blue cheese

radicchio and leaf lettuce salad with carrot, microgreens and persimmon / insalata di radicchio e lattughino con carota, micro verdure e cachi mela

| Simona

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radicchio salad / IMG_4773D

flavorful and brightly colored
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The novel Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson1 is our current Cook the Books Club selection, hosted by yours truly. I chose the book from a list of food-rich ones because the title intrigued me. Fernet-Branca is a popular digestivo (digestive liqueur) in Italy, not a cooking ingredient. A splash of it can be added to an espresso to make a version of caffè corretto. A Fernet caldo (warm) is meant to help digestion.

While I don't know what Fernet-Branca tastes like, I remember well how much I liked its TV ads when I was a kid. The ads2 featured ever-shifting shapes made with modeling clay.  

"An opera buffa with recipes" is how the NY Times review1 describes the novel, and I agree. The story and the events are somewhat outlandish and hilarious. The protagonists, Gerald and Marta, whose voice and perspective we hear in turn, keep the reader's attention and so does their turf war — fought in a corner of Tuscany, which for both of them is a foreign country.

Gerald, a British ghost writer, is also a creative cook. His recipes, like the book's plot, are — shall we say — unusual and often enriched with Fernet-Branca (to which Marta introduced him). The inspiration for my salad came not from Gerald's creations, but from a connection I made between bitter liqueur (amaro) and its digestive properties, and bitter greens, like beloved radicchio.

radicchio salad ingredients / IMG_4750D

group photo: salad ingredients (minus the microgreens)
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Last month, I spent a few days in Venice (Venezia) and ate radicchio every day, raw or cooked. All the varieties were available at the store where I usually shop for vegetables, which made me happy. In recent years, I have been able to obtain radicchio from some vendors at farmers' markets in California,3 and when that happens I always make a point of thanking the farmer for growing a beloved vegetable. 

While the round, wine-red radicchio di Chioggia is the most common salad variety, I sometimes find the burgundy-flecked variegato di Castelfranco.

radicchio salad / IMG_4771D

before the final tossing
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

With their delicate sweetness, Fuyu persimmons, now in season, and great in salads, provide a lovely contrast to radicchio. The other ingredients contribute to the salad's flavor and texture profile.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Radicchio and leaf lettuce salad with carrot, microgreens and persimmon

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces / 56 grams radicchio (variegato di Castelfranco or radicchio di Chioggia)
  • 2 ounces / 56 grams leaf lettuce
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams carrot (1 small carrot), clean weight
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams microgreens4 of choice (sunflower, kohlrabi, arugula)
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams Fuyu persimmon (about 1/2 of a medium persimmon)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • A splash of sherry vinegar + 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, possibly homemade OR 2 tablespoons vinaigrette
  • 1/2 ounce sweet blue cheese, crumbled

Chop the clean radicchio and leaf lettuce and place into a bowl.

Scrub the carrot  and scrape its surface to remove a thin layer of skin. Grate the carrot using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater. Add the grated carrot and the microgreens to the bowl.

Core and thinly slice the persimmon, then add to the bowl.

Sprinkle the salt on the salad then distribute the mayonnaise or vinaigrette on the surface. Toss gently and thoroughly.

Sprinkle the blue cheese, toss again, plate and serve.

Serves 2

1 The book on the publisher's website and a review of the book on the NY Times.
2 Fernet-Branca website, one ad and another one
3 From briciole's archive: Savoy cabbage and radicchio and radicchio and sweet corn
4 This page explains the differences between sprouts and microgreens.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di radicchio e lattughino con carota, micro verdure e cachi mela

or launch the insalata di radicchio e lattughino con carota, micro verdure e cachi mela audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

 The roundup of the event.

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

salad,leaf- lettuce, carrot, radicchio, mayonnaise, microgreens, persimmon

recipe: radicchio and leaf lettuce salad with carrot, microgreens and persimmon

| Simona

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red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad / insalata di barbabietole rosse, carote, mela e uovo sodo

| Simona

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IMG_4299

Colorful salad: the view from above
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the spy novel Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews1. I chose this book for our Club in early June 2021. I had no idea that by the time I started reading it, it would feel like current events. It was hard to believe the book was published in 20132.

While I am an avid reader of mystery novels, this was my first experience reading a spy novel. I was attracted to it because each chapter ends with a short recipe (ricetta): more a list of ingredients and a sketch of the preparation than a real recipe. Still the contrast is intriguing.

