Apologies

Welcome back to another edition of Cutting the Cheese!

The week is not off to a great start, Constant Readers.  The Super Bowl was yesterday and the Captain’s Carolina Panthers lost.  Peyton Manning has now tied his brother with 2 Super Bowl rings. And Eli does not look impressed.

In addition to that, a perfect storm of circumstances has resulted in the Captain not having any cheese to review today.  Basically, late football last night meant I was too lazy to go get cheese this morning.  I thought I had back-up cheese from Friday in the fridge.  As it turns out, it is in the fridge.  The fridge at work.

What all this means is that, assuming my coworkers resist their natural instincts and don’t eat my cheese, I will have two (count ‘em 2!) cheeses to review tomorrow.  We can call it Twofer Tuesday! However, never it let be said that Cutting the Cheese takes a day off (except Sundays, of course).  So, if you’re in the Montreal area this February, please make sure that you stop by one of the two Montreal locations of Brit and Chips to try their fishy take on poutine.

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Disclaimer:   I have not actually tried this, but c’mon, it’s fish and chips and poutine.  How can it not be amazing???

And a little Monday funny to get your week started off right, even if mine isn't. Thanks to Baby Birdo for the cartoon.

 
Eternal gratitude to my editor, Miss Lebanom-nom-nom.  Perhaps I need a scheduler as well to avoid these incidents in the future?

Stay Cheesy!

Captain Cheese

Afterthoughts - The Sequel

Happy weekend, everyone!

This week was a great one for Cutting the Cheese.  We had an old favourite, a new favourite, a restaurant review, a guest review and a recipe review.  A little something for everyone.

There really isn’t much to add to this week’s posts so let’s go straight to the recap:

Monday: Cows Creamery Appletree Smoked Cheddar (very good, don’t think I can go back to “regular” cheddar)
Tuesday:  Apple Cinnamon Goat Cheese (strange but really really good.  Pleasant surprise)
Wednesday: Onion ring poutine and smoked meat poutine (delicious)
Thursday: Guest review of Black Diamond Marble Ficello Cheese Strings (average rating of 8.5 out of 10 from our guest reviewers)
Friday: Parmesan Honey Pork Roast (mouth-watering)

Special thanks to Shredder for the following article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/food-trends/this-canadian-cheese-wins-the-world-title/article14866013/

The article is from 2013 but, as it talks about a local cheese being named best in the world, I thought it was still relevant.  I will definitely be trying to pick some up the next time I’m in Lancaster and you should too!  Lancaster is on the way to Montreal, about 45 minutes to 1 hour east of Ottawa.

And a little funny to start off your day (thanks to KMR)

Lastly, it’s Super Bowl weekend.  If you’re looking for cheesy party ideas, look no further: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/slideshow/cheesy-super-bowl-recipes

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!  And with apologies to Little Pup…Go Panthers!!!

Stay cheesy!

Captain Cheese

Parmesan Honey Pork Roast

TGIF, Constant Readers!  We made it through another week.  To celebrate, I present to you today a meal that smells great while cooking, tastes delicious while eating, will last for several days and can be paired with a lot of different side dishes.  This dish has quickly become one of my favourites and will surely be one of yours too!

If you’re like the Captain, you don’t always enjoy slaving over a hot stove to prepare a meal.  Sometimes, you just want to throw a bunch of stuff in something, let it cook and come back when it’s done.  That’s today’s meal.  Minimal preparation and 6 hours in a slow cooker and it’s ready to eat.

Whenever I’m looking for a recipe for the slow cooker, I always start my search at http://www.humoroushomemaking.com/100-days-of-no-processed-meals-crock-pot-style.  As the title suggests, it’s 100 of the best slow cooker recipes, divided into chicken, beef, pork, soups and sandwiches.  With that many recipes, it’s going to take a while before you get bored.  And that is where I found today’s recipe for....

Parmesan Honey Pork Roast

A few points before I get into the actual recipe:  

Yes, that is the actual pork roast that I actually cooked and actually took a picture of.  I know, I didn't realize how good it looked until just now looking at the picture.  Like, the Captain is actually really impressed with himself right now.

As you can gather from the name, there’s cheese.  This makes me happy.

There’s also supposed to be honey.  I thought I had honey at home but I did not.  I did, however, have pancake syrup and that seemed to work equally as well.

***Attention, attention!!!  We interrupt this recipe to make a special announcement!!!***

When I went to work and told the story of substituting pancake syrup for honey, a raucous debate ensued over what exactly pancake syrup consisted of and then degenerated into a furious argument over the differences between pancake syrup, corn syrup, and maple syrup.  The Captain would like to take this opportunity to apologize to both Miss 10-4 and Miss 6-1-Brie and say that he was wrong.

