Elementary, My Dear
Monday, February 1, 2010 at 10:51PM I We love bread and cheese. Sometimes Kyle and I will swing by Surdyks load up on cheeses, grab a loaf of whatever bread is calling our name and head home for a romantic meal for two. Yep, no more descriptor for you there. Bread and cheese is dinner, and we think it is damn romantic/ We pair it with wine (so we're at least getting fruit... right?) and it might just be one of my favorite meals ever.
It would be hard for me to really estimate how often this actually happens, but on average I'd guess once every other week. I'm sure the heath benefits found in the living cheese are good for my digestive track and we (almost) always buy whole wheat bread (Read: Kate has a justification for EVERYTHING she puts in her body. Earl's Cheese Puffs? It's a Friday night BBQ. OF COURSE I NEED TO EAT EARL'S CHEESE PUFFS!). Today I was feeling a bit guilty about my lack of vegetables earlier in the day, and with a carb and protein filled meal ahead of me, I downed a good glass and a half of Spicy V-8.
I'm sure you think that sounds disgusting, because only about 7% of the population actually LIKES V-8 (substitute Trader Joe's Garden Patch or Knudsens Very Veggie... it's all good to me), a full 25% of others tolerate it if mixed with vodka and spices and the rest think V-8 lovers like myself are backwards yuppies that are trying to convert them to a cult.
I just so happen to live for the stuff. If it didn't have so much sodium (although I LOVE salt, don't ever try to take it or my love for it away from me) it would rank in the top two for beverages of choice (nudging out wine or milk, but I won't say which... so thank god for that sodium content!) .
So... who wants bread and cheese for dinner? I'd love to hear about what your very favorite cheese is, and where you can buy it. Comment below by noon (CMT) on Friday and who knows? Perhaps a $25 Gift card to Surdyks to spend as you please (cheese and bread! cheese and bread!) will find its way into your mailbox in the near future to pay you for your time and expanding my horizons. No email address (which is not published by the way), no gift card. Feel free to blog, tweet, facebook etc etc etc for additional entries to the give away product. All additional entries must be posted as a separate comment.
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Reader Comments (34)
My favorite — and habitual — breakfast has for some time been toast with a bit of olive oil and cheese sliced as I go. For this, I've found no better cheese than the Saint André they sell at Trader Joe's; it's very creamy but also has a sharp tang.
I can answer what my absolute favorite cheese is, but not where to get it. If anyone can help on that front, I'd totally appreciate it!
My favorite cheese of all time is called "Tybo", and it's a Danish cheese. I haven't had any in over 12 years, though :(
It's a very smooth, creamy cheese, with sort of a nutty flavor. Almost hazelnutty. God it's good. I haven't been able to find any since, and it's become an obsession of mine.
I love a good brie or dill havarti....reall,y from anywhere. Bread and cheese is one of life's best simple pleasures, can't get enough!
Would love to stop by Surdyk's with a little GC!! And now I must add some cheese and bread to my grocery list for today! It will go with my baked potato soup! YUM!
I LOVE CHEESE and SURDYK'S! That place is a trap I tell u. I usually go in thinking pick up a few thins and I always end up w/ way more than I intended! Here's some of my fav cheeses...
I love love love Donnay Chev. It's a local goats milk chev from Kimball, MN. All of Donnay cheeses are exceptional, but the chev is creamy tangy and delicious on almost everything. I get it at the co-op or Surdyck's.
I also love that at the co-ops you can buy little bits and ends of the cheeses so you can try a variety and not blow your weekly budget. Plus there is always something different/new!
The garlic dill cheese curds at the coop. Need I say more! I can eat a whole bag in one sitting...haha!
Shepherd's Hope Garlic and Herb from Shepherd's Way in Northfield, Minnesota...frickin' delicious!
My last fav is the aged Parmesan at Surdyck's. It's absolutely fabulous! It has the little crystallized bits that crunch. It's great w/ homemade pineapple marmalade or date preserves.
My latest obsession is cranberry chipotle cheddar; I'm not sure who makes it, but you can get it at Lund's and Byerly's. Also, any goat cheese makes me happy.
i love the capra goat cheese with honey from surdyk's. i'm also a complete sucker for the smoked string cheese from mars cheese castle (and yes, that place is as awesome as it sounds) in wisconsin.
I have a favorite cheese type, but not a favorite cheese. The type is blue, I love a good blue. My favorite place to get cheese is the Farmers Market with Surdyks pulling in as a close second. I love cheese and bread.
Of course bread and cheese is a meal! Just tell the naysayers that it's a deconstructed grilled cheese. Totally acceptable.
I've never met a cheese I didn't like, but favorites include chevre (with honey!), really sharp cheddar, and this string cheese my parents always served when we had company. The rope-like one with black sesame seeds. Can't remember the same but so salty and stringy.
I was going to say that I love Saint André, and what do you know Tom has already gone and said it. Other favorite cheeses:
Point Reyes Blue Cheese
Jalapeño or Garlic Dill Chive Cream Cheese from Common Roots (I stand that cream cheese IS cheese.)
Goat cheese, pretending it's cream cheese, spread on bread.
Point Reyes, btw, can be found at Byerly's.
I buy Goat Cheese at Surdyk's for the good stuff.
Before I tell you about my love for cheese, I just have to say EARL'S ARE THE BEST!!!!
Ok, I love all cheese, even the really stinky stuff (and usually the stinkier the better). My favorite cheese comes from Love Tree Farm. Mary makes amazing sheep, goat and cow's milk cheeses (including fish bait) and she can be found every Saturday at the St. Paul Farmer's Market (yep, all winter, too!). Occasionally, Golden Fig on Grand Ave will have a couple of her cheeses.
