Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Today's Tip: Fromage Fort. Just in time for the Super Bowl

Jacques Pepin! I read your book! You magnificent bastard! 

Always like to use that line.  Anyhoo. Here's something to boost your Super Bowl food street cred.  Fromage Fort. It means "strong cheese" if you don't parlez. Heard about it from . . . you guessed it, Chef Jacques Pepin. It's basically cheese spread. But here's a good part: you make it out of all the leftover pieces of who knows what cheeses that you bought at Hy Vee or when you were drunk at Look's.  It's the best way to blow the remnants out of the fridge and make something awesome.

Find a half pound of leftover cheese pieces in your fridge.  Blue, Gruyere, cheddar, feta, sheep's milk, cow's milk, yak milk, mozzarella, whatever. You can even use that Hy Vee Monterey Jack leftover from taco night. Personally, I'd skip cream cheese, Velveeta, American, or anything flavored, i.e. Taco cheese.  Cut it into pieces. Grate the harder stuff like Parmesan or pecorino. Toss it in the food processor. Chop up a mediumish piece of garlic, add a couple grinding a of pepper, a quarter cup of a decent-enough dry white wine, and maybe a dab of Dijon mustard. Process until it's smooth and spreadable.  You might have to add a dab of wine or two, but not much.

Put it in a dish, cover it with plastic wrap, let it get comfortable with its recombobulated self in the fridge and then break out some crackers or toasted bread.  Or go completely nuts and use it to make some cheese bread to go with a nice soup. 

Leftover elimination. Fridge management. Good eating.  Enjoy.