Yesterday, I met up with a couple friends to hike Muir Woods for the first time (and struck another thing off my To Do List). We decided to do yuppie hiking--a term I first heard from vchu--that is, went with our packs full of provisions for a gourmet picnic at the top of the mountain. Jenny brought the wine and grapes, Beth brought the chocolate and apples, and I brought the bread and cheese.
On Friday I went to my lovely neighborhood market and perused their cheese selection. When on sale, you can get a better deal on cheese there than at TJ's. I decided on a $1.50 block called English Huntsman (Double Gloucester with blue stilton in the middle) and a $1.99 pot of fromage blanc from Traderspoint Creamery in Indiana. I knew nothing about either cheese; I just got it because it said "soft spreadable cheese" and that sounded good.
What we found was a delicately light and fresh-tasting creamy cheese, a little bit like fresh ricotta if you've ever had that. The reason it tastes so fresh is that it isn't aged at all, though it's cultured, a bit like yogurt. Beth was surprised it had herbs in it because she has only seen it served straight-up with jam, and not on bread.
I did a bit more digging and found this very informative article about all the different ways to make and use fromage blanc, also known as fromage frais, such as:
- In a dessert, layered with fruit syrup, coulis, or preserves
- In chocolate truffles
- In a fromage blanc cheese tart
- In slices (after it has been drained more), with blueberry-cassis reduction
- With herbs and spread over toast or bread, like we had it
I don't know if fromage blanc is easy to find where you are, but if do find it, give it a try! Or you can try making it yourself (instructions in the article above) with some whole milk, live cultures, and cheesecloth.
