SAY CHEESE
July 1, 2014
SAY CHEESE
Did you know that Old Beach has four vendors selling cheese? Shady Goat Farm has a wide selection of flavored and plain chevres, assorted feta, and over-the-moon cheese truffles. They even bring along a couple of goats you can pet. The Creative Wedge specializes in the loveliest regional artisanal cheeses. The latest finds are Bay Blue from Easton, Md., a cow’s milk blue, and a line of new raw cow’s milk cheese from Durham, which includes a smoked cheddar, along with cheese curds, parmesan, and gruyere styles.
And don’t miss the homemade mozzarella from Terrapin, made fresh just before the market each week. Pasta e Pani also makes mozzarella, and burrata, too, a heavenly ball of mozzarella with a creamy center that can make you dizzy with pleasure.
Croc’s 19th Street Bistro is brewing lavender tea and mint tea with herbs straight from the Croc’s garden. Just the thing for a summer morning.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Big doings this week! The New Orleans duo, Sweet Jones Music, will be playing their blend of Americana from 8:30 to 11:30. Want a sample? Go to www.sweetjonesmusic.com to hear their distinctive style.
Virginia Beach Master Gardeners are back to help with your gardening questions. Come plant the seeds for success.
RECIPE:
CRAB CAPRESE SALAD
One of the greatest joys of summer are fresh tomatoes, and a classic way to enjoy them is in a caprese salad. Simply, a caprese salad is a stack of sliced tomatoes, sliced fresh mozzarella cheese and whole or chopped/torn basil leaves atop drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Hard to improve on, right? Well, we try by stacking the tomatoes and mozzarella on a piece of thinly sliced and grilled baguette, replacing the herb and oil with a basil vinaigrette, and – are you sitting – topping it all with Chesapeake Bay jumbo lump crab. Here’s how:
Make the vinaigrette first by adding 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper in a jar, seal, and shake until incorporated. Just before serving, add tablespoons chopped fresh basil and gently shake to mix.
Make the salad by thinly slicing a baguette, lightly brushing slices with olive oil, and placing under the broiler or on a grill until toasted and golden.
Slice ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese and top baguette slices. Drizzle on some basil vinaigrette and top with a generous amount of jumbo lump crab. Sprinkle on a dash of sea salt and a bit of freshly ground black pepper.
From Chef Patrick Evans-Hylton
Author of Dishing Up Virginia
www.tiny.cc/BuyDishingUpVirginia
VENDORS
The Bakery at Riverside Farm
Beach Biscotti
Bergey’s Blossoms
The Creative Wedge
Croc’s 19th Street Bistro
Cromwell’s Produce
Fresh Batch Jams
Fruitive
Full Quiver Farm
Give Treat Love
Grace and Gratitude
Heads Up Hydrogreens
Jubilee Seafood
Mattawoman Creek Farms
My Vegan Sweet Tooth
New Earth Farm
Pasta e Pani
Pelon’s Baja Grill
Pennacock Peppers
Sandi’s Sandies
Shady Goat Farm
Speedy’s Hot Sauce
Tasha’s Own Goats Milk Soap
Terrapin Restaurant
Three Ships Coffee
Vy’s Pies
Whole-ly Rollers
Zinnia Girls