I would say that this recipe has a French flair to it, especially with munster cheese in it. Munster is a a very old cheese from Alsace made with caw milk, but other regions like the one I grew up in also produce munster. It tends to be very strong and pungent (Americans would say that is a very stinky French cheese!!) and you need to wrap it tightly when in the fridge, but it has a wonderful and delicate flavor. So don’t let the smell impress you.

Brick sheets are widely used in France to replace filo dough. They’re much easier to manipulate and don’t break that easily, though hard to find in the US. I found them frozen at the Gourmet and More store in San Francisco. You can fill them with anything you like. One sheet has only 25 calories so if you want to keep them light you have to fill them with a light mixture and bake them in the oven rather in a pan with oil. Munster and cumin go well together, the sweetness of the carrot complement the filling quite well. You can substitute cumin with caraway seeds, it will be equally good. More recipes about brick sheets here.

Ingredients for 4-5 bricks

• 4-5 brick sheets
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 shallots, minced
• 3 carrots, sliced thin
• 3 tbs dry white wine
• 1.5 tsp cumin seeds or carvi
• 170 g munster cheese, sliced
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and let them soften. Add carrots, cumin and wine. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cover and let cook at medium heat until the carrots are tender.

Take a brick sheet and lay it flat on a wooden surface. Place 2-3 tbs of the carrot mixture (about 2 inches from the border), then top it with a slice of the munster cheese and start rolling, when you reach the middle, fold the sides and continue rolling until it forms a little package. Proceed until you have used all the carrot mixture.

Pre-heat oven at 375F and back in the oven until golden brown. Serve hot on a bed of arugula.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2013/06/brick-sheets-stuffed-with-carrots-cumin-and-munster-cheese/feed/ 1 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2013/06/the-real-thing-mascarpone/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-real-thing-mascarpone http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2013/06/the-real-thing-mascarpone/#comments Tue, 04 Jun 2013 19:20:39 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=15955 Mascarpone

Usually I would never think of making cheese, because in my mind, it was something too complicated, something only cheese makers knew how to do.

This changed my mind. Living in the US, it’s sometimes difficult to find imported cheeses, such as mascarpone. In the past, stores like Rainbow or Whole Foods carried various Italian brands such as Santa Lucia. In any European country, you can find Italian mascarpone anywhere. For whatever reason in San Francisco, they stop selling them, selling only domestic mascarpone, and with no offense, domestic brands are not good, either the texture is too solid, too yellow, too this or too that, making really bad tiramisù. So in my mind, I could no longer make good tiramisù, and I have to admit that I got a little frustrated and annoyed. Then I tried to find on the web some information of the fabrication of mascarpone, which I was curious to know why it was called cheese (it’s because of the caseine). And here we go, the easiest thing on earth is to make mascarpone with just two ingredients! Yes it is possible! I was amazed when this came out of the refrigerator.

One pint will give you about 250-300 gr of mascarpone (a little more than the quantity of the container you find in the store)

Morale of the story: Do not buy domestic mascarpone any longer if you want to make a killer tiramisù, make it yourself, it’s worth it.

Ingredients

• 1 pint of heavy cream (a great quality, I used Straus)
• 1 tbs of lemon juice (filtered)

Preparation

in a large pot, bring about 2 cups of water to a boil. Pour cream in a mixing container that could be exposed at high temperature (I used a pyrex one), place on top of the pot and lower the heat. Stir cream and let it reach about 80-90C, then add lemon juice. Keep stirring for about 10 minutes, at that point the cream will become thicker and coat the spoon. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Place a cheese cloth (the thick kind, not with holes) on top of a strainer, then pour cream in it. Cover with a cloth and place in the refrigerator for about one day (24 hours). Use withing the next few days.

Winter is soup time, and when I ran into mimolette, I could not resist. I had not seen Mimolette before in the US and I was so excited. I had planned to make a gratin, and a soup with it, but the cheese did not not make it to either dish. I just ate it all and in a very quick and fashionable manner.

