Say Cheese.

Mr. News Readin' loves cheese. I mean really loves cheese. One of the highlights of his life was spending time in the cheese cave at Artisanal in NY. True story.

His taste ranges from the stuff that comes wrapped in impossibly difficult to open plastic sleeves to a tangy, mature Manchego.

Since it is National Cheese Day (What! You forgot to send the mass e-greeting?) - we are celebrating with a dinner of Natalie's Tuscan Chevre Salad - with cheese deliciously made in Elkmont, Alabama.



Fromagerie Belle Chevre has received a lot of attention over the past few years - especially under the ownership of the lovely Tasia Malakasis. (You may have caught her story in G&G...)

Image courtesy of Garden & Gun

Is she not just the prettiest (goat) milk maid? So wholesome...


If you are looking for some Belle Chevre of your own click here for retailers.

Yours in cheese-y goodness,

Mrs. NR

Taco Night Goes Glam

Every night we embark on a culinary adventure at the News Readin' household - chicken, salmon or Mexican. We are well acquainted with Old El Paso meal kits around these parts. (It is one thing that I have gained in marriage that I could easily live without.)

Mr. News Readin' is especially fond of the Gordita kit. It includes a sauce that is a color beyond nature, that tastes like a blend of ranch dressing and queso dip. Mmm...yum. I can feel myself retaining water as I type this.

Nothing beats his big grin when he realizes that shredded cheese can be incorporated into his dinner. Ahhh...the things we do for love.

Taco night or heartburn that comes in a little yellow box night, would be much more tolerable if we dined on these:


Olé! Peacock Eye placemats. (Also available in green.)

From Vivre. On sale.


More at 11.

Cooking Segment

A few posts back I mentioned a delicious goat cheese pizza I prepared for Mr. News Readin' after a long day of...well...news reading.

I took some liberties with two different recipes from Tyler Florence and Sandra Lee. Now remember, Mr. News Readin's palate has matured in our five years of marriage, but he's no Tom Colicchio. (Read: we no longer buy the cheese that squirts out of a can.)

Here it is:

1 10 oz. ready-to bake pizza dough
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup marinara sauce
1 (3 ounces) package of prosciutto, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 fresh rosemary sprig, needles stripped from stem
3/4 cup of mushrooms (crimini, portobello or oyster), chopped
1 ounce goat cheese, crumbled
½ cup freshly grated pecorino
2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Coat a saute pan with olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil begins to look hazy, add prosciutto, stirring for a minute or two to render the fat and flavor. Add in garlic and rosemary, sauteing for a minute. Add mushrooms, cooking until nicely brown. Season with salt and pepper, as needed. (Note: prosciutto can be quite salty, so I would strongly recommend not using any additional salt.)

Lay pizza crust on a foil-covered pizza pan or cookie sheet. Spread sauce evenly over pizza crust. Sprinkle sauteed mushrooms and prosciutto over the top, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Sprinkle goat cheese, followed by basil.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your crust.
Before cutting the pizza, grate pecorino over the top. Cut into 6 slices.

Buon appetito!

Stay tuned...Sports is up next

So the NRH filled-in for the evening sports guy Sunday and Monday night. In my mind it's pretty hard for a viewer to see the guy who usually covers city and county politics say things like, "It's never ifffy when it's Griffey," for two nights and then take him seriously on Tuesday. But, management obviously thinks it works and it thrills the NRH to say such things.

Truth be known, before the NRH was hard hitting political reporter (we're talking County Commission meetings here...yawn) he wanted to be clever sports reporter. And thanks to a friend of the family, even snagged himself an interview at ESPN back before I was Mrs. News Readin'. You can only imagine the thrill when they offered him a job as...(cue Debbie Downer music) the guy who holds the camera cord and tidies up the competitive eating video library. And just that quickly - the NRH realized he would never sit next to Stuart Scott and wonder about his wonky eye.

Although fun being sports guy, it also meant that he didn't get home until midnight on Monday night and had to be at work at 8:30 am on Tuesday. Now, usually I would not take any pity on him for such a schedule. It's not like he's taking the dark cart down into the coal mines?! But I did feel like he needed a dinner of his choosing. When I inquired his response was - get ready - goat cheese pizza.

Ummm. Okay. (Note: never have I ever served him goat cheese pizza.) Fear not! I wasn't going to let him down. So I served the NRH goat cheese pizza with mushrooms and prosciutto and it was fabulous.


Mrs. News Readin' in another stunning defeat over What's for Dinner!

Recipe forthcoming.