The author is a former officer of the CIA’s Operations Directorate, so he wrote the novel from a place of personal experience. I was interested in the language (acronyms and some spy jargon) and the window the novel opens on the mechanics of some secret operations. I found the main characters in the novel interesting, in terms of how they end up doing what they do and also with respect to the question: how do they keep their humanity? How do they maintain friendships, marriages? Those relationships are rooted in trust, openness, sincerity, and yet the spy’s main role is to dissimulate and violence, some of it quite brutal (torture, murder) is part of the job.

IMG_4296 (1)

salad ingredients ready to be tossed together
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

As the story travels to different countries, the recipes span a number of culinary traditions. When the novel moved to Helsinki, I looked for Finnish recipes, since an important part of the novel takes place in the Nordic capital: that’s where Dominika meets and falls in love with CIA operative Nate, and befriends fellow Russian Marta, whose disappearance pushes Dominika to step over to the other side. In my search, I read about rosolli, a salad 

made of cooked, diced root vegetables, especially beetroot, carrot and potato, often combined with one or more of pickled cucumber (of either the vinegar or brine type), raw onion and apple. Variations may also include additional ingredients such as pickled herring or boiled egg…3

Then in chapter 40, I read:

On the way back to Tallinn, Benford stopped at a highway café grill, to see how the Lada would react. Surveillance proceeded two hundred meters and waited on the side of the highway. Benford made himself stretch out a lunch of boiled sausages, pickles, herring, Baltic rosolje salad, black bread, dark loamy beers.

and a recipe for Estonian Beet Salad—Rosolje appears at the end of the chapter, signaling that various versions of this dish are typical of the larger Baltic region. In fact,

Similar dishes are found throughout northern Europe, from the Low Countries across Scandinavia to Russia. Especially the Russian vinegret is very similar to the Finnish rosolli.3

The salad I made is a free interpretation: I roasted red beets and carrots, omitted potatoes, pickles, herring and the “cooked beef or pork” mentioned in the book’s version, used my homemade mayonnaise (maionese) as dressing and added blue cheese (formaggio erborinato). The combination is quite nice: sweet, tender vegetables, crisp apple, egg, a hint of sharpness in the cheese. You can roast the vegetables ahead of time, then assemble the salad right before the meal. I imagine preparing the ingredients and allow the guests to make their own salad, which can be served also as an appetizer (antipasto).

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad

Ingredients per person (to be multiplied as needed):

  • 2 small red beets
  • 2 small carrots
  • 1 large egg, from pastured poultry
  • 1/2 medium apple
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
  • A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • A splash of sherry vinegar, to taste
  • 1-2 tablespoons / 15-30 ml mayonnaise, possibly homemade, to taste
  • 1/2 ounce / 15 grams Point Reyes Bay Blue4 OR other sweet blue cheese

Note: I recommend you purchase a bunch of red beets with their greens. Cut off the greens about 1 inch / 2.5 cm from the root and consume them as soon as possible like you would other types of dark leafy greens.

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Scrub the red beets well. Scrub the carrots well and scrape the surface with a blade to remove a thin layer of skin. Wrap each in foil and place them on a baking sheet. Put in the oven and roast the vegetables until easily pierced with a blade. Check the carrots after 30 minutes and the beets after 45 minutes and gauge the cooking time remaining for each.

Let the carrots cool until easy to handle, then slice them (half the slices if the carrot is wide) and set them aside. Let the red beets cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin. Cut the beets in bite-sized pieces and set them aside.

In the meantime, hard-boil the egg, let it cool, then peel it and dice it. Crumble the cheese. Just before assembling the salad, dice the apple (peeling optional).

Compose the salad using the vegetables, apple and egg. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar and toss. Add the mayonnaise and toss, then add the blue cheese, toss one last time, and serve.

1 The book’s page on the publisher’s website
2 A review of the novel on the NY Times
3 The wikipedia article about rosolli and a recipe for rosolli on the Finlandia Foundation website
4 Point Reyes Bay Blue cheese, “a rustic-style blue cheese with a natural rind. It is known for its mellow flavor and sweet, salted caramel finish.”

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di barbabietole rosse, carote, mela e uovo sodo

or launch the insalata di barbabietola rosse, carote, mela e uovo sodo audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by me, Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.  

