Part of Healthy Summer Eating!

May is an odd time of year, healthwise. New Year’s resolutions are long forgotten, and if you’re like me, you probably spent the bulk of the long winter watching movies and feasting on grilled cheese.  And yet, with summer looming around the corner, and swimsuit season with it, the rush to get fit is back upon us.

I’ve noticed that cheese is always one of the first things people cut out of their diet when they’re looking to trim down, and this makes me very sad.  True, cheese has a lot of calories and fat per serving, and, like most foods, it can be unhealthy if overindulged.  But when eaten mindfully and in moderation, it will not wreck your diet, and it can actually add to your overall health.

Cheese is actually full of important nutrients, most notably protein, which, along with the cheese’s fat, helps you feel full.  In his book Mastering Cheese, Max McCalman points out that “if you compare a 3.5 ounce chunk of a hard, aged cheese such as Cheddar or Emmentaler to an equivalent amount of chicken eggs, the cheese contains about twice as much protein and one quarter the cholesterol.”¹  Cheese is also an excellent source of calcium, as well as other important vitamins and minerals.  Because cheese essentially takes all the elements of milk that are good for you and concentrates them, it gives you a lot of nutritional bang for your buck, and gives your body a head start on digestion.

But, you might be asking, couldn’t you just play it safe and enjoy cheese guilt-free by choosing the low-fat varieties?  Well, not exactly.  According to nutritionist Alan Aragon, “The combination of protein and fat in regular, full-fat cheese is very satiating. As a result, eating full-fat cheese holds your appetite at bay for hours, and I’ve found that it cuts down my clients’ food intake at subsequent meals.”²  Not to mention, restricting yourself to only low-fat and fat-free cheese pretty much limits your options to string cheese and shrink-wrapped blocks.  Those are tasty enough, but just think of all the amazing, lovingly crafted cheeses you’d miss out on as a result.

As with nearly all foods, though, the key here is moderation.  If you eat an entire block of Cheddar, any health benefits you might have received will be canceled out by the fact that you just ate an entire block of Cheddar.  Simply be mindful of portion size—an ounce is perfectly reasonable, and it’s equivalent in size to about two dominoes.  No, it’s not a feast-worthy portion, but it’s also not so measly as to make you feel deprived.  You can make it go even further by pairing it with other healthy foods; a couple slices of cheese, a crispy apple, and some crusty bread make an excellent snack, or even a light lunch.

I hope you’ll keep cheese in your life no matter what your current eating plan.  You can easily enjoy all the cheese world has to offer and still keep an eye on your health by sticking to reasonable portions and saving the really cheesy indulgences for special occasions.

Jesi Dunaway, Cheesemonger
Savenor’s Boston

1. Mastering Cheese: Lessons for Connoisseurship from a Maitre Fromager by Max McCalman, Clarkson Potter Publishers

2. Men’s Health: “The Health Benefits of Eating Full-Fat Cheese” by Denny Watkins.

The long-awaited arrival of spring means many things here in Boston: time to put away the snow boots once and for all; swarms of Red Sox fans flooding the Green Line; sunbathers all over the Public Garden.  Of course, for the food-minded among us, spring also signals the return of some of the most delectable seasonal foods, from meat to produce to, of course, cheese.

Goat cheeses are especially good at this time of year, because the goats whose milk will be made into cheese are venturing out into

pastures for the first time since the winter.  Their milk will carry the flavors of the fresh grasses and flora they consume into the resulting cheese.  While there’s no shortage of artisan goat cheeses to be found at this time of year, some of my very favorite chevre comes from Lazy Lady Farm in Westfield, Vermont.  This farm consistently puts out tasty, unique, and creatively named cheeses (many of them politically inspired).  And, impressively, their entire farm is run off the grid; all of their power is supplied by solar panels and a wind generator (and a small generator for backup when conditions are tough)

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We just received some of Lazy Lady’s first chevres of the season.  The go-to Lazy Lady cheese, which we’ll carry for most of the season, is Sweet Emotions, a mixture of goat milk and cow cream; it’s perfect for those who are a little wary of the goat cheese tang.  The cheese is creamy, rich, and buttery, and it gets softer and runnier the longer it ages.  It’s a great alternative to Camembert, and thanks to its petite size– about six to eight ounces per button– it’s a perfect treat to share with a friend.

