How about whole dried yellow peas? The ones I had were very much like garbanzos except for flavor.

Mt. Tam looks like brie. I'd try that.

"Cowgirl Creamery strikes it rich with a triple cream
February 24, 2005:By Janet Fletcher

With their silky texture, luscious richness and mild, buttery taste, triple-cream cheeses never lack fans. Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam, surely one of America's best examples of this style, boasts all those good traits and then some. Made with organic pasteurized cow's milk from West Marin's Straus Family Dairy, a good, ripe Mt. Tam can make me wonder why I bother with some of France's overly salty triple creams.

By industry convention in this country (in France, it's a law), triple- cream cheeses contain at least 75 percent butterfat. A cheesemaker can't get there with whole milk alone so must enrich the milk with cream. Bear in mind that fat content is figured only on the dry matter, as if all the water in the cheese were evaporated. A high-moisture cheese such as Mt. Tam is probably only about one-third fat if you include the water. "

I think White Kidney beans would work well as a sub for chick peas

I am having a great difficulty imagining a recipe fora tew calling for garbonzo beans and triple cream brie....how about sharing the recipe?
And by the way Mt Tam is not a brie...it's not made with the mold that gives the Brie it's flavor. I suspect it's more like a Jack and farmer's cheese cross.
so you won't use the beans called for and can't get the cheese, I would find another recipe....unless both the cheese and beans are secondary to the recipe.
Linda C

mt Tam is a Brie-like cheese with the white mold exterior.

I use canelinni beans often in recipes calling for garbanzos. They do sometimes go by "white kidney beans" beause they are kidney shaped. I've seen what are called "yellow pigeon peas" which are roundish, but I've not tasted them. Regular pigeon peas are a brownish, reddish tannish color, if that makes any sense. I wouldn't sub them for garbanzos, but I don't know about the "yellow" ones. I sub canelinni for garbanzos in mediterannean style recipes, since they are common european beans. There are some other types, like borlotti, but I don't see those commonly in stores.

Beverly, I agree with Sharon, if you don't care for garbanzo beans, a cannellini bean would work. I think I would sub brie for the Mt Tam, it is closer in texture, and probably flavor than the suggested Monterey jack. The Mt Tam looks to have about the same consistency as brie...

Here is a review I found on Mt Tam Cheese Go for the Mt. Tam (which tastes like what would happen when brie and butter have a baby together) and stick around for the wagon wheel and exclusive selections of imported cheeses. And then get some more Mt. Tam..

Thanks for all of your help. I'd be happy to share the recipe.

Chickpea, Chorizo and Chicken Stew with Mount Tam Cheese

yield: Makes 6 to 8 main-course servings

A slightly firm, mellow triple-crème, Mt. Tam cheese softens into this stew but doesn't melt. We like to add a little extra Sherry just before serving.
Ingredients
1 pound dried chickpeas (2 1/2 cups), picked over
2 medium tomatoes
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
2 ounces slab bacon, rind discarded and bacon cut into 1/4-inch dice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh jalapeño chiles (about 3), seeded and minced
2 large celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 fresh poblano chile, ribs and seeds discarded and chile cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 large carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 small fennel bulb (sometimes called anise), stalks cut off and discarded and bulb cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
1/2 cup sweet Spanish Sherry
10 cups chicken stock (page 314), or 7 cups low-sodium chicken broth plus 3 cups water
3/4 pound fresh chorizo* links (spiced Mexican pork sausage)
1 1/2 pound chicken thighs with skin and bones (about 4; preferably organic)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 (8-ounce) wheel Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam**, or other soft mild triple-crème cow's-milk cheese such as Explorateur, at room temperature

Prepare chickpeas:
Soak chickpeas in water to cover by 2 inches for 8 to 12 hours, then drain.
Cut an X in bottom of each tomato. Blanch tomatoes in a saucepan of boiling water 10 seconds, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water. Peel, seed, and dice tomatoes.
Toast peppercorns and cumin seeds in a small dry heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant and cumin seeds are a shade darker. Cool completely, then finely grind in grinder.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a wide 6- to 7-quart heavy pot over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add bacon and cook, stirring, until just browned, about 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons butter and heat until foam subsides, then stir in garlic and jalapeños and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
Increase heat to moderately high and stir in celery, bell pepper, poblano, onion, carrot, and fennel, then cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until vegetables are browned, about 20 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, bay leaves, and ground spices and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add Sherry and deglaze by boiling, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot, until most of liquid is evaporated, about 2 minutes.
Add chickpeas and stock and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until chickpeas are tender and liquid is thick and saucelike, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Prepare chorizo and chicken while chickpeas simmer:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
Prick chorizo links several times with a fork, then brown in remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in an ovenproof large heavy skillet over moderate heat, turning, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and chill, uncovered, until cold and firm, 10 to 15 minutes. Slice chorizo into 1/4-inch-thick rounds and chill, covered.
Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat remaining tablespoon butter in cleaned skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sear chicken, skin side down, until skin is crisp and browned, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over, then drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and place a rosemary sprig on each piece. Transfer skillet to oven and roast until chicken is just cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes, then discard rosemary, skin, and bones and shred meat. Keep loosely covered.
Finish stew:
When stew is thickened, stir in chicken and chorizo and simmer until sausage is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Divide stew among 6 to 8 bowls and top each serving with 2 or 3 thin wedges of cheese.
*Available at Latino markets.
**Available at cheese shops, Murray's Cheese Shop (888-692-4339; murrayscheese.com), and Cowgirl Creamery (866-433-7834; cowgirlcreamery.com).
Gourmet, 2004

Ooo...that DOEES sounds good! Thanks for posting the recipe. I'm putting this in my to-try file!

I like garbonzos, so it's hard for me to sub them out, but I'd probably go with cannellini if I needed a sub. As for the cheese, I'd just leave it out or go in a different direction with a Mexican white cheese crumbled over top.

Straus is making cheese now? I'll have to keep an eye out for that. Their milk is soooo good.

It may not have enough ingredients. Did you forget a few? ;)

Sounds yummy. I make this kind of thing all the time. Use any old beans you like and any old cheese you like, but something with a strong taste to hold up to the stew. Bean stew, bread and cheese is a weekly meal for me, that's the basic idea so I wouldn't worry so much about bean and cheese varietites.

HAHAHAHAHAH, barnmom!

Lots of stuff in there....to me it sounds VERY hot...spicy...unless you have a mild chorizo...and heavy on the cumin and pepper...lots of heat and anise flavor going on there!
Let us know how it turns out.
Linda C

Eileen, could you think of a few more for me? ; )

Ya know, I looked. I can't! I think it will fill the kitchen sink so maybe I'd add that! That's quite a recipe. Pass the Tums, please. I actually couldn't eat it without suffering badly over several ingredients. Too, bad, it looks delicious.

Sounds delicious, Beverly...not going to be very hot if it only has a couple tablespoons of jalapeño peppers with all those other ingredients, plus it will serve 6-8. Chorizo usually isn't hot, just spicy, there is a difference between hot and spicy. I say go for it.

Well I made the stew and it was very tasty. When I first read the recipe the first thing I noticed was how much hot stuff was in it, so I knew I would have to remove the seeds and some of the membranes from the jalapenos if the chorizo was very hot. I tested some chorizo in the microwave to see just how hot it was before removing some of the other heat. The Chorizo was not that hot by most people's standards, but it was rather hot by mine, so I elected to remove all other heat producers and it came out with the perfect heat intensity for me. I had never eaten Chorizo before and I really liked it. To cut down on some of the work for this stew the next time I would use a rotesserie chicken from the store.