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

red beet, apple, carrot, egg, salad

recipe: red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad

| Simona

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leek gratin / porri gratinati

| Simona

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[versione in italiano]

leek gratin / IMG_3745

leeks and cheese: nothing else needed
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

I love leeks both as an ingredient and on their own1. Leeks make every dish to which you add them more flavorful, but in a delicate way as they are not overwhelming. Given my preference, I consume large amounts of leeks, particularly when I can get them fresh at the farmers' market.

leeks / P1020462

an abundance of leeks

The first dish I ate made with leeks, many years ago, was a gratin. One of my roommates in Milan made a version on the rich side. My style of cooking tends to the minimalist, so my version uses leaves out béchamel sauce (besciamella) and breadcrumbs (pangrattato) and focuses on leeks and cheese (formaggio).

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Leek gratin

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces / 225 g leek, white and light green portion, clean weight (set aside the darker green portion to make broth or stock)
  • 2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • Leaves of a handful of fresh thyme sprigs
  • 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2-2 ounces / 42-56 g cheese, half Point Reyes Bay Blue OR other sweet blue cheese AND half mild cheddar (or other cheese of choice that melts well like fontina or gouda)

Cut the leek (or leeks) in half lengthwise and slice into 1/8 inch / 3 mm half-moons. Rinse well in a colander, then place in a bowl and fill it with cold water. With your hands, swirl the leeks to clean them well, then scoop them out of the water with a sieve or slotted spoon and drain them in a colander.

Warm up the olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat and add the leeks. Stir to coat, then add the thyme leaves and stir again. Turn down the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Sprinkle the paprika on the leeks and stir. Cover the pan and cook until quite tender (8-10 minutes or more, as needed, depending on how fresh the leeks are), stirring often. Make sure the pan is never dry. Sprinkle the sea salt and stir.

Crumble the blue cheese, add it to the leeks and stir well. Grate the mild cheddar cheese.

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Divide the leeks into two 4-ounce oval ramekins for baking crème brulee with scalloped edge or similar small baking dishes.

Divide the grated cheese into 2 equal parts and distribute it on the leeks.

Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until hot throughout. Turn on the broiler and broil on low setting for 2 minutes, or for 1 minute if the broiler has only one setting (without burning).

Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and serve the gratin immediately.

Serves 2.

1 From the blog's archive: cowpea of Lake Trasimeno and leeks and braised celery and leeks

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

porri gratinati

or launch the porri gratinati audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting the product on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

gratin, cheese, leek, Italian cuisine

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Newrule

porri gratinati

leek gratin / IMG_3745

porri e formaggio e nient'altro
(tovaglietta de La FABBRICA del LINO)

Adoro i porri sia come ingrediente che come protagonisti1. I porri contribuiscono il loro sapore ai piatti senza sopraffarli. Data la mia preferenza, consumo porri in quantità, in modo particolare quando li trovo freschi al mercato del produttore.

leeks / P1020462

porri in abbondanza

Il primo piatto di porri che mangiai molti anni fa era un gratin. Il mio stile in cucina tende al minimalismo quindi la mia versione omette besciamella e pangrattato ed è centrata su porri e formaggio.

Ingredienti:

  • 225 g porri, (la parte bianca e verde chiara), peso pulito (utilizzare la parte verde scuro come ingrediente per brodo)
  • 2 cucchiai / 30 ml olio extra-vergine di oliva
  • Le foglie di una manciata di rametti di timo fresco
  • 1/2 cucchiaino di paprika dolce
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di sale fino
  • 42-56 g formaggio, metà formaggio erborinato dolce e metà formaggio dal gusto dolce e che fonde bene (per esempio: fontina, gouda)

Tagliare i porri a metà per lungo poi a fettine spess 3 mm. Sciacquare con cura.

In una padella scaldare l'olio a fuoco medio e aggiungere i porri. Mescolare poi aggiungere il timo e mescolare. Cuocere a fuoco basso per 5 minuti, mescolando spesso.

Spargere la paprika e mescolare. Coprore la padella e cuocere fino a quando i porri siano alquanto morbidi (8-10 minuti o il tempo necessario), mescolando spesso. Assicurarsi che non siano mai secchi. Salare e mescolare.

Sbriciolare il formaggio erborinato, aggiungerlo ai porri e mescolare bene. Grattugiare l'altro formaggio

Scaldare il forno a 190 C.

Dividere i porri in 2 stampi da forno ovali per crème brulee da 4 once o simili stampi monoporzione.

Dividere il formaggio grattufiato in 2 parti uguali e spargerlo sui porri.

