{"id":2412,"date":"2011-06-02T20:26:57","date_gmt":"2011-06-03T04:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/?p=2412"},"modified":"2011-06-18T21:01:35","modified_gmt":"2011-06-19T05:01:35","slug":"cheese-plate-focus-on-quality-and-simplicity-brebis-and-spicy-cherry-compote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/cheese-plate-focus-on-quality-and-simplicity-brebis-and-spicy-cherry-compote","title":{"rendered":"cheese plate focus on quality and simplicity: brebis and spicy cherry compote"},"content":{"rendered":"

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cheese plate focus on quality and simplicity: brebis and spicy cherry compote<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My cooking mantra is this: focus on the quality of your ingredients and keep your preparation and presentation simple and you can never, never go wrong<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 I was reminded of this recently when I went out to dinner with a friend. The food was disappointing but the cheese plate was what sealed the deal. There were heaping chunks of rubbery cheese, in various colros, two of which were so awful in appearance that the visual imagery still haunts me. My friend laughed endlessly about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I hesitated in writing this post because as it is people tell me that they are nervous to choose a restaurant or to cook for me as they are afraid I will be highly critical of what and where I eat because of what I do professionally. Actually, that is not true for me or for most chefs I know. I enjoy simple, unfussy food served anywhere including a truck, a mini-mall, in parts of town most people would probably never imagine venturing, or on a towel at the beach. <\/span>What matters is the quality of the product and the thought behind the meal<\/span>.<\/span><\/em> My point in writing this post is not to focus on this one cheese plate\u2019s shortcomings, but to focus on how easy it is to put together a delicious cheese plate with no more than two quality items: here, cherries and cheese.\u00a0 When you do, neither embellishment nor mass quantities is necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

With my mantra in mind, this week’s simple pleasure, Abbaye de Belloc avec <\/span><\/em><\/span>compote de cerises \u00e9pic\u00e9e \u00a0(Abbaye de Belloc<\/span><\/span> cheese with spicy cherry compote)<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/em>takes advantage of cherry season as well as the classic French pairing of black cherry preserves and ewe\u2019s milk cheese, with my own twist, of course.\u00a0 Below I provide some information on these two items.\u00a0 The recipe is posted in a companion post for your printing ease.<\/span><\/p>\n

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the compote<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cherries fall into one of two categories: sour (i.e., black cherries, Morello (in France called Griottes), Montmorency and Marachino)\u00a0 or sweet (i.e., Bing, Napoleon, Florence, Rainer, Queen Anne, Brooks, and Lapin).\u00a0 Sour cherries are rarely sold fresh and are usually canned.\u00a0 Because\u00a0 sour cherries are tart when eaten raw they are better to cook with and are used in a range of desserts (cakes, pies, tarts, ice cream), soda, and jam. Sweet cherries are what you will find at your farmer\u2019s markets and in your grocery stores.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cherries, particularly sour cherries, are credited with a number of health benefits. They contain anti-oxidants which reportedly reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.\u00a0 Cherries contain melatonin which regulates your sleep patterns, hormones and may be helpful treating Alzheimer\u2019s as well as headaches. Cherries are also reportedly good for helping arthritis and gout (of which I am particularly interested in given my affinity for running and the consumption of cheese).<\/span><\/p>\n

Compote is the result of poaching fresh fruit in a simple syrup (usually equal parts water and sugar) until it is soft.\u00a0 Once soft, the fruit is removed and the poaching liquid is further cooked to thicken it. The fruit is then returned to the syrup. The compote and can be served warm or at room temperature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Compote is wonderful to incorporate in your cooking arsenal because it is easy to make, it keeps in the refrigerator, and it is versatile as it can be used for both sweet as well as savory dishes.\u00a0 On the sweet side, pour it over ice cream, yogurt, or kitchen cheeses (mascarpone or <\/span>fromage blanc<\/span><\/em>) or spoon it over panna cotta, cheesecake or a simple pound cake.\u00a0 On the savory side, it can be used to freshen-up a pork or poultry dish or game such as venison or wild boar.\u00a0 Cherry compote is often used with duck such as in <\/span>canard \u00e0 la Montmorency <\/span><\/em> (duck breast is served with Montmorency cherries poached in Bordeaux wine and cherry brandy is used to deglaze the pan in which the duck was cooked and veal stock is added to make a sauce).<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of using sour cherries we are making a compote with the cherries you find at the market.\u00a0 Because the cherries are naturally sweet, only a nominal amount of sugar is added (in contrast to making black cherry jam).\u00a0 To give it a little kick we add some piment d\u2019espelette.\u00a0 Espelette is a chili pepper from the same region the as ewe\u2019s milk cheese.<\/span><\/p>\n

