Sunday, January 22, 2006

All Kinds of Rinds

My Beautiful "Cheese-Ends" Collection

photograph picture of old cheese rinds

One of the things that Tante Marie chef Jessica Lasky taught me was not to throw away my cheese rinds. That was last Fall and I have been collecting them ever since. Here you see a mix of Parmigiano Reggiano, Tete de Moin and Gruyere Rinds.

Jessica's advice was to "use in soups for flavour - you can fish them out before serving, if they don't dissolve". Alternatively you can grate the hard bits of cheese and use to top crostini or pizza. I will be featuring a recipe using cheese from these rinds later in the week.

Farmer's Market Bounty

photograph picture of Farmer's Market Bounty

Because I have trying to follow a healthier eating pattern, I bought a lot more vegetables than meat and dairy at the market yesterday. It may seem like a lot, but I made a large batch of soup stock that will last me a while. An upside of this was that I also spent a lot less money than usual!

Sugar Low Friday - Next Week!

photograph picture of Sugar Low Devil

I don't know about you but I have been having quite a lot of difficulty with this Sugar Low Friday challenge. Everything I have tried with no sugar so far hasn't worked out as well as I would like, so I better get practising some more in the kitchen. I hope you are having better luck than I am. I am thinking of switching from sugar-no to sugar-lo. I look forward to reading everyone elses' entries next Friday.





Links, Resources and Further Reading

Bay Area Resources:
The Ferry Building Farmers Market | CUESA.
Cheese Rinds blogged locally | by Gastronome

Other Resources:
From The Cheese Store of Silverlake | A word About Cheese Rinds

Daily weight loss, weightwatchers and diet notes:
It was strange visiting The Ferry Building and Farmers Market without partaking in some of my usual treats. No stop for me at Michael Reuchiutti for a single chocolate, no almond croissant from Acme. I sauntered into the Farmer's Garden, hoping to treat myself to one of their unsung fresh juices, only to find they'd closed down. That's a shame. I made myself an interesting lunch from some of my market purchases (recipe next week). Around 6pm I was so hungry and miserable I had to lie down for a snooze to try and block out the famished feelings. In the evening I shunned a friend's pub crawl and the promises of empty calories it held and instead went out for an excellent, quiet dinner, where I chose carefully (I ordered chicken!) used up a few of my extra points, felt totally satisfied and had a very good time. Another WW trick I recommend, is to only eat half of your restaurant main course and ask for the other half to go. That's what I did last night. If I'd have eaten the whole thing, delicious as it was, I am certain I would have been bloated and stuffed.


Archive Alert! On this date in 2005" IMBBBeans.

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All Kinds of Rinds

11:15 AM  

16 Comments:

  • At 22/1/06 12:39, Blogger Mona said…

    I'm really weird. I like the cheese closest to the rind the best...Can't wait to read the recipes you find for them. My parents always yell at me because I ruin the cheese by cutting it so I can eat the ends first.

     

  • At 22/1/06 14:46, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I save my cheese rinds too. There's an awesome Nigella recipe for a white minestrone (in How To Eat) that uses cheese rinds, and ever since I discovered that recipe I have saved the ends religiously. Yum. Lots of flavor and no waste.

     

  • At 22/1/06 14:59, Blogger cookiecrumb said…

    Me too. Got a snap-lid container of cheese rinds in the fridge. Perfect for impromptu "minestrone," (what Cranky calls "cream of bottom-of-the-refrigerator soup).
    Sam, if you don't get to all that produce before it gets wilted, make vegetable stock with the stalks and stems and leaves, and then make cream of bottom-of-the-refrigerator soup with your cheese rinds and the good, edible, saved bits of the veggies. Toss in some lentils.
    (Should I boast that I've only used one teaspoon of sugar since Eat Local August? Nah. I better shut up.)

     

  • At 22/1/06 15:11, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Your fruit and veg selection is looking more promising its beginning to resemble my weekly shop. Becs has also started a more healthy diet and reports that she is doing well. You'll both put me to shame when we meet up in NY.

     

  • At 22/1/06 18:07, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I love le fromage Tête de moine. I am curious about your cheese recipe. On that same note, I once found a cute book in France, How to cook with vegetable peels, of all sorts. Very informational and funny!

     

  • At 22/1/06 18:26, Blogger Ced said…

    are you gonna blog saha, I'm curious about it. You wrote up something about it, if I recall, about the salad you could toss yourself at home for a party. An update on the way?

    Did I ever wish you good luck on the WW? You go, girl. I have my own 30lb to lose, so I'm with you.

     

  • At 22/1/06 18:47, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'm looking forward to a post from you about Saha, too. It's interesting what you said about just eating half your entree. I find that entrees at most restaurants are just too damn big. But, lacking any self restraint and being raised by a mom who grew up during the Depression, I always manage to stuff it down...and then order dessert. Am I alone in thinking it would be nice to have more reasonable portion sizes in restaurants?

     

  • At 22/1/06 19:12, Blogger Jocelyn:McAuliflower said…

    What a great rind-soup tip. I just recently tried to cuisinart mine to death with no luck.

    Observing the passing funeral of former food haunts/habits is difficult. Hopefully you will find that mental place to be able to accept pub crawls in the future (gin and tonics are a light one for me). Playing this game in the past I found several of my bad habits to have multiple lives! So much for the easy death with things that really need to just die!

