In this installment
Country Multigrain Bread
Mini Brie Cheese
Pork & Pistachio Pâté
Fallot Dijon Mustard
Country Multigrain Bread
Our Country Multigrain Bread (formerly known as Country Miche) is made with a flavorful combination of whole grains including organic buckwheat, regional high extraction hard red spring wheat, freshly milled, regional organic spelt, and Midwest organic rye. Like most of our breads, this one is naturally leavened. The fully fermented, aromatic dough is beautifully speckled from the ground buckwheat hulls and boldly baked to a dark caramelized crust, which brings out the grains’ natural sweetness and gives the bread a deep, complex flavor and moist texture. The whole process takes about 18 hours. You really can taste the difference!
Mini Brie Cheese
Right from the start, this oozy, woozy, Brie-style cheese has been tasting impressively good—buttery, mushroomy, almost meaty in the finish.
Unlike the large wheels of Brie which caught on in Paris to feed lots of people by the wedge, each four-ounce round of this cheese fits in your palm. It is just big enough for eating at home or sharing with a few friends.
The main thing to know is that these new little cheeses taste terrific! Great with a good crusty loaf of bread (like the Country Multigrain bread also included in the installment). Nice with fresh apples or pears, and a good match with walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds.
Pork & Pistachio Pâté
Salume maestro Elias Cairo started Olympia Provisions in Portland, Oregon back in 2009 with the aim of bringing old world recipes and flavors to a new audience here in the states. It sure feels like he hit the mark with this classic country-style pâté, guaranteed to wow pâté lovers and make a lot of new pâté fans in the process.
Using sustainably, humanely raised pork, the meat masters at Olympia mix in a bit of milk and bread for body, plus onion, garlic, fresh herbs, spices, a dab of port wine, and pistachios. The texture is wonderful: chunky, meaty, nutty, not quite spreadable on a cracker but really great on crusty bread with mustard. Serve with some well-aged cheese and a few pickles and you’d swear you were feasting in a country pub.
Fallot Dijon Mustard
Just like how real Parmigiano-Reggiano comes from the towns of Parma and Reggio in Italy and real Champagne hails from Champagne, France, the real stuff called Dijon is made right near the Burgundy town of Dijon. In fact, concern for protecting the name and quality of its mustard caused the city of Dijon to impose rules of production for its mustard in 1634.
The firm of Edmond Fallot has been making mustard in Beaune, south of Dijon, since 1840 and fully subscribes to the rules that make this mustard magnificent: they choose very high-quality mustard seeds and mill them with traditional grindstones that don’t create a lot of heat (which drives away flavor). You can taste the results in mustards that have a fair bit of nose clearing heat married to a complex, earthy flavor. Use them on sandwiches, in vinaigrettes or mixed into marinades.
Mustard Tip
A spoonful of mustard can add an unusual depth of flavor to sauces, soups and stews. To preserve the mustard’s pungency and power, add it at the end of your cooking.