The Winter Gruyere's Tale

If you shall chance, Camillo, to visit Bohemia, on the like occasion whereon my services are now on foot, you shall see, as I have said, great difference betwixt our Bohemia and your Sicilia.

It's late winter in Vermont and I'm making Gruyere.   Much of the snow is gone, and sugaring has begun in earnest.  Mud season is upon us.  

Sourdough Redux, part 2: Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

Here is another nice way to use extra sourdough starter, particularly if you have a dog.  These treats are quick to make, use ingredients you probably have, and are gratifyingly well-received.  

Raclette

Ah Raclette.  It's a cheese, and it's what you call dinner when serving this cheese, melted and scraped from the wheel.  (The word raclette is from the French racler, "to scrape".) 

There is something aesthetically perfect about Raclette, which is hard to pin down.  The cheese is firm, but not hard; balanced in flavor, and with superb melting characteristics.  Excess calcium is rinsed out with clear water before pressing, to keep the curd tender.  I age this cheese for four months, with regular brine washings.

Sauerkraut and Vermont Choucroute Garni

It started with a crock, as so many things do.  

In this case, a beautiful wood-fired stoneware sauerkraut crock made by local potter Maya Zelkin.  As I stood in Maya's chilly studio last fall (she lives off the grid), her son, who is very young, offered me a bite of raw sauerkraut and a glass of juice.  I was charmed, and I loved the sauerkraut, which was crunchy, light, fresh.  Then Maya showed me the Crock.  

To justify the purchase of this object, I promised myself to make sauerkraut according to Maya's directions: Tamp, Tamp, Tamp the cabbage, and keep on Tamping.  Put on a little salt.  And in fact, that is basically the recipe for sauerkraut.

Sourdough Redux, part 1: Leek, Vermont Ham and Reblochon Tart, Sourdough puff pastry

I believe that sourdough is a means to an end, not an end in itself.   But sourdough can quickly be leveraged to produce a variety of satisfying and interesting results.  Here, I have combined the last leeks from the fall garden,  some wonderful Vermont ham, and half a wheel of Reblochon on a disk of sourdough puff pastry.

Some new Reblochons

My new batch of Reblochons are ready, and here is the first.

These cheeses are  ripe, smooth, and earthy.  They are soft, flowing.

Marmalade

This is about marmalade.  Real, Seville orange, Oxford-style dark amber marmalade.  The reason to get up on Sunday morning.  The reason why toast was invented.  A substance so compelling that passing the jam aisle is impossible without a glance; do they have it?

Up here in Vermont, the answer is, usually not.  The supply runs out, and then what?  There are no easy answers.

However, if one can find some Seville oranges, as I did recently, then the problem is solved.  They have a brief season in January, and top-notch markets sometimes stock them.    A 4-lb sack of the lumpy, unattractive Sevilles will yield many jars of dark, slightly bitter, Oxford-style marmalade.   All it takes is sugar, patience and canning jars.