Afterthoughts - Valentine's Day Edition

Happy Valentine’s Day, Constant Readers!!!

Usually, the Afterthoughts post goes up on Saturday.  I delayed it by a day so I could wish everyone a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

A recap of this week’s posts:

Monday:  No review due to a Super Bowl snafu.
Tuesday: Honour 1914 and Valour 1914 (two cheeses, one with white wine, one with red wine, to honour our veterans)
Wednesday: L’Extra Brie (not my favourite but redeemed itself later in the week)
Thursday: Mlt Dwn’s Cannonballz (their Signature Grilled Cheese Sandwich of the month.  Excellent!
Friday:  Brie and Apple Stuffed French Toast (possibly the best cheese dish I have ever eaten.

Special thanks to Shredder for the following article: http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/how-to-marinate-feta

It’s an article about the benefits of marinating feta cheese (I know, I thought it was a little strange too). I have not tried this yet and I also have not reviewed feta cheese yet.  So that might be coming up shortly (maybe even this week!).

This week’s Funny comes from Mexicali Rosa: 

And finally, a few announcements…

1)  Starting tomorrow, the name of ye olde blogge will be changing to Cheese Cheese Everywhere.  It’s more professional, more easily marketable and is more in line with our web address, cheesecheeseeverywhere.blogspot.com

2)  The Captain has realized that blogging every day is a) a lot of work, b) expensive and c) fattening. So because the Captain wants to still be able to afford and fit on his cheese ship, Cheese Cheese Everywhere will be moving to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule with a weekend recap post.

Stay extra-cheesy today!

Captain Cheese

Brie and Apple Stuffed French Toast

Before we begin today’s Recipe Review, I have to inform you, Constant Readers, of a few things…

1)  After yesterday’s post about Cannonballz, Mlt Down’s Signature Grilled Cheese Sandwich of the Month (and if you haven’t read it/tried it, go do so now!), we have officially reached 500 page views!!! Very impressive.  And after only 14 posts, which means that we are averaging a little over 35 views per post.  Pretty good, I’d say.  A well-deserved round of applause!

2) As you may or may not know, I sometimes post pictures of the cheese I review on Instagram and, if the company is on Instagram, tag the company as well.  It seems like this is paying dividends, as it would appear that someone at a certain cheese company must be following us.  A cartoon about our favourite subject was posted to the blog last Saturday and, coincidentally, also showed up on the cheese company’s Instagram page two days later.  Could be coincidence but, if it’s not, how about hooking the Captain up with some free cheese, nameless cheese company?

On to today’s recipe!  It’s a companion, of sorts, to Wednesday’s review of brie.  If you’ll recall from Wednesday’s review, brie was not my favourite.  Since so many of you seem to enjoy it, I was willing to give it another chance and try it in a little different format.

So off I went in search of recipes containing brie.  And that led me to food.com, where I came across the recipe for…

Brie and Apple Stuffed French Toast

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I assume that, like me, most people have fond memories of French toast on weekend mornings.  It really was the best to wake up to that wonderful smell and make my way still half-asleep to the kitchen table where mom had put my plate of French toast with syrup and a big, tall glass of milk.

The ingredients

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

your choice of bread

8 ounces of brie cheese, thinly sliced (with the outer rind removed)
1 apple of your choice (I used Granny Smith, which is my favourite apple but kind of expensive these days)
Butter

The directions

In a pie pan or other shallow dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, salt, and spices.

Cover one sllice of bread with brie and apple slices.

Place another bread slice on top to form sandwiches; then press them together slightly to seal.

Dip sandwiches in egg mixture for 30 seconds on each side.

Melt some butter in a small frying pan over med-high heat.

Cover and cook each sandwich for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned.

Serve hot with syrup


A couple of tips after making this dish:  

Don’t put too much brie and apple in the sandwich.  If you do, it causes the sandwich to fall apart. Sadly, I now know this from personal experience.

While the apples and brie is a nice pairing taste-wise, they’re both white.  So for presentation, there’s a lack of colour.  If you want to add something else to add more colour, feel free.

Overall, I really enjoyed the dish.  If, like me, you’re not a huge fan of brie, this is a good way to incorporate.  And if you do like brie, well then I think this dish will be right up your alley.

Stay cheesy!

Captain Cheese

Cannonballz

Welcome to Curdsprise Curdsday at Cutting The Cheese!

First curdsprise:  Today’s post has nothing to do with curds.

Second curdsprise: Sometimes you don’t feel like cooking dinner.  Sometimes you just want to go somewhere, pick something up, bring it home (or back to work) and eat it.  That was last night.  I was at work, slaving away and working my hardest, as usual, when I was trying to decide what to do for dinner.  That’s when inspiration hit me, like two slices of bread put together with cheese in the middle and then grilled to a golden brown.  I would walk to the Rideau Centre and pick up a grilled cheese sandwich from Mlt Dwn.  Which brings us to today’s review…

Cannonballz grilled cheese from Mlt Dwn

For those of you unfamiliar with Mlt Dwn (pronounced Melt Down), it’s a chain of gourmet grilled cheese restaurants.  They have locations in Ottawa, Kingston and Montreal with more sure to come.  You can pick one of their Signature Sandwiches or you can build your own by selecting your bread, cheese toppings and sauce.  There is also a Sandwich of the Month, which is a different feature sandwich each month.  As well, there’s a wide selection of sides including soup, salad, waffle fries, cheesy fries and poutine.  Not only are their sandwiches really good, but it’s also a flashback to childhood when you order a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.  It’s like you’re a kid again!

