Trader Joe’s Raw Milk Blue Cheese

On Easter Sunday, The Man requested Lettuce Wedge Salad to go with the steaks he planned to grill. That meant The Lady would make the Blue Cheese Dressing. When she went to the cheese cupboard, it was bare, but she promised to bring home a wedge of Black River Gorgonzola to use in her recipe.

As happens in the cheesemines, The Lady got busy and forgot to buy the cheese for the dressing. Rather than disappoint The Man, she stopped at Trader Joe’s to pick up a wedge. It was Easter and there was little choice on the shelves. She went for their own brand of Raw Milk Blue Cheese thinking it must be good; after all it had their name on the label.

Well… as it turns out, The Lady was wrong… this blue cheese had almost no flavor… something this Feline Foodie thought was impossible… doesn’t blue cheese always have flavor? Isn’t that somewhere in the blue cheese making contract: “Will have flavor”.  But not this time. To call this cheese bland would be doing a dis-service to all the bland cheeses of the world.

The Lady is a big fan of Trader Joe’s in general, but she made a promise to The Man and me… no more Trader Joe’s brand cheeses…

I give Trader Joe’s Raw Milk Blue Cheese 1 limp Paw out of 4 Paws (cause I don’t have less than 1). It won’t kill ya; but neither will it thrill ya…

Serving Suggestions: Mixed with Roquefort, this cheese might not mess up your dressing; but other than that…  I got nothin’…

Moonstruck Chocolate Truffles and Sea Salts

On Easter Sunday, The Lady worked in the cheesemines but arrived home early enough to enjoy a special dinner with The Man and her favorite Feline Foodie (that would be me, of course). She also brought home a gift for us: two little boxes filled with the latest specialty item carried at her store: Moonstruck Chocolate Truffles. The Man wept with delight. (Later, I discovered that The Lady actually brought these home for The Man… evidently there is a nasty urban legend circulating the internet that claims chocolate is bad for cats. Now, we all know chocolate is never bad for anyone… personally, I think The Lady and The Man just didn’t want to share… and this rumor made for a convenient humankind excuse.)

After a dinner (which they did share with me) of steak, asparagus, lettuce wedge with blue cheese dressing* and baked potatoes, The Lady brought the two Moonstruck boxes to the table with little tiny dishes of various sea salts.

In the first box were four truffles. The first two were Grand Marnier Truffles: these have a center of bittersweet chocolate ganache that are infused with Grand Marnier®, an orange liqueur from France. The creamy, to-die-for center is then coated with dark chocolate and topped with candied orange peel. The Lady served these with grains of Fleur de Sel. She had The Man place a couple of tiny grains of the salt on his tongue and then bite into the truffle. He pronounced the combination a pairing made in chocolate heaven.  

The other truffles in the first box were Grenada Truffles. These have a dark chocolate and whipped cream center covered with dark chocolate and topped with cocoa nibs. You bite into one of these babies and it simply melts away on your tongue and the lingering aftertaste satisfies even the most ferocious “Chocolate Jones” on the planet. This truffle she paired with Murray River salt and again, the combination was a winner.

The second box she brought home was a promotional item she received for buying the first box and it contained four Easter Egg Truffles: two dark chocolate and two covered with milk chocolate. All four of these dainty delights were decorated like traditional Easter eggs. These she served with Himalayan Pink salt.

Since I was denied participation in enjoying these chocolates, I cannot give them a “Paws” rating, but I can report that The Man proclaimed that Moonstruck Truffles are, from this day forward, the only chocolate allowed at the manse. That’s a pretty fine endorsement, if you ask this Feline Foodie…

The Man commented that The Lady’s job just gets better and better… the Moonstruck Chocolate Bar is located less than fifteen feet from her cheese kiosk. Next time I’ll talk about chocolate and cheese…

*made with Trader Joe’s own brand of raw milk blue cheese – review to follow…