The Fox & The Crow, Fort Collins

Posted on May 19, 2018 by melsmosaic

Since I shop at Sprouts a lot, I see all the other stores in the Scotch Pines Shopping Center at Drake and Lemay. I had already checked out Elevation 5003 Distillery but then saw a ‘new’ place next to them. Well it turns out that it was just a restaurant/deli that moved from the other side of the shopping center so they could expand. This place is The Fox & Crow.

Went for lunch on a nice afternoon. Walked in and grabbed a menu. Overwhelmed! So many choices. After many minutes, I finally went with the Figgy Piggy — Prosciutto di Parma and whipped chevre with mixed greens and fig spread ($9). I also opted for the salad instead of the chips for $2.

This was delicious! The sweetness of the figs paired perfectly with the slight saltiness of the prosciutto. Then the chevre was spread along the bread like mustard. Heaven.

They also have wine on tap there(!!), that rotates (we also offer 5 taps of great rotating local beer, one tap of cider AND 4 taps of premium wine). I went with the Pinot Noir, which was fairly light. Enjoyed all this while sitting outside on a sunny day. Can’t wait to return and try so more stuff on the menu, like one of their meat and cheese boards.

Marinated Beans with Celery and Ricotta Salata*

Posted on May 13, 2018 by melsmosaic

Recent cooking magazines have had so many great spring salad recipes in them.

Even if the title doesn’t sound like something I can totally eat or the quick glance of ingredients doesn’t seem right because of my lactose intolerance, I always see how I can alter it. So many times olive oil can be substituted for butter, or there is only a splash of cream that can be nixed.

This one sounded so good, and was so quick and easy! And in this one, for instance, it calls for Ricotta Salata. I thought of ways to change that content. I have, in less than a week, made this recipe twice. Once with no cheese, and once with goat (or Chevre) cheese. Both were awesome!

So, this recipe is Marinated Beans with Celery and Ricotta Salata from the May issue for Bon Appetit.

Note: the recipe is for 8 servings, and it’s a hefty 8

Ingredients

4 15-oz. cans cannellini (white kidney) beans, navy beans, and/or black-eyed peas, rinsed
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped thyme, plus more for serving
Kosher salt
4 oz. ricotta salata (salted dry ricotta), crumbled (used Chevre from
Trader Joe’s)
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Toss beans, celery, oil, vinegar, and 1 Tbsp. thyme in a large bowl to combine; season generously with salt.
Just before serving, transfer beans to a shallow bowl and top with ricotta salata, pepper, and more thyme.
Do Ahead: Bean salad (without celery and ricotta salata) can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Non-Cheese:

Cheese:

Definitely keeping this recipe around and will make it several times this summer. Just so delicious. I also nearly doubled the amount of celery to add more veggie content.

Servilleta

Posted on November 17, 2017 by melsmosaic

If you speak Spanish, you might be thinking napkin. But, if you look around the cheese section at Trader Joe’s you might know I’m talking cheese. Found this one recently, which is a goat cheese, aged in cloth (which I am sort of thinking is where they got the name) for at least four months.

It has a subtle bite and is more firm than the ‘normal’ goat cheese. It can be easily cut, as in it doesn’t squish. Nice to serve on crackers, with veggies and to pair with wine.

Salud!

Baby Goat

Posted on April 16, 2017 by melsmosaic

As you might have read several times in my blog(s), Trader Joe’s is one of my two favorite grocery stores (Wegmans being the other). The other thing you might have read is that I am a lactard (thanks Caroline for giving me that term, as you are also one), but can eat goat or sheep’s milk (cheese).

While strolling through TJ’s recently I was just really wanting some cheese. Stood there staring at the cheese section for several minutes then my eyes fell upon these ‘baby goat’ (as I like to call them) cheese discs. They are just the goat cheese logs divided into smaller pieces, or as they more appropriately term them Medallions. Each package is 1oz., very nicely sealed and there are about 5-6 per container. Of course I can’t remember the price, but I’m fairly certain it was less than $5.

Handy to have around and they will definitely be making it to my kitchen more frequently.

Oh Ewe Cheese

Posted on October 13, 2016 by melsmosaic

Was on just a normal shopping trip the other day so had to stop at Trader Joe’s. That also meant I was required to stop by the sample and coffee counter. They had a cheese sample out, so at first I didn’t think I could have some as the lactard. Then I saw that it was goat cheese, cool. It was a new one — Chevre with Honey. Just a little bit of sweet taste. I used to not like goat cheese but it has gotten so much better. Ok, bad idea to try it… Effective work TJ’s… I left with one of the 8 oz. packages. We’ll see how long it takes me to get more.

Carrots, Cheese, Honey…what more?

