Invoking a Homey Fall Dish in August: Gorgonzola-Gruyere-Parmesan Cheese Sauce

I recently discovered the lemon-pepper pappardelle noodles from Trader Joe's. The name pappardelle comes from the Italian word to "pappare," meaning "to gobble up," which I have a hard time refraining from doing, but I would like to still be able to fit into my clothes.

via smilingeggplant.blogspot.com

While Mike is not a fan of lemon, I love the sour, sweet, bitter, citrus-y, zesty flavor. I'm not calling for big bold, lemon-ness, just a subtle hint of that acidity in the right dish is awesome to me, and that is where Trader Joe's got it right with these noodles.

With flat, broad noodles, I like a nice cream sauce. I'm not a big fan of red sauces in general, but it could be that the ones I've bought and the ones I've made are just subpar. I think that complacency toward red sauce has allowed me to develop a love for pesto and, especially, cream sauces. I tend not to indulge in cheese and milk within my routine habits, but I love a good cream sauce, especially with the sweetness of spring peas, and the mellowness of mushrooms in the fall.

But it's summer now, and a good bechamel is looked upon with disdain from bikini-wearing, food-phobics. I, on the other hand, welcome a savory dish, as long as I eat a little less and up the vegetable count at the same time. And the result is a bacon and anchovy laden sauce with so much cheese-flavor packed into the small portion that it would make a Swiss swear off fondue. I think the amount I made was sufficient for 2 people, but I greedily ate the whole thing. In retrospect, it was a little much, but it was oh so good.

Gorgonzola-Gruyere-Parmesan Cheese Sauce
Yields 2 servings


Ingredients:
2 slices of bacon, diced
2 anchovy fillets, minced (the kind packed in olive oil, such as Cento brand)
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 oz gruyere cheese, grated
1 oz parmesan cheese, grated
1 oz gorgonzola, crumbled
1/2 C milk, 2% or whole

Method:
Place all of the bacon in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until crisp and the fat has been rendered. Remove and reserve.

Lower the heat to medium-low and in the sauce pan add the diced anchovy, garlic and shallot and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the grated and crumbled cheeses and stir to combine. Add the milk and simmer until the sauce browns slightly.

You can cook it for less time if you'd like a blonde sauce, or longer if you'd like a nuttier, deeper brown sauce.

The salt is very salty, which I liked in combination with the sweeter noodles. I added some cherry tomato confit that I made, as well as some steamed haricots verts for color and for a nice, vegetal crunch.

I see this great with green peas, pancetta, even spinach or kale, and maybe some added lemon juice for that sweet, acidity, when tomatoes sadly disappear from farmers markets.

Lunch: Responsibly, Reasonably and On A Budget

I love making food from scratch. There is no better stress reliever for me than cooking, and luckily enough that doesn't necessarily include a second step of eating. However, when you work full time, planning lunches from scratch gets to be relatively complicated. I live close enough where I can go home to cook food, but it is so hot in DC that I'd rather sit in an air conditioned office without food than melt on my way home to get some, just to walk back overheated and with the itis (a.k.a. food coma). That's right people, it's a dangerous combination and I don't want to be caught asleep at the front desk.

Luckily, Trader Joe's is known for having an amazingly stocked freezer section, perfect for mine and Mike's weekday lunches. I do much of my shopping at Trader Joe's, mostly for staple items and some snacks, but I do have to say that it is not for those who enjoy putting painstaking detail into making each component of a dish from scratch. While I would love to be able to have the time to do that during the day, it's neither practical nor time-effective (time being just as important to me as cost), and so I am giving up this battle.

While it is unclear in what way this will direct my efforts to get Mike off of processed foods, save a few special items, I'm excited for the time savings. Moreover, their freezer sections boasts prices that are extremely reasonable and enough variety to keep us distracted from the fact that it's not homemade.

And on that note, anew component of my blog for this summer will be reviewing the frozen foods that we try. So far we've tasted the mac n' cheese ($2.99), spinach and mushroom quiche ($1.89) beef tamales ($2.29) , chicken fried rice ($2.99), and the mandarin orange chicken ($4.99). Look out for those reviews as well.

Why We Love Supermarkets

Yesterday, I talked about price comparisons between regular shopping markets (of the Safway persuasion), and smaller, specialty markets (like Trader Joe's). While I love Trader Joe's and feel that I could cover all of my, and Mike's, grocery needs with a Trader Joe's and Costco, I still believe in the traditional supermarket. I remember the feeling I had when Mike and I walked into the new Safeway. But I feel that this article articulates all the things about supermarkets that I love and respect much more eloquently than I could.

An Excerpt:

"At a time when farmers' markets, boutique grocers, and artisan bakeries arethe go-to places for food-savvy shoppers, supermarkets get a bad rap assymbols of corporate homogenization and the dumbing-down of taste. That maybe true to some degree, but if the two of us have learned anything from our travels around the country to research our Roadfood books and website, it's that a stroll through atown's local supermarket can be every bit as enlightening as a visit to an open-air marketin an exotic, faraway place. We like supermarkets because they're practical and big and easy to navigate, sure; but more than that, we love them because, like all markets, they are portraits of the way people cook and eat"


You can read the rest at Saveur, another great food and cooking website.

Trader Joe's vs. Safeway - Grocery Stores Go Head-to-Head

The local grocery stores that I frequent are Trader Joe's and Safeway. Trader Joe's has gained recognition nationally, particularly for it's "two buck chuck" and other amazing wine deals. Unfortunately, this success came after Whole Food's created an image for sustainable/organic/free-trade food and products that could only be bought with your whole paycheck. This could also be why Trader Joe's has been able to expand so quickly. Food politics and sustainability is becoming more mainstream, yet in a recession, affordability tends to  overshadow these other two issues. Trader Joe's has managed to bridge the gap that Whole Foods created between these two concepts.


Trader Joe's has managed to maintain low prices by carrying it's own brands and labels (including Trader Jose's (Mexican food), Trader Ming's (Chinese food), Baker Josef's (bagels), Trader Giotto's (Italian food), Trader Joe-San (Japanese food), Arabian Joe's (Middle Eastern food), Pilgrim Joe's (Seafood), JosephBrau (Beer), Trader Johann's (Lip Balm), Trader Jacques' (imported French soaps), Joe's Diner (certain frozen entrees), Joe's Kids (Children's food), and Trader Darwin's (Vitamins)), keeping it's stores smaller and keeping the set-up as minimalist as possible. This approach has been so effective that they manage to beat Safeway by a wide margin on prices for many common items. 

Spreadsheet Comparing Prices on Products

Here are some images from the spreadsheet, but it is hard to read so I defer to the link above.

For my most generic needs or certain brands, like paper towels or Jiff/Skippy peanut butter, and sometimes meat, I'll go to Safeway. Mike was right when he said that "[Safeway] is a grocery store," in a way that Trader Joe's will never be. But if I want to assuage my ethical and sustainable pinings through buying organic and free trade and environmentally friendly without having to pay through the nose, or if I really want frozen mango chunks, I go to Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's - Foggy Bottom (4.5 Stars, 116 Reviews)
Safeway - Georgetown (4 Stars, 6 Reviews)

Note: Keep in mind that these stores happen to fit my personal model of shopping. These prices and products (which are just a sampling) have been compiled due to a manic need to maintain a reasonable budget for groceries, otherwise I'd be fat and broke. Though it should be noted that the prices at either store are not astronomically high by any means. 


If you are serious about budgeting, then save your receipts and compare prices and keep a spreadsheet/pricebook/etc. But for the most part, a regular grocery store, a la Safeway, can, for the most part, do you no wrong.