Six Types of (Birthday) Mozzarella

Wednesday is my 36^th birthday. There, I said it. 36. A woman’s age is supposed to be a secret, but why? We should celebrate what we’ve done and what we have yet to experience.

I’ve always been quite taken by the number six. It started when I was six and thought it was a pretty cool age.

Six has treated me well – it has appeared in friends’ phone numbers, addresses, and other places where numbers show up. Since I’m pretty vague about my superstition, I also enjoy 2 (since 2x3 is 6, of course) and 3 (for similar reasons.)

By that very odd and illogical logic, this should be a great year.

And I look forward to a year with at least six types of mozzarella: fresh, smoked, braided, in tiny ciliegine balls, di bufala and burrata.

Mozzarella everywhere! A meal at 2Amy's Pizzeria 

(2 years ago)

If you're curious, last year I listed some of my (not-always-mozzarella) favorite foods.

Buona Pasqua! Happy Easter!

Gigantic Italian Chocolate Easter Egg (and some extra cookies)

I can't visit The Italian Store without picking up my favorite cheeses: 

Fresh mozzarella, fresh ricotta, Tuscan pecorino and smoked scamorza

This is orzo (barley) coffee, which is naturally decaf.

This brand is marketed to your child (bimbo), 

since, of course, he wants to drink coffee with the adults.

Easter, like St. Joseph's Day, calls for a special trip to The Italian Store in Arlington, Va. After living in Italy, Easter isn't complete without a giant chocolate Easter egg or a Colomba cake. Two years ago I had a lot of fun making an Egg and Swiss Chard Pie, which I might try again. And, of course, I'll be dyeing eggs to decorate them (and eat egg salad sandwiches for a few days.)

What are your favorite Easter traditions and where do you find your favorite specialties or ingredients?

Eggplant Parmesan

Preparing eggplant parmesan takes a little while because there are a number of steps, but it is a fairly simple and straight forward process. It can also be a lot healthier than the greasy, heavy versions you might pick up in your local deli-section of the supermarket.

A friend recently told me about the cooking program Under The Tuscan Gun with Debi Mazar (I know her best from her role as Shauna on HBO’s Entourage) and her Tuscan-chef husband. Their recipe and video of preparing eggplant parmesan is quite close to the recipe that I learned to make while living in Florence, Italy.

A few notes that I’d add to their recipe: I dry and lightly wipe the eggplant slices with paper towels after they’ve sweated a while in a colander. This will help to remove the liquid and excess salt. I also suggest brushing them with olive oil (instead of canola oil) and either baking or frying them without coating them in flour.

What personal touches have you added to your favorite eggplant parmesan recipe?

Enjoy!

Cowgirl Creamery in Washington, D.C.

A big fan of cheese, I was happy to hear about the Cowgirl Creamery in Washington, D.C.

Since I know where to find scamorza in D.C., I started by asking about pecorino, the soft eating (non-grating) kind found in any Florentine restaurant. It is usually served as an appetizer accompanied by local honey. While the Cowgirl Creamery didn’t have it, the salesperson offered me some similar cheeses to try and explained that soft pecorino doesn’t travel particularly well.

When I asked if the fresh ricotta would last over a week, I was told no. While these, perhaps negative, responses would have turned someone else off, I was happy to hear them. The salesperson was honest, knowledgeable and didn’t push me to buy the most expensive cheese in the store. I left with a smile and a four dollar, reasonably sized chunk of pecorino romano to grate over pasta.

Why not eat more cheese? Choose one from the Cowgirl’s Library of Cheese. I might try this “wasabi disk” next time.

Scamorza

I love scamorza cheese. I really do. On pizza, in omelets, baked into pasta, melted over chicken or just eaten on its own, with or without a cracker. It is my favorite cheese.

The best part about living an urban area again is that I can buy scamorza almost anywhere. I’ve found it at high end gourmet stores and the regular ole’ Giant Supermarket.

Eat some scamorza today.

Chocolate Flavored Cheese

I recently tried Chocolate, Chocolate Mint and Chocolate Peanut Butter cheese in Frankenmuth, MI. All I can say is that this is a very, very bad idea.

Retro Fondue Night

Fondue has returned along with leggings and tapered pants. We recently purchased a fondue pot at a yard sale and wanted to try it out before the weather turns hot and muggy.

And so, Retro Fondue Night was born. We invited another couple who we knew would enjoy a good laugh over a themed, untested meal (a clear violation of dinner-party rules.)

We started with mixed appetizers from the frozen section of Trader Joe’s: Cheese puffs and pigs in a blanket. Our guests brought potato chips and onion dip. Perfectly retro and delicious!

Cheddar cheese fondue with two types of cubed bread and vegetables to dip came next. The recipe was easy to prepare (starting on the stove top) and deliciously gooey with a slight bite from the dry mustard. Finding the denatured alcohol was a bit of a challenge, but I was finally pointed to the paint section of Mejier’s. There was one container left. See, it's a fact: Fondue has returned!

The denatured alcohol was a bit overactive. When we lit the flame, the fire reached beyond the pot. No matter what stimulating conversations we had that night, the fondue provided our entertainment. No one got hurt (although the paper lanterns above did sway in the heat) and once we extinguished the fire, we enjoyed the boiling pot of cheese.

Not willing to risk the fire again for dessert (and we couldn’t clean the singed pot without an overnight soak), I prepared the chocolate fondue on the stovetop and served it right in the pot. I followed this chocolate fondue recipe and cut up angel food cake, macaroons and strawberries for dipping. Our guests kindly brought two Jello salads, one green and one red. Yum!

Moral of the story? Keep good friends and a fire extinguisher close at all times!