Easy baked camembert for winter nights

Yes, it is cold outside. I feel you.

Yes, there is a curfew. I feel you.

Yes, you are spending the evening in…again… but it does not have to be boring. You can indulge yourself or your parter…or the friend who is sleeping over at your place with this great 15-20 easy but delish recipe to pair with the white wine you choose for this evening. Yes, because this time you choose white, like a good Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris or anything nice and dry. It as a great combo to warm up your heart, evening and the oven … 😉

So here you are, easy as abc.

• 

Ingredients

• 1 wheel camembert (in box)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoons fresh sage
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• Bread (for serving)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC .Leave the camembert in the box and cover it with aluminium foil to keep the melting cheese , in case it goes a bit over the top. 🙂 Only the side and the bottom, do not close it on top!
2. Score the top of the cheese in a crosshatch pattern.
3. Finely slice 1-2 peeled garlic cloves and poke them into the wholes on the top of the cheese with a few sage tips. Drizzle with a little olive oil, sea salt, pepper and / or pepper flakes then bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes.
4. Cut bite-sized pieces of any bread you like and lay them on a tray and pop in the oven to cook with the camembert for 5 more minutes.
5. Pour a glass of wine, sit down on the couch and enjoy the evening ❤

Tadddaaa… ENJOY! ❤

Cheese stor(ie)s – Fromage, Budapest

I thought it might be a good idea to to share my experiences with you guys in regards cheese stores around the globe, since now in Budapest I am telling you about Fromage on Pozsonyi street in the 13th district.

The place is just overall gorgeous with a quite nice variety of cheeses, wines, liquores, jams, Italian sweets, charchuterie and breads. So if you love small scale gourmet food then that is your place to go.

The store itself is not bigger than 8 square meters but it is full of goodies from floor to ceiling ( I love these kind of places), also the service is excellent.

This gem is not only for takeaway though, but if you have some time you can ask for a nice glass of Prosecco or whatever you want and a custom made cheese platter that you can enjoy just outside of the place since they have 2-4 small tables. And after that you might just go back and grab some more stuff the you can indulge yourself with.

Unfortunately, I could only ask for takeaway now some Italian salami, a CreMonte and a Gorgonzola Cremificato. I cannot help it, I just love all froms of bleu….

CreMonte is a pasteurized cow milk blue-brie originally made in Germany. It has a creamy, mild texture and mild, spicy flavour.

Gorgonzola Cremificato is smooth and creamy in texture. The cheese is mild and relatively sweet in taste with a rich and grassy aroma.

Both cheese could go well with fresh pears, apple and a sprinkle of honey.

If you would like to pair them with wine they would go well with Pinot Blanc, Sauternes and Moscato Passito or any kind of strong dessert wine that could match the strength and richness of the cheeses.

Enjoy 🙂

Transylvanian farm cheese #1

It is great to be back in Budapest for a short while since I have been missing not just my mom’s great dishes but good Hungarian farm-style cheese too as well as cheese making myself… but that is another topic.

Since my apartment is quite close to the farmer;s market I went down today to look around but I sadly had to realize that my favorite specialty stores have all closed due to the pandemic hopefully not forever.

This time I bumped into a cute cheese place serving mostly farm-style cheese from Transylvania and this is just what I needed that point. Lovely fresh cheese made with care and love 🙂

I did try 3 for this time that I would like to recommend some pairing with :

1.6 months old semi-hard Trappist monk style, cow mil cheese ( from Torocko)

6 months old Trappist Monk cheese made in the Transylvanian countryside. Creamy, buttery cowmilk cheese with some nutty notes.

& pairing : Pinot Grigio or Riesling.

2. 2 years old semi-hard cow milk cheese (from Tekerőpatak )

2 years old semi-hard cow milk cheese from Tekerôpatak, Transylvania. Great Swiss-style cheese with earthy and complex characteristics .

& pairing : Cava, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling

& pairing : Brown ales and Pilsners

3. Fresh sheep cheese

Fresh sheep cheese No unnecessary additives just a tiny pinch of salt and it becomes your best friend for the summer. Ideal for summer salads

& pairing : ideal with crisp, dry and young bottlings like Pinot Blanc, Verdejo, young Chardonnay and of my all time favorite Sauvignon Blanc.

