There’s something so comforting about a quiet Sunday dinner. The aromas of a pot roast simmering in the slow cooker, something scrumptious grilling on the barbie, perhaps a pie baking in the oven – it all seems to say, “It’s been a great weekend, I’m happy to be home.”

We added these Ancho Chili and Cheddar Stuffed Potatoes to last night’s Sunday dinner. In college, I made stuffed (or twice baked) potatoes all the time, and like my lasagna, they were never the same way twice. These had a bit of a Southwestern twist with the added roasted mild Ancho chilies. A bit of cream and white cheddar made them dreamy.

I’m not much of a recipe follower when it comes to stuffed potatoes, as I tend to just throw ingredients together and taste as I go, but I did my best to put it all together for you. Adjust the flavors to suit your own palate, more cheese is never a bad thing in my book!

Click here for the full recipe:

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You know those beautiful little artisan goat cheeses you see in fancy food stores? The ones that are about the size of a smashed golf ball and cost about $8? They’re so pretty with their dainty nasturtium flower on top, or the ones ever so lightly dusted “artisan-like” with peppercorns. Let me let you in on a little secret: it’s a racket those goat cheeses! Now, unless the cheese itself was milked from the teat of the artisan’s own goat (which some of them are, so don’t yell at me, but some of them are not), they take about two seconds to make. Well, maybe two minutes.

Don’t get me wrong, I truly appreciate the craft and the beauty of those little jewels, but who has $8 to spend these days on a tiny piece of cheese that wasn’t flown in from some moldy cave in France?

We had guests coming over to wish us a Happy New Year and I hadn’t yet been out to replenish “the larder.” Heck, it was noon and I still hadn’t even made it into the shower! Fortunately I had one of those long logs of goat cheese that I got at either Costco or Trader Joe’s during my holiday provisioning. Perfectly decent goat cheese for under $6. I cut the log into quarters and made half with some ground Turkish sweet chili peppers and the other with a blend of Italian herbs, red pepper flakes, and ground pepper. Beautiful and tasty.

Make your own blend of herbs that you already have in your spice cabinet (maybe some herbes de Provence and a little lavender or some smoked paprika), roll your petite cuts of goat cheese in it – and voilà – you’re a cheese artisan!

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Normally if someone tells me something is diet food I wrinkle my nose and say, “no, thanks.” But the other day I had this creamy, hearty soup. When I asked my aunt what it was she told me, “Creamy potato cheese soup.” Holy cow! Three of the most fattening things I love most! I immediately felt my thighs growing, but didn’t care one iota, it was that good. Then, what she said next astounded me, “it’s a Weight Watchers recipe.” A what!? Really, it’s diet food. And you’d never know the difference if someone didn’t tell you. By the way, if you are on Weight Watchers it’s 3 points per serving.

Creamy Potato Cheese Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated
3/4 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 pound red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
29 oz vegetable broth
1/2 cup fat-free half and half
8 oz low-fat cheddar or Colby cheese

Coat a nonstick medium pot with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Cook onions until they just begin to color. Add carrots, salt, pepper, paprika and mustard. Mix well and continue to cook until carrots begin to soften.

Add potatoes, broth and half-and-half. Increase heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add cheese and stir to melt; puree in batches in a blender.

Yields about 6 heaping 1 cup servings.

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It’s been darn cold here in Seattle, so I’ve been using any excuse to fire up the stove or oven just to hang out by the heat. My latest excuse was in the form of savory scones. Cheddar dill scones, to be exact. As they baked they filled the house with that lovely something-delicious-is-in-the-oven smell. On a cold day, that is just the smell I love. That and the smell of a real fire going in the fireplace.

If you, too, are a bit chilly, then these little scones are sure to warm your paws.

