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.  

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.  

Cheese Monday: Sir Francis Drake

Ahhh, Valentine's Day, when a girl's thoughts turn to love and stanky, gooey cheeses....

So of course I have to post about one of my favorite cheeses to spread on crispy baguette!1   SIR FRANCIS  DRAKE!    A triple cream Cow cheese that some say has a lil taste of the Pacific ocean, which makes me think it is a love letter to the actual sea captain Sir Francis Drake.2

In any case , it's buttery, nutty and  exceptionally spreadable.  All my favorite things in a gooey cheese!!  Sir Francis Drake is made by the famous Cowgirl Creamery and they source their milk from my always favorite Straus Family Dairy.

As usual, this is very hard to find beyond the Bay area, but can sometimes be founds in a Whole Foods in California.  But, the best place to check is the Cowgirl Creamery Cheese Counter .   Seriously though,  people go crazy for this cheese, camping out at their local cheese shops March-April waiting for it's surprise appearance!3

The reason it is so rare is that the cheese happens by complete accident!  Basically, all of this occurs  during the aging process when Cowgirl's famous Mt. Tam cheese gets a bloomy rind thats a lil slimey, instead of it's usual silky texture.  So they wash those slimey cheeses in Beaume de Venise (French Dessert Wine) and sprinkle some yummy dried currents on top!  TA-dah! A deliciously addictive cheese emerges and you have a beautiful bloomy number to enjoy on your platter!

Definitely, let Sir Francis Drake ripen, so you can get the full effect of spreadable cheese!  I sit mine on the counter for a good hour, even though it stinks up the joint.  But, hey, thats what scented candles are for!

And here's a lil valentine for you to enjoy today.  

1  That sound a lil tooo like sexual innuendo...hah enjoy the day!
2 Or it could just be that their Point Reyes location is on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard....  
3 Well mayyybbeeee, not that intense.  I always think of the "Blossom" episode where she camped out for C&C Music Factory tickets when I daydream of intense waiting......

            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

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.)

Tartine AfterHours Sept 21 2011

When I first heard the gabble over Tartine AfterHours, a uno night per month calamity where Tartine Bakery and Chef Samin Nosrat pair up to make a family style feast, I KNEW...oh yes, I knew that is where I wanna be.

I excitedly emailed them for a reservation and marked it on my calendar. ONLY to realize that getting in was not THAT easy......It runs on a lottery system, so everyone has a fair chance to get in...wonk wonkkkkk

So after over 8 months of trying to get in, I finally got my golden ticket in email form. Informed my dear Mr.Phi that we were IN and he said "YAHooo..uummmm... what date was that again?....eeeks!" He had assumed that this was going to be another tartine-fail and had double booked himself for a 5K marathon the same evening! It was his first marathon and he had been training for it, so he couldn't quit it, even though it killed his very soul. So instead I attended the event with my tough and cuddly cousin. This was her first city meal since moving from NYC and now her standards are set impossibly high!

We arrived in front of Tartine, there was a huge crowd outside and they were calling out names from a list. People were licking their lips in anticipation of being chosen...and I'm sure the smells of the food, too. Felt like the movie "54"1 as our names were called out and envious eyes fells all over us.

We were seated at a long table with a gang of fellow foodies since the meals are served family style. I ordered a nice glass of Rose but wish I had gotten the Syrah after I took a closer look at the menu. (ShortRibs!) But it was warm inside and I can't resist crisp wines under such conditions. Many people took advantage of the $10 corkage fee and brought their own bottles, which I definitely plan on doing in 2013. 2

Immediately they placed a huge wooden platter of Fresh Figs, Fried Squash Blossoms, Padron Peppers and Salumi in front of us. Everyone was really kind at our table and conscious of each other getting equal shares of the bounty. Plus our waitress asked us if we needed refills of any item and thank the gawds, she brought out more freshly fried squash blossoms. When I told my dear Mr.Phi about them, he banged his head on the wall.3 After much chewing, there was one final awesome blossom left on the platter, and a war of eyes went over the table, who would be the piggy to take it..who WHOOOooooo?!?!.....This went on for 5 WHOLE minutes before I squealed and grabbed it! I did share it with my cousin though, who would of given me Indian burns had I not. The crust on the squash blossoms was a cornmeal which holds a delectable crunch for far longer. Not sure of the cheese but my guess is it was a Bellwether ricotta. In any case, one of my favorite parts and I could eat a zillion of them.

