Cheese 101

School on a Saturday is never fun. That is, unless it involves plenty of cheese, wine, artisanal beer and a tour of a famous cheese cave at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge. In which case, sign me up!

Last weekend, Konrad and I joined twenty or so eager pupils for Cheese 101, an introductory class on the wonders of cheese. Piled into the tiny shop after the close of regular business, we huddled around the cheese case and focused our attention on two wise cheesemongers perched on crates. Over the course of two hours, we tasted our way through ricotta, clochette, robiola, comte and clothbound cheddar (with beverage pairings and accompaniments) as we learned about their respective histories, depth of flavor, storage needs and options for pairings and accompaniments. At the end of the night, we even got a peek into their celebrated cheese cave. Back in the 90s when it was built, they were the first cheese store in the United States to have one!

Ever the overachievers, Konrad and I took a sample of clochette (a bell-shaped goat cheese, which we learned is named after the French term for "little bell" !), and bright-tasting Raphael Citrus Preserves home with us. After reviewing our notes, we conducted an experiment over brunch the next morning. The results? They are still delicious, even in the light of day :)

Guinness and Irish Cheddar Fondue

Being vegetarian kind of puts a damper on the St. Patrick's Day food traditions. Full disclosure, those holiday dinners that my grandmother worked so hard on each year? I didn’t eat one bite of any of them when I was a kid, and not much has changed since then. Corned Beef? Lamb Stew? Shepherd’s Pie? Thank you, but no. Some try to mix up vegetarian versions, but the results aren't usually worth the effort. I've come to the conclusion that some things just aren't meant to moonlight as vegetarian fare. Then again, that could be my frustration talking.
 

Fed up and uninspired, this year we threw up our hands and celebrated in perhaps the least traditional way of all... with fondue! Guinness Stout and Irish Cheddar Fondue, to be exact. While fondue certainly can't call itself Irish with a straight face, considering the sum of its parts (Irish Cheese & Irish Stout) buys this version some legitimacy and one taste of its flavor makes you wonder what difference it makes anyway. At the end of the day, who doesn't love liquor-spiked food enough to turn a blind eye on the technicalities?

Guinness and Irish Cheddar Fondue (for two!)
Adapted from Food.com

1lb Irish aged cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup Guinness stout
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
Salt and pepper to taste

Crusty bread for serving

Cut the bread into cubes and set aside. Grate the cheese into a medium-sized bowl. Add corn starch and toss well. In a mid-sized pot, heat the stout over medium heat until hot but not boiling. Slowly add cheese to the stout, stirring constantly. Once all of the cheese has melted and the mixture is smooth, add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer contents to a fondue pan with a tabletop burner. Enjoy!

Irish Coffee

St. Patrick’s Day for me means Irish Coffee: A frothy, if potent, treat that my family used to enjoy each year. Growing up, my grandmother would serve them after a hearty holiday dinner in fancy stemmed glasses decorated with tiny green shamrocks. Everyone would smile and clink glasses; I would pretend to do the same and then my mom would share sips with me until I was old enough to have my own glass. The glasses have since been lost and I am a long ways from my childhood home, but I make do with mugs and plenty of fond memories. In fact, I've been celebrating all week!

Irish Coffee is a common offering on drink menus these days but precious few establishments make it decently. The key, in my opinion, is freshly whipped cream and plenty of it. The cream settles into a frothy float at the top of the glass. Drinking the coffee through the froth affords a sweet richness to each sip and makes me one happy lady. Of course, the whiskey you choose also makes a big difference. Personally, my loyalty lies with Bushmills. I am told that there is a bit of a religious divide among the Irish when it comes to brands, with Catholics favoring Jameson and Protestants favoring Bushmills. My family is many things, including Catholic-leaning and Irish, but apparently no one got the memo that we were drinking the wrong whiskey. And now it is too late to matter (that is, if it ever would have mattered) because, after all these years, Irish Coffee with any thing other than Bushmills just wouldn’t be the same.

Irish Coffee

1 shot Irish whiskey
1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
12 ounces freshly brewed, unflavored coffee
Heavy whipping cream

In a small bowl, lightly whip the cream with one tablespoon of sugar and set aside. Pour whisky and remaining sugar into a cocktail glass or mug and stir until the granules are dissolved. Add coffee and top with several plentiful dollops of whipped cream. Allow to sit momentarily before enjoying. Do not stir after adding cream.

Cheddar Beer Soup

  

I’m a sucker for fun ingredients, especially anything liquor-based. My lovely friend (and mighty foodie) Gretchen introduced me to Cheddar Beer Soup a few years back and it wasn't long before the recipe found its way into our steady rerun pile. Its the perfect excuse to invest in some British ale; that is, if you ever need one!

Those who know me know how sentimental I can be and British ale brings out the best of it. Back in 2000,Gretchen and I were bright-eyed and liquor-hungry twenty-one year olds studying abroad in jolly old England. I was in Oxford and Gretchen was in London, staying with a host family on the outskirts of town. I’d come to visit her and we'd take the tube into the city for a night of drinking, dancing and merrymaking. As the subway zipped us to our station, we’d get our drink on with Boddingtons and Strongbow in hand (these were my pre-beer appreciation days). The best part? Drinking on the tube was totally legit. Right up until 2008, anyway.

While not quite as exciting as drinking on public transportation, this soup is an easy and tasty way to get your drink on at home. The beer, vegetable stock (per Gretchen's advice I made it vegetarian by substituting this for the chicken stock and adding a couple of potatoes instead of the bacon), milk, and cheese cook down into a rich mixture that is intensely addicting. Plus, all of the alcohol cooks off in the process, so you won’t actually get liquored up while getting your beer fix; a slight defect that it more than makes up for in flavor. Pair it with a pint or two, if you're in the mood, and you’ll get the best of both worlds. 

Note: Click the colored text for the recipe and other information!