Cheese, love or hate

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Originally Posted by k-dom

There are different type of goat cheese, maybe you should start with the fresh ones which taste is not that strong. But I know from my mother it is a taste difficult to start to like.
As for the wine, you should find some good bottles for a reasonable price. Are californian wines that expensive ? With a 75cl bottle, you can make 5-6 glasses. That makes between 1$ and 2$ the glass, I find it reasonable for a meal with friends.

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When I say good wine I mean REALLY good wine. A neighbor of mine had a great wine cellar full of properly aged and generally imported wines(typically Burgundy's) so I'm very much spoiled when it comes to wine. And keeping that kind of thing means having a wine cellar.

And, considering I don't even like to drink, that's just waaay to much effort.

Plus, when you serve good wine nobody drinks one glass. 3 glass minimum I would say. Which means about 2-4 bottles per meal, which really adds up fast when it's the good stuff. And if one of those bottles is desert wine... god help your wallet.....

There are all the price and taste in wine. If you can't find some that you like for a reasonable price then you are really difficult. And if your neighbour has only a cave of burgondy, he may be a little snob.

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Originally Posted by k-dom

There are all the price and taste in wine. If you can't find some that you like for a reasonable price then you are really difficult. And if your neighbour has only a cave of burgondy, he may be a little snob.

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Oh he's got tons of other stuff in the but I think the majority is Burgundy and he's definitely not a snob. He's a college professor with a passion for wine and he's always eager to share what he's got with anybody he knows whether they know wine or not.

The issue with wine and me is that I'm really not an enthusiast. I can appreciate the good stuff but it's definitely not something I "love". I realize that this may be hard to understand being in France where it's part of the culture, but for me wine is just not something I'm at all passionate about unless the flavor or nose is completely out of this world. I'm passionate about my tea and my food but wine is just... meh. Alchohol in general, most Seafood, and any form of smoking are 3 things that hold next to no appeal to me.

Cheese on the other hand is great, goat aside (See how I transitioned back on topic?:^_^).

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Originally Posted by Jammin

Cheese on the other hand is great, goat aside (See how I transitioned back on topic?:^_^).

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I enjoy goat cheese, especially from Spain. Murcian is a wonderful table cheese. I do prefer sheep's milk to goat, especially Idiazabal (Basque) and Manchega.

It depends on the type of cheese: I love parmesan and cheddar, but I can't tolerate something that has a very strong taste or was fermented for a long period of time. However, I'm open-minded so I don't mind trying a type of cheese that's out of my comfort zone depending on how it's prepared.

I've sampled different kinds of cheese. I can confidently say I hate salty or extra salty cheese. :(

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Originally Posted by M3J

I've sampled different kinds of cheese. I can confidently say I hate salty or extra salty cheese. :(

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I guess feta is quite salty, but I like them.

Right now, I have a little less than 2 lb of feta in my fridge. I used it with salad, pita bread sandwich and quiche so far.

Though I love feta, I may get sick of it unless I think of some clever recipes. (Maybe I should freeze.) I'm thinking of making a flat bread pizza with feta+olives and baked chicken with feta stuffing. Lmk if anyone has any suggestions.

---------- Post added January 21, 2013 at 06:45 PM ---------- Previous post was January 15, 2013 at 10:26 AM ----------

I gave up on my humongous feta already, and I've been munching on Brie.

Well it's harder to cook brie than feta. But since it's tastier there is no need to add anything else :-)

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Originally Posted by mikkih

I guess feta is quite salty, but I like them.

Right now, I have a little less than 2 lb of feta in my fridge. I used it with salad, pita bread sandwich and quiche so far.

Though I love feta, I may get sick of it unless I think of some clever recipes. (Maybe I should freeze.) I'm thinking of making a flat bread pizza with feta+olives and baked chicken with feta stuffing. Lmk if anyone has any suggestions.

---------- Post added January 21, 2013 at 06:45 PM ---------- Previous post was January 15, 2013 at 10:26 AM ----------

I gave up on my humongous feta already, and I've been munching on Brie.

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Feta goes good with a greek salad or in a chicken spinach wrap.

I'd suggest something simple like getting some boneless skinless chicken breasts(I do 3 at a time) dice them up and marinate them in some extra virgin olive oil(5 tablespoons), lemon juice(3 tablespoons), rosemary(2 teaspoons), thyme(2 teaspoons), and oregano(2 teaspoons). After a few hours marinating just brown it in big skillet or sauce pan.

Then with spinach, onion, tomato, and feta. You can combine that in a pita for a good wrap or you can just plate it as a damn good chicken salad. You could really heap the feta on either without drowning out the flavor.

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Originally Posted by Jammin

Feta goes good with a greek salad or in a chicken spinach wrap.

I'd suggest something simple like getting some boneless skinless chicken breasts(I do 3 at a time) dice them up and marinate them in some extra virgin olive oil(5 tablespoons), lemon juice(3 tablespoons), rosemary(2 teaspoons), thyme(2 teaspoons), and oregano(2 teaspoons). After a few hours marinating just brown it in big skillet or sauce pan.

Then with spinach, onion, tomato, and feta. You can combine that in a pita for a good wrap or you can just plate it as a damn good chicken salad. You could really heap the feta on either without drowning out the flavor.

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Thanks, Jammin. The marinated chicken sounds great. I haven't used fresh rosemary and thyme since Thanksgiving dinner back in November, but I bet fresh herb makes the dish even tastier. Feta is so great on salad indeed. You just made me realized that I almost never make chicken salad. Most of my chicken turn into Teriyaki or fried. For salad, I often use frozen shrimp since they are so much quicker without prep time. I should make chicken salad for a change for sure. I just had an open pita sandwich with smoked salmon, red onions, Boston lettuces (the soft one), tomato topped with feta + olive oil etc. Chicken will be my next :)

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Originally Posted by k-dom

Well it's harder to cook brie than feta. But since it's tastier there is no need to add anything else :-)

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Some people wrap brie with a pie sheet then bake, but since I'm a lazy one, I tend to just slice and eat them with crackers even the white waxy part.

Provolone is my everyday cheese.

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Originally Posted by k-dom

Actually jam with cheese can be very good. It just have to be something else than the products shown above.
The goat cheeses in particular, so it's more often eaten with honey.
But I have also eaten a hot camembert with a red fruit jam and it was delicious
I can imagin that some hard pastry like the gruyère or the comté which are already very fruity cheesy go also well with jam

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Has to be the right kind of cheese though. A nice gouda with some jam can be very good.

In portugal they have this good mild and fresh tasting white cheese that goes well with a form of marmelade that is very solid. Comes out of a can shaped like a fat pizza. That combo is greeeeat.