Black Star Cheese, Petrus & Mother's Day Wishes

Raw Sheep's Milk Cheese Tuna Melt In Your Mouth- Over a year ago 5 Star Foodie and I featured a 'Duo Lunch' experience where I had mentioned my recipe for Raw Milk Cheese Tuna Melts. She said her daughter would love the idea of this sandwich and of using up some raw cheese she had left.

Stelling philosophy- If you are going to eat and drink, make sure it is good quality ingredients!

One of my favorite discoveries is raw milk products, and when I received Black Star Gourmets 'humongous' assortment and wheel of raw sheep's milk cheese(s), I knew my Raw Cheese Tuna Melt was in order.Yes, I took a regular everyday blue plate special menu item and kicked it up about fifty notches. The flavor is just too out of control, so you have to try it. The raw sheep's milk cheese, along with a few other- French brie and Caprifeuille Saint Mauew, a delicate French goat cheese, well, need I say more.

Normally I would be writing so much more, because I love to talk and write about food. Today, I am keeping it short. We just found out a good friend has pancreatic cancer and has less than a year to be with the man she loves. They met the love of their life later as I did my husband. They are devastated. I do not handle death so well, as many of you know. Loosing my daughter, and then my parents so quickly, and a best friend in Dallas to the same cancer all around 9/11 changes your outlook on life.

My wish for all of you out there is not to take holidays such as Mother's Day lighthearted. Love life to the fullest. Treat your spouse and family like kings and queens everyday possible. Eat good food and wine as often as you can. Enjoy every taste it has to offer with gusto. We may only be able to eat small amounts due to the economy right now, rather than large amounts of cheap processed and fast food, but in the end- no regrets.

Black Star Gourmet-

Soureliette du Fedou – sheep’s milk raw, semi-hard cheese (recipe for Raw Cheese Tuna Melt)

This cheese from the French Pyrennes has a classic, tight flavor. Rich, nutty, and bright. This brings French sheep milk cheese to a new level.

(Cheese in photo appears smaller than it really is, and I knew I hit the mother load when I opened my free gift box of cheese from this company. I want to say Thank You to the company for allowing me to use their product.)

Wine Pairing-  Along our thirteen year journey together, my husband and I have collected some good bottles of wine. Being the wonderful loving man he is...he will suggest we open a good bottle of wine to match the mood, moment, or reason for a meal, and its ingredients. He said I was like a fine bottle of wine for Mother's Day, so he opened this for my gift and efforts in keeping our palates happy. Petrus, made from Merlot grapes, was truly a good match for the assortment of cheese from Black Star Gourmet, and our 'gourmet' tuna melts.

Interested to know what one of the most expensive bottles of wine in the world taste like after aging for 20 years? If you get beyond the hypnotic price tag that might make one feel as though the wildly lush and exotic character of smoothness might float you off to heavenly vineyards, but it obvious aromas and flavors of black truffles, olives, earth and chocolate wrapped up with super velvety tannins, and every sip is a nuance that simply cannot be duplicated.

If you are ever involved in a special occasion where a bottle of this magnitude is opened, and you feel you are not a mature wine drinker, still ask for a small pour so that one day you will remember the experience. I hope you will enjoy it, maybe as much as I enjoyed pairing it with a high end cheese tuna melt!

Happy Mothers Day and hugs to all my friends ~ Elizabeth & Robert Stelling

National Chili Day

The buzz on twitter these days is 'National Food and Drink Days', and there is something for everyone! Almonds, tortilla chips, and many other things on this list...

Leads me to...February 25th being National Chili Day. With Spring not too far away and a chill still in the air, the notion of cooking up something warm and spicy is appealing. Everyone has their own favorite recipe, many handed down from generation to generation.

Chili is a well known comfort food eaten all over the world, with its roots beginning in the early 1800s when the Spanish brought over workers from the coast of South Africa and Canary Islands. The origins of this dish evolved from Berber spices, and slow stewing cuts of meats in clay vessels known as Tagine's; eventually cooked in cast iron pots over open flames in San Antonio, Texas.

During that time streets were often lined with wooden work horses that were covered with planks of wood as the smells of the 'Chili Queen' stews were transported on the breeze. Workers during their lunch hour would come and purchase a bowl, usually with open fire cooked tortillas. This dish is still very popular all across the vast state of Texas (my home state, as I like to remind you!).

The name 'chili con carne' ( literally means chili with meat) often known as simply chili, is spicy stew. The name "chili con carne "is taken from Spanish and means "peppers with meat." Traditional versions are made minimally from chili peppers, meat, garlic, onion and cumin, along with chopped or ground beef. Beans and tomatoes are frequently added. Variations, both geographic and personal may involve different types of meats as well as a variety of spices and other ingredients. Chili can be found worldwide and also in certain American style fast food restaurants.

The variant recipes provoke disputes among aficionados. Chili lovers and cooks defend their personal recipes and hence why many host chili cook-offs in the spring. And speaking of Chili-Cook off, Partners in Wine Club and Rocky Hill Inn will be hosting a Spring Chili -Cook off here in the state I call home, central New Jersey. I will be working with a friend Michael Palmer, and some of my students from the Isle school to make a few pots of 'Texas Red' for the public to vote. We will be up against Rocky Hill Inn, another group and the local Rocky Hill Inn Fire Department.

