Say Cheese!

I have always been a stalwart fan of cheeses, though up until about 3 years ago I was repulsed by the concept a blue cheese - a cheese?  With mould it?  How very dare they?  

A few years ago I began travelling frequently to Scandinavia, and my airline of choice was SAS (a brilliant airline I must emphasize - the complete antithesis of our hallowed BA).  In economy extra (the sneaky class in between business and cattle) you used to get a cold meal, which invariably included cheese and biscuits at the end.  The cheese was usually a blue cheese and I could never bring myself to go near it, let alone sample its azure veins.  It wasn't until I got myself rather drunk indeed on free champagne that I tried it for the first time (out of sheer hunger, I think, rather than morbid curiosity), and since then I discovered that my taste-buds had irrevocably changed - I can remember turning my nose up in disgust at my mothers Danish Blue as a child.

One of my favourite food writers is Nigel Slater - I love his simplicity, and his realistic grasp of every day cooking.  I liked to consider him the "thinking man's ready steady cook" - I could never manage a whole 30 minutes of Ainsley Harriott.  Nigel Slater introduced me to Taleggio, a soft cheese, from Lombardy in Italy.  It's a delicate cheese, with a washed, salty rind.  Although it doesn't actually have a particularly strong taste, it does have a peculiarly strong odour of mens socks. 

This is a simple recipe for "Slow cooked potatoes, with Taleggio and Thyme" from Nigel Slater's book, "Real Cooking".  Once you cook it you will never forget it, its amazing:

•   Finely slice a medium onion and 2 cloves of garlic.
•   Find some waxy potatoes, such as charlotte, or desiree (or any potatoes labelled as "salad".  Wash them but do not peel.  Cut them into rounds about as thick as a pound coin (a pound coin is about 3mm thick I think). About half a kilo is enough for 2 people.
•   Add a few good glugs of regular olive oil and a decent knob of butter to a heavy-based frying pan, or skillet.  Add the onions and soften.
•   When the onions are softened add the minced garlic.  Stir for 2 minutes.
•   Add the spuds to the pan, stir thoroughly to coat each slice in oily butter.
•   Strip 3 bushy sprigs of thyme and add to the potatoes.  
•   Season the potatoes with a generous pinch of pepper, and some sea salt.
•   Put a lid on the pan.  Turn the heat to the lowest setting you can achieve without the remote possibility of gassing yourself when the flame blows out.  Leave for 45 minutes, infrequently stirring.
•   Check the potatoes.  They are ready when they are soft and yielding, but not utterly obliterated in the pan.
•   Slice some Taleggio (I remove the rind, I think its inedible).  Lay the slices on the top of the potatoes.  Replace the lid.  
•   Leave for 2-3 minutes whilst the Taleggio melts.

I would serve this with some decent, dressed greens, or spinach.  And that, is just what I am going to do tonight, when I get home from the football!  Enjoy.