We may not have the most dramatic changes of seasons in Los Angeles, but for the past two years, the month of April has become a season all of its own for me… One that is dramatic, beautiful, and full of glorious cheese.

It was two years ago that I first found out that Clementine, one of my favorite bakery/cafes in Los Angeles, makes at least one specialty grilled cheese sandwich every day during the month of April (closed Sundays). Their most standard version is an aged Vermont Cheddar on Country White Bread, with a choice of bacon and/or roasted cherry tomatoes, but looking at their brochure, it’s obvious that they are mining from a very deep knowledge and love for variations of melty cheese and toasty bread.

The theme of the names this year is based on the idea of a Cheesedance Festival, like a film festival. I went for the inaugural sandwich yesterday, Deconstructing Dagwood, which had cheddar, swiss, pastrami, salami, chopped olives, tomatoes, roasted peppers, pickles, mustard, “and whatever else we can find in the fridge” on a crusty roll. I forgot to take my camera along, but trust me, it was dramatic, beautiful, and full of glorious flavor. It will also be served again on April 24.

Chad and I actually sat down with the schedule to plan when we want to go… which was somewhat fruitless b/c I would have ended up putting a star next to every date if we’d seen that idea through. My waistline and wallet will probably determine my attendance.

So… if you’re in LA… some dates you may want to keep in mind… even though I doubt you could go on a “bad” day even if you tried…

• April 4 (and 19) - Mediterraneo - Aged Provolone, Sauteed Spinach, Marinated Artichokes, Basil, Garlic, and Chili Flakes on crusty bread.
• April 6 - Short Cuts (Small Sandwiches, Presented in Combination) - The Gouda, the Bread and the Buttery:
• Goudafellas - Smoked Gouda with Meatballs (and Marinara Sauce for dipping)
• As Gouda as it Gets - Aged Gouda with Young Garlic and Fried Capers
• Gouda Night and Gouda Luck - Red Wax Gouda with Turkey, Wisconsin Bacon and Russian Dressing
• April 11 - High Steaks: Panino Royale - Havarti, Gorgonzola, Grilled Steak, Bacon, and Balsamic-Roasted Onions on House-Made Panini
• April 12 (and 25) - The Philadelphia Cheese Steak Story - White American, Provolone, Rib Eye Steak, Peppers, Onions, and Mayo on French Roll
• April 16 - Basque in Glory - Etorki, Bayonne Ham, and Fig Preserves on Crusty Bread
• April 30 - Medianoche in the Garden of Gouda and Edam - Gouda, Edam, Ham, Roast Pork, Pickles, Mayo, and Mustard on Pan Cubano.

I could go on… and on… Oh, one more, my favorite name - “Melt: Collateral Heatings of Sharp Cheddar and Crispy Bread For Make Benefit Glorious Sandwich of Tuna.” I think Borat would be pleased.

It may not be surprising that this grilled cheese has pedigree. Annie Miler, the owner and chef of Clementine has worked with Nancy Silverton, who among many other things, created Grilled Cheese Night at Campanile (which still happens every Thursday night). The Buffala 66 sandwich (on April 17) has mozzarella, pecorino, italian sausage, red onions, and fennel pollen on country white, and “clearly owes its inspiration to Nancy Silverton and the fennel sausage pizza at Mozza.” I’ve been dying to go to Mozza, and this is yet another reason to check it out… and see how the open-faced versions of melty cheese and toasty crust (aka pizzas) there compare.

And if you can’t make it to LA this month, Nancy Silverton has a rather wonderful Sandwich Book, that also includes sandwich cookies, such as versions of oreos and nutter butters to make at home, or in culinary school.

In my mind, I have a conception of a tart with a cheese filling that would satisfy someone in the mood for a cheese plate garnished with fruit, nuts, and crackers. The texture of the filling of the tart would be in the ballpark of whipped brie (which is like whipped butter), and berries or pears on top or on the side would round it out with some fruity sweetness. I think that the crust probably shouldn’t be too sweet, veering more towards the backup support of a cracker or nut than that of an assertive sweet cookie. I could see brie, mascarpone, ricotta, goat cheese, or perhaps any soft cheese working in this way.

So, I was intrigued when I saw a Triple Creme Tart in The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern, a cookbook by Claudia Fleming. It calls for St. Andre cheese, which is a favorite of mine. Although similar to brie and other bloomed rind cheeses, it’s a bit more luscious than brie. In fact, it’s a triple cream cheese, and it has 75% milk fat; brie usually has about 45% (and up to 70%)… and butter in the US generally has about 80%.

I was even more intrigued by the technique. The recipe, available here, calls for making pastry cream and stirring in cubes of St. Andre so that they melt, and then grating in some nutmeg. That is set aside, and then you make an Italian Meringue by bringing water, sugar, and corn syrup up to 242 and then whipping that into frothy egg whites until they are just stiff. The Italian Meringue is then folded into the cheesy pastry cream and poured into a par-baked nutty pastry tart shell (the recipe calls for ground toasted hazelnuts and almond flour, but I used ground toasted walnut and almond instead because I don’t like hazelnuts) and baked until it is golden brown on top and puffy. In fact, she describes it as as a souffle anchored in a tart crust.

