Like daylilies, either buy them on purpose or just notice them growing wild all over the neighborhood. Out walking earlier, I was reminded of this by the down the street neighbors, who have a cultivated variety of spiderwort, bought at a nursery, and given tender care
And the wild sort is running happily all over my ground cover
The flowers have closed shop for the night, brilliant tiny blue jewels. Which I sometimes yank out if it starts crossing the path.
I seem to be drawn to America's test kitchen again, this time I was the person running to read the label on my Parmigiano!
Interesting findings with good tips on what to look for in supermarket precut and wrapped Parmigiano: dry, crumbly, marks of enough aging, and lovely nutty flavor, not too salty.
Here's the cheese shop version
And here's this blogger's current supply, obviously getting used. It's got all the good things crumbly, dry, lovely nutty flavor. House wrapped, who knows the origin. $13 a pound, and I think it will do me fine.
I used it along with blue cheese, to make that Alfredo sauce on the butterfly pasta, a while back, and it's fiiiiine.
The thing is that you never get the real lovely cheese flavor you get in Europe because the US will not allow raw milk, either produced in the US or imported in products. It has to be pasteurized. Which does kill a lot of undesirable bacteria, also a lot of the flavor.
I remember talking about this with a tetchy old Fox News-watching lady I used to play music with, and she looked at me in horror, then screamed I DON'T BELIEVE YOU.
Moral: don't tell people stuff they don't want to know!
Handsome Son is coming tomorrow evening to help eat roasted cauliflower chunks with a dipping sauce I'm making, ketchup, mayo, Worcestershire sauce.
And pasties stuffed with yellow potatoes, hot turkey sausage, broccoli, onions, carrots and mushrooms. And a lightly toasted kitchen sink, unless someone restrains me.
Lemonade and suntea. Yogurt and farm fruit. I think it will go well.
The cleaners are coming tomorrow morning, which is when some of the shopping will happen for this extravaganza. At least that's the plan.
Hard to believe someone doesn't know that raw milk can't be used in North American cheese. Where has she been all her life?
ReplyDeleteIn a wealthy bubble which didn't include shopping and cooking!
DeleteI like grating cheese, too. My grater is triangular, so the cheese builds up like a
ReplyDeletepyramid. That's of absolutely no importance except visual.
I love the America's test kitchen segments where they are testing various foods or cooking supplies. I was given their cookbook as a gift and it has quite a variety of recipes. Enjoy your evening with Handsome Son tomorrow! I'm sure he will love all the special foods you are making!
ReplyDeleteI must check out that cookbook, thank you.
DeleteI get great triangular blocks of parm from Costco. Lasts me approximately forever. And I have bags of rinds in the freezer for soup and sauce making.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your supper with your boy. I know it'll be delicious.
Yes, the rinds are great in soup. I bought a bag of just rinds a while back, wonderful flavoring. I suppose they were cut off in the process of cutting down a big cheese into wedges. And until they finally melt they can be re used, like everything around here.
DeleteI cooked for decades until I quit and the husband took over. now he is tiring of it so I cook twice a week now. I mostly enjoy it but it's not my life. we try not to waste food but I'm sure plenty of 'leavings' go in the compost pile here whereas you and Ms Moon save and use them.
ReplyDeleteI have several big clumps of spiderwort here. they get so tall they eventually fall over and then I prune them to the ground.
Spiderwort grew wild in many places when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteParmesan cheese, can't say I've looked at local prices. I don't buy expensive. So no worries there.
You dining menu sounds wonderful. Enjoy good conversation
Enjoy time with your son!
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting discussion re the cheese. Reading what you said about milk in Europe tasting different reminded me of the absolute love I developed for plain vanilla ice cream when I was in England. There is no comparison in the flavour of what we get here.
ReplyDeleteThere seem to be national preferences. American chocolate tastes sour to European tasters.
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