Last night, I didn’t get the soup.  I was going with a sandwich that already had some tomato in it, in the form of marinara sauce.  So I thought tomato soup would be overkill.  Instead, I went with the waffle fries as a side.  Since this isn’t a fries blog, I won’t go into a lot of detail about them.  I’ll just say that waffle fries always taste good and they’re fun to eat.

On to the sandwich itself:  I got the Sandwich of the Month, which was a Cannoballz grilled cheese sandwich.  It consists of meatballs, havarti, provolone and marinara sauce on garlic toast, grilled to perfection.  I really, really enjoyed it.  There was a sufficient amount of meatballs that you got some on every bite, but not so much that they were overflowing and falling out of the sandwich.  The two different types of cheese created a little variety in each bite.  And the marinara sauce kept the sandwich from being too dry.  I also liked the use of the garlic bread as it added a little extra flavour.  The only thing I would have liked was a little more marinara sauce but that’s a personal preference more than anything else.  I would still give it a solid 9 out of 10.

Come back tomorrow for Recipe Friday!  If you’re still looking for a hint, je pense que vous allez bien aimé la recette de demain.

Stay cheesy!

Captain Cheese

Brie!

Happy Hump Day, Constant Readers!

We’re halfway through the week and it’s time to add a little excitement.  To do that, the Captain is trying a cheese that he’s never tried before.  It’s loved and adored by millions of people but has always seemed a little “outside the box” for Captain Cheese.  But, if this blog is about anything, it’s about expanding our cheese horizons and trying new things.So without any further ado, I present to you.... L’Extra Brie from Agropur!!! (http://www.pleasureandcheeses.ca/cheeses/brie-lextra)

Brie is a soft cheese made from cow’s milk and named after the Brie region in France.  It can be eaten on its own or on crackers but can also be baked or melted and served with nuts or fruit.  Apparently, you can eat the rind.  I’ll take Wikipedia’s word for it but I’m glad this is not a video blog.  The Captain’s face as he tried the rind was not a pretty sight.  

Also, Brie should definitely be eaten before the best before date and if there’s any blue mold, don’t eat it!  It’s like a race against the clock to finish it before it goes bad.  Although from comments I’ve heard from my readers, this is not a problem.  Rather, the opposite occurs where you sit down and eat the whole thing in one sitting.

The particular Brie I bought is one of the best selling cheeses in Canada and was on sale at Sobeys (50% off!)  How can you not love a cheese on sale???  The regular price was 8.50$ for 250 grams, which seems expensive.  Brie can be a good cheese for parties, though, so it would be a good buy for that.

For the Captain, it seems like Brie is an ambiance cheese more than anything else.  I could see how it would be a fun cheese to share with company and enjoyed in a dish with fruits and nuts.  But on its own, there are other cheeses that I would prefer.

Tomorrow is Curdsday and the Captain is working on a surprise.  As well, we are rapidly approaching a milestone, Constant Readers.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to discuss that more tomorrow.  And make sure you come back on Friday for a delicious recipe.  

What’s that?  You want a hint about Friday’s recipe?  I can’t do that.  If I did, you’d be toast (wink, wink). As always, a big thank you to Miss Lebanom-nom-nom, who took time out of her busy, busy, busy work schedule to edit.


Stay cheesy (and brie-zy)!

Captain Cheese

Honour 1914 and Valour 1914

As promised, Constant Readers, today we have a 2 for 1 special.  I see the concerned look on your faces as you read this.  You’re thinking “what two completely unrelated cheeses has the Captain dared to combine, creating some kind of super Frankencheese monstrosity???”.  I have to say that your lack of faith disappoints me.  I would never besmirch the proud reputation of cheese by putting together two products whose only similarity is that they are both cheese.  No!  This blog is a labour of love.  The labour is intensive (and kind of expensive, frankly) but well worth it for all the smiles I imagine when you see another post has appeared.

So, today, we have Honour 1914 and Valour 1914.  Both of these cheeses are from Gunns Hill Artisan Cheese, located in Woodstock, Ontario (http://gunnshillcheese.ca/).  They’re twins of a sort, basically the same cheese but with the Valour being soaked in red wine and the Honour in white wine.  So depending on your preference, I would recommend one cheese or the other.  I’m partial to the Honour myself.   They don’t have a very strong flavour, almost like a swiss cheese, but it’s still very enjoyable.Melted over a cooked chicken breast would be really good.

They’re made from cow’s milk and are exclusive to Loblaws.  They are a little on the costly side, at about 8 dollars for 125 grams.  To soften the blow, 2$ from each sale goes to True Patriot Love, which is an organization that helps support Canadian military families.  I encourage you to visit their site at  http://truepatriotlove.com/.  They do good things.

Stay cheesy! Captain Cheese

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