Porre i piattini su una placca da forno. Cuocere in forno per 12-13 minuti, fino a quando i porri siano ben caldi. Accendere la funzione grill e gratinare a bassa temperatura per 2 minuti (o per 1 minuto se il grill è a temperatura fissa) per far fondere bene il formaggio (facendo attenzione a non bruciarlo).

Sfornare e servire immediatamente.

Porzioni: 2.

1 Dall'archivio: fagiolina del Lago Trasimeno ai porri

FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto la tovaglietta gratuitamente dall'azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentare il prodotto sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.

Logo_v4Porto i miei porri gratinati sulla tavola del 3° mese del gruppo Fattoria consapevole e solidale: Latte e i suoi derivati

La lista delle ricette contribuite questo mese.

 

red beet, avocado, blood orange and daikon salad / insalata di barbabietola rossa, avocado, arancia rossa e ravanelli

| Simona

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red beet, avocado, orange and daikon salad / IMG_3716

before tossing
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the memoir Where I Come From by chef Aarón Sánchez1. I didn't know him before reading the book, but a few pages into it, I realized a few year ago I had met his mother, Zarela Martinez. She had been described to me as the chef who introduced Mexican cuisine to New York. It was interesting to read her story told by her son: what an amazing woman! On July 21, 19822 the NY Times published an article by Craig Claiborne titled Memorable Dishes From a Master Mexican Chef. Here's how Ms. Martinez is introduced:

A few months ago Pierre Franey and I were invited to plan a menu and supervise the preparation of quintessentially American food that was to be served to nearly 200 French chefs visiting this country. The vast majority of these chefs had never sampled the native fare of the United States. The dishes we proposed covered the country…

We also wanted to have Mexican-style food from Texas. When we canvassed our contacts for the best cook of the region, we were told that person was, hands down, Zarela Martinez-Gabilondo. She prepared the Mexican-American segment of the meal and her contribution was memorable.

Sánchez ends a few of the book's chapters with recipes, none of which is along the lines of what I cook, so I browsed the web for a Mexican recipe that would be. Recently, almost every day I have been making a salad using fresh vegetables from the farmers' market.

vegetables / IMG_3713

ingredients for the salad fresh from the farmers' market
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

A few recipes I found online3 made me draw up a list of ingredients: red beets, avocado, oranges and jicama. I couldn't find the latter, so I used daikon instead and was introduced to red and purple daikon, which are sold alongside their more famous white relative. I had not roasted red beets for a while and making this salad reminded me how much I like them. I buy them in bunches with their greens and stems (foglie e coste di barbabietola rossa), which are flavorful on their own (I will share a recipe soon).

I looked for lime but instead found variegated lemon (limone). Finally, in the citrus arena, I went for blood oranges, because I like their flavor and love their color. That all the salad's ingredients are grown in California is satisfying. My current favorite cheese addition to salads and other dishes is also a California production: Point Reyes Bay Blue4.

To me salad bowls are experiment benches: I mix and dress, toss and taste and tend not to repeat twice. For the photo op above I kept the ingredients separate, but then everything is tossed and eaten in the purple juice of red beet and blood orange. The citrus (agrumi) offset beets' sweetness and the blue cheese (formaggio erborinato) gives the salad a bit of a tang, while the daikon adds some zest.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Red beet, avocado, blood orange and daikon salad

Ingredients per person:

  • 1 red beet (4-5 ounces)
  • 1/3 of a medium purple or red daikon
  • 1/2 medium blood orange
  • 1/2 medium avocado
  • 3-4 tablespoons crumbled Point Reyes Bay Blue OR other sweet blue cheese
  • 1/8 teaspoon of fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons / 10 ml fresh lemon juice

Note: if you purchase a bunch of red beets, cut off the greens as soon as possible, leaving about an inch / 2.5 cm of stems and consume the greens shortly afterwards.

Heat the oven to 350 F / 177 C. If you only need 1-2 red beets, I suggest you bake them together with other foods, for efficiency's sake.

Scrub the red beets well. Wrap each in foil and place on the baking sheet or baking pan. Put in the oven and roast the beets until easily pierced with a blade. Let cool, then peel.

Prepare the vegetables in amounts according to the servings needed. Cut the red beet into bite-sized pieces. Brush and rinse the daikon, then grate it using the extra-coarse side of your grater. Peel and section the blood orange. Peel and slice the avocado.

Compose the salad using the vegetables and blue cheese. Dress with the sea salt, olive oil and lemon juice, toss and enjoy.

