Quirks and Quarks

Anyone that knows me can attest to the fact that I possess certain quirks, but I find that I am unable to find any quark - cheese, locally. While I shall continue to look, my purpose in seeking it is to test out a recipe for possible inclusion in this year's terrine event. So my question - in your experience, can Ricotta substitute for quark successfully?

I have seen reports of draining Greek yogurt and using that as well. In the US, farmers cheese would be a sub (up here, farmers cheese is a hard white cheese - quite different).

[Jenise]

I would think you'd be able to find it at one of those almost meat-free health-oriented markets frequented by the Birkenstock crowd. There's a few in White Rock, probably a chain but I can't remember the name.

I would think you'd be able to find it at one of those almost meat-free health-oriented markets frequented by the Birkenstock crowd.

There must be some of those around here - maybe Whole Foods. If I get to a meat free store I'll tell them I need it for a recipe I have for steak tartare!

[Jenise]

On the phone with Nature's Fare in Langley...they have it. $15.99 for a tub that sounded like a pound and a half (if I got the grams right). So it's near by, I'm sure you can find it closer.

Thanks!

Oh, just mix a little farmer cheese with buttermilk and be done with it.

Oh, just mix a little farmer cheese with buttermilk and be done with it.

You guys have farmers cheese; we don't. For us farmers cheese is a semi firm white cheese.

I daresay I could drain some Greek yogurt in cheesecloth and come up with an equivalent, but I just managed to find the right thing.

What I am shooting for is a quark and asparagus terrine (using gelatin to set the cheese around the asparagus) as a side dish to my main terrine, which at this point is probably going to be a meat terrine with a core of foie gras - but it is early days yet.

Ask Jenise what she is thinking of making and you'll get at least two different possibilities!

Usually start early and run a couple of tests to settle on a final dish (ask Jenise - bet she goes through 2 or 3 trials before settling on the final version. Sometimes they can be mind exercises but often you have to actually do a trial recipe to see a) does it work, and b) how can you massage it to work even better.

I find that a lot of mental work is exerted on the sides and then there is the terrine itself. Sometimes you pan on one thing for quite awhile and then you wake up one morning and thing "Crap - that isn't any good!" and change the whole concept. Nice part of it is that it all takes place well before T day.

Don't recall anyone doing a second terrine as a side to the main terrine - sort of a T squared. No fair pirating the idea, Jenise!

I am off quark hunting tomorrow.

[Jenise]

Don't recall anyone doing a second terrine as a side to the main terrine - sort of a T squared. No fair pirating the idea, Jenise!

I am off quark hunting tomorrow.

Who's pirating who? I did a carrot-saffron terrine one year to pair with a lamb ballotine. Served it, I mean THEM, with red and white Musars. So there!

https://www.acanadianfoodie.com/2016/02 ... rk-cheese/

Hi Bill, quark is very easy to make, there are a myriad recipes on the net. I’ve icluded one which seems one of the quickest and it comes from a Canadian

Thanks, Barb, looks easy!

Man, the things you people do for this terrine event!

Man, the things you people do for this terrine event!

Ask Jenise how many ideas are swirling around, then how many she narrows it down to, and how many she actually does a test run on. Then ask her how many different sides she contemplates (in my experience just as much thought goes into the sides) and then how many wines she thinks about before narrowing it down to two.

That's why we start thinking about the next year right after the one we just did is over! That's why I am testing out a recipe for a side a month before the event. Made the asparagus/quark terrine yesterday and will be evaluating it for taste today and for longevity tomorrow, as well as whether or not I will make a little sauce for it - maybe a lemon butter garlic beurre blanc. Or a wine/shallot/lemon peel/ cream sauce with a dab of turmeric for colour. And if the latter, should I add some tarragon, or.....

[Jenise]

I generally don't follow recipes, I create my own. That's where all the testing comes in--there's some idea, a flavor perhaps, in my head that I then work on getting into solid form. I want to serve something that no one's ever seen or had before. Or reinvent something they have into something new and unique. In two of these years, I had to "wing it" at literally the last minute because both times we were arriving home from a long trip away the day before. In one case I did individual asparagus mousses that I topped with marinated shrimp--terrine enough. In another, I had an ambitious plan but NO IDEA until I showed up at the fishmongers in Mt. Vernon--50 miles away, but the only person around who would go to the ends of the earth for me--on Friday with the terrine dinner on Saturday, exactly what I'd have to work with. I wanted two sizes of fresh scallops and fresh uni--out of season. But dammit, she got the stuff, so while I had plan B and plan C in my hip pocket I was able to pull off Plan A: a south-of-the border version of a scallop terrine topped with a fresh scallop ceviche served on a corn husk and garnished with ciccerone's topped with uni and tiny squares of avocado-cucumber aspic. A very complex dish that I hadn't practiced and that only existed in my head. For dishes like that, I'm as excited as I am terrified. Only blind ambition gets me through it.

I don't recall having any dish you've made disappoint!

I do something similar but not quite the same. I take mental note of flavours and combinations of flavours I like and then look to combine them with something else to see if they complement and try and build a dish from elements I liked ad think will work together. Sometimes it works, sometimes it isn't an improvement on what came before.

BTW, just picked up some hakurei turnips fresh at the local farm today - ever cooked with them? I'm going to saute and finish with some miso glaze.

[Jenise]

BTW, just picked up some hakurei turnips fresh at the local farm today - ever cooked with them? I'm going to saute and finish with some miso glaze.

Yes! Love them--speaking of terrines, some chilled ones that had been cooked in chianti were a side dish to an Italian terrine I did one year.

Yes - they were good!

Tried the asparagus terrine today - very good. No sauce or other adornment needed.

Now trying to think of uses for the rest of the quark - maybe serve to SWMBO, with fruit.

[Jenise]

I wouldn't think it would need anything, especially if it's one of two terrines--it IS the other terrine's "anything". On it's own, a drizzle of vinaigrette might be nice.

I wouldn't think it would need anything, especially if it's one of two terrines--it IS the other terrine's "anything".

Yes, I am shooting for an all terrine vehicle.....