Say cheese! This week we had Damon Menapace come in to COOK to prepare a dinner highlighting local cheeses. Damon’s five course meal featured a different cheese with each dish. We are so thankful that Damon was able to put on such a great dinner being just days into his new position as Executive Chef at Le Virtù. Check out the Foobooz article for more details. If you love cheese, then read on to see how Damon transformed these already wonderful cheeses into delicious, fully-composed dishes!
The Five Cheeses
Upon arrival Damon served a small cheese plate with each of the five cheeses. Besides simply enjoying these delicious cheeses, the purpose of the pre-dinner sampling plate was to show guests how the cheese is on its own and then compare it to how it shines in each dish. Damon also explained that these cheeses, like most, are more flavorful when they sit out for a bit. You don’t want them to be too sweaty, but warm enough “to get the chill out of them” Damon said. Here are the five cheeses of the night, starting with…
Birchrun Blue
- Birchrun Hills Farm (Chester Springs, PA)
- Raw cow’s milk
Damon originally found this cheese from the Fair Food Farmstand in the Reading Terminal Market. Damon whipped the Birchrun Blue with warm milk to help blend it together and achieve his desired consistency – about a 1 cup milk to 1 pound cheese ratio. The creamy blue cheese spread was used as the base of a winter green salad with beets and candied pecans.
Conebella Cheddar
- Conebella Farms (Elverson, PA)
- Pure raw Ayrshire cow’s milk
In Damon’s opinion, this is one of the best local cheddar cheeses for melting on burgers. Due to its creamy and sharp flavor, this cheddar was a perfect pair for Damon’s rich open-faced mushroom, egg and cheese sandwich. Once his sourdough slices were toasted Damon assembled the sautéed mushrooms and egg on top and then grated this wonderful cheese all over. Freshly whipped hollandaise finished this creation and made it look oh-so gooey and cheesy!
St. Malachi
- The Farm at Doe Run (Chester County, PA)
- Pasteurized cow’s milk
- Aged 10 months
This Alpine-style cheese and Damon’s ravioli were a match made in cheese heaven. St. Malachi gets its name from the old church near The Farm at Doe Run. The super creamy and sharp nature of this cheese made it perfect for filling the ravioli. Damon combined some shredded St. Malachi with milk in a food processor until it was a good consistency for a piping bag. Then, using said piping bag, Damon filled the ravioli with the cheese mixture and froze them. When the ravioli were boiled the cheesy inside came back to life and regained its gooeyness.
Elsa Mae
- Calkins Creamery (Honesdale, PA)
- Pasteurized cow’s milk
Elsa Mae is a Taleggio-style cheese with a washed rind. Scrubbing or brushing the rind with some brining liquid causes the cheese to be softer. Damon described the flavor of this cheese as kinda funky and very creamy. After cutting a chunk of Elsa Mae for each serving, Damon gently placed the cheese on top of his cuts of braised pork shoulder which cooked overnight at 300 degrees. After a quick melt in the oven, the tender pork shoulder with cheese sat on top of a swirl of extremely fragrant homemade tabasco sauce and broccoli rabe.
Goat Cheese
- Pasteurized goat’s milk
Normally ice cream and cheese doesn’t make a lot of sense as a composed dish, but that’s exactly what this dessert turned out to be. Damon took vanilla bean ice cream and folded in goat cheese crumbles. The extremely rich ice cream paired nicely with the deep-fried apple fritters tossed in cinnamon sugar. Damon came up with this pairing because he knew goat cheese goes well with apples and hot bread. The tartness from the apples and the goat cheese helped to balance the sweetness from the ice cream and the cinnamon sugary fritters.
Thanks again to Damon for this fantastic meal. Congrats on your post, and we’ll see you at Le Virtù!
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