Nothing Says Valentine's Day Like Stinky Cheese

Is there anything more traditional for Valentine's Day than roses and chocolates? That's what I've always thought when it comes to this special day. But what do you do when that special person in your life isn't a big fan of sweets.

The Valentine's Day Romantic Cheese selection!

"What?" you say? I know. But chocolate brings nothing but a big yawn from my special friend.

I needed to come up with something special real quick. Life at work has been out of control and with Valentine's Day on Thursday it wasn't conducive for heading out to dinner. So what did I decide to do? I decided I would make dinner.

But what would be a special treat for Valentine's Day?

Sometimes it's important to mix things up a bit.  That's why I thought of my friends at the Artisanal Cheese Company. This year they had a special they called the "Valentine's Day Romance Collection." This fine collection included an award winning Hudson Valley Camembert (in a heart shape!), Brillat Savarin (a triple cream brie style cheese from France), and Affidelice.

Now you're saying to yourself that neither the Brillat Savarin nor the Camembert is a stinky cheese.  Ah . . . but the Affidelice, that's an Epoisses-like cheese when at room temperature is a soft, pungent, spoonable paste.

A view from the Morrito. You can see the
 Morros in the distance.

While I wish I could say that I made the little toasts for the cheese, I had a bag from Costco that was still delicious.  Sometimes the genius is in a simple solution.

I plated the cheese and toasts and opened a bottle of one of my favorite wines.  For Valentine's Day I selected a bottle of Morrito Pinot Noir from my friends at Chamisal Vineyards. It was a delicious choice. Even though these cheeses suggested that they be paired with a white wine, I thought the Pinot Noir might be a good choice, too.

This delicious wine gets its name from a particular spot on the Estate where the grapes are grown. When I made my visit to the winery in October last year I learned a little about the Nine Sisters of San Luis Obispo county. The Nine Sisters are a chain of volcanic mounds that begin in Morro Bay and head inland.

You can see the volcanic soils of the Morrito.

If you were to extend that chain you would end up in the Chamisal Vineyard on a little hill that is made up of similar soils and is believed to be a little Morro (hence the name Morrito). My choice was the 2010 vintage. I know that this is a little early for the vintage but it's a delicious wine and it paired well not only with the selected cheeses but also my dinner for the evening.

I thought I would try to be a little bit ambitious. It began with a trip to Whole Foods to pick up some veal cutlets. Unfortunately they only had veal chops.  That required me to trim the meat and then to do a little more pounding of the meat to get it into the proper thickness for veal scallopini. I used a recipe from Emeril that I found on the Food Network website.

All in all it wasn't as ambitious as I thought it would be. A pretty simple recipe but I did follow fairly closely and I have to say that I nailed the sauce. Just the right tartness from the lemon to go with the salty of the capers and some asparagus with mushrooms, shallots and garlic.

Sometimes all it takes to make for a special occasion is to step away from the tried and true . . . the expected and try something a little extra ordinary. From now on, I think that stinky cheese will be a tradition for Valentine's Day. You might just want to give it a try.

Is there a "Perfect" Wine Pairing?

It seems like every time I taste a new wine, I'm pleasantly surprised.  When I first began pairing wines with food, I would let the "rules" of pairing drive my choices.  But lately I'm not so sure that the rules apply as much.

Sure it's true that often a white wine is preferable to a red wine for seafood but I'm stretching the boundaries lately. I've been known to pair a red wine with fish and and a white wine with red meat.  And I've been pleasantly surprised.  

Just the other night I was out with some clients and ordered a delicious Pinot Noir (the Director's Cut from the Francis Ford Coppola winery) that went just as well with seafood as it did with the NY Strip I had for dinner. I feel a little uncomfortable at times because it has been assumed because I really enjoy wine that I should pick it out.

Puts a lot of pressure on to live up to that reputation.  Here's the thing, I only can tell you what I like. I love the people who tell you they can taste all these wonderful flavors. Sometimes I get a hint but mostly my response is "Yep, that's good wine." 

What about you? When was the last time you were surprised by an unusual pairing?

One of the things I dearly love is cheese.  One would think with my love of cheese and my proximity to Wisconsin I would be a Packers fan. While I am surrounded by rabid Packer fans (I think rabid is appropriate), I am still a Bears fan.  I guess it's my long-term support of the Chicago Cubs that makes me long suffering. 

But I digress.  

Cheese and wine are great partners.  You may have read my earlier blog on the Cheese Clock that the Artisanal Cheese Company developed to help you.  You can find it at www.artisanalcheese.com.  Not only can you purchase some outstanding cheeses, you can pair them with wines designed to bring out their best flavors.

I'm not really a sweet wine person but . . . when I tasted some strong, even stinky, cheeses with a nice Sauternes the pairing was almost magical.  

From now on, I'm going to be a little more ambitious about the pairings of my wines with various foods.  I think the most important element isn't always what you're eating but the quality of the wine you're drinking. 

With winter coming on, I'll be spending more time in the Man Cave. And with it I'll be pushing the envelope in my wine pairings.  I hope you will be, too.