Cheddar Dill Scones
Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa

4 cups all-purpose flour (plus a little extra for rolling)
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 pound (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
4 extra-large eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup cold heavy cream
1/2 pound (roughly 4 cups) extra-sharp yellow Cheddar, small-diced
1 cup minced fresh dill
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk (for egg wash)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and mix on low until the butter is in little pea-sized pieces. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and heavy cream, then add them to the flour mixture. Combine until just blended. Toss together the Cheddar, dill, and 1 tablespoon of flour, then add them to the dough. Mix until they are almost incorporated.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead until the Cheddar and dill are well distributed (about 1 minute). Roll the dough until 3/4-inch thick. Cut into 4-inch squares and then in half diagonally to make triangles. Brush the tops with the egg wash.

Line a baking sheet with Silpat baking mat or parchment paper. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the outside is crusty and the inside is fully baked.

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Sure, you can buy crackers, but what fun is there in that? You have to get in the car, waste expensive gas getting to the store, find parking, decide among the fifty million brands of mass-produced crackers, wait in line to buy them, then drive home. In all that time you could have easily whipped up a batch of these tasty English-style crackers.

I say English-style because they are nothing like what us Americans call a cracker. They aren’t thin and crisp, in fact, there is nary a crack in these crackers. I would actually call these savory shortbread, but Ina Garten calls them crackers, and I got the recipe from her.

Made with fresh thyme, parmesan cheese, and cracked pepper these little crackers are sure to surprise and delight.

Parmesan Thyme Crackers
Recipe from the Barefoot Contessa

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 ounces grated Parmesan
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Using the paddle attachment in your food processor, mix the butter until creamy. Add the Parmesan, flour, salt, thyme and pepper and combine.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a 13-inch long log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to harden. Don’t let it freeze solid or it will crumble as you try to cut.

Cut the log crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices. Place the slices on a sheet pan and bake in 350 degree preheated oven for 22 minutes.

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I have a deep love for cheese. Actually, it borders on an addiction, but (so far) I am able to live my life normally.

Does flying to Argentina for cheese count as normal?

A couple of years ago Barnaby I went to Argentina to visit friends. Really, it was to visit friends, the cheese (and wine, meat, leather!) was just a bonus. After our visit in the glorious Buenos Aires, we rented a car and headed into the pampas. Destination: Tandil, home of the famous Epoca de Quesos (Epoch of Cheese).

The Epoca de Quesos is housed in one of Tandil’s oldest buildings just off of the main square. This charming building was constructed in 1860 and operated as a staging post for travelers, when it took the better part of a month to get to Tandil from Buenos Aires. In the 1920’s it was converted into a general store and then in 1990 became an eatery to showcase the region’s incredibly rich tradition of artisinal cheese and cold-cut production.

The selection of cheeses offered was nothing short of fantastical…herbed, studded with chili peppers, dusted with smoked paprika; fresh-made to aged and ranging from the milk of cows, to goats and sheep. The old wooden shelves were laden with many cheeses I’d never seen or heard of before and the smell! Well, the smell was a bit like old, nasty milk at a vintage dairy. But to a cheese lover, it was perfume.

In addition to their bodacious assortment of traditional cheeses, they offer about 40 different cold cuts – salami, prosciutto, chorizo, mortadella – as well as other delicious snacks; beer and wine; and goodies.

Like the travelers of old, we settled into the back garden after a long dusty drive. They offered a variety of house tasting menus for 30-40 pesos each (about $10 USD). We chose a mix of meats and cheeses, which came on a rustic wooden board with a country bread. Adding to our delight was a wonderful bottle of red wine and an old-fashioned siphon of cold seltzer.

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After a long hard move  from San Francisco to Seattle, nothing soothed the soul more than a fine bottle of champagne and some good aged goat’s milk cheese.  Our dear friend provided the champagne and we plated the cheese. Now, I use the term “plate” loosely since the only thing I could find that resembled a flat surface was a Tupperware lid. Oh well…

We sat on the bare oak floors and dined in front of our fire. The pièce de résistance of our cheese selection were two beautifully aged goat’s milk chèvres. The first was Humboldt Fog, the signature cheese from Cypress Grove Chèvre. Humboldt Fog is a divine semi-gooey, creamy chèvre with an edible vegetable ash stripe that runs down its center. Delicious served with almonds drizzled with a bit of honey and worth lifting a ton of boxes for!