1 The book's page on the author's website
2 NY Times published an article by Craig Claiborne
3 The recipes that inspired me: Mexican Chopped Salad with Beets and Walnut Dressing, Xec, a Jicama and Citrus Salad, and Avocado, Orange and Jicama Salad
4 Point Reyes Bay Blue cheese, "a rustic-style blue cheese with a natural rind. It is known for its mellow flavor and sweet, salted caramel finish."

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di barbabietola rossa, avocado, arancia rossa e ravanelli

or launch the insalata di barbabietola rossa, avocado, arancia rossa e ravanelli audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Claudia of Honey from Rock. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

Small_NFlogoThis is my second contribution to the 41st edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started 13 years ago and that I continue to host.

The roundup of the event.

image from 4.bp.blogspot.comI am contributing my salad to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Cook the Books club co-host Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

The roundup of the event.

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

avocado, red beet, salad, daikon, orange

recipe: red beet, avocado, blood orange and daikon salad

| Simona

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honeynut squash, blue cheese and walnut bites / bocconcini di zucca, formaggio erborinato e noci

| Simona

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IMG_3604 / honeynut squash

Appetizer in progress
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel The Secret, Book and Scone Society by Ellery Adams1, a mystery that revolves mainly around a bookstore (libreria). 

The bookstore's owner, Nora, having once been healed by books, has chosen to do the same with other people. Besides Nora, the society of the title includes three other women, quite different from each other, each with a secret, a story she will at some point share. One of them is a baker with a special gift of baking 'personalized' scones, which evoke intense memories (ricordi) in those who eat them.

The novel strikes a balance between the murder plot and the background stories of the four women, particularly of Nora. She emerges as a courageous person and steadying force in the group. 

It would have been fitting to develop a recipe for scones, a pastry of which I have been a great fan ever since tasting it for the first time in London, many years ago. This blog includes eight recipes for scones2 using ingredients like carrots, persimmons, strawberries, red beets (see the complete list at the bottom of this post). But as the story focuses on the slow opening up of each woman to the others, I thought I would prepare a dish that could be shared during one of their meetings.

Then life happened: in early November, I fell on the sidewalk, broke my left little finger and have had my left hand in a half cast and bandage ever since. Everyday things, like washing my face, chopping foods, picking up a pan, typing, became difficult and tiresome. I still clung to my original idea and the recipe below reflects the season with its availability of countless varieties of winter squash. No matter how many new ones I try each fall, the following year I find some new ones. 

honeynut squash, blue cheese and walnut bites

Almost ready: a quick stay in the oven and then: Buon appetito! (bar board 
by BHV Woodworks5, placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The honeynut squash looks like a mini butternut squash: it has the same elongated shape, solid neck, bulbous end, but it is smaller, darker in color and sweeter in flavor. When I see a new-to-me type of winter squash, I always think that I had not been looking in the right place. But honeynut squash is indeed a relatively new variety, as a 2017 article in Bon Appétit explains3. A recipe for blue cheese and butternut squash crostini on an advertisement page in the current edition of Edible East Bay4 and honeynut squash in my squash stash contributed to the creation of this appetizer (in particular, the idea of toasting walnuts in rosemary-flavored oil).  

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Honeynut squash, blue cheese and walnut bites

I am not giving set quantities but general directives. Assume 4 bites per person as an appetizer and estimate 1 honeynut squash will serve 3-4 people, depending on size.

Do not worry about preparing extra squash slices and/or topping components: they can be stored for a couple of days or used in other dishes.

Ingredients:

  • Honeynut squash
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Walnuts, possibly freshly shelled
  • Needles from a fresh rosemary sprig (rametto di rosmarino), chopped
  • Shallot or red onion, chopped finely
  • Fine sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Blue cheese of good quality
  • A small amount of milk, dairy or not

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. Prepare a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat.

Using a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler, peel the squash. Slice off top and bottom. Cut the squash into 1/4-inch thick slices. When you get to the seed cavity, cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds and strings (a grapefruit spoon is my favorite tool to do this). Cut the squash into 1-inch sections to form small boats.

Distribute the squash pieces on the baking mat and bake them for 15 minutes: they should be tender. If not, flip and bake a few minutes longer. Transfer the squash onto a plate.

In the meantime, warm up a small frying pan and oil it lightly. Add the rosemary needles and stir. After 30 seconds, add the walnuts and toast them until fragrant, stirring often. Remove the walnuts and rosemary from the pan and transfer onto a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Let the walnuts cool slightly then chop finely. Set aside.

Again warm up the frying pan, add some olive oil and cook the shallot or onion until crisp/tender, stirring often and paying attention not to burn it. Sprinkle some sea salt and black pepper, stir again and set aside.

