Snofrisk, Week 18

Readers, I have returned!  A most happy May to you and yours.  This past month was an exceptionally busy one for me, and I do apologize for the sometimes erratic postings.  Now, on with the show!

My mother recently sent me the most divine croissants from Williams-Sonoma.  We first got them years ago when her mother sent them to our family, and seeing that box of frozen goodness in the mail this week just made my stomach jump for joy merely in anticipation of enjoying them this weekend.  These things are amazing.  I've been to the bakeries in Paris and Nice...and these croissants are the closest you'll find on this side of the pond.  Gushing for croissants aside, I knew I had to somehow incorporate my cheese of the week with them.  Even though they are just perfect with butter fresh out of the oven.  I figured a spreadable goat cheese might fit the bill and perhaps be more blog-worthy than Laughing Cow cheese.  In high school, I once dressed up as the laughing cow for a "commercial" in our French food "television show."  I didn't especially feel like reliving the days of wearing a red sweatsuit and a paper plate plastered with a cow face rubber-banded to my head, so I settled for a similarly curious sounding cheese name: Snofrisk.  

Snofrisk? Really.  Apparently, Snofrisk = Snow Fresh in Norwegian.  There's a cute goat on the label, too.

Snofrisk

Price: $21.78/lb

Smell: Like cream cheese or Laughing Cow cheese, but super creamy and authentic.  None of that 'whipped' business.  Snofrisk is serious cheese. (Say that out loud.)

Bonus: Trying to read inside packaging is good fun.  

Step One: Set out croissants before bed so they can thaw and rise.

Step Two: Marvel at how big they got.  Get excited.  Bake 15-20 at 350 degrees.

Step Three: Spread Snofrisk on biggest, flakiest, best-looking croissants.  Spread real butter on croissants for heaven in puffed pastry form.  Side note:  I got a new tablecloth!  Last month, I went to the Textile Museum and was wowed by their Recent Acquisitions collection.  This tablecloth is a Suzani pattern that was made in India.  

Verdict:  Snofrisk is good.  Really good.  It's the best plain cream cheese I can recall.  It's 80% goat cheese, 20% cream of cow's milk.  If you want to indulge in cream cheese or just be able to offer something called Snofrisk to guests, I highly recommend it.  Like I mentioned in my last post, ranking great cheese is really hard.  When I update my spreadsheet of cheese this month, I'll have the sections of super cheese, good cheese, and cheese I'd rather pass on clearly marked.  Snofrisk is better on its own than Oaxaca, but not as versatile as Brie.  

End tally: Midnight Moon > Lamb Chopper > Manchego > Paneer > Comte > Irish Cheddar > Vermont Cheddar > Emmentaler > Bucheron > Delice d'Argental > Brie > Snofrisk > Oaxaca/Asadero > Red Square > Port Salut > Stilton > Pecorino Romano > Monterey Jack

Port Salut, Week 14

About the April Fools' cheese-- I really did want to try vegan 'cheese,' but when I went to the Teeter on Wednesday, I just didn't have the heart to purchase "Cheddar Veggie Shreds" or "American Veggie Slices."  After weeks of fantastic cheese, I couldn't bear to buy a large quantity of 'cheese' that most books and countries don't recognize as such.  Thus, the cheese blog tragically went a week without cheese.

Yet, this is the part where happiness and cheesiness come in.   Port Salut (POOR sah-LEW) was plentiful and on sale.  Per usual, I had not the faintest idea what to do with this cheese.  Laura Werlin's book, Cheese Essentials, describes Port Salut as "very popular among Americans" because of "its lack of assertive flavors" and recommends using it when cooking rather than eating it plain.  With that in mind, I went for a breakfast sandwich-- easy, homey, and hard not be delicious.  

Port Salut

Smell: Kind of like a strong deli Muenster

Cost: $9.99/lb

Step One:  Basil butter the pan.  I've been finding the neatest things in the freezer aisle lately.  See those green cubes? Two tablespoons of chopped basil!

Step Two:  Add eggs (4) and generously season bacon with cayenne pepper.  Bacon is one of the reasons I'm a vegetarian wannabe.  Right now, I love Pederson's uncured applewood smoked bacon with lots of cayenne-- the bacon becomes sweeter with the heat.