***And now back to our regularly scheduled recipe***

The ingredients

2 - 3 lbs. pork roast, boneless

2/3 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 c. honey

3 T. soy sauce

2 T. basil, dried

2 T. garlic, minced

2 T. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

Gravy:

2 T. cornstarch

1/4 c. water, cold

The directions

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.

Place roast in slow cooker.

In a bowl, combine cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, oil and salt; pour over pork.

Cover. Cook on Low for 6-7 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160°.

Remove pork to a serving platter; keep warm.

Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

You can serve this with vegetables, mashed potatoes or rice.

One final note:  I found the gravy a little thick for my liking so I gradually added more water to thin it out.  Up to you to decide how thick you would like it.

I hope that, as promised, this recipe made your mouth water.

As always, thank you to Miss Lebanom-nom-nom for her editorial work.  She said she’s going to try this recipe this weekend.  Perhaps another guest review???

Stay cheesy!

Captain Cheese

Surprise!

Welcome, one and all, to Curdsday here at Cutting The Cheese.  This doesn’t actually mean that today has anything to do with curds, it’s just a pun involving cheese.

Now that that’s out of the way, there’s a saying that goes like this:  It takes a village to raise a child. While this is true, I would also say that it takes a family to write a cheese blog.

So with that in mind, welcome to our inaugural guest review, featuring the Captain’s 11 year old niece Cute Cat, and 7 year old nephew Cute Dog.  For their review, they have chosen a cheese product that is very familiar to them.  I present to you Black Diamond Marble Ficello Cheese Strings.

Both of today’s guest reviewers have years of experience with this product and would, by any measure, be considered experts on the subject (cheese-perts?).  I think they also enjoy that this is one of the few times they can play with their food and get away with it.

So let’s go straight to the reviews:

Cute Cat:  7 out of 10.  She enjoys playing with it and making it have funny hair.

Cute Dog: 10 out of 10.  He likes that they are conveniently individually packaged so he can take one to school every day.  He sometimes pulls the strings apart and sometimes he just eats it normally.  

I must be honest and say that I had never paid very much attention to the packaging of the cheese strings.  But did you know that each one has a picture of a thing you can create with the cheese string and a name?  Sometimes two names, one in English and one in French.  It’s true.  It’s a little added bonus, like they’re the Kinder Surprise of cheeses! And just like Kinder Surprises, super hard to put together right.

They’re currently on sale at Sobeys.  5.99$ for a pack of 16 strings.  So you could buy a pack and pass a cheese string out to 15 of your closest friends or you could keep them all to yourself.  Or you could buy a pack on your lunch break at work and then have your boss just come along, open the pack and help herself to one of the cheese strings.  Either way. Also, check out her blog at oohtiny.wordpress.com

And that concludes today’s guest reviews of Black Diamond Marble Ficello Cheese Strings.  Tune in tomorrow for Recipe Friday, with a review that will make your mouth water.

As always, a big thank you to Miss Lebanom-nom-nom for her indeterminate editing skills.

Stay Cheesy!

Captain Cheese

Poutines!

Today is a first, Constant Reader,  Rather than reviewing a particular type of cheese, the Captain will be reviewing a cheese dish.  Two cheese dishes, in fact.

As some of you may know, I work the evening shift (4 to midnight).  It’s an interesting time to be at work and really works out well for blog writing, as it allows me time during the day to buy cheese, try it and write about it all before I go to work.  Plus, I get to sleep in.  A little glimpse into the life of Captain Cheese.

What also happens when you work the evening shift is that, sometimes, someone is hungry after work and wants to go out to eat.  However, at midnight, there are not as many dining options as there would be at 4 in the afternoon.  So we usually end up at the Elgin Street Diner (open 24 hours!).  In a fortuitous turn of events, the diner happens to have a large number of dishes containing cheese.  This works well when you have a cheese blog.

All this to say that, last night, Oohtiny was hungry.  We made our way to Elgin Street Diner and managed to convince Shredder to join us.  Baby J was also contacted but she was “too busy” with school work.  That’s ok, though.  Always remember, kids:  Cheese is important, but if you don’t do well in school, you won’t have money to buy cheese.  So school is also important.

All the poutines at Elgin have St Albert cheese curds.  They are a well-known brand around these parts, as St-Albert is located about 45 minutes from Ottawa.  They also have a Curd Festival every year in August.  The Captain will attempt to go to this year’s festival and report back.

I got the onion ring poutine, which consists of onion rings, fries, gravy and St Albert cheese curds.Delicious!  And I have to say that it seems like the portions have gotten a little smaller, which is actually a good thing as they used to be monstrous.  The cheese curds are just right.  They’re not too squeaky and they don’t melt too much when they hit the hot gravy

Shredder got the smoked meat poutine, which has smoked meat, fries, gravy and St-Albert cheese curds.  Another fine choice.  Although I wasn’t able to get Shredder’s comments, I’ll take the empty plate that was left over as evidence that he enjoyed it.

