Cheese Monday: Andante "Trio"

Shock seized my chicken-fried soul, when I realized I've never done a post about my love affair with Andante Dairy!1  Saturday Ferry Building Farmers Market,  I scurried over to their lil' cheese stand and tried to decide on an extra delicious cheese to review.  Usually,  I avoid their big cuts of Triple Cream Cheeses,  since I can only eat so much Triple Cream in a day and they spoil fast.2    But I made an exception since I wanted to do this post, and a picnic was planned for the following day where I could share.  As I oogled the cheeses one more time, I chose a young piece of "Trio" and scurried back to my car a la this dude at 01:45. 

"Trio" is a glorious triple creamy combination of goat's and cow's milk with crème fraîche.   I've said it before, and I'll continue to exclaim it, that I'm always a sucker for fresh cheese in the center of a gooey  shell.  The richness of cow cheese with the slight tartness of goat cheese makes for a dreamy spread on a good crust of bread.  I found it especially delicious paired with some of my homemade pear & fig jam4 or a nice summer salad.  

I first became enamored with Andante cheeses, when I saw their delicate  Figaro.  A young cow and goat milk cheese wrapped in a fig leaf. 5   We loved it, and became even more excited when we found out the cheese maker was an Asian lady by the name of Soyoung Scanlan.  My dear Mr.Phi always felt like the only Asian around that liked cheese, and felt elated to find a leading Asian cheese maker existed!  Later, I found out the cheeses were served at the holy grail of The French Laundry, so my joke has always been eating their cheese is akin to eating at the French Laundry, minus the other 14 courses.   So I said that if I ever go to French Laundry2, I would skip the cheese course.  BUT, then I paused at this impossible statement leaking from my mouth and immediately said "oooh noooo, I would NOT skip it."  Once again my stomach took control of the situation and set the world right.  

My main go-to Andante cheese is their "Tomme Dolce," an aged goat cheese rubbed with June Taylor’s plum conserve and brandy.  Really?! Does life get much better than that description.  Always a picnic "must-have" for  trips to Napa or Sonoma.   And if you arrive to the Andante booth early, sometimes you can get a small piece of their famously rare butter.  Usually, The French Laundry buys it all up, but every great once in a while, it will be available only at the Saturday Ferry Farmers Market.  An unbelievable yellow color, exceptionally creamy taste, and highly sought after for memorable Sunday brunches.  Make sure to arrive before 9am if you're hoping to get some!  The below event happened to me one of the few times I've seen it... 

So if you happen to be in San Francisco, definitely visit the Saturday Ferry Building Farmers Market, because that is where you'll get to see the biggest selection of Andante cheeses(And if lucky, BUTTER.)  Otherwise, you can find a select few of their cheeses at upscale restaurants or specialty stores.   Good Luck and welcome to Andante Addiction!


1  Love affair would be incorrect, because many are in love with Andante.  I would say it's more likely some kind of dairy orgy I'm part of, but orgies never bring up romantic imagery.  So I'll stick with love affair for now...
2  Feels a bit sacrilegious to say I have a limit on Triple Creams...
3  Mr.Phi and I always say we'll go eat there for our last meal living in California.  We have plans to vacate one day.
4  Would anything taste bad with homemade pear & fig jam? just saying....  
5  Read about how Andante wraps the cheese in Fig Leaves here.  Amazing!

Pop-Up City

 

The above incident actually happened to my friend Kat and I.   We met on the street and started chatting.  All the sudden a line formed behind us and we realized we were at a Pop-Up for Schmendrick's Bagels.   So OF COURSE, we got one of the bagels with a scallion cream cheese and proceeded to wolf it down.   But I thought that this is hilariously amazing, how we can just stand somewhere in this great city and all the sudden find ourselves in line for some kind of specialized foodie delicacy.  Makes me feel we truly live in a town comprised of nothing but Foodies.

For those of your unfamiliar with what exactly a Pop-Up is...I think a good definition is a restaurant without a permanent home or address.  The restaurant uses Twitter to alert their followers of their locations as it moves across the eating grid like a hobo with a sack full of delicious pork belly, instead of old stinky socks.

And that got me to wondering how many current pop-up restaurants are there in San Francisco.  So I decided to make a small list, mainly for myself so I can keep track on where to stand with my "Schramsberg 40"1 on Friday nights...