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the cheese<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span>La tomme de Brebis de l\u2019Abbaye de Belloc<\/span><\/em> <\/span>is semi-hard, unpasteurized ewe\u2019s milk cheese produced by Benedictine monks at the Belloc Abbey<\/em><\/span> in Basque region of France. <\/span>Tomme<\/span><\/em> <\/span>is a general word used to describe a wheel-shaped cheese, usually made from partial (usually winter) milkings or milk from more than one herd.\u00a0 Bre<\/span>bis<\/span> is ewe\u2019s milk cheese from France (just like a Pecorino is ewe\u2019s milk cheese from Italy).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Abbaye de Belloc<\/span><\/em> <\/span>is one of the cheeses that comes under the <\/span>\u201cOssau-Iraty\u201d Brebis Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es <\/span><\/span><\/em>banner. The <\/span>Ossau-Iraty<\/span> <\/span><\/em>cheeses are produced in the south-western part of France. This is the Basque country which lies in both France and Spain. The name <\/span>Ossau-Iraty<\/span><\/em> refers to two areas in this region: the <\/span>Ossau v<\/span><\/span><\/span>alley<\/span><\/span><\/em> and river in <\/span>B\u00e9arn<\/span><\/em> and to the west, the <\/span>Iraty<\/span><\/em> forest which straddles the French and Spanish border.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ossau-Iraty<\/span><\/em> cheeses come from milk from <\/span><\/span>Manech<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>Basque-B\u00e9arnaise<\/span><\/em> <\/span>ewes.\u00a0 The cheese is made by several different cooperatives, dairies or small farms that collect the milk from smaller farms and dairies in the region. Producers that make <\/span>Ossau-Iraty<\/span> <\/span><\/em>cheese include: <\/span>Makea<\/span><\/em>, <\/span>Onetik<\/span><\/em>, and <\/span>Asteria<\/span><\/em>. In addition to <\/span>Abbeye de Belloc<\/span><\/em>, <\/span>Istara<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>Vallee d\u2019Aspe<\/span><\/em> are other well known <\/span>Ossau-Iraty<\/span><\/em> <\/span>cheeses. <\/span>Ossau-Iraty<\/span><\/em> cheeses are classified A.O.C.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When you buy an <\/span>Ossau-Iraty<\/span> <\/span><\/em>cheese, you will most likely purchase a wedge because the cheeses are made in 8 to 11 pound wheels.\u00a0 Alternatively, you can purchase a whole or part of a \u201c<\/span>petite basque<\/span><\/em>\u201d which is a small round wheel and wonderful to serve on a<\/span> <\/span><\/em>Girouette<\/span><\/em> <\/span><\/em>for a party (let your guests shave off some cheese and serve the compote on the side). There are slight taste differences between the different producers which results from the terrior (what the ewes are grazing on) and the ripening process. <\/span>Abbaye de Belloc<\/span><\/em> is my favorite because it is buttery and nutty like all<\/span> Ossau-Iraty<\/span> <\/span><\/em>cheeses, yet a little firmer and more dense.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week, pick some beautiful cherries and buy a few ounces of<\/span> Abbaye de Belloc <\/span><\/span><\/em>from your local cheese shop.\u00a0 Place a modest serving of sliced cheese on each plate with a side of compote.\u00a0 Simple ingredients.\u00a0 Simply delicious.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Je vous souhaite un bon app\u00e9tit <\/span><\/em>!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

LM<\/span><\/p>\n


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cheese plate focus on quality and simplicity: brebis and spicy cherry compote My cooking mantra is this: focus on the quality of your ingredients and keep your preparation and presentation simple and you can never, never go wrong.\u00a0 I was reminded of this recently when I went out to dinner with a friend. The food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[342,18],"tags":[457,454,455,456],"class_list":["post-2412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-desserts","category-recipes","tag-abbaye-de-belloc","tag-brebis","tag-cherry-compote","tag-piment-despelette"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2412"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2455,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412\/revisions\/2455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}