The other cheese was Sunset Bay from River’s Edge Chèvre. Another dense, creamy chèvre; this one with a ribbon of smoked paprika (a.k.a pimentón) down its middle. Sunset Bay is aged for three weeks, giving it time to absorb the smoky flavors of the pimentón and the vegetable ash that coats the rind.  As the cheese ripens the texture becomes creamier.

Both these cheeses, combined with a couple of glasses of a crisp champagne (who cares if we drank out of mugs!), had us grinning like a happy new home owners!

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When I was a child we’d often visit my maternal grandparents in Sonoma, California. One of my favorite things to do, when I wasn’t roaming the back forty on one of my grandpa’s horses, was to go down to Vella Cheese Company and get a bag of fresh cheese curd. If memory serves correctly they only had it on specific days. And I was there at the door, money in hand, ready for my “squeaky cheese,” as we called it.
If you’ve never had cheese curd let me tell you about this little treat. It’s the fresh, young random-shaped curd from cheddar cheese before it’s processed into blocks to age. Cheddar cheese usually ages from at least 60 days to many years. Curd, on the other hand, needs to be eaten fresh and unrefrigerated (within about 12 hours) otherwise it turns dry and salty. You know good, fresh curd when it squeaks between your teeth.

Unfortunately, Vella’s doesn’t sell cheese curd anymore. I have begged them over the years, to no avail (insert soft weeping here). But, their other cheeses are simply divine in their own right. I still go there every time I’m in Sonoma, money in hand.

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We’ve had a sudden burst of fabulous weather here in the Bay Area that has given me a serious case of Spring Fever. It also makes me crave fresh veggies plucked straight from the vine and still warm from the sun. Unfortunately, I don’t have a garden –yet! So I went out prowling my local markets for some colorful and flavorful ingredients to satiate my Spring hankering.

I was lucky enough to find some mini multi-colored Heirloom tomatoes. Light green, dark green, deep red, orange and even a couple of white ones. These are definitely not the anemic- looking tomatoes that we’re stuck with all winter long in supermarkets. These beauties seemed to sing, “I feel pretty, oh so pretty!”

I also grabbed some basil, avocado, and fresh Perlini mozzarella. Perlini, or “pearls,” are tiny one ounce mozzarella balls that are beautiful sprinkled in salads. I tossed in a splash of olive oil and a quality balsamic vinegar, a dash of fresh cracked pepper and a pinch of sea salt.

Easy. Simple. Delicious.

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I just visited Artisanalcheese.com and read about the various New York City wine and cheese events that are happening this December and January. Everything from Cheese and Wine 101 to Sake and Artisinal Cheese Pairings. Who’da thunk sake and cheese!? Love it! This inspired me. With family coming to town for the holidays I think it will be fun to do wine and cheese pairings in lieu of the ordinary hors d’oeuvres spread. Trader Joe’s always has an interesting selection of cheeses (most often some of the same cheeses that are sold at a premium at higher-end grocers) that don’t break the bank. If you have a TJ’s in your area I recommend starting there then perhaps fill in your selection with some harder-to-find varieties to keep it interesting.

For my pairings I’ll offer a selection of European and domestic cheeses to keep it eclectic. I recognize that all palates are different and some may disagree with my selections but here are few of my pairing thoughts…

Manchego, a classic semi-firm Spanish sheep’s milk cheese, will go well with a Tempranillo.

Stilton, not everyone’s favorite, but a good stinky and bitey blue I think is a must for any cheese platter. Stilton is best paired, in my humble opinion, with something robust such as Sirah, or sweet like a Tawny Port or Gewurztraminer.

Brillat Savarin, a thick and velvety French cow’s milk cheese, will be nice with a Chardonnay or, if keeping to reds, a Cabernet-Franc.

An extra-sharp domestic Cheddar, such as Vermont’s Cabot, will pair well with a hearty Rioja or Cabernet.

To cleanse the palate I’ll add some crisp red grapes or halved figs and almonds drizzled with honey.

I’d love to hear some of your thoughts as well!

Cheers and good eats!

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