May/2012
1058 Hoagie
3 Bottled Fish
AngryManEats
Bayou by the Bay
B.Patisserie
BellyBurgers
Brass Knuckle
Easy Creole
Hapa Ramen - permanent location opening this summer
HayaHon
Jablow's meats
JJs
Liholiho Yacht Club
Reform Club
Rice Paper Scissors - Vietnamese Banh Mi
Rocky's FryBread
Schmendrick's Bagels
Seoul Patch
SoupJunkie
Sweet Jo's Chili n' Biscuits 
The Wild Kitchen

These below places host Pop-Ups
BetaKichen
Casa Sanchez
The Window
Vinyl Wine Bar


(This list is purely pop-up restaurants.  No FM vendors, Trucks or Pop-ups who have moved to permanent homes(Congratz!) were counted)  Please feel free to note ones I forgot to list and I will happily update!

PS I think the extra draw to these Pop-ups is a fervor over the notion that any meal could be their last and some home chef envy.  Because, honestly don't all of us fancy home chefs have our own day dreams of doing a pop-up?  (Adam Sach's attempt made me all hearts and starbursts!)  I totally harbor secret fantasies of doing one, minus the hard work,  but BIG plus epic praise and reviews.....


1 How to make a Schramsberg 40?
 Buy a Cobra.  Pour contents on ground in remembrance of your college days and to get rid of garden snails.   Wash out cobra bottle 3xs AT LEAST.  Insert funnel and pour in Schramsberg "Blanc de Noirs."  Sit out on stoop with your "Schramsberg 40" and wait for pop-up restaurant to appear on block.  

Bohemian Creamery Bodacious

So I visited Cheese Plus1 today and picked up some cheeses for Memorial Day weekend.  Was super excited to see that they carried Bohemian Creamery's "Bodacious" cheese.  haha I love how clever this name is, because it makes it sound like you are already praising the cheese.  Plus, you get warm, fuzzy memories of Bill &Ted or TMNT from just saying "Bodacious."

"Bodacious" is a fresh goat's milk cheese encased in a candidum mold to keep that creamy inside all tangy and soft. Nothing gets my heart thumping more than seeing a core of fresh goat cheese surrounded by a runny shell!!  Seriously, its like my two favorite worlds of cheese are combined.  Gooey and crumbly!  I ate, as they suggested, with a thick slice of the cheese spread on some fresh bread with a small salad on the side.  Life was heaven for those 10 minutes I munched on it, especially with my feet in the afternoon sun.     This cheese is available March through October and I totally suggest trying to get a wedge of it on your next Napa/Sonoma trip!  Look forward to trying more cheeses from Bohemian!

In other news, I went to my husband's company party this week and totally did this....

When macarons are free, watch out! I am on the prowl!! Unfortunately, macarons do not keep their shape in your purse when you start busting moves on the dance floor.....

Hope all of you have a great holiday weekend!!

PS  I love the letter that Wendy McNaughton wrote to Nabisco below and feel very simpatico with her on this matter.  "Cookie" is a holy name that should not be abused...

1The visit to Cheese Plus started out a little hilarious with the guy helping me not knowing that gorgonzola is a blue cheese and trying to find it among the fresh/hard cheeses.  But, then a lady took over and all was well.  Good Selection and lots of specialty items.  

Houston Dairymaids

 On my last visit to Houston, I was very excited to discover that a new Cheese Shop had been opened in the last few years called Houston Dairymaids.  So of course, I made my parents leave their North Houston, suburb, safe-house and visit the cheese shop, so I could get my dairy fix!

Houston Dairymaids is located in an up and coming area of Houston.  I loved their lil shop and how they had a Huge Fig Tree growing in the back lot.  After seeing the tree, I felt like it should be a requirement for any Cheese Shop and I'm curious to know if they make their own fig preserves?  

As I entered, the lady cheesemonger was very excited to see us and greeted us warmly.1  She proceeded to grab many cheeses out for us to sample.  I informed her I was visiting from California and very interested in trying Texas Cheeses.  So she introduced me to a wide variety and discussed where each was from, plus flavor profile.   As I gobbled each cheese up, I tried to listen to her, but this is very tough when you are floating on a cloud made of gouda.  All the cheeses there are kept in perfect condition, temperature...there is just no way to get a bad cut of cheese from them.