Easy beetroot and goat cheese salad

I know it’s been a while since I posted anything, but I was super busy with work and traveling again and I tried to gain some inspiration from my trips, my plans for a lifestyle change and just be so much more creative then before. I decided that I will try to use only seasonal products to create recipes and make easy, healthy and also extraordinary tastes. I will slowly get back to blogging again and I hope you’ll enjoy my creatures with cheese again and give feedback on what you’d like to see here and what kind of cheese, spices and ingredients you’d want me to try to make something new and groundbreaking.  🙂

Because you all know there is no food without cheese  🙂

So here’s an easy beetroot salad that you can have for lunch or dinner…or breakfast if you’d like…

Ingredients:

• • 200 gramms of beetroot
  • 1 or 2 small carrots
  • 1 apple ( I used Golden, but if you like you can use a more sour kind )
  • parsley
  •  pomegranate
  • salt & pepper
  • fresh goat cheese

Steps:

1. Peel the veggies and cut them into 2×2 cm cubes
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180 Celsius
3.  Put the beetroot, carrot to the own with a pinch of salt, pepper and spill some olive oil on it. Bake it for 25 mins till the veggies start get soft then add the chopped apples as well. ( If you feel it is getting dry, add a 0, 5 dl water )
4. Bake it for an additional 15 mins till the apple gets soft as well.
5. Pour the baked veggies to a bowl
6. Cut the goat cheese to small pieces, chop parsley and stir it together with the veggies.
7. To finish strew the seeds of a half pomegranate on top and it is ready to be served.  Enjoy 🙂

Cheesy trips in Dutchland #1

I have been traveling a lot to Amsterdam recently due to my new job and to be honest I am more than blown away by the tremendous amount of delicious cheese I can get there.

Basically what we know about Dutch cheese here in Hungary has nothing to do with the repertoire available there in the specialty cheese store.

So I decided to make sort of an introduction of the things I tasted and planning on tasting during my trips also to make new recipes and pairings with my favorite ones so that you can enjoy them just the way I would do. 🙂

So here you go at 1st the Truffle Gouda as my all-time sweetheart.

Step #1: What is this?

Dutch farmhouse cheese (boerenkaas) made of raw milk with Italian black truffle from the mountains. Ripened on wooden planks for only 8 weeks the gentle taste of this Gouda and intense aroma of the truffle form an unlikely, yet irresistible combination.

Step #2:  What the hell is boerenkaas?

Boerenkaas is the Dutch word that’s equivalent to “farmstead” cheese. That is, cheese made from the milk of animals who live on the same farm where the cheese is made. However, the word Boerenkaas also goes one step further, requiring that all cheese labeled as Boerenkaas must also be made with raw (unpasteurized) milk.

Only a small percentage of Dutch Gouda can be called Boerenkaas.

Step#3:  Pairing ideas with wine

Since it has a really unique and mature taste itself it should be served with either an elegant, not-too-oaky, aged Chardonnay or a nicely-evolved, textured dry Riesling.

If you are in Holland for holiday or work I would recommend not to miss out on this delicious darling, but if you have no time to go the specialty store, you can always order it online 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source:

https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-aged-gouda-591221

https://www.cheesehub.com/product/truffle-gouda-25411

 

Fresh lentil salad with feta cheese

 

 

Spring is here and it seems that being outdoors is bringing more and more ideas on what cheesy thing to take for a hiking or a simple picnic. Grilled cheese, fruits, some cold Sauvignon Blanc and how about a nice and refreshing lentil salad ???

Easy to make, easy to serve…:)

 

Ingredients:

• 2-3 bay leaves
• 200g lentils
• 20g butter
•  Thyme
•  salt
•  pepper
• 500g sweet potato peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 100g kale ( leaves torn into bite-sized pieces )
• 1 Gala or Ginger gold apple (cut into bite-sized pieces)
• A handful of baby spinach
• Feta cheese  (cut into bite-sized pieces)

 

1. Cook the lentils in salty water with the bay leaves for 12-15 mins until the lentils are tender but still have some bite. Drain to get rid of the remaining water.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed frying pan that has a lid, along with the thyme. Add the sweet potato and some salt and pepper, then stir to coat them in the butter. Put the lid on and cook over a medium heat for 8 mins, then add the apple.   Add a splash of water if needed and cook for an additional 5 mins.
3. Add another splash of water to the pan along with the kale and the baby spinach. Put the lid on to steam for 3-4 mins until the kale is tender.
4. Pour the lentils into the pan and stir them together.
5. Serve the salad warm or cold on a plate with the chopped Feta cheese on top.

Enjoy 🙂

 

 

<3 Summer break <3

On holiday to grab some inspiration…will be back soon 😉

Vegan cheese ?? Why not…

It is quite controversial if a certified cheesemaker starts making a cheese-like something from non-dairy products, but I was really curious of this new wave of food consumption and also a lot of vegetarian and vegan friends have been asking me when will I start to make a vegan version of cheese for them.

At first I was sceptical and a little bit denying about this as I  have been a cheese addict eversince I have known how to talk and also it made me angry that people call a plant based something cheese… but I am a quite open-minden person so I dug myself into to this new project see what vegan people call cheese.

It turned out that a vegan cheese requires a lot more ingredients that I thought, but all of them are easy to get in a supermarket and also if you have a Kithen Aid or a simple mixer you can make it in 2 hours , plus the 6-8 hours cooling them which can be handled puting the “cheese” to the fridge overnight.