    Sugar-Lo... winter is a tough time to say no to sugar. I'm going for the low option myself :)

     

  • At 22/1/06 19:30, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Cheese rinds in stock are amazing. If you're experimenting with vegetable stocks you may want to add an apple or a a pear. The fruit flavors do a wonderful job of adding sweetness and balancing the vegetal notes. As long as you're hoarding them, you may want to consider throwing a rind into a braising liquid, it adds a whole new level of flavor without adding a lot of additional fat (as long as you fish it out before serving). And, while you're adding flavors to stocks, soups & braises, the heel of a prosciutto can usually be had for a song wherever they sell the ham and is a wonderful flavor enhancement for any of the above.

     

  • At 22/1/06 20:42, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Is Stevia an option for sugar? I've seen it at Trader Joe's in a couple of different forms.

    I don't crave sugar for the most part, but try staring into a refrigerator with all kinds of cheese, when you're suffering a sinus infection and bronchial distress. Sigh. (Make that "rattling sigh.")

    Aki: your comment should be the springboard for an entire post on your blog. Please.

     

  • At 22/1/06 22:42, Blogger Stephanie said…

    I have to save our Gruyere rinds from Matt...he'll hand them off to the dogs!

    They are wonderful in soups, aren't they?

     

  • At 23/1/06 00:53, Blogger ZaZa said…

    The more I eat out, the less likely I am to gain wait, or I may even lose if I eat out enough. Holidays and vacations I always lose weight. I know I'm unnatural.

    I'm a firm believer in the doggie bag. \;+) Show me a lot of food, and my appetite goes south, for some reason. BTW, you'd never know this to look at me. :G: Must not be eating out enough.

     

  • At 23/1/06 01:47, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Love cheese rinds too - but I didn't want to comment on that, but on the weightwatcher resolution. I had to add my own two ha'pennies' worth - good on you, Sam, a) for doing it and b) for blogging it. You'll be an inspiration to a lot of people. I'm starting 2006 with a similar resolution - I too wish to enter my fifth decade with a smaller bottom. I've got until September to fulfill my challenge. I hate dieting, can't do it. Smaller portions works for me.

     

  • At 23/1/06 02:12, Blogger charlotte said…

    nigel slater is a huge advocate of the parmesan rind trick too and has persuaded me to save them religiously... just need to get around to using them now...
    http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/nigelslater/story/0,16758,1651481,00.html

     

  • At 23/1/06 07:16, Blogger Sam said…

    This morning I am amazed that my little unassuming post about cheese rinds attracted so much attention over the past 24 hours. Because I was completely blind to the qualities of cheese rinds until I took my cooking class at the end of last year, I haven't done a lot of experimentation with them yet, so thanks everyone for all the tips. Hopefully readers who didn't know about them will be equally inspired.

    Mona - doesn't sound like you are going to have any leftover rinds in your household!

    Diana - ooh that sounds great. I do have that book but unfortunately it is in storage back in my mother's attic in England. I couldn't bring all my cookery books with me when I moved to the US.

    Cookie - that sounds good. I will keep than in mind - do you use canned tomatoes?

    Mum - i thought you were going to do your raw thing too? I have started a 'New York Nibbles' menu in my blog roll so we can start to explore the NYC dining options.

    Bea - I need one of those tete de moine circular shaver things. It's hard to cut otherwise - which is why it gave me such a large rind to play with.

    Ced - I will indeed try and do a little saha update. I highly recommend it by the way. Loved it last time (there was only one dish that didnt impress me the first time - a puff pastry thing - it's still on the menu but I didn't take it this time) and this time loved it even more. It's great! Go there!

    Brett - that is the reason I often have two appetizer. Big pates of food I just find off putting. See my note to Ced for comments about Saha (I urge you to try it out).

    Mcauliflower - ha - i tried to grind some frozen dried pears in my machine the other day and I failed spectacularly too, I guess there are some things it just doesn't work for, eh?

    Aki - thanks so much for all of the professional tips. I will certainly be trying your suggestions out, even though I didn't have such a successful time with the Maldon salt/chocolate combination over the weekend. It's fun to play with ideas, thanks toyour site for being an inspiration in that arena.

    Tana - its not so much craving sugar that is a problem- the problem is trying to create a delicous dessert without using any at all.

    Stephanie - Fred has been thinking I was a bit crazy keeping the rinds. He'll be amazed when he sees how many comments they have attracted.

    B'gina - it is Dine About Town month! How I wish for your metabolism - at least on the days I go out to eat!

    Natasha - good luck - I am rooting for you!

    Lottie - I am with you - need to get making some soup. I just bought ny first Slater book, so I will use him for some inspiration - and thanks for the link.


    Sam

     

  • At 23/1/06 12:01, Blogger cookiecrumb said…

    Canned tomatoes is perfectly fine. I froze a lot of tom. sauce last summer, but no chunks, so during winter I'd probably opt for canned.
    Didn't you love Aki's suggestion!? Because after I left my comment I looked at your picture again and noticed the pears among the produce, and said to myself: No fruit in veggie stock, dummy! However! New idea. :D
    (I was prescient, that's it.)

     

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