Additionally, they carried other items like fresh Bread 2, Texas honeys, locally made dry pastas and a variety of other items.  Plus a beautiful beer/wine selection, including one of my faves, 512 Pecan Porter.  You can definitely make all your Friday evening dreams come true her y'all!  

If I was staying another week in Houston, I'm positive I would of bought a few pounds of cheeses.  BUT, sadly I was headed to Austin then Dallas, and I've learned many lessons about not traveling with cheeses... especially on a particular warm fall weekend in France. 

So the few cheeses I did choose were Redneck Cheddar,  and Pure Luck Dairy plain Chevre.  (I would of chosen a basket molded Chevre, but was leaving the rest of it for my Mother and she prefers plain....le sigh)  The other items I bought were Lucky Layla butter and yogurt drinks; which I have had before in Dallas and well aware of their greatness! That yellow on the butter...cmonnnnnnnnnnn

The cheese that made me teary eyed not to buy was Sainte Maure, especially since the cheese maker Pure Luck Dairy does not sell out of Texas.(pretty please, start!)  At least I got to taste the goat cheese and enjoy its shroomy gooey goodness for a few sacred momentos!  

I will definitely be going again our next visit to Houston and hope to attend either their Friday or Saturday tastings.  My other plans are to stop by Davis Meat Market for their cheddar & jalapeno summer sausage AND Revival Market for their Charcuterie as well. Another note to self is to try Texas Cheese House in Lorena,TX!3  So happy to see Texans are still & always will be producing amazing foods.

PS Simon Walker knows the sadness every Texan feels on leaving our home for another few months....

1.  Sometimes Cheesemongers can be cranky, boisterous jerks....maybe too much savory?

2.  Adore Slow Dough Bread's Brioche.

3.  Always seems to drive to Dallas late at night but this is never a bad thing since Czech Stop Kolaches are always involved.  

I've been pretty busy since my film became a finalist for the Student Academy Awards....But thats nothing to complain about hah.  Especially with Pluot season right around the corner!  When I first moved to California and saw pluots at the Farmers Market, I was so confused.  What was this fruit in a variety of colors with a name I'd never heard of?!   Then I tasted one....Sugary Starbursts exploded from my eyes and a tasty nectar of pluotnesslish dripped down my chin.  Ever since then, 38% of my summer diet is  pluots, 42% is peaches and the other 20% is reserved for fried substances. mmmmmmmm

Sweet Jo's Biscuits and Chili

Basically this is what happened last Monday night when we heard Sweet Jo's Chili n Biscuits was the pop-up at The Window (side window of Coffee Bar)  Being a 5th generation Texan, I must eat biscuits at least once a month and I always jump at the opportunity to eat them out.  Because, otherwise I have to make a batch myself!

We got to the Mission and it was cooollldddd.  But this made the anticipation for biscuits n chili all the better.  We scanned the menu above.  Settling on Biscuits n' Gravy and a bowl of chili.  

The chef ladled out some gravy and plopped some biscuits down on a small plater.  Every time this happens the song Hallelujah starts up in my head.  On a personal note, I usually prefer white cream gravy because thats what I was weened on as a kid.  BUT, this Sausagegravy did the job just fineeee...

Now regarding the biscuits, THEY WERE DELICIOUS!!  Very buttery and perfect crumb inside.  Not too sweet and there was no use of some weird spice to make it look fancy.  Just exactly how I like a basic biscuit!  I would of bought a box to take home, but a box of 24 was too much for the two of us.  Next time I'll ask if I can buy a box of 12.  

My dear Mr.Phi wolfed down the chili.  He even went back up to buy some cornbread, after we overheard someone had gotten some with a take-out order.  The cornbread was super moist and almost tasted like a dessert bread.  The combination of the savory chili and sweet corn bread was almost too good to bear.  

We chatted for a moment with the chef Joanna Karlinsky.  She looked worn out, but had the sparkle of a tough lady cook you'd expect to walk out of the kitchen at a 1920s Chili Parlor.  She said she was famous for these biscuits and we professed our love of them.  Asked her if she had honey, and she said possibly the next time.  So we procured another order of biscuits(FRESH FROM THE OVEN!!), this time with the Meyer lemon curd.  We lied to ourselves and said we'd save them for a snack in an hour.  They were gone the minute our patooties sat down in the car.  

