One the first day of Cheesemas.....
matthew wilson
My true love gave to me..... well, CHEESE! Today, Époisses de Bourgogne, and Humbolt Fog. Époisses was afavorite of Napoleon himself, this little stinky cheese packs a rich and robust wallap (two peas in a pod I guess!). Humbolt Fog is one of our all time favorites. An american original full of creaminess, but with a delicate herb and floral aftertaste.
Since were tying French and American favorites together, we wanted to put oak, and smoke at the forefront of our base flavors. We also wanted to tap into the dark and rich flavors of fall fruits and cured meats.
Charcuterie board 1: Epoisses & Humbolt Fog, with Hudson valley cured meats and fruits, french regional smoke duck and local farmed mustard greens. For wine, we've paired in a Zola white Cotes Du Rhone.
So just about everything here, short of blistering the apples and three specific items are all right out of the box. The one's we made are these four, and they took about 15 mins in total:
Straight from the store:
Époisses de Bourgogne
Humbolt Fog
Figs
Blackberries
Black Cherries
Mustard Greens
Bourbon Dark Chocolate
And our home made goodies:
roasted macadamia nuts
pan seared smoked duck breast
enoki mushrooms
beet soaked radish
Roasted Macadamia nuts:
preheat the over to 400 degrees
halve several dozen nuts, sprinkle with Alder smokes sea salt and a little fresh rosemary and pop into the over for @ 5 minutes.... until golden brown, almost almond colored.
Smoked Duck Breast:
This one is really just a quick modification of the already smoked store bought duck. I love a little added crispiness and were also going to use the rendered fat from the cap for the bread and also the Enoki mushrooms.
Step 1, peel off the fatty cap revealing the soft delicate breast. get a small sauce pan nice and hot and place the fat, smoked side down, and add a very small amount of butter (a teaspoon at most). let that render down to a nice pool of bubble browning goodness.
Step 2, throw in a handful of the Enoki mushrooms. It takes about 3-5 mins depending on how hot your pan gets for them to basically turn into french fries. Once they get to a golden color that would make McDonald's drool, take them off and dry them off with a paper towel.
Step 3, Thinly slice the duck breast and throw that in the pan making sure the get as much contact with the pan as possible (dont stack them up... we're shooting for equal crispy all around here). I like a little Herbs de Provence on mine so I threw on a pinch. Let them get a little crispy and them take them out, shaking off the fat and reduce the heat to low.
Step 4, Slice your baguette and drop them in the pan. Baste them down with the fat on both side so your toast gets nice and crispy.
Step 5... just kidding, there isnt one... lets throw it on a board and get ready to eat!