Cheese

I adore cheese. The basic ingredients are pretty much the same for all of them (excluding cheeses with fruit in them, or cheeses wrapped in stinging nettle leaves, for example) but there’s a wide variety of methods of preparation and flavors. I’m going to list a few of my favorites here, and you can pick and choose.

Gouda

Currently my favorite cheese, Gouda is reminiscent of Parmesan’s semi-salty flavor and tang, but has an extra layer of complexity. I much prefer extra-aged Gouda instead of the soft “regular” gouda. After aging, the cheese turns golden and crumbly and has a richer flavor with caramel notes. It is flat-out delicious.

Saint Agur

A French cheese, Saint Agur is the only blue that I’ve ever liked. It’s not as salty as other blues such as Stilton, and is ever so creamy. It’s soft enough to be spreadable, and I suggest Carr’s crackers, especially the assorted biscuits. They are perfect for pretty much any cheese.

Parrano

For those of you who prefer Parmesan but still have a soft spot for Gouda, Parrano is the answer. It tastes like a gouda leaning towards parmesan. Like Gouda, it is a Dutch cheese.

Books: Ruth Reichl and The United States of Arugula

Ruth Reichl, currently the editor-in-chief of Gourmet, is my current favorite food writer. She makes everything she tastes vivid and makes me wish I could taste as well as she can. Her three books about her life as a food critic (one, two, three) are funny and occasionally touching, but the focus is always on food and the wonderful way in which it can transport someone. She started out as a hippie in Berkeley and did food reviews because she loved food, and worked her way up to the LA Times and then the New York Times.

The United States of Arugula traces the “food revolution” from its early days of imported French chefs in New York City to the current spate of celebrity chefs such as Rachael Ray and Mario Batali. This is a great book if you love food but want to know more about why people focus so much on organic & locally grown foods, or why the Food Network is a viable business. It starts with French chefs and Julia Child and quickly moves to James Beard, who, though he did publish several cookbooks, perhaps did more for the revolution by drawing the revolutionaries together under one roof, literally and figuratively. USA also talks about the rise of specialty suppliers such as Niman Ranch in California (whose quality I can personally attest to) and Peet’s and Starbucks (which was started by one of Peet’s cofounders). It also talks about suppliers such as Zabar’s, which focus on a wide variety of artisan goods. If you’d like to know more about the rise of foodie culture in the United States, I can do no better than to recommend this book. If you can, please comment.

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Now playing: Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Rest in Peace
via FoxyTunes

Strawberry-Almond Salad with Orange Juice Dressing

Strawberry-Almond Salad with Orange Juice Dressing

This photo has been described as pornographic.

Salad

the best quality mixed greens you can get (it’s okay if you just use dining hall greens, just try to use the mixed greens instead of all-lettuce)
strawberries, sliced
sliced almonds (toast for a while in a toaster if you have one, as it brings out the flavor)
Optional: mild goat cheese; I used clochette above.

Slice the strawberries on top of the lettuce and top with the almonds and goat cheese, if you’re using it.

Dressing

2 Tbsp orange juice (you can just get one carton and drink the rest; Tropicana is much better than Minute Maid)
1 Tbsp honey (available at the on-campus convenience store)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (free at the salad station)

Mix orange juice with honey until it’s thickened but not viscous. Add balsamic vinegar, tasting until it’s tangy enough for you and drizzle over salad.

Sandwiches III – Not Actually About Beaches or the Occult

Banana and Mayonnaise

Sliced bananas and mayonnaise on bread are a great combination. No-one believes me. And yet it is wonderfully, deliciously true.

BLT

Bacon can be gotten from the grill station in Upper; then just fill it out at the sandwich station and you’re home free. Well, except for paying for your food.

Bacon
Lettuce
Tomato
Mayonnaise (this is one time you actually want a lot of mayonnaise)

Spread the bread with mayonnaise and top with the B, the L, and the T. Mmm. Bacon.

Grilled PB&J

It is exactly what it sounds like: PB&J grilled on a panini press. (An alternate method follows the recipe below.) I am an unabashed evangelist for this sandwich. I have recommended it to everyone from my friends to prospective students, and without fail, this is what happens:

1. Surprise / mild disgust
2. Willingness to try it
3. This is the best thing ever, thank you.

Chum’s offers it for $2 (I think), but for $2.50 (I think) you can get the after-school special: Grilled PB&J and a glass of milk. It is a good deal.  But you don’t have to go to the coffeehouse: upper Usdan also carries sandwiches, and has a panini press. I think you can take it from there.

Note: The dining hall sandwiches are made with grape jelly, but I encourage you, if making it at home, to try different types of nut butters and jellies. Cashew butter and almond butter are the only two I can think of off the top of my head, but there are innumerable jams: strawberry, rhubarb, cherry, peach, raspberry, blood orange…

Alternate method:
If you don’t have a panini press or George Foreman grill-type deal, you can also make this sandwich using a regular PB&J, a skillet, PAM, and a brick wrapped in foil. You don’t have to use the brick (any weighty object like a saucepan will work), but it makes the sandwich roughly three times more awesome. Do wrap it in foil, though: most bricks aren’t that clean.

Heat the skillet until it is very hot and spray with PAM. Place the whole sandwich in the skillet and place the brick (!) on top. When it’s melted, the peanut butter will turn gooey. Enjoy!

Sandwiches II

As always, use whatever bread you prefer. In the dining hall, I prefer whole wheat or sourdough (though the sourdough slices are fairly small).

