I had way more fun playing with Cabot Creamery Collective cheese than I thought I would and came up with an extra cheese dish.  Here’s to the ninth dish:

Cheesy Olives

This dish came to me when I was writing an article for Big Blend Magazine.  I was working on an Italian spread for a basketball feast and I had a few left over olives.  I also had some left over Cabot Horseradish cheddar cheese and I got to thinking about a dish my wife and I used to love.

One of our first big romantic dates was catered by Target (no, really) because they had these fried cheese stuffed olives called oliveinos which were amazing.  They were basically a black olive stuffed with herbed cheese coated in batter and deep fried.  What’s not to love?

My first thought had been to replicate that dish, but use some leftover green olives I had until I realized they were unpitted olives.  (D’oh.)  So what I did was take the olives, dry them, and coat them in batter.  I deep fried them and then topped the olives with cheese while they were still warm.  By doing so, I got a lovely flavored melted cheese without needing to stuff the olive.  It was a win-win situation.

Making Cheesy Olives

You will need:

• 1 cup of olives, preferrably pitted
• 1 cup of All-Purpose flour
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt + more to sprinkle on the fried olives
• oil for frying
• 2 ounces Cabot Horseradish cheddar cheese, shredded

Remove the olives from the jar and put them on a double set of paper towels.  Pat the olives as dry as you can.  Let them rest.

Make the batter by mixing the flour, milk, egg, and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Mix well with a fork to ensure no lumps form.

Dip the olives in the batter and let them rest.

While the olives are resting, heat the oil to 350 degrees or medium high on the burner.  Deep fry the olives until the coating turns brown, about 30-60 seconds.

Remove to another paper towl or a cooling rack and sprinkle with salt and cheese.

Eat and enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Cheese Post #7 – Cheesy PolentaPost #7… that means just two days left of Cabot...
2. Cheese Post #8 – 2 Pepper Cheese SoufflesAll good things must end, which includes the 8 Days...
3. Cheese Post #2 – Chili RellenosWelcome to another edition of the 8 Days of Cabot,...

Some will say, though, that I saved the best for last with this little cheesy gems because today we’re making

Two Pepper Cheese Souffles

That’s right two different types of chili peppers go into these souffles.  What are the two peppers?

Well all throughout the 8 Days of Cabot, I’ve been on a definite Tex Mex kinda twist and the last block of cheese I had left was Cabot Habanero Cheddar.  I thought that the spicy kick of the habanero cheese  would be perfect in a cheese souffle.  So that’s pepper #1.

Never one to leave well enough alone, I got to thinking.  Habaneros are good…but habaneros and chipotles in adobo are even better.  So I mixed them together to form an amazing cheese souffle.  But I wasn’t done yet.  I also added mushrooms to the souffle to give it an earthy taste and a firm texture that you are going love.

It’s Cheese Souffle Time!

The recipe I used for this was basically taken directly from Alton Brown.  This was a risk becacuse I often find his recipes to be overly complex and difficult to execute.  Not so this time.

You will need:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 5 eggs, separated
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 oz shredded Cabot habanero cheese
• 4 chipotles in adobo, sliced
• 4 mushrooms, sliced thin
• Butter for greasing the muffin tin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring the milk to a simmer (not a full boil, just keep it warm.)  If you have not done so yet, separate the eggs.  Beat the egg yolks with a fork like you were making scrambled eggs.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour (this is called making a roux).   Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the flour begins to smell nutty.  Pour in the milk, salt, cumin, and black pepper.  Stir to incorporate the flour and wait for the milk to come to a gentle boil.

Add the shredded habanero cheese to the milk and stir to melt.

When fully melted, remove from the burner and temper the egg yolks by putting a few tablespoons of the milk in with the egg yolks.  This will raise the temperature of the egg yolks so that they will not scramble when you add them to the rest of the milk.

Add them to the rest of the milk.  This is the main batter and should now be off the heat.

Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until white and glossy.  They are ready when you can pull the beaters out the egg whites and the egg whites at the end of the beaters do not move (a.ka. stiff peaks.)

Using a spatula, fold 1/3 of the egg whites mixture into the main batter.  Gently incorporate so as not to let any of the air out of the egg whites.  Add another 1/3 and repeat.   Then fold the final 1/3 into the main batter.

Put a few slices of mushroom and chipotle into tins of a greased muffin then add just enough souffle mix so that the muffin tins are full without running over.

Put the muffin tin in another oven safe container and fill the container with hot water.  Bake the souffles 10-12 minutes or until the eggs have set.  Let them sit for five minutes to let them set before serving.

After that, all that is left is to enjoy!

Notes:

1. Of interest only to me is that I whipped the egg whites in this recipe by hand.  No electric mixers for me.  I just needed to brag.
2. Of interest only to me is that I didn’t use cream of tartar which would have helped the whipping process.
3. Lastly, of interest only to me is that I whipped the egg whites before I made the main batter and had to periodically rewhip the egg whites.