I eat cheese like I drink wine: I have a general idea what I like/want and buy whatever looks interesting. I never remember what I bought so I never duplicate or at least remember it is a duplicate. I do love Surdyk's cheese shop, but wish it wasn't on the other side of town. The co-ops also have some fantastic local cheeses. But, my favorite cheese is whatever the flavor of the month/week is for the Fish Bait from the caved aged cheese shop at the St. Paul Famers's Market. I love illegal cheese.
I have a hard time picking a favorite, but I really enjoy the blue cheese from the Fairbault Caves. And anything from Shephard's Way Farms. You can get the Amablu at Byerly's, and Shephard's Way I usually get at the Mill City Farmers Market (although I really want to join their CSA)
Cheeeese! Such a favorite of mine.
Trader Joe's used to sell a divine honey chevre that is still making my mouth water, even though I haven't eaten it in well over a year.
My favorite cheese of late is raclette on a toasted baguette with a drop of sesame oil. MMMM. I usually buy it at Byerly's because I haven't seen it anywhere else, but I would guess that TJ's carries it as well.
I do the same thing! And at least as often! Though, I stop at Kowalskis for their mini loaves of french bread. I usually will pick up a brie or something similar, though I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Le Roule. Chevre, goat, swiss, gouda, muenster....I think the only cheese I rarely buy is cheddar. 90% of the time, I buy something that I've never tried and couldn't tell you the name of.
Speaking of....one that I tried from Kowalski's tasted like champange. It wasn't a camembert, but it was similar. It was divine. Must go find tonight.
It is so simple, but a true parmaggiano-reggiano makes all the difference to me. Grated or shaved, especially on a simple salad or pasta.
Mmmm, bandaged aged cheddar from Bleu Mont Dairy in Blue Mounds, WI...or any of the aged cheddars from Hook's! I love the crunch of the aged cheddars.
Hey! Don't forget Spain! Some of the best dang cheeses in the world are from this little country. My favorite as of late? Cablanca. Creamy, nutty, goaty. And only at Surdyk's. Go there, visit with one of the cheesemongers, and taste your way through Spain.
Last time I was in Chicago, we were at this awesome little cheese shop where I tasted Nancy's Camembert for the first time. It was divine. I bought a nice chunk to take to a friend's party. The cheese never made it to the table, and the hostess left town the next day. She told me later that she couldn't have cheese and she ended up tossing it. SO SAD. And I haven't found this cheese in the cities yet, but I dream about it sometimes. I should probably try Surdyk's, eh?
i can't choose a favorite cheese. that's impossible. right now i'm loving/hoarding a big chunk of pecorino romano i brought back from rome. i simultaneously want to eat it with everything, and not eat it at all because then it will be gone!
Rae - Looking at Surdyk's site, looks like they have Nancy's!
If only I could find my beloved Tybo now!
My new fave place for cheese is Trader Joes. I bought a perfectly gooey triple cream brie there about three weeks ago and just finished the last of it over the weekend. I couldn't believe how long it lasted--it was amazing to keep going back to it and find it fur-less and waiting for me. My fave way to eat it is schmeared on a lightly toasted baguette chunk with some homemade raspberry preserves for breakfast. Alongside a big cup of assam tea with a splash of 2% and a pinch of stevia, well now that's my little piece of heaven.
My favorite cheese - what a hard call! I'm torn at the moment between the Carr Valley Crema Kasa (so rich, it ought to be illegal) and the Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam cheese (soft cheeses with a rind don't get better than this). My old standby friend Humboldt Fog also makes the list. I usually get them at the Seward Coop or the Wedge, but Surdyks' can't be beat for buying cheese for a dinner party. Yum. I think that bread and cheese, with a sliced pear or apple in season, a handful of kalamata olives and a lovely glass of wine makes a perfectly respectable dinner (and one that I have often, I might add).
My very favorite cheese is Brie, but there's far more to the story than just that.
I was raised by a single father, which means I was raised on Rice-a-Roni, Hamburger Helper, and Mac & Cheese. Apparently along with all of the cheap (supposedly) food-grade fillers in there, there are enough nutrients in those products to keep a growing boy alive, because I’m alive to tell the story.
Fast forward to when I met my wife – she showed me that food can taste GOOD. She showed me that a spice rack can contain far more than just salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash.
She showed me cheese. And it was good.
A patch of light started glowing and angels began singing as I took my first bite of brie. My eyes widened and at the same time I wanted to scoop up some more yet didn’t want this bite to ever end. The blend of flavor and texture like no other, I was hooked.
Can you see why I married her? There was no doubt, she has shown me the One True Path, and it contains cheese, lots and lots of cheese. Sushi too, but that’s another story.
Silly me I assumed that all Brie was created equal, but again I have been shown the way. You can buy awesome brie, and you can buy awesomer brie. I prefer the awesomer brie.
For the mostest awesomest brie (wow, it actually hurts my eyes to type like that…) we travel to one of the lands of Danger. These lands of Danger have different names, most often called Byerly’s and Surdyk’s. Byerly’s is quite dangerous because of the ability to get the beloved ingredients of sushi, as well as its fine cheese selection. Surdyk’s is dangerous because, well, c’mon, it’s Surdyk’s, I could spend my paycheck there. And yours.
I’m hungry. I want brie. There’s a Byerly’s nearby. I have to go now.
-Porter