Blue Cheese, How About a Buffalo Milk Version

Cheese, queso, fromage or formaggio, no matter what you call it, I love it! Mrs. SNarolina Foodie and I like to buy different cheeses to snack on in the evening. Sometimes by itself, sometimes with a bottle of wine. We get most of our cheese from Whole Foods, which has the largest selection in Greenville.

What I like about Whole Foods is that they have a very knowledgable staff that will let you try just about any cheese there, to ensure that you like what you are buying. During our most recent venture for some cheese, to celebrate our anniversary, we were suggested with "Blu di Bufala Mitica", aka Blue Cheese made of Buffalo's milk.

We like Blue Cheese and this by far was some of the smoothest blue cheese that we've ever had. This wasn't your packaged crumbled blue cheese, this was excellent and with maybe a slight sweet taste to it.

If you have a Whole Foods or a local fromagerie, request for it. Chances are, they will have it. I would even suggest asking for a sample, to make sure you enjoy it, before buying it. By the way, if a place doesn't allow you to taste the cheese before buying it, leave. Thats an excellent indication if someone knows what they are talking about. As we try other cheeses, if some are amazing and really stand out, then I will post them.

Finally, I will put a plug in for the Champagne that went well with this cheese, Franck Bonville Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, which can be found in many wine shops for around $40. Makes a great after dinner pairing with most cheeses.

The Greatest Steak Grilled at Home, According to Mrs. SNarolina Foodie!

According to my wonderful wife, I grill one excellent steak. Together, we've enjoyed some of the Carolina's best, so when I hear her praises on my grilling, it makes me happy. My steak grilling technique comes from the Morton's Steak Bible.

First, I select high quality beef,  from places like the New York Butcher Shoppe and Whole Foods. I've noticed that when I've gotten beef from other groceries, quality has been an issue. Please note, not all beef are created equal! For our most recent home grilled steaks, I purchased two 8 oz filets from the New York Butcher Shoppe out of Charlotte, NC.

The following are my directions for the greatest steak grilled at home:

1. Bring your steaks out of the refrigerator and let stand for 30-60 minutes. What I've learned, getting the meat to room temperature, aids in the grilling process and the meat cooks evenly.

2. Once the steaks have come to room temperature, I cover them in Extra Virgin Olive oil (EVO).

3. After coating the steaks with EVO, I coat the steaks, liberally with Sea Salt. Actually, most meat that I grill, I coat in Sea Salt.

4. While I am waiting for the steaks to get to room temperature, I get the grill fired up to around 500 - 550 degrees F.

5. With the combination high temperature on the grill and the Steaks at room temperature, it doesn't take long for the steaks to cook, especially the way I like them, RARE! At the high temperatures, most steaks will be ready within 10 minutes or less.

6. Enjoy! No steak sauce is needed, especially when you have a high quality piece of beef!

Grilled Filet Mignon, RARE!