One thing that’s beautiful about going to Cornell is that Ithaca has a ton of local farmers that sell their products at the farmer’s market in town.  This past week, I have been finding time in between my classes to cook my local ingredients as best i can with my limited kitchen facilities and additional ingredients.

This past week, I have made some delicious food.  Today, courtesy of my 11:40 classtime, I was able to make braised goat shank.  I bought the goat at the farmer’s market and cooked it with some blueberry wine that another vendor there was selling.  

the wine tastes like a light, dry red with some rounder flavors indicative of the blueberries it is made from.  the goat had a delicious flavor–very unique–and it went well with the wine.  

also, i made some creamed corn with a local grower’s corn.  my go to spice has been nutmeg; it is one of the only ones i have, and it goes well with this season’s foods.  i put it in the corn as well as in a delicata squash soup that i made the other day.

I topped the soup  with a sourdough and Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese toast and sauteed hen-of-the-woods and oyster mushrooms.  Can you believe this stuff?  All made in the dorm!

This morning I also made a crustless (for time purposes) pumpkin pie.  I also made some pumpkin muffins.

Today was a pot luck meal for the Farm to Cornell club in which I am involved.  Since apples were the only local food that I had access to, I made a gratin out of some Paula Reds and some Gjetost cheese I had in my microfridge.  

At the potluck, it was a hit, especially since many were unsure of whether it was a side or a dessert.  

Even though the dining halls are OK, I am perfectly content with the ingredients available to me now.

Tonight, we’ve got comfort food on the menu.  Here are some slightly unique items that get my mouth watering:

• Salsa Lizano – This is a Costa Rican staple.  Nothing in the world quite like it.
• Bubble Tea – Got me through grad school.
• Shoofly Pie  – It’s in my blood, you know.
• Lindt Excellence 99% – Some people say they like dark chocolate.  Some of us actually do.
• Tapioca pudding - My very favorite dessert.  Make sure to have some fresh peaches on the side.
• Recaito – Cilantro paste.  Another one of those competely unique items.
• Gjetost – Norwegian sweet cheese.  My wife and I encountered it at Epcot Center.
• Cafe Mocha – Here’s a guilty little secret: Starbucks is my favorite.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

There is no in between with this “cheese”  and I put “cheese” in quotation marks to lend the idea that some do not refer to it as such.  It actually is a product made out of whey.  Nothing at all like ricotta.  Just to set the record straight.

I have been a Gjetost (pronounced “yay-toast”)  fan for many years….long before I married the cheesemonger.  It is an accquired taste…almost along the same lines of liking provel.  Gjetost (as we know it in N. America) literally means “goat cheese” in Norwegian.  The Norwegian name brunost (the name used on the other side of the Atlantic) means ‘brown cheese’.  Over here  it is referred to and sold as gjetost, which is an older spelling of geitost that is no longer frequently used elsewhere.  Now…with that all straightened out…let’s talk about how wonderfully delicious this cheese is.  Gjetost is made by boiliing a mixture of milk, cream and whey carefully for several hours so that the water evaporates. The heat turns the milk sugar into caramel which gives the cheese its characteristic taste. It is ready for consumption as soon as it is packed in suitable sized blocks. A low-fat variant is made by increasing the proportion of whey to milk and cream..but let’s be honest, it’s not as good. I found a great recipe for making gjetost in your own kitchen.  I have yet to try it but looking forward to it.

I did a little jig this afternoon when trolling my local grocer to find it in the cheese section.  Simon turned his nose up at the sight of it…but I am happy.  I couldn’t wait to get home and dig in.  I prefer mine on toasted bread or naan/pita.  I also like it with apples or pears.  It has a decidedly unique nose….some refer to it as fishy.  I smell the caramel…but I also smell the pungent “barnyard” of the goat’s milk.  It very thick on the tongue and is best served in light curls from a cheese plane.  I chunk would be just too much in your mouth…like a heaping spoonful of cold peanut butter or rich fudge tasting of caramelly goat cheese….not too pleasing in that respect.

It has a great nutty quality and silken texture when cut right…I have yet to find a good wine to pair it with…but I do enjoy it with beer.  A dark stout or a strong lager.  It is a wintery cheese in my mind…but I do eat it all year long.  I have been playing around with making an apple/gjetost pie.  I wonder if Cupcake Project would be willing to brainstorm with me…Stef is good at this sort of thing…

I have found it at Global Market and Whole Foods in St. Louis….here in AZ it was at Basha’s.

This is floating around the web, and I finally got around to finishing. Voila! There are some bizarre items listed, like Salted Lassi, Bagna Cauda, Gjetost/Brunost, and Pocky.

Luckily, there’s nothing on the list that I wouldn’t consider trying. I think its pretty interesting/funny that I’ve never actually had a Big Mac meal. That’s probably a good thing.

Instructions:
1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

The strange caterpillar on our garage door. (“Please don’t eat meeeeeeee!!”)