ile de france cheese Archives - Taste With The Eyes

Entertain with Gelée!

Caprese Verrine with Heirloom Tomato Gelée, Burrata Cheese, Olive Oil, Basil

Camembert with Edible Flower Wine Gelée

Espresso Gelée with Coffee Liqueur Cream

Entertain with Gelée!
Another dinner party at Lori Lynn’s, but this one starts off differently…my friends join me in the kitchen as we film the first ever video for Taste With The Eyes. On the menu is a gorgeous Camembert Cheese decorated with Edible Flower Wine Gelée to be served with grilled bread as an appetizer. Our Sunken City Supper Club signature amuse bouche, the Caprese Verrine, kicks off the dinner as a vibrant 2 oz. bite. And for dessert, we serve a petite 3 oz. Espresso Gelée topped with Coffee Liqueur Cream.

All three gelée incarnations are perfect for entertaining with their enigmatic texture, the shimmering gelatin captures the essence of the flavor and melts in the mouth. They are easy to prepare, easy on the pocketbook, and feature a unique presentation that is certain to delight. They’re most likely not something your guests are preparing every day at home…

I couldn’t wait to start this project. We had a blast making the video! With my dearest friends encouraging me while we filmed the video, sipping Champagne, they gave their best advice: Fix your bangs! Look at the camera! Don’t look at the camera! Talk slower! Talk faster! Smile! CUT! This was a riot! And the dishes, they speak for themselves.

After the final cut Chip asks, “Can I taste it?”

You bet!

Continue reading “Entertain with Gelée!”

Brie – Cheese of the Month

Baked Brie in Fillo Dough with Assorted Preserves

Serve with Fresh Fruit

Brush ramekins with melted butter. Cut thawed fillo into strips, brush lightly with butter. Place in ramekins in a star pattern.

Crafted in Normandy, Ile de France Brie is made from the fresh pasteurized milk of grass fed cows.

Fill the bottom of the ramekin with this delicious cheese, some fruit preserves of your choice, and more cheese on top.

Here we used homemade pomegranate jelly compliments of my dear neighbor, Grace. Other flavors in this batch included apricot jam, fig jam, and mixed berry jam.

Manufactured since the 8th century, it is often referred to as the King of Cheese. Brie was popular among French royals, one of whom – King Louis XVI – allegedly requested it as his last meal. In 1936, Ile de France Brie was brought to the United States aboard the first refrigerated ocean liner.

We used all purpose pastry dough sheets made from organic white wheat flour.

These days, many varieties of Brie are produced all over the world. The rich, creamy Ile de France imported Brie from the Normandy region which is handily available here in the US, should not be confused with cheese of AOC designation from the Brie region, Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun which are not legally available in the US as they peak before the 6o day aging requirement for raw milk cheese. Next visit to France, “True Brie” will be atop the tasting list!

Cut off extra long ends of the dough, draw up over the top to make a loose flaky cap. Brush top of dough with a little more melted butter.

Bake until the fillo is golden brown.

Gently remove baked brie from the ramekin, serve warm, dusted with powdered sugar with assorted fresh fruit on the side.

Suprême – Cheese of the Month

Purple Asparagus with Suprême Sauce

French
Cow’s milk
Soft ripened
White rind

Sounds really good, like Brie, right? Not exactly. Suprême is enriched with crème fraîche. Produced in Burgundy since 1926, it was introduced in the 1930’s under the name “Les Ducs” then by 1968 Suprême des Ducs was distributed internationally. If you are interested in wine pairing, by all means try a Red Burgundy!

Suprême

Not to take anything away from Brie, Le Brie is King and one of my favorites, in fact, it will be Cheese of the Month in July, so please stop by then for some new Brie recipes. But here we are featuring the esoteric Suprême. Flavors that pair well with this cheese include hazelnut and roasted garlic. Please be sure to visit the Ile de France website for more recipes and information about Suprême.

Purple Asparagus with Suprême Sauce

Simmer the asparagus in boiling water with lemon juice.

Eighteen seconds later (thanks to digital camera information) you can already see the purple is fading away. If you have your heart set on preserving the original purple color, I am afraid that you have to serve it raw. Which would of course be delicious, as noted in an earlier post, Grilled Purple Asparagus and Tofu, this variety is sweeter and less stringy than green asparagus.

Regular readers of Taste With The Eyes may have noticed that I am a crème fraîche aficionado, and since Suprême is made with it, I thought I would melt the cheese after removing the rind, and add a little crème fraîche to make a sauce. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice (and salt if desired) on the asparagus and ladle the Suprême sauce over. Voilà! Easy and elegant!

More Cheese of the Month!

Grilled Prosciutto Wrapped Escarole Stuffed with Suprême

Quarter a head of escarole keeping the bottom stem intact. Drizzle with your favorite (or mine, see below) Dijon Vinaigrette. Place a slice of Suprême in the center of the escarole. Wrap with prosciutto.

Jacques Pepin’s Vinaigrette in a Jar

2 tsp chopped garlic
3 Tbs Dijon-style mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 c red or white wine vinegar
1 c extra virgin olive oil

Put all ingredients in a jar, screw on the lid, and shake very well.

Grill over medium high heat, turning, until the prosciutto gets crispy, the cheese starts to melt, and the escarole begins to char and wilt. Serve with extra vinaigrette on the side.

Great starter for an alfresco grilling party!

Suprême, Roasted Garlic,

Grilled Escarole and Japanese Eggplant Sandwich

The ultimate veggie sandwich! There is so much going on here you won’t miss the meat. It is smokey and garlicky, rich and creamy, slightly bitter (in a good way) from the escarole, and silky and toasty…

Lightly brush the escarole with olive oil. Grill over medium high heat, turning until slightly charred and slightly wilted.

Grilling Japanese Eggplant.

The long slender shape makes it perfect to fit the rolls.

More about eggplant here.

Brush a halved roll with hazelnut oil and grill until toasty. Spread warm roasted garlic cloves on one half, sliced Suprême on the other half. The warm bread will start to melt the cheese.