While the tables were munching down, the band "John Ingle's Ghost of a Chance" was filling the room with old time tunes and I really could not have asked for a better soundtrack to the evening. If my Mr.Phi had been there, I may of asked if we could slowdance behind the Tartine counter veryyyyy carefully.

"Late summer bean & tomato salad" was the second course to be placed on the table. This was really a beautiful display of some of the best seasonal vegetables at this time of year. Sweet red tomatoes, yellow cherry tomatoes, green beans, snap peas, yellow beans and nice crunchy cucumber with a dressing that brought all the flavors together. This was really refreshing and a perfect blend, like eating crunchy, juicy sunshine.

Along with the salad came out baskets of Tartine Bread with big slabs of butter on plates. I asked Miss Samin what kind of butter it was, but she was not sure besides it being European in style and we would gape at the mere size of it. Didn't get to do that on this evening, but I did try to make a dent in it by the amount of butter I spread on my bread. This was my first time eating Tartine Bread, not that I haven't attempted to get a loaf. Usually it is sold out and being a relatively new Bay area transplant at 3 years, I never really made the effort to buy it until this year.4

"Braised Short Ribs" was thankfully the main course since its one of the few proteins my cousin loves. I proclaimed them to be the juiciest ones I have ever had. Drooling a lil just remembering them....

Another amazing item was the corn and beans side with roasted red peppers. The beans had an amazing flavor and raised themselves to be the most memorable vegetable of the entire night. Samin told me they were from Dirty Girl Farm and gushed about how tasty they were as well. The vegetarian entree was an eggplant and farrow dish, which the Veggies at our table kindly shared with the group. In addition, there was a Cilantro Salsa which I did not really care for, but I'm not a good judge since not a huge Cilantro fan in general.5 Worries over if there would be enough food family style was quickly put to rest as there was leftovers of a few dishes, but the bean dish was almost licked clean.

By this time in the meal, people were tipsy from so much good food.... aaaannnnd maybe a few glasses of wine. The place really had a family atmosphere as people hung on one another, whispered closely and savored last bites. As Samin and her staff entered in with trays of strawberry-lime popsicles and fresh watermelon slices, it really added to the whole merriment in the room. The popsicles were even made in dixie cups! You had to use your hands to warm the dixie cup so you could free the popsicle from it's paper cage and be promptly rewarded with hot pink lips. Samin walked around the room admiring her handiwork of getting an entire group of adults to become kids in a matter of minutes. I loved the sweet tartness of the popsicles which actually contained no sugar! But my cousin said was too much "sour/super sweet" for her taste. But I managed to eat a ton of it before my ears started leaking strawberries.

Samin said this menu was her "love letter to summer" and I really felt that. The fresh figs, perfectly ripe tomatoes, crisp corn, beans, sweet summer strawberries..... Makes me sad thinking the season's almost over....actually made me more sad that the meal was over and who knows when I'll be lucky enough to get another reservation. This had to be one of my all-time favorite meals. The atmosphere, family style seating/serving, music, and friendliness of everyone involved pushed the high quality ingredients to a whole new level for me. This is what I would love every meal to be like... Good Honest Food.

NOTES:

1 I didn't know about Studio 54 was an actual place, until the movie "54" came out.

2 I would not be surprised if it took me until 2013 to get another reservation.....

3 On the morning of our mini honeymoon, we went to the hotel's fancypants breakfast buffet and they had a muthaeffin' fried squash blossom station! I'm pretty sure Mr.Phi set the world record for amount of squash blossoms you can put in your mouth at once. And really....can you eat too many fried squash blossoms....

4 My first two years was a love affair with Acme Bread, after having a particular amazing Baguette during my first month here. But I haven't been able to duplicate the experience since...until I found Pinkys...

5 Especially when I buy a salad mix from TJs and discover cilantro in it. But tacos is a different story....