To the folks at Shatto,

Tonight at Jasper Mirabile‘s dinner, I was fortunate enough to try a slice of your as of yet unnamed cheese.  It was beautifully complex, with notes of Parmesan, provolone, gruyere, and gorgonzola, all mixed into one.  I savored each and every nibble of that cheese and ate far closer to the rind than I normally would.  Scratch that.  I think I ate the rind.  It looked like a cracker in the Jasper’s “mood lighting.”

However, despite this, I have one small problem.  I am currently weeping because I don’t have any more of your delicious cheese at my disposal for my continued consumption.  If at all possible, I would like to be told what I can do to rectify this situation as soon as possible.

I would appreciate any attention you can give to this matter as I consider it to be a problem of the utmost urgency.

Thanks,

Chris

P.S. If I cannot get more of your cheese, then I will hold my breath until such time as I pass out.  This might lead to me slamming my forehead into my desk and causing brain damage.  I do not believe that you want this on your conscience, so the next move is yours.

P.S.S. Thanks for continuing to supply Blanc Burgers with cheese curds.  They are good as well.

No related posts.

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:

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2. Cheese Post #8 – 2 Pepper Cheese SoufflesAll good things must end, which includes the 8 Days...
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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.

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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!

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Mac and Cheese “Muffins”

Like so many cheese dishes, this one was inspired by Mrs. Well Done, who is the cheese lover in the house.  Back during unResolution month, I made seven cheese mac and cheese which she pretty much devoured.  But something stuck with me.  Between mouthfuls of mac and cheese, her comment was that she liked the crusty parts around the edge of the plan best.

This got me thinking…what if it was all crust?  Or at least mostly crust?  Could that possibly rock the mac and cheese experience any more?  What if I threw in some Cabot Extra Sharp cheddar?

Making Mac and Cheese “Muffins”

So as the name implies, we are going to make this mac and cheese inside muffin tins.  That’s going to give the mac and cheese a nice, crispy crust.  However, to really gild this lily we’re going to go one better and line our muffin tins with crispy, crunchy bread crumbs before baking the mac and cheese.

Finally, to give the muffins a little extra kick, think about adding some hot sauce and cayenne pepper because everything’s better when it’s spicy.

You will need:

• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 squares
• 3 cups whole milk or heavy cream
• (optional) 2 teaspoons cayenne
• 2 packages Cabot Extra Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 2-3 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
• (optional) a few shakes of hot sauce

Preheat your oven to 350.

Make sure the butter is at room temperature.  Put the butter in a skillet and turn the flame to medium. When the butter is melted, add the flour and stir.  Cook for about 60 seconds or until the flour begins to smell slightly nutty.

Add the two cups of cream and the cayenne and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  When the cream begins to boil, add the shredded cheese and stir to melt.  If the mixture is thick, add a bit more cream and continue to stir.  When the cheese is fully melted, remove from the heat.

Spray nonstick cooking spray in the muffin cups.  Pour enough panko breadcrumbs to coat the cups.  Shake the rest out.

Ladle about two tablespoons of mixture into each cup and top with more panko and the hot sauce if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the top is brown and crispy.  Remove the muffin tin from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before trying to remove the mac and cheese muffins.

Run your knife around the edge of the tin until the mac and cheese spins freely.  Remove with two forks.

Serve as a side or meal and enjoy Mardi Gras!

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Okay, I know what you’re thinking…more pizza for the 8 Days of Cabot?

Heck yes!!

Pizza is one of the finest cheese delivery vehicles in the annals of history!  Even better, this particular pizza is a perfect blend of the spicy south of the border flavors we’ve been having and delicious Cabot Creamery Collective cheese because we are making…

Vegetarian Taco Pizza

Two days ago, I hit you with a vegetarian version of my wife’s favorite pizza, the Cheeseburger pizza, which she fell in love with at Gino’s East in Chicago.  Well, my favorite pizza has always been the Taco pizza, which I feasted upon as a child at the Godfather’s in my hometown.  (Funny how you have fond childhood memories of places you wouldn’t step foot in as an adult, but that’s another story.)

Anyway, after getting my wife’s cheeseburger pizza ready for her, I had:

• Half a package of Fantastic taco meat left
• Another prebaked pizza crust
• A block of Cabot Chipotle Cheddar cheese
• Some tomatoes and onions

And a plan…

Making Vegetarian Taco Pizza

You will need:

• 1/2 package of Fantastic Taco Meat or 1 pound browned ground hamburger
  
• 1 prebaked pizza crust
  
• 12.5 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 package (8 oz) Cabot Chipotle Cheddar, sliced into 1/8 inch slices
  
• 1 tomato, diced and seeded
• 1 onion, diced and seeded
• 1 handful sliced black olives

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the tomato sauce over the prebaked crust.  Spread the garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper on the pizza.

Cover the pizza with chipotle cheese and spread the tomatoes and onions on top of the cheese.

Bake the pizza until the cheese melts and turns slightly brown, about 12-14 minutes.

Top with olives.  You can also add shredded lettuce and more tomatoes.  Serve with a side of salsa.

That’s it!!

Sadly this is the last pizza we’ll be having for the 8 Days of Cabot, but I think you’ll like what’s coming next.  Oh, and if you were wondering, my wife did like the taco pizza, but not enough to unseat the cheeseburger pizza as her favorite.

