Something Different: Three Different Cheese You Must Try!

Greetings, foodie friends!

With this post I want to shine the spotlight on some fantastic cheeses which I feel don't get the attention they deserve. Everyone knows such favourites as cheddar, parmesan and brie but there is a whole world of flavour out there and I want to discuss three of my favourites.

In choosing my cheeses, I have tried to pick ones which are a little unusual but not so rare as you need to go to horrendous lengths to get them. If this means you already know about them I apologise in advance for the vexatious time you might experience reading the rest of my piece. There is nothing worse than an flush-faced guide ‘introducing’ you to the path you travel down to get to work everyday.

Anyway, for those who don't know I present three wizard cheeses which you should definitely try now!

Red Leicester

A mature red leicester is a thing of beauty. Crumbly, salty and tangy, this hard orange cheese is as fantastic raw as it is melted. It tastes REALLY good melted on granary bread with pickle but can generally be used as an interesting alternative to cheddar as they are both salty and have a similar consistency whether at room temperature or melted.

Taleggio

This cheese is truly magical. Combining the strength of stilton with the consistency of a really soft camembert, taleggio is rather disconcerting to look at, surrounded as it with an orange rind sprinkled liberally with mould. Honestly, this is fine and does not need to be removed.

Tangy with pleasing herby undertones, Taleggio is a fantastic lunch cheese as it is both the perfect counterpoint to sweet fruit such as figs and the perfect complement to salty olives. It is pretty strong, so really stands out when smeared on bread or crackers even in small quantities.

Taleggio also melts surprisingly well. I frequently use it in pasta and risotto dishes, where it completely dissolves into creamy loveliness without loosing any of its strength.

Jarlsberg

Jarlsberg is a hard Norwegian cheese with a rubbery rather than crumbly texture. The flavour is exceedingly nutty and lacks the sharp tang of many cheeses, giving it a fabulous fresh quality in the eating. It is wonderful eaten raw but I also very much enjoy baking with it. Its flavour brings a clean, meadowy taste to breads and muffins as opposed to the salty heaviness or, frankly, blandness given by many other cheeses (I'm looking at you edam!).

Well, there they are, three cheese which are not in the mainstream psyche but which I just adore. But that's just me - which are your favourites? And, if you've had any experience of the above selection, what do you think of them? Leave a post in the comments below and we can talk cheese until we're blue (veined) in the face!

Recipe Time - Mexican Inspired Spicy Pasta Bake

This week I want to share with you a hearty dish inspired by the flavours of Mexico! If you make this, I can promise a spicy, flavoursome delight which will fill you up and leave you feeling nourished.

Ingredients (Serves 4):

300g Tubular Pasta, such as Penne or Rigatoni

1 Onion

1 Clove of Garlic

2 Green Jalapeno Chillies

50g Butter

50g Plain Flour

500g Whole Milk

150g Mature Cheddar Cheese, Coarsely Grated

1 x 400g Tin Red Kidney Beans, Drained and Rinsed

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Cumin

1/4 Cayenne Pepper

Black Pepper and Salt To Taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas Mark 6) or 180°C for a fan oven.

Finely chop the onion and garlic and halve the chillies lengthwise. At this point, you can decide how hot or otherwise you want your dish. For full on fire, slice the chillies into strips and add them to the onion mix. For a milder dish, core and seed the chillies before slicing. They will still add a very gentle heat and fresh flavour to the dish, though the potency will be gone. Personally, I welcome the fire, it is good for you apart from anything else, but the choice is yours.

Heat some oil in a large pan and fry onions, garlic and chillies until soft and just showing a little colour. Set to one side.

Add butter to the pan and melt. Remove from the heat and add the flour. Combine with a wooden spoon to form a roux before returning to the heat for about 10 seconds.

Pour in the milk. Some people like to do this in stages, making sure the roux is thoroughly absorbed at each stage to prevent lumpiness. However, I have found if I use a whisk to stir the mixture the roux and milk still amalgamate well, even if I pour all the milk in at once.

That said, you may occasionally want to run a spoon around the outside of the pan to make sure none of the mixture gets caught in the corners.

Bring the sauce to the boil over a medium heat, whisking vigorously all the time. It should thicken noticeably just before starting to boil to provide a beautiful glossy sauce. Add the kidney beans, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper, onions, garlic, chillies, salt, pepper and half the cheese and leave to bubble very gently, stirring occasionally.

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.  Reserve a few tablespoons of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Add water and pasta to the sauce and stir thoroughly to combine.

Pour the mix into an oven-proof dish, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the top has browned nicely.

Serve and make you have plenty of beer or water on hand if you are not used to spicy food!

Recipe Time - Romano Pepper, Olive and Garlic Pasta

So, I've been cooking and I have a new recipe! Actually, it's the first recipe I ever developed but I wanted to get it just right before sharing it with you. Super-healthy and packed with flavour, it is also extremely quick to knock together and is an ideal midweek meal.

Ingredients (Serves 2):

200g Large-piece Pasta (such as penne, conchiglie or, my personal favourite, elicoidali)

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Cloves of Garlic

2 Sweet Romano Peppers

24 Kalamata Olives (don't ask me why, this number just works beautifully!)

2 tsp Dried Oregano

Salt and Black Pepper

Method:

Pour the pasta into a pan of boiling, salted water. While it is cooking, finely chop the garlic. Halve and core the peppers before cutting into thickish strips.

Spoon the oil into a frying pan, heat and, when the pasta is four minutes away from being cooked according to packet instructions, throw in the garlic. Cook for two minutes, then add the peppers. The idea is to make the peppers release their flavour without causing them to lose their bite.

As soon as the pasta is cooked, set aside a few tablespoons of the cooking water, toss the olives into the frying pan and drain the pasta. Again the idea is just to coax the olives into a deliciously warm, flavoursome state without destroying their structure.

Quickly return the pasta to the saucepan and throw in the contents of the frying pan, the set-aside cooking water, the oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Stir vigorously and serve.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know in the comments what you think, I'd love to hear from you!