 

To cut the long story short I was amazed how good this vegan cheese turned out and how glad my friends were  ( especially the ones with lactose intolerancy)  that I served this to them on or Sunday brunch 🙂

Anyway, here you go, the recipe… enjoy and let me know if you have another favouite recipe that you’d like to share 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sunflower seed
• 1/2 cup cashew nut
• 1/2 cup almond
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon curcuma
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika ( hot one for those who prefer it)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 filed onion
• 2-3 filed garlic
• 1/4 cup barm
• 1 cup almond milk or rice milk

To give it a texture:

• 1 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon agar-agar

 

Put all the ingredients to the plant based milk for 1-2 hours to soak a little bit so it will be easier to mix the nuts.   Start heating the water with the agar-agar  and let it boil until the agar-agar is fully melted.

Put the ingredrients in the Kitchen aid or mixer and add the agar-agar gradually until the mixture gets creamy. If you don’t find it creamy enought you can add some extra milk or water. 

Once the mixture is done put ot to a simple plastic box , bowl or any kind of shape you’d like to add to your cheese and let it settle in the fridge overnight .

Bon apétit ! 🙂

Source: http://veganreceptek.webnode.hu/products/fokhagymas-trappista-sajt-/

 

My 1st ever cheesemaking course :)

I just got back from the airport after spending 4 days in Helsinki and I am still under the influence and amaze of the positive things that happened to me.

It really took me a while – at least a year – to get my courage to make a move and do my own cheesemaking course in front of stangers in a foreign country not even on my mother tongue. Took a lot of preparation and sleepless nights to create the materials for my students and to make sure that the outcome would fulfill their and my expectations as well.  I was nervous as hell and almost fled from the situation, but finally I convinced myself that no matter what it takes I’m gonna make it.

I know that it is not concretely a topic what this blog is about and I am not sharing a recipre right now, I just felt like sharing this really important week in my life and thank you all to those who supported me in making my own cheesemaking course in Helsinki, also thanking the curious attendants, helpful hosts, good  quality milk, positive constellations and  the whole universe for giving this opportunity to me and I really hope that this inspiring wave will keep going and I can continue working as a cheesy lady:)

photo: Jessica Powell

Unforgetable Chocolate Stout Beer Cheescake

Chocolate Stout Beer Cheescake

The  weather is said to be good this weekend so I am pretty excited that I’ll have a chance to spend the Saturday out with friends in a park along with some delicious munchies.

It’s been raining in the last couple of weeks so having the Sun out and a nice, clean weather is something we have all been waiting for.Sunscreen, hats, and shorts are needed finally and we can soak in some solar energy aswell. It is really nice to have a ” nothing to do” type of day without internet anyway  and conversate with your hungovered friends while laying on blanket.

I have been thinking a lot about what to bring for this potluck as my friends usually make the same stuffs: dips, fresh bread, home-made marmalade and sausage – which is of course the best thing you could dream of on a Sunday -, however its not so pleasing if all of you bring the same foods… hahah…

So I am excited to make something extraordinary and mouth watering for the event, however I just can’t  ignore the fact that I have been having  extreme amounts of work at the office this week…. result: NO TIME FOR SOMETHING SURPRISINGLY GOURMET…but who cares, I’ll bake something that will combine all the things my friends are addicted to as well: beer, cheescake, fresh fruits, healthy living… I think it will work for all invitants… at least I hope… 😉

So here’s  the  Chocolate Stout beer cheesecake recipe I imagined …

I really hope that my pals will like it and please share with me what your friends and beloved ones thought about the recipe… Enjoy summer time!! 🙂

Ingredients 

• 1 cup oatmeal cookie crumbs
• 5 tbsp low fat, sugar free  cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp cane sugar
• 2 tbsp butter,melted
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 8 oz lowfat cream cheese
• 4 oz mascarpone
• 1/2 low fat natural yogurt
• 3 eggs
• hint of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 chopped apple
• 1 sliced apple
• 3/4 cup Guinness

Instructions

1. Mix the oatmeal cookie crumbs, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp  cane sugar and melted butter together in a medium bowl.  Pour into the base on a 9-inch springform pan and press down into the bottom of it. Store in the freezer for 1-2 hours or  while you make the filling. The longer it stays in the freezer the better it gets.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F ( 180 celsius) .
3. In a separate big bowl mix 2 tbsp cocoa powder and heavy cream, stirring together until combined.
4. Add the cream cheese, mascarpone, mix in 1 tbsp of cane sugar, yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, chopped apple and the Guinness.
5. Pour this mixture into the springform pan and decorate the top with some sliced apple.
6. Bake for 50- 60 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the cheesecake in the oven, with a wooden spoon in the oven door to hold it slightly ajar. Let sit for 60 minutes.
7. Chill in the fridge overnight before serving.

Enjoy+Enjoy+ Enjoy 🙂

 

Source: 

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Guinness-Chocolate-Cheesecake-1448304?columns=4&position=67%2F69