I have mixed feelings about the end result, though. It puffed up admirably like a souffle should in the oven, and it was supposed to be served shortly after taking it out of the oven — about 5 minutes. At that point, though, it was still quite warm, it tasted a lot like Italian Meringue, and the cheese was a note that came into play part way into the bite, and coated my mouth at the end. It seemed like the cheese and the meringue were battling each other for control of the tart, and the sweetness was winning. The texture was interesting, though — almost foamy. I added chopped cherries on top, but that fed into the sweetness and further obscured the cheese, even if they did add a welcoming density.

I decided to let it cool and chill it overnight. I hoped that the hot sugar would stabilize and mellow in sweetness, and the cheese would intermingle with the crust and the meringue.

It was better today, in increments. When I tasted it just out of the refrigerator, it had more of a muted sweetness and pronounced cheese flavor. When I waited for it to come to room temp, it had a wonderfully full cheese flavor with a just a bit of sweetness and a just foamy enough texture; and it was rather more dense in general.

If I want to serve it hot in the future, I’m considering halving the sugar and taking away an egg white– it was just that sweet and foamy. I think that would firm it up a bit and make it more cheesy straight away.

Also, I really like the appearance of it. When the tart is sliced, the wedges resemble wedges of cheese, but with different colors of rind for the top and bottom.

As part of our curriculum, we had a wonderful one day Cheese Course last block. The day before, we researched cheeses, and our Chef went to buy what he could find at Dean & Deluca in St. Helena. On the day of, we got a Cheese Course binder all about cheese, and after a lecture and preparing some cheese accompaniments (toasted baguette slices, proscuitto, breadsticks, sliced fruit, reduced balsamic and port, armagnac-soaked cherries), we got down to tasting.

I like this kind of learning about products from the outside world in school, and since I love cheese, it was one of my favorite days at school so far. I want to try to incorporate cheeses into the way I think about desserts/late courses in the future, and if I can try a cheese a week, that’d be a good idea.

Here are a few things that I found interesting:

• Cheese is curds (coagulated solids of milk) in whey (the liquid component of milk).
• Guidelines for a cheese plate - serve at room temp (62F-75F) so take out of fridge a few hours before; start at 6 o’clock on the plate and go clockwise for placement, mild to complex cheeses, from diff’t animals or regions, if desired; cut cheeses as close to original shape as possible; the pointy end of a wedge should face outward; have complementing, contrasting, and/or regional garnishes on the plate.
• The bloom for bloomy rind cheeses, like brie and camembert, are introduced by spraying mold spores onto the cheese and allowing it to grow under humid conditions in a ripening cave.
• Washed rind cheeses are often especially stinky. They are washed with water, brine, wine, beer, or combo to stimulate growth of bacteria and molds
• Ammonia is a by-product of the chemical reactions that occur during maturation. If a cheese smells like ammonia, unwrap it and let it breathe. If it doesn’t go away and is rancid/soapy/runny, it’s over-ripe.
• Cheeses should be stored between 45F to 60F and with 80% relative humidity.
• When they are lactating, cows produce 120 pounds of milk a day, while sheep produce 4.5#/day and goats produce 15#/day.

We tasted:

• Fromage D’Affinoise
• Abbaye de Citeaux
• Montbriac
• Comte Bodaz Tunnel Reserve
• Sharp Manchego Aged 14 months
• Montasio
• Humboldt Fog
• Goat’s Leap Goat Cheese
• Cheshire Appleby Cheddar
• Gorgonzola Fiore di Latte
• Roquefort
• Cabrales

I was only able to get pictures of them after we all had a go at them, so they’re not the prettiest pictures in the world and my apparently shaky hands have blurred a couple… but, since this blog serves as my culinary memory, I’m putting ind’l cheese pic’s after the jump. Look at them only if you dare.

Also, I was inspired by Cheese Day, so from something I read in The French Laundry Cookbook, I cut away the rind of a wheel of brie and mixed it in my mixer, as if I were creaming butter. After about 10 minutes on medium, it was white and light, just a bit denser than whipped butter. I liked having the taste of brie with such a light texture. It was great on toasted bread, with roasted garlic and black pepper.
(more…)

So… Not all dairies are open to the public. But I really, really wanted to stop by the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co, which is known for their blue cheeses. Point Reyes Original Blue, in particular. I looked on the internet. I went on their site. I noticed that they listed a PO Box as their address, and there was no visitor info. Granted, I knew I could probably buy it at the gourmet shops in St Helena and Napa, but I wanted it from the source.

But I also knew that it was run by the Giacomini family. So, as I was leaving Point Reyes Station, I drove past one sign for the Giacomini dairy… and then another one about 1/8 mile past…. so I veered into the driveway. Maybe I could score some after all.

This kind of “road” continued quite a ways over rolling hills, and forked into the earlier driveway. No dairy was in sight. I wanted to go back to the highway but it was clear that a certain first rule of Napa also applies in Point Reyes… First rule of Napa: there are no u-turns in Napa.

We did reach the dairy eventually. A muddy, black, bird-infested, cow-staring complex of buildings. I finally was able to turn around. And fast.

Brilliant name, eh? Actually, I guess the name of the store is Tomales Bay Foods, but their cheeses are made under the Cowgirl Creamery banner and I think that’s just way cooler. The cowgirls in question are veterans of Bay Area restaurants such as Chez Panisse and Bette’s Oceanview Diner.

Their store has a selection of organic produce, jams, a deli with pates (including rabbit), and a glorious cheese selection. Behold some of their hard cheeses…

(more…)