In a ramekin, crumble the blue cheese and add enough milk to turn into a thick cream, using a small fork to mix.

Assemble the bites: take a piece of squash, deposit a bit of the shallot or onion, top with a bit of the cheese and sprinkle some walnuts on top. Repeat until you have as many bites as needed. Avoid piling up too much topping: you want to be able to use your hands to pick up a bite and to taste all the flavors without one being overwhelming.

Put the baking sheet in the oven at 300 F / 150 C for a few minutes to just warm up the bites.

Transfer to a plate and serve immediately. 

1 The novel's page on the author's website
2 Scone recipes from the blog: strawberry, persimmon, pear & coconut, baby zucchini & walnut, roasted carrot, red beet, apple & pistachio, curried pumpkin & ginger, ricotta & poppy seed
3 Bon Appétit article on honeynut squash
4 Edible East Bay
5 I purchased the board and coaster from BHV Woodworks

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

bocconcini di zucca, formaggio erborinato e noci

or launch the bocconcini di zucca, formaggio erborinato e noci audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by me, Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linens free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

winter-squash, honeynut squash, blue cheese, appetizer, walnuts

recipe: honeynut squash, blue cheese and walnut bites

| Simona

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formaggio tipo gorgonzola fatto in casa: Fourme d’Ambert / homemade blue cheese: Fourme d’Ambert

| Simona

homemade Fourme d'Ambert

In my recent post on homemade Jarlsberg, I mentioned "a couple of experiment in the aging stage." One of them was my first blue cheese (a.k.a., blue-veined cheese).

As you can see from the title, in Italian we don't say formaggio blu (blue cheese). My dictionary translates blue cheese with an expression that means gorgonzola-like cheese (formaggio tipo gorgonzola), gorgonzola being the justly famous Italian blue cheese.

I obtained freeze-dried spores of Penicillium roqueforti (a dark green powder) and chose a type of blue cheese that would not need a long aging, so I could assess the result relatively quickly. In the book 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes by Debra Amrein-Boyes,1 I found the recipe for Fourme d'Ambert and chose it as my first foray into blue cheese territory.

In the Cowgirl Creamery Library of Cheese, Fourme d'Ambert is described as "the chocolate of blue cheese" (I didn't know this when I made the cheese: it would have provided an additional reason to make it). On this page, you can see that Fourme d'Ambert has PDO status (Protected Designation of Origin, AOC in French, DOP in Italian). Authentic Fourme d'Ambert carries the relevant label.

Making the cheese did not pose any special challenge. Penicillium roqueforti is added to the milk together with mesophilic culture at the beginning.  After the cheese had completed its pressing and drying period, I did the second thing that distinguishes the making of blue cheese: I pierced holes through the cheese using thin metal skewers (previously sterilized). This step brings oxygen inside the cheese and allows the mold to develop and form the blue (blue-green, blue-gray) veins and patches that give the cheese its distinctive look and flavor.

For this step, I actually followed directions as stated in the recipe for blue cheese in the book Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll. I pierced the cheese from top to bottom and then let the cheese rest on its side (on a wooden, slightly concave support) in its aging location, which is a dorm-size fridge adjusted to keep a temperature of 50-54 F (one of these days, I will show a photo of it). I then gave the cheese a quarter turn on its side every four days so it would not become misshapen.

homemade Fourme d'Ambert
We tasted it after a bit more than a month of aging (the recipe says it is ready after four weeks), and I was very happy with the result: the balance of flavor and texture was totally to my satisfaction. As you can read on this page, Fourme d'Ambert is one "of the mildest of the blue cheeses," which suits me perfectly. I have never tasted the original Fourme d'Ambert, so I cannot describe how my rendition differs, but I can tell you that what came out of my first attempt is really good.

We've been eating it plain, on some of my homemade crackers and bread. A couple of nights ago, however, I cut tiny wedges, placed them on halved black mission figs and put them in the oven, under the broiler on low, just until the cheese and figs had warmed slightly. Sorry, no photo: I was too busy eating.

As you can imagine, I am planning to make another blue cheese soon. In the meantime, there are a couple of experiments in the aging stage, which will be ready for tasting in due time, so stay tuned for the next post on my cheese-making adventures (avventure casearie).

1 I refer you to the book for the recipe details (some apply to cheese making in general, some to the specific cheese).

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

formaggio tipo gorgonzola

or launch the formaggio tipo gorgonzola audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]