Tuna with Pepperjack Cheese

Tuna salad
Pepperjack cheese
Sliced onions
Hot pepper salsa

Spread the tuna on the bread. Top with cheese, onions, and salsa. Grill until the cheese is melted.

Mango Chicken Sandwich

Chicken (from the grill station; ask them to cut it up for you)
Mango chutney (the grill again; they think it’s a condiment, but for us, it’s a spread)
Cherry Tomatoes (from either the grill or the salad bar)
Pepper (use the packets)
A big roll from the sandwich station (sometimes people let you cut if you tell them you’re just getting bread)

BEFORE paying, spread the chutney on the bread along with cut-up chicken and tomatoes. If you don’t, you get billed for “Grocery” (the bread), salad (the tomatoes) and an entree (the chicken). It’s a lot less expensive my way.

The Epstein Traditional

Marshmallow Fluff
Peanut butter
A banana, sliced

Spread one of the slices of bread with fluff, then peanut butter and top with banana. Put on the other piece of bread and toast. Courtesy one of the Epsteins.
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Now playing: Buffy – Rest in Peace
via FoxyTunes

Little Meals

This is a short list of basic ingredients you can mix together to create something a little heavier than a snack and a little lighter than a meal. As always, quality ingredients count for everything.
I mention specific brands (e.g. Fage greek yogurt), but the important part is the yogurt – it doesn’t have to be Fage or even Greek.

• Fage greek yogurt (yes, there is Greek yogurt on campus) and chopped up strawberries¹ with sugar sprinkled over
• Sabra hummus with roasted red peppers and Stacy’s pita chips

This turned out to be a little post about little meals. Oh well. Enjoy.
1 Please, please don’t use the C-store strawberries. They are not good strawberries. Good strawberries are much smaller and much better. Go to your local store or farmers’ market and buy strawberries.

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Now playing: Stars – Calendar Girl
via FoxyTunes

Foodie Blogroll

Hello readers! I recently joined the Foodie Blogroll, a collection of like-minded cooks and foodies. There are a lot of them, but I love Bento Lunchbox, a blog about bento, a way of arranging lunchboxes so that they are colorful, playful, and healthy.

Boston College Thinks Locally

About BC Dining – Boston College

Look at that first item.

Farmer’s Markets – Thursdays in September and early October from 3:00-6:00 on the Corcoran Commons Plaza come and enjoy local produce from around New England.

That’s right. BC has farmer’s markets as a meal plan. Needless to say, I think this is a wonderful idea, and I wish Brandeis did it; it’s not like we don’t have farmer’s markets down the street. Personally, I can attest to the quality of the fruits and vegetables there, and they’re a lot better than what we have at Usdan.

Of course, they’re more expensive, but if BC did it, why can’t we? Why can’t you?

Additions II: Spice it Up

There are some basic spices that I keep on hand because they have so many uses.

Note: McCormick’s is fairly expensive, but it’s also the most widely available. Buy the in-store brand if possible, since it’s just as good and a lot cheaper. Note that all of these are on my spice shelf; all of my recipes are college-tested .

Red Pepper Flakes

I mentioned this previously, but they deserve another mention. They make pretty much anything spicy, from pizza (Tabasco sauce works well here as well) to pasta sauce to meat. Any flavor is good flavor, right?

Salt and Pepper

Yes, these are obvious. But a lot of people don’t take advantage of the little salt and pepper packets, which can add flavor to everything from pasta to sandwiches to salads.

Minced Garlic

You can buy small jars of minced garlic at most supermarkets for about $3. They will last for a very long time because raw minced garlic can perk up a lot of things, but you really don’t need (or want) all that much. I recommend using it in salads (about a 1/4 tsp, well-distributed) for that extra kick.

Oregano

Pizza. That’s where this spice shines, as its sweet/savory flavor adds flavors that other students can only dream of.

Sandwiches

The New York Times recently had an article on grilled cheese sandwiches, and I started wondering how I can make better sandwiches here in college. Like most colleges, mine has a sandwich bar. Though their selection is fairly standard (chicken/ham/roast beef etc, yellow mustard, honey mustard, mayo etc.), we can spice it up with a little ingenuity. Everything here is available at my college’s sandwich bar with the exception of bacon, which you can get at the hamburger station. Parts in [brackets] are optional but recommended.

Bacon, Turkey, and Tomato with Peanut-Raisin Cream Cheese
(Adapted from The Sophisticated Sandwich by Janet Hazen; most of the recipes in the book aren’t feasible in college without some dedicated preparation)
2 slices bread [French bread if you can get it]
3 pieces bacon, fried
enough cream cheese to cover the bread (available at the salad bar)
1 Tbsp [crushed] peanuts (available at the salad bar)
1 Tbsp raisins (available at the salad bar)

Combine the cream cheese, peanuts, and raisins in a bowl.
Spread the cream cheese on the bread and top with bacon.
Enjoy!

Tuna Melt
tuna salad
tomato slices
3 or 4 slices cheddar cheese

Spread the bread with tuna, top with tomato slices and cheddar cheese and grill in a sandwich press until the cheese is melted.

Cæsar Chicken Veggie Wrap
lettuce
cucumber slices
tomato slices (or cherry tomatoes)
cubed, cooked chicken breast
cæsar dressing
a wrap (the tortilla things)

Arrange the vegetables and chicken in the wrap and drizzle with cæsar dressing. Roll up and enjoy.

Note: The sandwich at the top is a chicken sandwich on whole wheat bread with pesto and gouda cheese. It’s definitely doable at college, if you have a food processor for the pesto, but for the record I made that one at home.