Mimolette is a French cheese made in Lille, the North of France. It’s also called “Boule de Lille“, it’s a cheese produced with cow milk, with a condensed raw flesh (pâte pressée). Its deep orange color comes from a natural coloring called “roucou” which is a plant used in some cheeses such as Gouda, Cheddar or Edam and used in Europe as food coloring. Mimolette‘s hard texture is similar to Dutch Gouda. The older it gets, the harder the texture becomes, and I really love extra old Mimolette, it tends to have a more pronounced character.

I somehow love salty cheeses, they go perfectly well in soups, gratins, and enhance many dishes. This soup made with three green vegetables is full of vitamins and flavors. When I make “creamy” and thick soups like this one, I like it served either with toasted bread or sometimes with small pasta cooked in the soup. You get a wholesome and wonderful meal. Risoni is the Italian name for “orzo”which in Italy is barley, so it can get confusing. My mom used to make soups when I was a child with risoni, it’s very common in Italy to use small pasta like this one or ditalini in soups.

The other important ingredient in this soup is the garlic that adds a lot of character to the broth, it balances out the earthy flavors of the green vegetables.

Ingredients for 4

• 100 g orzo
• 1 1/2 leek, diced
• 2 cups broccoli
• 2 cups raw spinach
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
• 6 tbs mimolette, grated
• 2 tbs olive oil
• vegetable broth
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a large pot, heat olive oil, add broccoli and leeks and cook for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are coated with olive oil. Add 3 garlic cloves, whole and peeled. Add broth. For broth quantity, it needs to cover vegetables to about 1 cm of liquid. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are cooked all the way through about 20-30 minutes.

When vegetables are cooked add spinach leaves (if using baby spinach, no need to chop them, otherwise you will have to chop them roughly). Cook and extra 5-10 minutes. Add crushed garlic and cook an extra 5 minutes.

Keep about two laddles of vegetables aside. Blend the rest in a blender into a smooth purée. Place the vegetables pieces back into the pot with the purée and place back on pot at low heat. When it starts boiling, add orzo, and stir well. Keep on stirring for a while to prevent pasta from sticking. If the consistency is too thick add a little broth. Cook until al dente and serve in bowls. Add 1 tbs of mimolette and sprinkle with olive oil.

Now I know that this might be a little too much of spaghetti squash in just a couple of days. I was not planning on writing a blog about it, I took the pictures, just in case…then after eating almost all of it by myself, I figured it was definitley blog “worthy” and I have to say it’s my favorite spaghetti squash recipe. I had quite a lot of extra squash left from the pancakes, and certainly did not want to throw anything away. I was taught not to throw food growing up, and I rarely do. I still have some squash left, but I promised I will not write another blog about it.

Vegetable gratin are every French basics. They come in all colors, shapes and form. One thing in common they have cheese in it, actually almost all of them, the real potato gratin, le gratin dauphinois has no cheese in it (although a lot of people do put cheese, but the “purists” will grind their teeth at the though of cheese in gratin dauphinois).

I absolutely love this gratin, and I recommend it to anyone who likes spaghetti squash.

Ingredients for 2

• 300 g cooked squash (approximately)
• 3 riped tomatoes, peeled, seedless and cut in small cubes
• 3 medium size potatoes
• 2 tbs basil chopped
• 2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 onion (optional)*
• 4 tbs Gruyere cheese, grated
• 4 tbs Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil

Preparation

Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender but do not overcook them, they will cook more in the oven.

Add a little oil at the bottom of a deep dish, slice potatoes and lay them flat in the dish, add salt and pepper. Add another layer of spaghetti squash using half of the squash. Add garlic, basil thyme, tomatoes and cheeses, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with olive oil. Proceed with another layer of the same ingredients, ending with cheeses at the end.

*You can add onion fondue and add the onions after the potato layer. You have to cook onion at medium heat in olive oil until they’re translucent. Add a tsp of balsamic vinegar.

When you’re done layering the gratin, press firmly with your hand on the surface to remove any air in between the layers. That way, when it’s cooked it will stand and not collapse.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370-375F for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden brown. Serve hot as a side dish or as is with a green salad.