese consumption to just one fromagerie but if they did I think Fromagerie du Presbytère would be a great pick.
Now, if you were challenged to only eat cheese from a single fromagerie (it doesn’t have to be French), who would you choose and why? (You can be sneaky like me and choose two if you want)
And seriously, how can you actually choose one cheese to be your favourite!?
How did I get so lucky to have two of my talented friends blog recipes on Cheese and Toast this spring? First Johanne Durocher made Saag Paneer and now my friend Ally Chang (another cheese obsessed cohort) will show you how to make homemade ricotta–it is SO GOOD–especially warm, and Ally also added her ricotta pancake recipe. How good is it to live at her house? Enjoy, SR.
How to make Ricotta Cheeseby Ally Chang
Making ricotta cheese is so incredibly easy and it tastes so much better than store-bought too. I have modified a couple of recipes to make it even easier – I like recipes that call for things I have on hand, not specialty items that I have to buy. So if you have milk, cream, salt and lemons you are in cheese making business. We eat some of this warm, fresh ricotta in the morning for breakfast with fresh fruit. I then use the rest to make Lemon Ricotta Pancakes the next day. The pancake actually freeze well so the left-overs go into a Ziplock and into the freezer and I have a quick and easy breakfast option for my kids during the busy weekday mornings.
If you do not have cheese cloth is available at most grocery stores or the bulk store.
Ricotta
Bring the following ingredients to a gentle simmer:
1 litre (4 cups) of 3.25% milk (I use organic but you can use non-organic)
1 1/2 cups whole (35%) cream
1 tsp salt
Then add:
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp white vinegar
Draining the ricotta through cheese cloth.
Let this cook for 1 minute and you will see the curds separate from the whey.
After 1 minute, drain the cheese through a cheese cloth (doubled) that has been placed in a colander. Let it sit in the colander to further drain for a few minutes.
Enjoy warm with fruit or let cool then store in a container in the fridge. The next day you can make Lemon Ricotta Pancakes.
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Whisk the following ingredients together:
3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups Red Fife flour (which will add a lovely nuttiness or use all purpose)
2 tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
2-3 tsp lemon juice
Then fold in 1 cup of homemade ricotta. Cook pancakes on a medium low heat (you can keep them warm in the oven set at 200). Serve with blueberries and warm maple syrup.
**Ally has also told me that these freeze really well for make-ahead, instant breakfasts.
RICOTTA
Originating in Italy, the name “ricotta” comes from the Latin recocta or “recooked,” reflecting the fact that the whey is reheated after being “cooked” once already when separating the curds and whey.Ricotta can be made from sheep’s, cow’s, goat’s or water buffalo’s milk and is a fresh, loose cheese with a mild flavour that can sometimes have a slightly granular texture (ripened and smoked varieties also exist). Some ricottas are made with skim or whole milk, which increases fat content and makes them more moist and creamy. (Like Ally’s recipe)
I was dubious. Gourmet jelly shots. I even skipped these in university in lieu of the much cooler and more sanitary mixing of a garbage can of Purple Jesus (Go Gaels!).
But when we decided to try them for The Lazy Gourmet I was pleasantly surprised. They were kind of fun.
There are many sites dedicated to beautiful versions of these like the Jelly Shot Test Kitchen or this pretty cool Jello Shot Pinterest page. So I did a bit of research based on other people’s trial and error (oh happy day when I can call a jelly shot recipe “research”). I tried to make sure I added enough gelatine so they held together but were not gummy bear in chewy-ness. I also wanted to initially try a clear jelly shot (very cool) but found the alcohol a bit overwhelming so came up with this take on the French Martini which includes fresh pineapple juice.
And I am not kidding when I say be careful how many sips you take to taste and adjust flavours when you mix them, they pack a wallop. (It’s inconvenient to pass out mid-research.)
CHAMBORD AND PINEAPPLE JELLY SHOTS
Ingredients
1 cup raspberry vodka
1/4 cup Chambord
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice, divided
Fresh lemon.
1/3 cup simple syrup (bring 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water to a boil until the sugar dissolves; cool before using)
3 packs (15 millilitres each) gelatin
1/2 cup hot water
16 raspberries
Method
In a medium bowl combine raspberry vodka, Chambord, 1 cup pineapple juice and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Add simple syrup and take a sip to see if you like the balance of sweetness and tang from the lemon. Set aside.
In another bowl, pour 1/2 cup pineapple juice and sprinkle 3 gelatin on top. Add hot water (from the kettle) and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add to the vodka mixture and whisk to combine. Pour into an 8-inch-by-8-inch glass dish. Chill in the fridge until the mixture starts to thicken (about 10 minutes) and then add 16 raspberries, spacing them out so it will be easy to divide 1 raspberry per jelly shot. Refrigerate overnight.
To serve, prepare a glass of hot water. Dip a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter into the hot water before cutting around each raspberry. Twist the circle cutter around the jelly for a clean cut, and push gently side to side to peel it from the bottom of the dish before removing. You should get about 16 one-ounce pieces.
This week’s gourmet in a flash recipe in Globe Life. Avocado and truffle salt on toast.
How did I not discover truffle salt before? It was in California visiting my brother that I got slightly obsessed. Dave and Erin had received some for Christmas from Erin’s food loving brother Chris. Soon we were sprinkling it on everything– on eggs to finish pizza (amazing–why have any other toppings in fact) and even on our steak fajitas and what better on popcorn? And you can always just go with plain Tuscan butter, baguette and truffle salt.
This week we featured it the weekly quick gourmet recipe for the Globe. My new favourite lunch, see above.
Truffle salt from Williams- Sonoma
Not all truffle salts are created equal I have discovered, some taste more like salt with some black specs that might be truffle– but the one I got from Williams Sonoma is amazingly earthy and rich–the smell is fantastic. Keep it in your bag–smelling salts for foodies. Not cheap–about $35.00 but you really don’t have to use much at all. Maybe a nice host or hostess gift even, if you really the people. Otherwise stick with the Yellowtail….kidding! (Unless you always bring Yellowtail and it works, then yah, def stick with it.)
Pass on any good truffle salt uses you have found if you like it too. Because you know, using it a zillion times a day just isn’t enough.
cheese and toast 