Lazy Lady Thin Red Line

We also currently have The Thin Red Line, an all-goat cheese with a tiny layer of smoked paprika running through the middle, hence the name.  This is one of my favorite cheeses of any season; it’s beautiful to look at, not only because of the bold red stripe, but because of the ash-dusted rind and the creamy layer right underneath.  The flavor of the paprika is

also surprisingly bold, given how little of the spice is used.  It imparts a rich, savory flavor to what would otherwise be a sweet, tangy cheese.

Perhaps my favorite of all is Trickle Down, which should be coming in any day now.  It’s similar in shape and general appearance to The Thin Red Line, but instead of paprika, this one is infused with fresh ginger and poppy seeds, an unlikely-sounding but absolutely delicious combination.  I may or may not have eaten an entire 8 ounce wheel by myself and called it dinner.

Beyond fresh new cheeses, spring also has another food-centric connotation for me: we are now entering the last few weeks before it becomes too hot out to turn on our ovens.  Personally, I subsist all summer long on salads, because I can’t bear to turn on any heating source in my stifling kitchen, so May represents my last chance to get some cooking in.  Fortunately, it’s an ideal time to cook, given all the fresh spring produce that’s showing up in the store this month.  On this week’s agenda: asparagus soup with creme fraiche; ramp and chorizo quesadillas, spinach, bacon, and artichoke stuffed mushrooms, and definitely this asparagus and fiddlehead risotto.

Happy spring, and happy eating!

Spring teases in April. One day it’s warm, the next chilly. But you crave all the good vegetables and greens of the season after winter’s chill. Savenor’s is getting in fiddlehead ferns, spring onions, spring garlic, garlic scapes, and ramps, all signs that spring is really here. Don, the produce manager at Savenor’s in Boston, loves ramps, his cue to usher in the season. He says his girlfriend makes a pesto of garlic scapes. And he thinks spring onions grilled outdoors are smashing for an early grill session. It’s not his fav, but his customers, he says, “buy up rhubarb like nobody’s business.” Here’s an heirloom Rhubarb Custard Pie for you rhubarb fanciers.

Welsh Rabbit is a more than just a quirky name. This dish from the British Isles was popular in the 1950s and 1960s when hostesses would make the sauce in chafing dishes for buffet brunches or suppers, and sometimes fancified the name to “rarebit.” The original name was really rabbit; some say it came from the fact that the Welsh were so poor they had to substitute cheese for the popular English rabbit. In any case, this combination of tangy cheddar-style cheese and beer is a delightful supper or brunch dish.

You might try making this with Jesi’s suggestion, Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar from Ford Farms in England, or Patrick’s choice, Vermont’s Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. And since April is Grilled Cheese Month, Welsh Rabbit could be viewed as an Open-Face Grilled Cheese. Call it what you will — great cheese and a classic Welsh Rabbit recipe will warm your heart.

Soft Shell Crabs are in today in both stores! Soft shells are blue crabs that have just recently molted and are left with a soft, edible (and yummy) shell. They are harvested and put into their respective sizes. We usually carry the hotel size (3-4oz) perfect for each person and easy to fit two in a medium saute pan.

When you get them from Savenor’s we will clean them for you on the spot. We highly recommend getting them the day you are going to serve them! I f you would like to learn to clean, our butchers will show you how. There are a few steps and tools you need: sharp kitchen shears, sharp clean chefs knife and a good cutting board.

1. Face: Carefully snip or cut the “face” off. Just trim the eyes and front tip so that there is a clean line across (we are talking 1/4-1/2  inch here)

2. Gills: there are two flaps on top. Lift each one and simply wipe away the small stringy pieces with your thumb.

3. Apron: flip the crab and you will see a tail or “apron”. this is another simple snip or cut away. Some people like to keep it on, whatever you choose is okay.

Finally give the crab a nice rinse to make sure there is no sand then pat dry. For the simplest preparation;  dredge crabs in salted and peppered flour (throw in some cornmeal if you’re wanting more crunch) warm some butter and olive oil till bubbling then fry the top side for about 4 minutes then flip and fry the other for 4 minutes. Remove and serve with a nice Remoulade , a wedge of lemon and a crisp Sauvignon Blanc or Reisling. Enjoy it, you just made a masterpiece!