Still, enjoy!

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Cactus Quesadillas

I actually got the idea for doing cactus quesadillas when I was making the chili rellenos.  As much as I hate to admit, I just don’t have that much use for cactus in my daily cooking, but I had half a jar of cactus left.

And I had a block of Cabot 50% Reduced Fat Jalapeno cheddar cheese.

And then I had quesadillas.

Making Cactus Quesadillas

The quesadilla wouldn’t work with just cactus… it’s kind of bitter.  Even with the cheese, the cactus needs something else so I used a mixture of onions and peppers to give the quesadilla body without relying solely on the cactus.

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup cactus strips
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 4 flour tortillas
• 1 package Cabot jalapeno cheese
• 1 can sliced black olives

In a skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and let it get hot.  When hot, add the onion, bell peppers, garlic powder, cumin, and black pepper.  Stir and saute until the bell pepper is soft.  Add the cactus and cook another 60 seconds.

Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool.

Spray a second skillet with non-stick cooking spray, turn the heat to medium and put a tortilla on it.  Cover half the tortilla with one-fourth of the cheese, four tablespoons of veggie mixture, and a few sliced olives.

Fold the uncovered half of the tortilla over the half with the toppings.  Cook 2-3 minutes and then flip.  Cook another 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Let the quesadilla cool and cut with a pizza slicer.

Enjoy!

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3. Cabot Cheese Post #1 – Cheese PizzaWelcome to the first day of the 8 Days of...

Today, we are making my wife’s absolute favorite pizza in the whole world:

Cheeseburger Pizza

My wife fell in love with this pizza when she had it at a restaurant called Gino’s East in Chicago, IL and she still talks about it even though she had it four years ago.  So every now and then, when I get the urge to experiment with pizza, I try to recreate what she had there.  Strange how a little Cabot Seriously Sharp got the urge going.

There was only one problem… my wife is now vegetarian.  Never one to be daunted by a little thing like vegetarianism and knowing that Cabot does not use animal-based rennet (did you hear that vegetarians??) , I grabbed a little Fantastic sloppy joe mix and it was pizza time.

Vegetarian Cheeseburger Pizza

The key to making this pizza go is the sauce.  For some, using ketchup as a pizza sauce is a blasphemy, but I promise, it’s good!

You will need:

• 1 prebaked pizza crust
• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard (the less fancy the better)
• 1/2 package Fantastic taco meat
• 1 package Cabot Seriously Sharp cheese
• 15-18 dill pickle slices

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the ketchup and mustard in a bowl and then spread across the crust.  Top with taco meat.

Cut the Seriously Sharp cheese into 1/8 slices and spread across the pizza.  There should be just enough to cover it.

Top with dill pickles and bake 12-14 minutes or until the cheese is browned.

Eat and enjoy!

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Anyway, yesterday we made a cheese pizza using garlic and herb cheese.  Today we’re going to leave pizza (albeit briefly) to explore a little sizzle south of the border.  Today we’re making

Chili Rellenos

The idea for this dish came from watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay.  In this particular episode, he challenged two gentlmen to a chili relleno throwdown.  Chef Flay’s relleno was pretty much what I would expect from a chilli relleno: a deep fried poblano pepper stuffed with cheese and veggies.

However, the competitors were doing something completely different.  The pepper was roasted and filled with a vegetarian mix of tomatoes, mushrooms, nopales (cactus), olives, and other goodies.  It was an eye-opening experience for me and one that got me interested in trying to make my own chili rellenos, but it was not until I received the gift of good Cabot cheese that I finally got the motivation to get into the kitchen and cook.

Chili Rellenos – Cabot & Throwdown Style

I went with the Cabot 50% Reduced Fat Cheddar for this one.  It has good cheddar flavor, but the taste is not as distinct as say the habanero or extra sharp cheddar.

There was enough big flavor in the filling that I didn’t want to have the cheese overpower it.  Instead, I went with a milder cheese that would complement the flavors and found that the Cabot light cheese worked perfectly.

You will need:

• 4 poblano peppers
• 6 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 4 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 10-12 black olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup nopales (I used store bought, they were okay)
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 cups shredded Cabot light cheese

Preheat your broiler.

Coat the poblanos with 1 tablespoon of olive oil each.  Put the peppers  on the highest rack of the broiler and cook until the skin is completely black, which can take anywhere from 4-10 minutes depending on the strength of your broiler and how close the peppers are to the heater.  However, turn the peppers after 3 minutes.

When the peppers are done, put them in a paper bag for at least 5 minutes to steam them.  Turn the oven down to 350 degrees.

Put the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the skillet over medium flame.  When hot, add the onions, garlic, and a pinch of salt.  When the onions start to turn opaque, add the red and green peppers and cook until soft.  Next, add the mushrooms and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes have given up all their juices.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the cheese and cook for another 60 seconds.  Take the skillet off the heat.

To assemble the chili rellenos, remove the peppers from the paper bag and peel off the black skin.  Use a sharp knife to make an incision down the middle of the pepper.  Don’t cut the pepper in half, just slice one side.

Put a cut at the top of the pepper to make a T so that you can open the pepper.  Remove the seeds.  Then fill with the mixture and top with a 1/2 cup of cheese.

Repeat with the other four peppers and bake in the oven until the cheese melts.

Serve with good salsa and enjoy!

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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!

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