Cheese-a-day: Chevre with Honey

This is a picture of the view from the back of the house we're staying at- at five this morning.  I was up, so i went out to go watch the sunrise, which I tried to do, until the bugs were eating me alive, and I had to come back in and snuggle back into my bed for a few more hours. 

Anyway.... so the cheese yesterday was a Honey Chevre, which you can read about here

I served it with toasted Tuscan Pane bread, and apricot jam, and there was also a little container of dark chocolate almonds with turbinado sugar and sea salt to snack on at what we've dubbed "the cheese hour"

I thought it was REALLY good.  the honey adds a sweetness, and there isn't any of the chalkyness that you sometimes get with chevre, and I had let it sit out about an hour before serving, so it was room temp and really pliable.  I think the honey emulsifies the cheese a little- it was really spreadable and delicious, and you could taste the honey in it.  The family liked it too, even more than yesterday's brie, which I thought was surprising.

We still had some cheese left when we were running low of things to put it on, so my sister toasted some more bread, and let me tell you- when it's on warm toast, this cheese goes from a solid, standard cheese, to something amazing and wonderful.

Cheese-a-day: Double Cream Brie

Because of my job, I've been recently very motivated to expand my cheese knowledge.  This week while we're in Virginia, I decided that to expand my palate (and the palates of my family) by trying some awesome cheeses that I haven't tried before (and a few, I must admit, I have, but wanted my family to try)

First up, was a double cream brie that I haven't tried.  It's French, and let me tell you, it is goooooooood.

I served it with fig butter and slices of granny smith apple.

My cousin Dan really liked it- he said it was creamy and smooth, and not too strong, and went really well with the sides- I agree with his assessment.

For me, brie is a "comfort food" kind of thing. It is meant to be mild, and unassuming, milky and buttery, and this one really was.  Delicious! Plus, the fig butter was really outstanding- it's one of my new favorite things.  I think it would go well with just about any cheese, but it really rocked out with the brie.

Wonderful Vacation

I am back from vacation. I kind of would like to be back there right now. Chincoteague is so peaceful.  this is the view off the back of the house. Crazy beautiful, right? 

Every year my family rents a house on Chincoteague Island (sometimes parts of the family camp, but I prefer a house, with you know, a bed. and air conditioning. it is hot out there)  We've rented this house a bunch of times, and I love it.  It's gorgeous, has a great big and wonderful kitchen, and a long table for everyone to sit at.  I have spent lots of hours in this house- we've rented it a couple of times, and I really, really like it.

I really like the whole island. It is restful, and relaxing, and easy vacation. I can spend time sleeping, and crocheting, and reading.  Cooking good things, and hanging out with the family.  Not everyone was able to make it this year, and even those that were were not able to be there the whole time, which was a bummer. But I'm glad I had the time with those that did make it there this year.  And there's always next year!

I've posted a bit about my rib competition with my uncle: (and other people who want to enter, last year was Potter)  and these are my ribs:

And this is my trophy:

:)

The trrophy returns to Baltimore once more, to grace my bookshelves and inspire me to kick ass again next year.  I already have ideas marinating for next year's rub and sauce. (and maybe also my rib competition videos)

Just before we chow down on ribs.  Chilling with the family.  One thing this family has down is eating and drinking.  We had a ton of "food coma" moments, usually after eating dinner, and occasionally after lunch (see: Woody's barbecue, Woody's fried chicken, Vientamese resturaunt, The Creamery, and Mr. Whippy)
One of the things that I like is how much cooking we all do while we're there- Appetizer night,  Seafood night, Rib competition, and lots of other meals, and snacks (I did not make nearly enough guac this year. Must remedy that next year)

Helena and Auntie Ange feeding the seagulls. Which they continued to do even after Uncle Dave told a story about a friend of his who was feeding seagulls and the seagull bit off the tip of his finger. I was not going to be going anywhere near seagulls after that. They, however, purchased a whole loaf of bread to feed the seagulls with.

It was a great week, and I can't wait until next year.

Preparing for the awesome.

I'm not going to lie, I'm a competitive person.  I like to play games, and I like to win.  And for the last two years, when I go on vacation with my family at Chincoteague Island,  we  have a Rib Cookoff competition.  The first year, I was victorious. Basking in the glow of my win, I took the tropy home, and reveled in my win for a whole year.  Last year brought sadness. I was competing against my uncle, and my cousin Potter, and  my uncle pulled out a miraculous win (by a large freaking margin).

Last year's devistating loss meant that I could not rest on my laurels. I could not fly by the seat of my pants and expect to pull out victiory. I need to be more methodical. more calculating.... more awesome.

So I put together my rub,  which is based off of Alton Brown's 8 + 3 +1 +1 ratio, and I rubbed up a rack of ribs and let it sit overnight.  I made my own tomato-based barbecue sauce, Which is a new tactic that i'm trying this year. (I've never used a tomato based sauce before).

I invited Paul over for dinner, so he could guinea pig the ribs for me, to make sure that they were okay.

I cooked the ribs, low and slow, and in the last half hour, I brushed on the bbq sauce.  Then, once they were done, i cut them, and tossed them in a bowl with more sauce.

They were messy, but they were pretty awesome.  I need to tweak a little (A little less heat is needed) but they were pretty freaking great.

Watch out, Uncle Dave.... I'm comin' to get ya.

And for dessert, we had oreo cupcakes with cream cheese oreo frosting. MMMMMMMMM