Lard of a Lifetime

One of my goals for the New Year was geting my illustrations in a Food Magazine.  So you can imagine my excitement when Pork Memoirs chose my piece to appear in MeatPaper!!

Here is the illustration below and you can also get a copy of it in Meatpaper 17.

"At Age 4, I watched as the ladle dripped sausage gravy all over the hot butter biscuits and felt more baptized at that moment, than I ever have since.   By the time I reached Age 6, I knew my Abuelita's chorizo and eggs could cure any ailment.  Every day the year I turned 8, I prayed that my mother would fix a bacon quiche for dinner..  Finally at age 10, I found the holy grail at my local mall in the form of Hickory Farms Sausage.   These are my crispy recollections of my religious years through my love of pork.  Amen"


PS I know I'm behind in some cheese posts.  Expect some good ones next week.

PPSAnd in other news, my animation film Chocolate Milk played to rave reviews at SXSW.  Great times and amazing bbq was had by all!

Queso Fountain

So I've been away in New Zealand and hopefully I can give you a small food report from there in a few weeks.  But at the moment, I'm getting ready to go to SXSW for the premiere of my animation short film "Chocolate Milk" and still have a bunch of tasks to do to prepare for that.  So I'm pretty "ack" currently, especially since this is my first big film festival.  So used to hiding in my animation studio hole, its been a pretty intense few weeks of press interviews and self-promotion.  

So I decided to do a small post for this week about the popularity of Cheese Fountains at parties and weddings.  This is something I joked about having back at my wedding.  I mean, who wants a chocolate fountain when you can have one bubbling with gooey yellow cheese.    This is so American, I LOVE it.  Why have a piece of fresh fruit to dip in chocolate when you can have a fried tortilla chip to dip in processed cheese.  People have even tried to build a 6 cheese fountain ever since they talked about one in "Talladega Nights".

You can behold one here in all it's glorious cheesiness!  Bow down to a constant stream of hot queso waiting to leap onto your tortilla chips.   But, don't check out the fountains that do a chile con queso waterfall.  That just seems really wrong....

Oh! And here is a few awesome cheese events happening around the Bay area this coming week.  I really WANT to attend this Cheese tasting Bike ride but my schedule is too hectic this weekend!  And of course, I'll already be out of town on Thursday for this pop-up grilled cheese night!  Ah well, can I really complain when Texas BBQ is headed my way.  Hopefully, I can give you a good queso report when I get back from Austin!  Oh sweet queso, you'll get me through SXSW...oh yes...you will.

            If I was Ginger Rogers, I would totally have a piece of cheese in my pocket to snack on between twirls.  But, I'd probably be way too heavy for Fred Astaire to lift in the air then....
Anyway the whole story behind this comic is about when I worked at a cheeseshop and the owner told me I needed to pronounce gouda the correct way, which is  ɣʌuda (How-da).   So I started doing this but then realized no one knew what cheese I was talking about and I sounded like a BIG pretentious A-hole, so I stopped.  I mean, everyone knows Gouda as Goooo-daa and thats how it is.  When I go to the Netherlands though, I'll be sure to pronounce correctly.

            So in keeping with the pretentious A-hole theme, my cheese review of the week is Beemster XO Gouda!  If you love an aged gouda, like many of my friends do, then you'll be in heaven with this one!  Beemster has been producing cheeses for over a century, so they got the cheese knowledge to make your mouth go BOOM with Happiness.  XO is Aged for over 2 years in old warehouses at a co-op in the Netherlands to get that yummy butterscotchy taste! 

This cheese is unique in the way it manages to be creamy, yet still have that crystallization I know many of you crave. 

Their gouda is made with pasteurized cow milk that comes from a sustainable program called Caring Dairy, so you can feel good about buying Beemster products!  Also, they use the same dairy cows that provide the milk for Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.  So if you like ice cream, you'll definitely love this cheese hah!.  

So if you're craving a nice Dutch Cheese or something everyone at your party will enjoy,  definitely look up Beemster XO Gouda as it can be found at many grocery stores throughout the country!  