Will keep you posted, and fingers crossed I also have a chili cook-off aficionado, Buffalodick on our team via internet! This event will be documented on video and presented to you after the fact! My own recipe I have tweaked, but pretty darn close to his recommendation will be used.

Now to the wine pairings: Try a Chilean Malbec or even a Spanish wine. For a complete list of chili recipes or more wine pairings visit Chef E. for suggestions. I have prepared wild game chili, presenting it in a purple bell pepper bowl over creamed mashed potatoes.

I purchased these beautiful purple peppers at a local farmers market a while back, but was disappointed to learn they do not retain their color once cooked. I decided they would make a nice sweet 'fruit' contrast to the spicy game flavor and spice of my chili, and it was a successful match. Not being fond of peppers in chili as it is in the north east I have found, as well as kidney beans, I have learned to adapt. Wild game beef is a wonderful cut to use for chili, with the wonderful blend of spices, and slow cooking process...this batch melted in your mouth.

'Texas Red' is made often in my own kitchen, and I rarely share the recipe. Michael Palmer will tell you that, he twisted and twisted my arms one night trying to get my recipe...he has to wait until we win the competition!

Beans or no beans? How did you grow up eating it? Me, no beans- Pinto, or Mexican soup beans were eaten as a whole other meal, and with corn bread...

On The Lamb! Balela Mashers

No, I meant 'On The Smoker', the lamb is on the smoker tonight!

Speaking of being raked over the coals, let me vent about some New Zealand Lamb I purchased at Trader Joe's. Two and a half pounds of butterflied boneless lamb that is-

When the package of lamb was opened it seemed ridiculously butchered. Also the layer of fat on the outside was almost an inch thick, I had to cut so much of it away, since we are reminded that lamb is so tasty, but fatty over at Sam @ My Carolina Kitchen post on Braised Lamb Shanks (a beautiful plate of goodness!).

After the lamb was trimmed, there was over a pound of fat taken off that butchered piece of meat. I have a scale (did not think that would be a pretty pic), so I weighed it, and over a pound of fat! For what the price was; it was so not worth it! The lamb was displayed meat side up, so you did not know what it was until you opened it up. I do realize meat can come with a portion of fat, and usually pre-trimmed by the market.

Once I got over that disappointment- I spent a some time pouring over my 'Meat' book and through recipes abound. Wanting to make a new creation, and not the classic rosemary and garlic roasted recipes I was seeing, there just seemed to be no 'spark' that would ignite my creative mind. There were a few recipes using pancetta as part of a stuffing, and that could work. I had chorizo in the freezer from a batch I made last month, and all the rest came to light.

I had so hoped to to open up the lamb, possibly stuffing it in a jelly roll manner, using chef twine to package it up. Oh well. I got some exercise and pounded out the pieces that were left after trimming, and rolled them up with my house made chorizo, red wine, oregano, onion, half a lime juice, and parsley stuffing. The chorizo was taken out of the freezer the day before and about an hour before stuffing, well, when I was done trimming I stuffed each piece and smoked it over some apple-wood chips. Low heat, and about 1 1/2 hours later it was done. Smaller pieces were done before larger ones- Medium to medium rare; which is good, because guest preferred them at different stages.

Balela Mash Side- Upon my trips to TJ's I had discovered a chickpea salad I seem to want to devour weekly, Balela. A quick, simple, and nutritious salad! Balela is a Middle Eastern salad with chick peas, black beans, parsley, and spices. There are variations that use mint, cumin, and other flavorings. The salad is very healthy with plenty of protein and fiber from the beans. I love tabbouleh and hummus, so it is a similar flavor (not so much parsley) combination, but with black beans. In the future I am going to make my own batch of this, my very costly habit, since I keep dried chickpeas on hand. They simply are soaked over night!

I took about seven very small white potatoes and boiled them until they were fork done (soft). Then take one package of Balela from TJ's and placed it into my little food chopper along with olive oil and lime juice (one lime) until it became fluid, moving around the chopper, like hummus. Mash the potatoes, and mix in the pureed balela. The mashed potatoes will soak up any extra oil or lime juice you might add, so extra might be needed. Mix until you get the consistency you want. The potato starch is needed to hold it together, and potato flour could be used in replacement if desired.

This Balela Mashers side was a nice compliment to the lamb. The chorizo did not make the lamb too spicy. Both tasted great! I may even try making fritters from the left over mashers for our meal tomorrow night, to accompany the chorizo stuffed chicken breast I smoked, and then oven roasted. I also made a pan gravy from searing the lamb and some extra chorizo. After the lamb was done in the smoker, I heated a pan with two tablespoons of oil quick searing top and bottom, then set aside to rest. Adding pieces of lamb and chorizo to the pan, I began making a gravy. I put a 1/4 cup of red wine, de-glazing the pan. Then added a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and two tablespoons of POM. Reduce until thick, and then strain.

My first recipe ideas were to encrust the lamb with balela, but then with all the fattiness of the meat, it might not stick; unless used with a starchy flour, or even chickpea flour. So I scrapped that idea. I also realize that not everything we purchase will be the ideal product, and will not stray from my regular reliable meat department! Sorry John, I will never stray again (and it was not even a bargain either!).

Julie @ She Smoke has a great post on the difference between grass feed vs feed, and New Zealand vs American lamb that is great with photos of different cuts!

This meal was paired with a nice bottle of 'Pillar Box Red'...I will talk about this type of wine on Wednesday; it was used in the stuffing and in the de-glazing of the searing pan.