• Home
    • About Janet
    • Media
    • Client List
    • Contact
    • Planet Cheese Blog
    • Planet Cheese Signup
    • Cheese Library
    • All Items
    • World Cheese Tour
    • Books
    • World Cheese Tour Classes
    • Other Classes & Events
    • Custom Class/Event Request
    • Cheese O'Clock Video Archive
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
    • Winter
    • Comfort
Menu

Janet Fletcher

180 Stonecrest Dr
Napa, CA, 94558
(707) 265-0404
{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

Janet Fletcher

  • Home
  • About
    • About Janet
    • Media
    • Client List
    • Contact
  • Planet Cheese
    • Planet Cheese Blog
    • Planet Cheese Signup
    • Cheese Library
  • Store
    • All Items
    • World Cheese Tour
    • Books
  • Classes
    • World Cheese Tour Classes
    • Other Classes & Events
    • Custom Class/Event Request
    • Cheese O'Clock Video Archive
  • Recipes
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
    • Winter
    • Comfort

Relearning Greek Salad

June 18, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

I’ve been to Greece enough times to know that a Greek salad never contains lettuce. Or almost never. Doug and I ate a lot of Greek salads on our recent vacation and only one—a deviant—had leafy greens. As familiar as I am with this iconic summer dish, I did learn a few more do’s and don’ts on this trip. In fact, when I asked one of my hosts about an ingredient that most Americans include, her eyebrows shot up in alarm. She all but shuddered. So, in the service of authenticity and international relations, here are a few observations about how to make an unimpeachable horiatiki that won’t dismay any Greeks.

Read more
In From: Greece Tags horiatiki, Greek salad, feta, feta cheese, mizithra
16 Comments

It’s a Wrap

April 16, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

I’ve been enchanted by this dramatic spring appetizer forever, since first encountering it at a Persian restaurant in Berkeley. The restaurant closed eons ago but the memory lingers. A platter of sabzi khordan --which translates to “herbs for eating”—is omnipresent at Persian meals, I have learned, and it’s more about the herbs than the feta. But this is Planet Cheese, so there’s feta at the center of my sabzi khordan. A block of feta would be more traditional, but whipped feta spreads better. And that’s the idea: You take a piece of flatbread, slather it with feta, tuck in something crunchy like toasted walnuts and then a soft handful of mixed herbs. It’s magical.

Read more
In Milk: Sheep Tags Persian food, Louisa Shafia, feta, sabzi khordan
11 Comments

Green for a Day

March 12, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

I’ll be planting potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day and probably wearing something green. Alas, no Irish cheese board for dinner. My favorite Irish wheels—Gubbeen, Durrus, Coolea—are too hard to find these days. Their high prices make them slow movers at American cheese counters. But green cheese? I can do that. I adore this creamy feta dip, green from pistachios, cilantro and dill. You’ve seen it here before but I’m reprising it as a nod to the holiday and the imminent arrival of spring. I’ve heard raves from readers who’ve made it and hope you’ll soon join that club.

Read more
In Milk: Sheep, From: Greece Tags feta, feta pistachio dip, pistachios, pistachio recipes, St. Patrick’s Day appetizers, World Championship Cheese, Gourmino, Michael Spycher, Hornbacher
8 Comments

Feta Yet Again

January 23, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com
Baked Feta

Ever since a recipe for baked feta went viral on TikTok, social media won’t leave feta alone. TikTokkers seem to think they invented the idea of warm feta but tell that to a Greek. Flaky feta pies are ancient; what Greek grandma doesn’t make tiropita?

Read more
In From: Greece, Milk: Sheep, Milk: Goat Tags feta, tiropita, Giallo Zafferano, Greek food, Greek feta pie, filo recipe
12 Comments

Feta to the Rescue

October 18, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com
Butternut Squash & Yogurt side dish

After months of tomatoes and zucchini, I’m ready for winter squash. Kabocha is my favorite, but butternut squash is much easier to hack into and to peel. I like to roast thick slices until they’re caramelized and then balance the sweetness with something tart and tangy. Feta to the rescue, along with pomegranate seeds, pepitas, Aleppo pepper and yogurt. Creamy and crunchy, warm and cool, sweet and tart. It’s all there in this autumn side dish. Add a roast chicken or a bulgur pilaf and dinner’s ready.

Read more
In Milk: Sheep, From: Greece Tags butternut squash, pomegranates, feta, winter squash, yogurt
4 Comments

Top-Value Cheeses for Tight Times

May 24, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com
Cheese board with great-value cheeses

Left to right: Piave Vecchio, Taleggio, La Dama Sagrada, Point Reyes Toma, Bleu d’Auvergne

Seems like everything’s going up but the stock market. My neighborhood bakery just hiked the price of my favorite loaf by 33 percent. Ouch. That’s serious inflation. Cheese is hardly immune, and the stresses in the grain market guarantee more sticker shock to come. We cheese lovers just have to shop smarter. The values are out there. I’ve rounded up a few well-priced favorites for these inflationary times. There aren’t many cheeses that make me think “Is that all?” when I see what I’ve spent, but these dozen do.

