The Frugal Gourmet

Spending time in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany this past April invariably led to delighted outrage on the part of yours truly in local markets and grocery stores, as really good cheeses and meats were a third of the price as in America. Then, when one gets back from Europe and wants to re-create a delicious plat froid, there is a problem: the ingredients are not readily available (unless your idea of cheese is colored orange - an exaggeration, I know; not all cheese in Europe is great, either) or they are ridiculously expensive (i.e. Whole Foods). Enter Trader Joe's! Over the last few months TJ's has added several interesting cheeses, including the two below. On the left is a cheddar "truckle," which is to regular supermarket cheddar what Barry Bonds is to Rance Mullinicks. The latter might bring back some amusing childhood memories, whereas the former hits it out every time (I suppose the comparison should stop with performing-enhancing drugs, since I don't think RBGH is allowed in England).
On the right is Tomme de Savoie, a masterpiece made with raw milk that is the opposite of tobacco or coffee beans: those things smell really nice in their unconsumed state, and diminish in flavor once used. This cheese is rather rank on first encounter, but cut off the rind and you get a really smooth, deep nutty flavor. Both of these are a third of the price of similar stuff at other stores and are available now!





Click to enlarge, if necessary. The truckle is covered in black wax, whereas the tomme has a rind that I would not dare to eat.

Part II: Interesting grains...

The contents of the above bag are a great substitute for regular-sized couscous or boring long-grain rice. If you cook it in broth with a few herbs thrown in, it's like Rice-a-Roni minus the suicidal "flavor pack." Here is how we used it most recently:

This stew was last-minute, but looks like it took a long time to make. I made a typical chicken fricasse (sautee chicken; reduce pan with wine/broth; return meat to pan; add other ingredients; take out solids and reduce sauce until thick), using amontiallado sherry and turkey broth (which I reduced quite a bit at the end) and about a cup of dried fruit mix (cherries, blueberries, raisins- also from TJ's). I also sauteed some almonds in olive oil in a pan until brown. I threw all that together and put it on top of a good serving of the "Harvest grains blend," which I cooked in half-broth, half-water. Wow! It tasted a little bit like tagine, and a lot like a few Spanish stews I've made, minus certain Mediterranean ingredients like olives or piquillo peppers.

Thanks again for the comments. This summer break has been great for cooking. I'll have to manage my time well in the fall to keep this up!