Posted on February 18, 2016 by melsmosaic

I try my best to make recipes out of cooking magazines I get each month. The most recent one I went for was from Food & Wine — Glazed Carrots with Goat Cheese and Honey.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I eliminated this)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds medium carrots, peeled
6 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tarragon sprigs
2 thyme sprigs
1 rosemary sprig
2 bay leaves
2 star anise (couldn’t find any, went with anise seeds, even though I know they are different)
1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/8 teaspoon mustard seeds
Kosher salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons honey, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Gremolata

1 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped tarragon
1 teaspoon finely grated garlic
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper
6 ounces fresh goat cheese*I had the goat cream cheese on hand and used that and flaky sea salt, for serving

Directions:

In a large, deep skillet, melt the butter  in the olive oil. Add the carrots, garlic, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, star anise and the cumin, fennel and mustard seeds and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are golden, about 12 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons of honey and cook, stirring, until the honey is lightly caramelized, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and cook until the carrots are evenly coated, about 2 minutes. Add the stock, cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and the liquid is syrupy, about 20 minutes; discard the herb sprigs, bay leaves and star anise. Transfer the carrots to a plate and let cool slightly; halve lengthwise.**I cut them before I started cooking to avoid having to do this now/at this point.

To make the gremolata, in a medium bowl, combine the parsley, tarragon, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil; season with salt and pepper.
Spread the goat cheese on plates and drizzle with honey. Top with the carrots and gremolata, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and serve.

It was tasty but took some time. Worth it but not the highest on my list. I think one of the biggest annoyances was all the fresh herbs and the small quantities of spices you need for flavors. Four grocery stores later on a freezing (that doesn’t even qualify it) day, most of them were found.

Stella Barra, North Bethesda

Posted on July 13, 2015 by melsmosaic

North Bethesda/Rockville (whatever the Postal Service decides to truly name it) is growing. In Pike & Rose there are several new restaurants and I checked out Stella Barra last week. It’s a pizzeria with several other options on the menu.

My friend and I decided to split a pizza, but after being told it takes at least 20 minutes for pizza to be ready, we opted for an appetizer, as well.

For the first course, we decided on the Cauliflower Hummus.

It was delicious, and loved that it came with both pita and veggies. But, I will say, $14…for hummus…really? I would rather make it at home or go to the store and buy something similar. They know people will try a place and order whatever in this area and just want to be out (and I am guilty of it this time). Will be interesting to see how long it lasts.

For the pizza, we opted for their special of the night, with beets and goat cheese as the prime toppings, with the Grana nixed. Interesting how they can make a whole pizza for $3 more than hummus. I sweet talked the waiter to into giving us arugula since I can’t do the ‘regular’ cheese. We got it.

It was delicious! Perfectly cooked and amazing flavors all around. All the food was paired with beer and red wine, too.

Totally worth checking this place out, despite the price, because all the restaurants in the area are about the same.

Honey Goat Cheese

Posted on April 5, 2015 by melsmosaic

As you might have noticed I’m always on the lookout for new non-cow’s milk cheese. Since I’m lactose intolerant and now know I can enjoy goat and sheep stuff, life is good! Whole Foods had quite the displays out yesterday for Easter and the one that caught my eye was a Dutch goat cheese with natural honey flavor. I love the proper name — Hollandse Honey Bzzz Chevre. It was pretty good. It was that nice sweet hint in it. For goat cheese not too soft, which is what I prefer. I would say it’s along the lines of a soft cheddar. Worth checking out if you’re looking for something new.

Say Cheese!

Posted on February 19, 2015 by melsmosaic

I’m always on the lookout for cheese I can enjoy. Saw the mention of a new goat cheese at Trader Joe’s in their Fearless Flyer the other day. A goat cheddar (though I realized later it might not have actually been the one advertised — oh well). So, had to check it out. It’s a white cheddar, a bit soft, and lots of flavor. It had a bit of the goat-cheese ‘flavor,’ but definitely a great option for those who are lactose intolerant can’t take cow’s milk cheese. It paired very nicely with red wine, crackers and veggies.

Yodeling

Posted on October 28, 2014 by melsmosaic

When you hear the word Yodeling, there are three things you can do.

1) Look up the definition to be sure you know what it really is, or see if it some new-aged term. To save you the time, per Merriam-Webster, it is to sing by suddenly changing from a natural voice to a falsetto and back.

2) Search for videos that feature this action. Again, saving you some time. Found a great one!

3) Go to Whole Foods and buy Yodeling Goat Gouda! A great cheese for lactose-intolerant folks, those who love cheese, anybody who wants to try something new or just easily Yodle, because they don’t want to sing.

I saw this the other day when I was at Whole Foods and picked some up. It’s great because it’s harder than the normal goat cheese and as the sign mentions, has a bit of a nutty flavor. Also, I’ve not purchase that much cheese there and didn’t realize they cut you as big or small of piece(s) as you want to take home. I got a nice small piece to take with me.