Also, if you're interested in cheesemaking, here's a great recent article about it.  I've only experimented with making ricotta or shaping mozzarella out of curd.  I hope to one day make some sheep and goat cheeses, when I can finally actually own one!! A girl can dream, ehhhh

Never have truer words been uttered, eh?

Actually, the above was said by my brother-in-law to my sister one night when they were about to head to their fave Tex-Mex joint....   And THAT inspired me to do a few Texan Valentines this year!  So keep your eyes peeled for a few more before the big day.   Do any of you have plans for  Vday?  

Mr. Phi and I are going to our usual grilled cheese tasting dinner.   Wooooooo  I'll try to actually post a review this year.  I know, I know.... big talker!

Also, I still owe you a cheese review this week.  Took longer than I expected! eeks  Well here's a Cheese Valentine done by Murray's Cheese to tide you over until tomorrow....  

Arkansas Visit!

So this past weekend we visited one of our favorite couples in their home around Northwest Arkansas. TBH, I wasn't tooooo excited about the trip...until I looked at the food possibilities and I then I got dizzy with visions of fried chicken, fried catfish and the holy of fried holy, chicken... fried... STEAK. My friend even got into the act and put together an eating itinerary for us. Here is the creme de la biscuit of our adventures...

Success!!!

Monte NE Inn

If death is anything like Beatlejuice, I hope I'm forced to spend eternity in a fried chicken restaurant. 1 And Mont Ne Inn would certainly do.....

All-you-can-eat Family Style Fried Chicken Dinners for $9.99!!! (Unbelievable price, you can wipe away those tears)

My favorite parts of the meal were the bean soup, hot fresh bread loaves with apple butter and fried chicken. The chicken wasn't the best I've ever tasted, but I certainly wouldn't kick a bucket out of bed. The sides were the usual fare of mashed tatos, creamed corn, green beans...but nothing to write home about honestly.

The worst part of the meal was the cobbler. I asked if it was fresh fruit and apparently opening a brand new can makes it fresh. I HATE canned fruit in sugar syrup. HATE HATE HATTEEEEE. Seriously, nothing puts me in a worse mood than poorly made cobbler, especially if its peach. But the cobbler costs extra, so you can easily avoid it. If you want desert, just cut off another slice of bread and spread a thick dollop of apple butter on it. DONE!

Mountain Bird Coffee

We are pretty big coffee snobs, and I blame the Bay area for this. So when Mr.Phi had a coffee at Tusk & Trotter and proclaimed it make his coffee list. 2 I knew we had something special! I quickly looked up places we could get it and discovered a delightful bakery in Fayetteville that served it. I even bought my parents a bag of their decaf blend for my parents who loved it.

The Catfish Hole

Our friends were excited to take us here and after we tried the hot crispy hushpuppies, we understood why. This place is known for their fried seafood with all the unending fixins' of hushpuppies, coleslaw, pickles and pickled green tomatoes. Mr.Phi and I split a fried platter of catfish, frog legs and chicken strips. Our absolute fave was the frog legs, they were just so juicy and flavorful. Shocking, ehhhh? I think if more people know about how good they are we'd see more frog leg restaurants than chicken wings. But still... those hushpuppies, oooooh yah....

Fayetteville Farmers Market

This Farmers Market was surprisingly awesome. Plenty of fresh produce, beautiful flowers, garlic braids and homemade soaps! Definitely will be back!

And of course our trip is never complete without our friend's legendary CFS! But sorry peeps, this is always a private affair! Gaze as it descends from the heavens. (swwooooon)

Disapointments....

Tusk & Trotter - coffee awesome, sausage good, lamb-burger good, everything else pretty disappointing....maybe cause we went during lunch service? Or maybe we're used to a higher level of tastiness for upscale cafe food because of the Bay area?

Bliss Cupcake - despite a promising mini red velvet cupcake, this place was a bust. Super dry and icing just ok....so sad

List for Next Visit

Family Pie Shop

Any pie shop that looks like this, I MUST GO THERE!

In addition......

Bean Palace Buckwheat waffles

Stonemill Bread Love a place where I can buy fresh flour

Front Porch Diner Fresh biscuits!