Step Three: Add some cheese!  Once the eggs are cooked, remove from heat and add cheese. I used a bit less than half of the wedge I got.  When I make this again, I would use even less.  The cheese was so soft, no shredding was required- it melted nicely into the eggs.  (For my longtime readers-- I got new heat-proof spatulas! Huzzah!)

Step Four: Enjoy!  Happy breakfast, happy belly!

Verdict: Port Salut tasted great in the eggs with basil, but it was just so-so on its own (mild cheese with funny aftertaste).  More of a supporting actor kind of cheese, Port Salut is no Denzel.  

End tally: Midnight Moon > Lamb Chopper > Manchego > Paneer > Comte > Irish Cheddar > Vermont Cheddar > Emmentaler > Bucheron > Delice d'Argental > Brie > Red Square > Port Salut > Stilton > Pecorino Romano > Monterey Jack

Manchego, Week 2

Lessons learned this past week:
1) Having a cheese blog makes me think about cheese a lot. When I say a lot, I mean it. I felt the need to eat cheese, any kind, everyday. The more people I told about the blog, the more I absolutely had to have it.

2) I bought too much cheese last week. Comte was great, but Comte with six meals in a row was a tad overwhelming.

3) Seriously, why did I eat cafeteria mac-and-cheese last week? Cheese cravings.

Follow-up questions about my blog:

1) How often will I be writing/trying new cheeses?
A) One cheese per week. I will post every Sunday. If I have leftover cheese, then I will probably write about it the following week.

2) How do you pick your cheese-of-the-week?

A) I don't have a system...yet. Feel free to leave a comment with a suggestion. (You don't have to have a Google Account to do so.)

3) Are you judging the cheese by itself or by its use in a recipe?
A) Just plain. I'll get a cool matrix of cheeses up soon.

4) Why Ready, Set, Kate? Do you have a cheese nickname?

A) I picked out readysetkate.blogspot.com way before I thought to blog about cheese. I just thought the title sounded fun and had recently decided to go by the name Kate. (That makes me Kate, the blogger formerly known as Katie.) I don't particularly have a cheesy nickname, although I was addressed as "Cheese Girl." My initial reaction was not positive. If you leave a comment written to Cheese Girl, I won't respond. (But secretly, I would still be thrilled to have comment!) Cheesekate was another nickname mentioned to me. I do like cheesecake. This is a "possible" for approved-by-me nicknames.

That said, I had no particular inspiration for this week's cheese. In spite of thinking about cheese all of the time, I ended up picking one out at random at Harris Teeter. Without further ado, I present:

Manchego

Price: 19.99/pound

Smell: Good! Fragrant and oak-y

This week, I decided to make a hearty brunch and more importantly, use all of the cheese! I did not use a recipe, but I'm fairly certain that this is, thus far, "Kate's Ultimate Omelet."

Step One: Shred Cheese. All of it! (.35 lb) Sorry about the fuzzy picture, having some weird problems with the the good photo of the shredded cheese. Blame my excitement and ridiculous amount of sugar and caramel syrup in my coffee.

Step Two: Melt a generous Tbsp of real butter and caramelize half of a yellow onion. (This smelled fantastic! I am a sucker for the melted butter smell, and was super excited for omelet time.)


Step Three: Add chives to onions when they are translucent. Remove from pan and set aside. Whisk 4 egg whites and three eggs together with a splash of milk for omelet base. (This was too much egg goo, I would use one less of each next time.) With heat on low, pour eggs into pan. Salt and pepper it up for fun. Once the egg sets up and looks just about firm, add shredded Manchego (save some for on top) and onion-chive mix.

Step Four: The Flip. The most nerve-wracking part of omelets for me is the The Flip. Typically, this results in The Flop-- a scrambled egg and stuff concoction that tastes yummy but looks super messy. I used two flippers and was extra careful just so the blog would look pretty. Score!!


Step Five: Top with leftover Manchego and chives. I also had cantaloupe (buy one get one free, folks!) and fresh-squeezed Honeybell orange juice. Honeybells are the fruit of the month from Hale Groves in Florida. Kate <3 Citrus. Enjoy!

Result: Manchego > Comte. Manchego was firm, mild, sweet, and smelled nicely. Also, I tried the rind-- it was a tasty snack!

Thanks for reading!