This Cheese Doesn't Suck: Valdeon Blue (and a giveaway winner, too!)

        Guys, that was a  lot of unintentional rhyming in the title of this post.  Yeah, sorry about that.  I guess it's the result of listening to too much Christmas music.  I admit, I'm not actually a curmudgeon about the holiday season.  When confronted with bespectacled hipsters lauding how much gift giving, St. Nick, and tinsel are overrated.  Well, lets say I just throw their own eye-roll ammunition right back at them.  
    But lets face it, my favorite part of this aggressively festive season is the eating.  No kidding, right?  This is the time of year that I dust off my hollow leg and get down to some serious noshing.  (secret: I don't actually eat huge amounts of grub the rest of the year.) 

    So Santa baby, if you're listening, leave a nice slice of this Valdeon blue under my Christmas tree.  You know, for me?  Because this blue is one slick holiday party attendee.  No matter your drink and nibbles situation Valdeon fits right in.  
    Does it pair with juicy, sparkling white wine?  Check.  Is that a platter of smoked meats on that appetizer table?  Check.  What goes with your swank after dinner sherry?  You have one guess.  
    Yes, Valdeon embodies a lot of my requirements for a good crowd pleasing blue.  Not too rustic, balanced salt content, the paste is supple with a hint of crumble, the chestnut leaves wrapping it give it a campfire-y earthiness, and a hint of white pepper piquant lingering on the finish.  
    Santa, I'll be waiting up for you.

    {We have a winner! After much digging around, blindfolded, in a hat full of names, The Board and Wire Anniversary Giveaway winner is Jesse Purdom!  Congrats to the winner and keep an eye out for a special cheese-centric Christmas box coming your way!}

Baked Apple with St. Agour Blue Cheese

 

    Apples.  Honeycrisp, Tango, Gala, Granny Smith, Jonagold.  No matter its name or character apples are the official fruit of Autumn.  The best type having crispy flesh that turns velvety under the tooth, with honeyed sweetness balanced out with a tart snap.   While possibly the most perfect fruit on its own there is nothing that a little cheese can't improve.  

    Let me be the first to tell you that this improvement makes your average solo apple taste like that french fry you found in your backseat last week.  I'll explain.  This Jonagold apple was cored and baked with a fluffy mixture of softened butter, light brown sugar, and...wait for it...triple creme St. Agour blue cheese.  Oh. Yeah. 

    The salty, lactic, yet gentle acidity of the cheese perfectly complements the heady sweetness of the apple.  Blending seamlessly with the toasted, buttery caramel of the brown sugar and butter.  

    As I write this I have slowly been working my way through this a fore mentioned baked fruit (yes, it's my breakfast. don't hate.).  The sheer, almost physically palpable, decadence of it has left me slowly working my way to the bottom of the bowl.  Though once past the spoonable, just barely crisp apple, lies the juices left over from baking.  A caramelized, buttered pool of brown sugar, salt, and cream.  

    Now this is the way to welcome the first day of Autumn.

Baked Apple w/Blue Cheese

serves 1

1 washed and cored baking apple w/skin on

1 Tbs salted butter, softened

2 Tbs light brown sugar, packed

1 Tbs blue cheese, softened and packed

1/2 cup water

Cinnamon for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 F

Blend butter, sugar, and cheese with a spatula in a small bowl until well blend but still lumpy

Pack the mixture lightly into the cavity of the apple

The mixture should mound slightly over the top of the apple

Place into a baking dish and cover with apple lightly with tin foil

add the water to the baking dish

Bake for approx. 20 minutes

Remove tinfoil and add water if needed

Baste often with its own juices

Bake 20 more minutes or until tender under a fork

Carefully (molten sugar burns like napalm) move the apple to a ramekin or bowl 

Spoon over the juices from bottom of the baking dish

Sprinkle with cinnamon and any left over brown sugar

Spoon it into your face and enjoy!

This Cheese Doesn't Suck: Gabriel Coulet Roquefort

    I'm continuing my blue cheese obsession with Gabriel Coulet Roquefort this week.  Ever since the in-famous "Blue Cheese + Coffee" post (of which I could hear a thousand readers cringing) I have been on a serious blue bender (try today's cheese with a cup of Sumatran!).

    Gabriel Coulet is really taking blue to the next level.  Where St. Agour was triple creme and obliging this cheese is a textured kick in the palate.  It hits the tongue with a deceiving sweetness, luring you in with its subtle, giving texture.  That's when the party really starts the sweetness gives way to a smokey, lactic tang, soft fine-sand texture, and finishing with a punch of picant/vegetal bite.

This cheese also boasts a protected designation of origin (AOC).  Which dictates how, what, where, and by whom the cheese can be made.  Everything from how long after lambing the ewes can be milked to what cave the cheese can be aged in is dictated.  Keeping the integrity of all brands of Roquefort intact.  This cheese really doesn't suck. 

{Don't forget! Google reader is going offline on 5/1!  Stay up to date with TBAW via Bloglovin'!}

St. Agur Blue + Italian Roast Coffee

    The pairing of a strong, creamy blue cheese with a perfectly brewed cup of coffee was first brought to my attention by a co-worker (and A.C.S. Certified Cheese Professional. ) of mine.  Even my adventurous, food-loving heart balked at that combination.  I believe the word "interesting!" came out of my mouth.  Which, if one had listened carefully, actually would have registered as "icky!" 
    I am so ashamed. 
    Because, as I'm sure you can anticipate, blue cheese and rich coffee is the unlikely amazing duo. 
I went for the big guns for this flavor pairing.  No mild Cambozola and "Breakfast Blends" for this experiment.  I opted instead for the punchy St. Agur blue matched with a bold Italian Blend coffee.  Fortune favors the brave, I suppose, since I was well rewarded for my selections. 
    The creamy-sandy texture and lactic-pepper bite of the cheese, washed down with the deep toasty notes of coffee left a kind of smokey void on the palate.  Flavors developed from a peat smoke to pipe tobacco, finishing with just a lingering hint of earthy animal. 
    All that from one bite of cheese and one sip of coffee. 
    Already I'm planning out my next coffee/cheese pairing with raw milk Manchego and a light Latin American coffee.  A gooey washed-rind stinker with a fruity Ethiopian seems like an even bigger adventure.   My breakfast horizons are, now, certainly much wider.

Sneak Peak #4