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Oohtiny got a BLT sandwich.  Now, as some of you may have noticed, it is not called a BLTC.  That’s because there’s no cheese.  So she ordered a dish that has no cheese.  Whazzupwitdat???

Still, I can’t be upset, she did take the pictures for today’s post.  So credit to her for that.  Also, make sure to check out her blog at oohtiny.wordpress.com

And, as always, credit to Miss Lebanom-nom-nom for her tireless work as editor.

Happy Hump Day (hmm, maybe I should try camel cheese???)

Stay cheesy!
Captain Cheese

Apple Cinnamon Goat Cheese

Today, Constant Reader, is a big day on Cutting the Cheese! It’s Groundhog Day, and while I don’t know if Wiarton Willie will see his shadow or whether we’ll have 6 more weeks of winter, what I do know is that there will be definitely 6 more weeks (and even more) of blogs  But first, a little housekeeping…

As always, thank you to Miss Lebanom-nom-nom for her tireless work as editor.

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while now know that any corrections, amendments or additional information usually happens on Saturday in the Afterthoughts post. However, it was brought to my attention last night that I had omitted to give credit to a very important person for yesterday’s recommendation of Cows Appletree Smoked Cheddar.  They say the smallest dogs have the biggest bark and since I don’t want to get bitten (or thrown down the stairs), I had to correct this oversight as quickly as possible.

So, with that being said, let me make it perfectly clear that yesterday’s recommendation came from not only Morgans Grant (brah), but also from Oohtiny.  She is a veteran on the Ottawa food scene, eschewing “chain” restaurants for local independent places.  She also loves to travel and enjoys yoga. You can follow her adventures at oohtiny.wordpress.com.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Now on to today’s review…

I usually get my cheese from Sobeys Downtown.  It’s close to home (and work) and has a good selection.  However, I decided to try somewhere else for a change and went to Loblaws.  I have to say I was disappointed in the cheese selection available as well as its location in the store.  The cheese is separated in three different parts of the store. One of these sections is in a cabinet in a display behind glass and not accessible. I only happened to come across it because I also needed to pick up lunch while I was there.  Sobeys has all of its cheese in one location, easily accessible and with more information available about the cheese, its origin, its taste, etc.

That being said, the cheese that I did get at Loblaws today was excellent.  Celebrity Apple Cinnamon Goat Cheese, from Mariposa Dairy, is simply amazing.  The apple cinnamon flavour is very strong but not completely overpowering and the cheese is very mild (almost like a cream cheese).  It is great on crackers.  I think this would be a perfect cheese to use to introduce kids to other cheese flavours besides the usual cheddar, mozzarella and swiss.

The Celebrity line also has many other flavours, including blueberry cinnamon, cranberry cinnamon, dill, honey and chipotle.  There is also one flavour that I will be definitely trying in the very near future and that is Chocolatey Cherry Temptation.  I will report back on that one as soon as possible.

And as an added bonus, Mariposa Dairy is located in Lindsay, Ontario, just 3 and a half short hours from Wiarton.  Appropriate for Groundhog Day.

Hope you enjoyed today’s post and, in the words of Wiarton Willie,

Stay cheesy!

Captain Cheese

Cheddar!

Welcome, Constant Reader, to another week of cheese discovery!  To start the week, we have another Canadian cheese, this time from the East Coast, specifically the Island of Prince Edward.

But first, a little background on cheddar cheese.  Although it originated in the village of Cheddar, located in the county of Somerset (Somerset!), cheddar cheese is now produced around the world.  It is the most popular cheese in Canada and the second most popular cheese in the United States (behind mozzarella, which I’m sure is only number one because of pizza).  

Many of you may be familiar with Cows Ice Cream or may have seen (or worn) some of the hilarious t-shirts Cows produces.  My personal favourites are Cowch’s Corner and Big Brudder.  But did you also know that Cows has their own line of cheese?  Yes, since 2006 Cows Creamery has been producing award-winning cheese.  In fact, in 2014, Cows’ Appletree Smoked Cheddar was awarded World’s Best Smoked Cheddar at the World Championship Cheese Contest.  That’s some high praise but does the cheese live up to it?

I’m happy to report that it does.  This is quite simply one of the best cheeses I have had.  I’ve eaten a lot of cheddar but this is the first time that I’ve had smoked cheddar, believe it or not.  That little added feature puts this at the top of the cheddar list.  I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back to “regular” cheddar.

If I had to summarize my opinion of this cheese in one sentence, I guess it would be “cheddar is better, but Cows is wow!”.

Special thanks go out to Morgans Grant for the recommendation and to Miss Lebanom-nom-nom for her amazing editorial skills.

And a special shout-out to Miss 10-4.  I swiss you a happy birthday (see what I did there?)

I hope you all have a fantastic Monday, come back tomorrow and remember to always, always, always…

Stay Cheesy!

Captain Cheese