Wagon Wheel Country Cafe peanut butter pie....

Wooden Spoon supposedly great pies n cobblers

Also I'd like to try some local cheesemaker....

hah I guess you can tell we're already gearing up for our next visit! Can't wait to do a new report for next time! (even though it results in a huge amount of drool on my keyboard...)

1. There better be eating abilities in the afterlife or I don't want it....

2. Mr.Phi's Coffee List is now 1.Blue Bottle 2. Ritual 3.La Mill 4. Mountain Bird 5.Abraco He says he only does top 5. (Hes actually a really good judge cause he doesn't add anything to the coffee or expresso.)

Figs & Flea Street

Oh how I loooovvvvveee figs! I never even had a fig, until I lived in Cali for a few years.( I sometimes struggle with trying new fruit after a disturbing experience with Sourpsop.) But I must say, its become one of my favorites and I'm excited for its arrival each year! An interesting fig antidote, after I started giving fig preserves out at Xmas, I learned of my Abuelita's love of them and how my Abuelito drove over her fig tree one fall to her utter despair. 1

So recently we took our friends out to a nice dinner for their wedding present at Flea St. Cafe . The meal was going along great and the owner Jesse Cool 2 even visited our table to chat. Ms. Cool was excited that we were young, appreciated good local food and were in her restaurant. hah! She even brought out her awesome chef Carlos Canada to greet us as well. And he was very sweet & sent us out a complimentary prosciutto & fig salad. The salad was extremely tasty, but what put it over the top was the fresh figs. They had gotten them from a lady in the neighborhood who walked in with a big box and offered to sell it to them. 3 Carlos said once they had tasted the figs, there was no going back. (Seems like this could be a scene out of Scarface, but substitute figs for cocaine.)

In any case, these Figs were everything and more that you expect a fig to be. So much pink juiciness oozing out, like eating a bite of summer. Sadly, it was our friends first time eating a fig, so now she must live with a super high standard. But there are worse things.... So when it came time to ask for dessert, we asked for just a plate of more figs and they happily supplied it. Definitely became one of our most memorable meals ever! Sighhhh, if only figs happened all year, but then I guess they wouldn't be so special...

NOTES:

1 People were so wild back in the day, everybody seems to be running over everything. Did cars have breaks?

2 So many people out in CA change their last names. So hip. I think I would change my last name to butter.....

3 I love how its ok to sell produce/eggs/honey from your backyard here in CA

Whats a girl gotta do to get a decent Date!

So I used to hate Dates. "What the what?!" you say....

And by Dates, I mean those big shrively.. for lack for a better description...dried 'animal turd-lookin' fruit. Actually, the fruit's English name evolved from the Greek word for "finger",dáktulos because of the fruit's elongated shape So another way to think of them is as old dried fingers. By now you must be wondering if this is a halloween post, or saying "youze nasty gurl!!"

I think all this hate stems from my intense dislike of raisins....which I'm still slowly getting over. (Though the sun-maid black raisins still make me gag.) But I have started to become a fan of fresh golden raisins. In addition, I kept getting dates confused with prunes( dried plums) and thought it was just something old people needed to poo. 1

So imagine my surprise when I moved to California and started attending Farmers Markets to find single "Date" stands among all the produce stalls. And I started to get curious, because there was so many different kinds of Dates at these stands. Big ones. Small ones. Fresh ones. More shrively than usual ones....

After a few years, I decided to finally take a sample and I was completely flabbergasted. Dates tasted like delicious candy! What had I been doing all my life to ignore a healthy and yummy sweet....

Personally, I prefer very sticky and chewy dates or ones that have been given some time for the sugars to cystalize so they have a tiny bit of crunch. To get more a variety than just the Medjool ones at the grocery store, you really should head to a farmers market or mail order from Flying Disc Ranch for amazing selection as well.

My favorite variety is the Barhi. The best description and a bit x-rated is Flying Disc Ranch describes them "Succulent, sensual, luscious" My simple description would be "Best Date EVA"

So if you ever see dates at the farmers market, run over and give yourself a treat. And if you ever see a bacon-wrapped date at a party, make sure to pop two in your mouth because thats why we have 2 cheeks.

1 This post is becoming more and more gross. What is it with me and Dates?!