Fromager d’Affinois Brebicet French Cheese descends from the Alps
French cheese comes in different flavors and textures. One of our newest discoveries is Fromager d’Affinois Brebicet.
French cheese comes in different flavors and textures. One of our newest discoveries is Fromager d’Affinois Brebicet.
This episode sees how to make a classic Judgette cocktail, a look at food and wine at the Marin County Fair, a visit to the Sunburst Calistoga, and a recipe by Emporio Rulli for Mushroom Risotto.
One day you may be like us, and just wake up and decide you’re going to pickle something.
You’ve never done it before, but you have seen enough cookbooks in the stores on the topic, and have heard enough experts on food radio to inspire you.
On the other hand, you don’t have weeks to get the project done, and you certainly don’t want food poisoning.
Fortunately, there are quick pickle recipes which bring satisfaction within a few hours. These are what we tried, much to our glee.
Since we didn’t want to invest too much money in this possibly failing endeavor, we used what was already available and in stock. This means essentially some cucumbers, some carrots, and some green peppers. Plus, some ginger and some onions.
The biggest choices we had to make came down to what to store the pickles in, and which flavor of vinegar to use.
For containers we had choices between small mason jars and Tupperware. Being fairly ambivalent, and not knowing which would be better, we used both.
For vinegar we had a choice between regular and apple. Again, we chose both.
We can say immediately that there is a difference between apple and regular vinegar when it comes to pickles. From this experience it appears that the apple vinegar is much more subtle and slightly sweeter. That may sound appealing to some, but if you want that really sour or tart pickle experience then you should probably go with the regular vinegar.
Some recipes also say you should blanche or pre-cook the carrots. We did not. They are as crunchy and hard as regular carrots. Except these are full of pickle flavor.
Some recipes also may try to get you to remove the seeds from the cucumbers for pickling. Not us! That soft interior in the pickle is fantastic and full of flavor.
Some morsels of ginger in the mix do add a little spicy kick — which is fun — and it is not a bad idea to go overboard with this ingredient.
QUICK PICKLE RECIPE
Please keep in mind, this is a recommended recipe, but you can change it based on your own taste preferences
2/3 Cup of Vinegar (white, apple or rice wine)
1/3 cup of water
1 Tbs of Sugar
1 Tbs of Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
Optional spices (literally, a dash): Mint, mustard seed, peppercorn, dill
How many vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, onions, green peppers, etc.)? It’s up to you, but to start you should keep it small, like around 5-8, basically whatever is going to fit in your jar. Slice them or dice them.
For the Mustard lovers in the world, of which there are many, it’s good to know that there is an actual National Mustard Day.
With that in mind, here are two great mustard-based recipes for you to try out, from Colman’s Mustard. Colman’s has been around for over 200 years and is “Queen Approved.”
Tangy Mustard-Crusted Steak Fries
Serves: 4
Ingredients
• 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, about 1 ½ pounds
• 6 shallots, peeled and left whole
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. Colman’s Original Prepared Mustard
• 1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. salt
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Halve the potatoes and cut each half lengthwise into 4 wedges. Spray a roasting pan with nonstick spray.
2. Toss together the potatoes, shallots, oil, Colman’s Original Prepared Mustard, cumin, and salt in a large bowl. Spread the potato mixture in a single layer into the roasting pan, placing potatoes cut side down. Roast until the bottoms of the potatoes are crisp and golden, 15 – 20 minutes. Turn the potatoes with a metal spatula and roast until tender and crisp on the other side, 10 – 15 minutes longer.
BBQ Dry rub – perfect for seasoning meats and veggies!
1/3 cup Garlic Powder
1 1/2 tbsp Cumin, ground
2 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Cayenne
¼ cup Colman’s mustard powder
1/4 cup Cinnamon or canella, ground
2 cup La Colombe Decaf. Espresso, ground
1 1/2 cup Salt, kosher
1/2 cup Black Pepper, ground
Mix all together in a bowl and store in a sealed jar in a cool, dry place.
To use, rub on meat, fish or vegetable and let sit for at least 3 hours for meat, or 30 minutes for fish or vegetables.
We are thrilled to announce that TASTEABLE CALIFORNIA Episode 50 has been released, and airs on KRCB public television to 2.5 Million Households in the 6th largest media market in the United States, the San Francisco Bay Area.
Making it to Episode 50 is a major achievement, and we could not have done it without the support of the station, our team, and of course, the food and wine creators we cover.
ABOUT EPISODE 50
TASTEABLE: California takes viewers on a weekly tour of California food and wine creators and destinations. This episode enjoys poolside dining at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, learns how to make homemade mozzarella at Restaurant Lulu, tours legendary Scoma’s seafood restaurant in San Francisco, talks with CocoTutti about how to be a chocolatier, and gets a recipe for Warm Molten Chocolate Cake.
Produced by TasteTV, www.TasteTV.com
View the Episode 50 Intro Online (note: entire episode only airs on television, not online)
Oh yes, that is a great looking burger!
Guess where it comes from? Guinness Storehouse, Ireland’s no. 1 tourist attraction. That’s right — Ireland — and you can have one just like it with these great recipes for the summer and special occasions.
Guinness® Beef Burger with Guinness®
Beef Burger Ingredients:
2 lb mince beef
50 ml Guinness® Foreign Extra Stout
1 oz bread crumbs
Splash of Tabasco sauce
Sprig of fresh thyme chopped
Splash Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
Method
Haven’t had enough? Try this one:
BOOKMAKER SANDWICH WITH GUINNESS® ONION MARMALADE
Ingredients
Optional
Sauce Choron (Hollandaise with tomato puree)
METHOD
Quickly fry the sirloin steaks on each side and season.
Assemble by placing on warm toasted soda bread, place tomato on, followed by red onion and baby gem.
Place some of the onion marmalade on the other soda bread slice and top off the sandwich.
Serve with GUINNESS® onion marmalade and potato wedges.
GUINNESS® ONION MARMALADE
Ingredients
METHOD
In a saucepan sweat of the garlic, onion, chilli flakes and thyme slowly, add the sugar, vinegar and GUINNESS® beer. Slow cook for 1 ½ hours.