Related posts:

1. Cheese Post #6 – Mac and Cheese MuffinsWell, we’re past the halfway point of the 8 Days...
2. Cabot Cheese Post #1 – Cheese PizzaWelcome to the first day of the 8 Days of...
3. Bonus Cheese Post – Cheesy OlivesOkay, so sometimes I gotta throw a little bonus out...

Today we’re going to be cooking with one of my favorite ingredients in the world as we make:

Cheesy Polenta

Now I know, polenta is not exactly everyone’s favorite thing to eat.  However, I am willing to be that many of the polenta haters out there have only had the stuff that is sold premade in little plastic tubes.

Piffle I say!

True polenta you make yourself bears as much resemblance to the stuff in the tube as the sun does to a yellow crayon drawing.  The only way to make polenta is to pour it into some boiling water and stir it yourself.  You’re family with thank you and your tastebuds will thank you.

Of course, add some Cabot Horseradish cheddar and your family and tastebuds will REALLY thank you.  Ready to make it?

Horseradish Cheddar Cheesy Polenta

To make this dish happen, you are first going to cook the polenta with cheese in it.  Then, once the poltenta is done , you are going to mold it and bake it in the oven with more delicious Cabot cheese on top.

You will need:

• 3 cups cream
• 3 cups stock
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 2 cups polenta
• 1 package Cabot horseradish cheese, shredded
• Butter or non stick spray

In a high sided sauce pan or even a soup pot, add the cream, stock, pepper, and polenta.  Stir until the polenta starts to boil.

Then add 3/4 of the package of Cabot horseradish cheese to the polenta and continue to stir with a long spoon since polenta bubbles and is a little like napalm when hot.

Next, stir frequently until the polenta is done.  You don’t need to constantly stir it if your pot is wide enough, so this would be a good time to be cooking some nice veggies or sauteing some chicken.  Whatever you do, don’t leave the stove.  You might forget to the stir.

Now, cooking time is going to vary.

The package of polenta I had said 30 minutes.  Mine was done in less than 10.  I don’t know who to believe anymore.

All I know is that the polenta needs to be (according to the package) VERY thick.  I was muscling the spoon through the polenta with more than a little force and that’s when I knew it was time to get it off the heat.

Once off the heat, if you want, you could sprinkle the rest of the cheese on the polenta and have a great meal.

OR you can get fancy.

Preheat the oven to 350.

I used a little butter to grease a shallow bowl and filled it with polenta.  I let the polenta sit there for about 10 minutes so that it took the shape of the bowl and then flipped it over.  Out popped a perfectly formed mound of polenta.  I topped that with the rest of the cheese and put the whole thing on a greased cookie sheet in the oven for about 12 minutes so that the cheese got melted and slightly brown.

And that’s cheesey polenta.  Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Bonus Cheese Post – Cheesy OlivesOkay, so sometimes I gotta throw a little bonus out...
2. Cheese Post #6 – Mac and Cheese MuffinsWell, we’re past the halfway point of the 8 Days...
3. Cabot Cheese Post #1 – Cheese PizzaWelcome to the first day of the 8 Days of...

Ready?  Good!  Let’s start with:

Cheese Pizza Using Cabot Garlic and Herb Cheese

Okay, so I know it seems a little lame to start 8 days of Cabot with a cheese pizza, but believe me, this was no ordinaly cheese pizza we made.

Mrs. WellDone  was looking for a quick supper for her and BlogWellDone, Jr.  Sadly, BWD, Jr. is a bit of a picky eater, so whenever she makes pizza, she is limited to cheese pizza only.  He just won’t eat any toppings.  I know she gets tired of plain cheese pizzas, but she doesn’t have a lot of options.  To remedy this culinary conundrum, I suggested she take some of the garlic and herb cheese and cut into thin slices.

She laid the slices out on top of the pizza, put it in the oven, and baked the pizza for about 12 minutes.  When the she pulled the pizza out of oven, the Cabot cheese had melted entirely, leaving little bits of herb mixed in with the cheese.  I was shocked how well it melted (I was expect lumpy cheese).

Anyway, she loved the pizza and the first Cabot dish was born!

Make Your Own Cheese Pizza

To make a Cabot cheese pizza, here’s what you need:

• 1 Store bought pizza crust
• 1 12.5 oz can of tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons garlic
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 pinch red pepper flake
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella
• 1 package of Cabot garlic and herb cheese sliced into 1/8 inch thick slices
• (Optional) Parmesan cheese
• (Optional) More dried basil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the tomato sauce on the pizza crust.  Then mix the garlic powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flake, and basil in a bowl.  Shake on to the sauce.

Cover the pizza with the shredded mozzarella and then top with the garlic and herb cheese.

Bake on the highest rack for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Optionally top with Parmesan cheese and basil.  Serve when cool!

Then you know what time it is…time to enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Cheese Post #3 – Cheeseburger PizzaYesterday I mentioned that we were only briefly leaving the...
2. Cheese Post #5 – Taco Pizza Okay, I know what you’re thinking…more pizza for the...
3. Cheese Post #8 – 2 Pepper Cheese SoufflesAll good things must end, which includes the 8 Days...