Cheese

I am very very nerdy when it comes to cheeses.  I can read for literally hours on the different milking times, the terms of AOC, the season, the bloom, the crust, the texture, the ageing, the volume of milk, the size specifications.  The cheese of France is absolutely and utterly unreal and I have to unfortunately ease back my consumption because I can't run enough to offset it.  So I hereby, on new years eve, reluctantly must reduce my study time.  

Damn.

So far my 3 favourite regions are the Haute Marne and it's Chaource (rhymes with horse) and Langres.  The Savoire and it's Comté (I like the aged version, hard sweet nutty like a richer gruyere) and Reblochon and the Jura with it's Mont d' Or.  The Rhône-Alpes with it’s pave d’affinois.

I don’t know whether it’s purely because it’s never been accessible or whether I just enjoy the flavor but my preference is for lait cru cheese.  Raw milk.  Only recently available in NZ and under certain conditions.  Why?  WhoTFKnows. 

These cheeses and the traditions behind making them are centuries old.  There are little snippets like the saying for the second milking termed reblocher, meaning “to pinch a cow's udder again” and originated from the herdsmen did not quite complete the milking in order to preserve the amount of tax they handed to the landowners. After the controllers had measured the morning milk, the herdsmen finished the milking after dark and kept this rich milk to produce their own cheese which resulted in richer results and became part of the AOC and used in Reblochon and Comté. 

Anyway, we had some spare truffle.  Stuffed some into Langre and let it be for a few days.  We are eating that at present.  We did the same (stuffing with fresh truffle) with a large Mont’d Or and topped with truffle oil which I’ve wrapped and popped in the freezer waiting a visit from Joey and dad when this cheese won’t be available.

Look at the crust on these cheeses!  The insides are so gooey they are only possible to remove by spoon (not the case for the Comté of course). 

Damn.  Why is the best stuff so fattening??  Not right.  Not right at all.  But then again if it weren’t for the luxury element the taste would not be as tantilisingly decadent.   

   

Just added for fun, I know it's not cheese!

Andy's raspberry soufflé

Andy’s soufflé are a treat.  He doesn’t use a recipe.  He just sort of knocks them up.  Whether with crème pâtissière as a base or simply with egg white, no yolk they end out absolute knockouts.  No exception.

This one was raspberry.  He knocked up a quick coulis using cooked frozen berries, blitzed, whipped up the whites, folded, carefully greasing and sugaring the ramekins (an essential step to give the lift and gorgeous crunch) and voila.

Served with the best bought ice-cream.  Not too sweet, better ice-cream than I can make.  And I'm certainly not going to compete in the soufflé making department.  Seriously Andy's domain for bloody good reason. Yum.   

Wild Roe Deer - Tandoori style

I mentioned before, they hunt around these parts.  A lot.  So much so in fact that it's wise to wear a bright top when running!  

They hunt for pig and deer.  They the pig are large and black, deer are tiny and brown and as cute as little cuties.  These little deer dart about like gorgeous wee gazelles.  Did I mention the word cute?  Seriously.  So cute.  Would I hunt one? Personally no.  But when our neighbour ambles over with some of the recent catch care of the Mairie then who are we not to do it justice?  It would be wrong on all sorts of levels not to eat something so lovely that had given it's life.  

We were presented with a whole hind leg and some chops.

The chops, not sure what I'll do with them yet (if I were butchering myself I'd have either left them on the rack or taken the loin but this was butchered for me so I have no choice).  The leg.  What a beauty.  Small enough not to be overwhelming for 2 people.  Only 700gms in fact including bone.  So I decided what a good ex Dubai-ite would do - make tandoori roe deer.

Hind leg of roe deer from the woods near our house

With home made tandoori marinate, ready for the (very hot) oven

Andy's hand made roti

Just out of the oven, resting (the place smelling AMAZING)

About to dig in, with mint raita, spiced apricot chutney and a tomato salad

Yum!!!!

Enough said......

Pork Belly, cured, smoked, braised then pressed overnight

Served with dashi.  One of my favourite ways to serve pork belly.  Light and elegant.  I cooked a little black rice adding the chopped kombu from the dashi sauce.  Scorched green beans added at the end.

I had braised and pressed the belly the night before.  Pressing it (my simple way, wrap whilst hot in clingfilm, put the skin side on a flat plate.  No need for the drama of weights in the fridge!  If necessary just wrap another tight wrap of clingfilm around the plate and pork.

The dashi is so easy (Kombu, bonito, balanced with a little good quality soy).  I like using black rice as a supporter to this dish because I can mix in the finely chopped (and would otherwise be discarded) Kombu.  Seasoned with quality soy.

As for the pork.  Once it's been pressed overnight in the fridge, chop it nicely.  Use any left overs for whatever.  Pizzas, calzones, pastas, sauces. I have left over bits wrapped and noted in my freezer.

Cook the pork belly skin side down, slowly.  OK, so I don't like "crackling" I like crispy chewy mirror of fat that yields underweight to that lovely fatty soft balance between globule and sauce.  That's my preference.  So I cook this low, once that glassy effect is there I'm happy.  I brown the sides and serve. BTW I pour the dashi at the table separately.  It is an elegant way to serve and gives the pork it's time to shine.