Posted in Cheese, Italy, Main Dishes, Recipes, tagged Castelmagno, Cheese, food, gnocchi, gnocchi alla Castelmagno, Italy, Piedmont, recipe on May 8, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Last week, Ihsan shared with us a few memories from one of his early cheese sourcing trips – a 1993 trip to the Castelmagno region of Italy. In that post, he described one of his revelatory food experiences: Gnocchi al Castelmagno. Since that trip, he has been working on recreating the dish at home. Here is the current permutation of that recipe, one he says gets pretty close to that amazing, first taste! (more…)
Posted in Cheese, Main Dishes, Pasta, Recipes, tagged Cheese, food, mac and cheese, recipe on October 4, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Every Sunday in our Cambridge shop, the kitchen staff get the day off and a cheesemonger helps to make our “Sunday Sandwiches” – small Iggy’s rolls with a varying assortment of toppings. We always do a vegetarian option or two and then we regularly make some ham and Brie sarnies, sometimes dubbed the “Huron Classic” and at other times, “The Frenchman.” If time allows, that cheesemonger will also whip up an additional dish for the sandwich window. One such Sunday, I had enough time to make a casserole dish of mac ‘n’ cheese. Availing of our “cheese bits” bin, I think I used 35+ cheeses in the end. So, it was only a slight exaggeration when the dish was dubbed “Mil Fromages.” (more…)
Posted in Cheese, Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads & Sides, tagged B&G Oysters, Cheese, food, mac and cheese, orzo, Parmigiano Reggiano, pasta, recipe on July 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
A couple of months ago, I had the good fortune to have a late afternoon lunch at B&G Oysters in the South End. With a natural affinity for all things dairy and, in particular, for a good mac and cheese, I ordered the orzo from their list of “sides” to go with my lobster roll.
It arrived in a small ceramic dish, hot from the oven. I pierced the crumb topping with my spoon and scooped up a bite. A little puzzled because there were some darker colored bits in amongst the cheesy creaminess, I thought that there was a little prosciutto surprise in there. (more…)
Posted in Cheese, Main Dishes, Recipes, tagged Cheese, food, grilled cheese, sandwich, sandwiches on April 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Grilled Cheese: Comté and Fieschi’s Confettura di Cipolline Borretane
Grilled cheese sandwiches are classic American fare. Many of us associate this archetypal melty sandwich with childhood and/or with camping trips. I recall one particularly memorable camping trip when, after a hard day of canoeing, we finally reached our camp site. Situated on a beautiful Maine lake, the spot was picturesque and well-poised for swimming. We were hungry when we arrived but absolutely famished by the time we got camp set up. First thing on the agenda? Dinner. We made grilled cheese and tomato soup and, boy, did it taste like the best thing ever! That was the day when I became a firm believer in the saying, “hunger is the best sauce.” However, our enjoyment was also, undoubtedly, due to the inherent deliciousness of grilled cheese itself and the classic pairing with tomato soup. (more…)
Posted in Main Dishes, Produce, Producer Profile, Recipes, tagged Chanterelles, dried mushrooms, food, Foraged and Found Edibles, Jeremy Faber, King Boletes, Morels, Porcini, recipe, Recipes, roast chicken on January 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Dehydrated Morel Mushrooms
The months of January through early April in New England signify a time of rest and re-growth on the farm. While fields are quiet and covered with snow, farmers are offered a brief respite from harvesting. This time is used to select seeds and finish crop plans for spring. Naturally, this also means a lull in local produce available here at the shop, as many crops are out-of-season or grown in limited quantities at this time of the year.
Luckily, West Coast farms are able to offer and ship fresh, organic and sustainably harvested fruits and vegetables during the early months of the year. Here at our Cambridge location, we have been working closely with small family farms and foragers who practice similar growing methods to the farms we work with in New England. Among these are Foraged and Found Edibles, a purveyor and harvester of wild edibles from Northern California to British Columbia, from the Pacific Ocean to the Continental Divide. (more…)
Posted in Italy, Main Dishes, Pasta, Producer Profile, Recipes, tagged egg pasta, food, Marco Giacosa, pasta, recipe, Tagliolini, Tajarin on January 12, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Tagliolini con Tartufo
Shortly before Christmas, a display went up in front of our wine section: stacks and stacks of beautiful boxes of egg pasta. Brand new to the shop, the pasta was made by a gentleman named Marco Giacosa in Alba, a town in the northwest of Italy. (more…)
Posted in Cheese, Main Dishes, Recipes, tagged Chällerhocker, Cheese, cheeseburgers, food, melting cheese, Smuttynose on June 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »
The Chällerhocker
“Simple” is the operative word to use when making a good cheeseburger.
There are really only a few items you need to assemble the perfect backyard burger. The number one ingredient is good company. If you follow that first simple rule, you will never fail. So, call a friend. If you don’t have any friends, make one immediately. Then, grab some good ground beef, a few well-made buns, salt, pepper, a little A1 sauce and, of course, CHEESE*. (more…)
Posted in Cheese, Formaggio Kitchen Cambridge, Main Dishes, Pairings, Recipes, tagged Aria, cooking, Fontal, food, guanciale, Mulino Marino, Nostrale di Elva, pizza, pizza Val d'Aostana, recipe, Recipes, speck on January 27, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Potato, speck, garlic, Fontal, parm and arugula pizza.
Recently, a fellow monger, Mike, and I decided to have a leisurely pizza night at home. The weather outside was frightful, a movie was so delightful, and since there was no place to go, we made pizza. Pizza, beers and movies. Classic. However, instead of ordering from the mediocre pizzerias in my neighborhood, we decided that it would be more fun to make it ourselves! (more…)
Posted in Appetizers & Hors d'Oeuvres, Cheese, Main Dishes, Recipes, tagged Aligot, Appenzeller, Auvergne, Beaufort, Cantal, Cheese, Comté, cooking, Emmental, Emmentaler, fondue, fonduta, Fontina d'Aosta, Fontina Val d'Aosta, food, France, Gruyere, Italy, Laguiole, melted cheese, recipe, Recipes, Salers, Vacherin Fribourgeois on January 13, 2011 | 4 Comments »
As a child, I was an avid reader of Asterix and Obelix comics and there are a couple of images from the series that made an indelible mark. One was of Obelix furious and red in the face (I was always a little partial to Obelix) after Dogmatix had somehow been threatened. Another was of some poor, pathetic Roman who keeps losing his piece of bread in a large cauldron full of fondue. As the comic progressed (I think it must have been the one where Asterix and Obelix are in Switzerland), the cheese stretches all over the room and all over the partakers of the meal. That was my first image of fondue – it seemed fun, crazy and probably amazingly delicious. (more…)
Posted in Main Dishes, Producer Profile, Recipes, Salads & Sides, United States, tagged beans, beans and rice, food, Rancho Gordo, recipe, Steve Sando, Thomas Keller on May 14, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans
I have gained a new appreciation for the humble bean since we started carrying Rancho Gordo beans in our shops. Rancho Gordo beans have so much of their own flavor you hardly want to add anything else when you eat them. Steve Sando began the Rancho Gordo company, based in Napa, with the goal of promoting native new world specialty foods, with a focus on beans. Steve reminds us native foods from the Americas are worthy of celebration. We’ve learned from Steve that the very Italian borlotti bean originated in Mexico and the ever-so-French flageolet actually has its roots in Colombia.
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