We made a really wonderful appetizer last night that I have to share with all of you! It would go very well with a steak dinner (or most any other dinner)! It is similar to a cheese fondue but much quicker and easier to make.
Baked Fontina Cheese
olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 pounds of Fontina cheese, cut into one inch cubes
4-6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced or finely sliced
a pinch each of salt, pepper
a sprinkling of your favorite fresh herbs or dried herbs (we used a pinch each of dried thyme, rosemary, and marjorum)
In a cast iron skillet, drizzle enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan so the cheese won’t stick to the pan. Throw in the chunks of cheese and sprinkle with the garlic and the seasonings. Put this in the oven on the second rack down from the top, so the cheese will brown and not get burnt spots on it as it melts. Turn on the broiler and let the cheese just melt completely and get slightly browned in places on top. This took roughly 6-10 minutes in my oven.
Serve in the skillet with lots of fresh french bread on the side. You can either dip the bread in the skillet or spoon the wonderful cheesy goodness on top of your bread.
I give everyone fair warning. This recipe is highly addictive and if you don’t have a group of people around to help you eat it, you could easily eat the whole loaf of french bread and this cheese all by yourself!
It smelled and looked so good, that my family didn’t even wait for me to finish slicing the french bread and take it to the table before digging into it. The whole skillet of melted cheese and the entire loaf of french bread were completely devoured by the family before any of it ever left the kirchen and made it to the dinner table!
I bought a netted boneless pork shoulder picnic the other day and didn’t know what to do with it and found this recipe:(yummy-yummy)
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-Roast-Braised-with-Milk-and-Fresh-Herbs-em-Maiale-al-Latte-Em-242034
Pork Roast Braised with Milk and Fresh Herbs
(Maiale al Latte )
Gourmet | April 2008
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 (4 1/2- to 5-pound) boneless pork shoulder roast (without skin), tied
3 juniper berries, crushed
2 large rosemary sprigs
2 large sage sprigs
1 sprig fresh or 4 dried California bay leaves
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 cups whole milk
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Heat oil in a wide 5- to 6-quart ovenproof heavy pot over medium heat, lightly brown roast on all sides with juniper berries and herbs, 8 to 10 minutes total. Add garlic and sprinkle roast with sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, then cook until garlic is golden, about 1 minute. Pour wine over roast and briskly simmer until reduced by half. Pour milk over roast and bring to a bare simmer.
Cover pot and braise in oven, turning roast occasionally, until tender (milk will form curds), 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Transfer roast to a carving board and loosely cover. Strain juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl (discard solids), reserving pot, and skim off fat. Return juices to pot and boil until flavorful and reduced to about 2 cups. Season with sea salt and pepper. Slice roast and serve moistened with juices.
(The link has some great comments under it and I took the suggestion to cook it in a Slow Cooker for 4 hours and to not take out the curd milk solids but mix into the sauce with an stick blender then sieve. I didn’t have any juniper berries or fresh garlic (horrors!) so I used a big bulb of shallot and used dried herbs on hand - threw in some mushrooms as the sauce was boiling down to 2 cups to finish - served over egg noodles)
We’re having seconds tonight! Can’t wait!