Read more
In Milk: Cow, Milk: Goat, Milk: Sheep Tags inflation, cheese prices, Trader Joe’s, feta, Beecher’s Flagship, Bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d’Ambert, Bleu 1924, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese, Point Reyes Original Blue, Caña de Cabra, Caña de Oveja, La Dama Sagrada, Matos St. George, Piave, Red Witch, Roth Grand Cru, Taleggio, Vella Dry Jack, Vella Mezzo Secco
19 Comments

Winter’s Greek Salad

January 26, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com
Feta Salad

We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the TikTok baked feta and tomato pasta, the recipe that caused an international feta stampede. Google Trends, which tracks search volume, shows a near-vertical spike twelve months ago in the number of searches for “feta pasta.” As a feta fanatic, I’m a little saddened to see that the line crashed as quickly as it rose. But maybe the craze introduced a lot more people to this endlessly useful cheese.

Read more
In Milk: Sheep, Milk: Goat, From: Greece Tags baked feta pasta, feta pasta, feta, feta cheese, Greek feta, bulgur, Greek cooking
11 Comments

Crackers by You!

January 11, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com
Top Seedz crackers

You may recall that I went crazy for these crackers last year. They’re from Top Seedz, a small company in Buffalo, New York. Many of you told me you bought some and found them as irresistible as I did. Now you can make them. At home. So they’re as fresh as can be. Top Seedz has developed a packaged mix for home bakers, and it really works. I made the crispy shards pictured above.

Read more
In From: U.S., Milk: Goat, Milk: Sheep, From: Greece, From: France Tags crackers, gluten free crackers, Top Seedz, home baking, homemade crackers, feta
12 Comments

Let’s Do Lunch

August 31, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com

Thank goodness my garden is churning out tomatoes because all I want for lunch these days is dakos. That’s the Cretan rendition of what Italians call bruschetta. In Crete they use rock-hard rusks, first softening them in water, then drenching them in olive oil and heaping them with grated tomato and feta. No wonder the Cretans live forever. In my view, this is just about the tastiest and most wholesome quick lunch you can make.

Read more
In From: Greece, Milk: Goat, Milk: Sheep Tags dakos, rusks, barley rusks, Cretan food, Greek food, food of Crete, meze, bruchetta, feta
Comment

Move Over, Avocado Toast

September 1, 2020 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 106 _DSC1988.jpg

This is fig week in Napa Valley, where I live. Seems like everyone’s backyard crop matures at once. Ripe figs wait for no one. Use ’em or lose ’em. Poking around online for inspiration, I stumbled on an appealing Greek recipe that I would be making for dinner guests if only we could have dinner guests. Oh, well. More for me. Roasted figs, feta, honey, thyme, lemon, sesame seeds—plus my secret ingredient. Soooo good.

Read more
In Milk: Sheep, From: Greece Tags figs, feta, toast, bruschetta, ouzo, appetizers, hors d’oeuvre, mezze, meze, Greek food, Pastis, Pernod
6 Comments
Older Posts →
 

Subscribe!

We respect your privacy.

Thank you!
Planet Cheese RSS

Browse the Archive:

Planet Cheese Blog

Welcome to my world: a fragrant, fascinating universe devoted to great cheese. In this and future Planet Cheese posts, you’ll find profiles of the world’s best cheeses plus insights into everything cheese: shops, recipes, interviews, pairing discoveries, classes, videos, travel. If you haven’t already done so, sign up here - it’s complimentary - and join me in learning something new about cheese every week.


NEW!
2025 World Cheese Tour Class Schedule


Monthly
through November

June 10: SOLD OUT
Reserve for July
Reserve for August
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Winston’s Café
1517 Third Street
Napa


Order signed copies
Free Shipping!

Just received a new shipment of Gather. You can order signed copies here. Third-class shipping is free.

Cheese&Wine
Cheese-Beer
BS-Yogurt.jpg
BS-Wine Country Table.jpg
EatingLocal
BS-FFFM-New1.jpg

Powered by Squarespace
     Photographs: Douglas Fletcher, Ed Anderson, Megan Clouse, Faith Echtermeyer, Eva Kolenko,
Victoria Pearson, Sara Remington and Meg Smith
Design: Jennifer Barry Design | Props: Tangerine Prop Shop | © 2024 Janet Fletcher, All Rights Reserved