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New Era of Grilled Cheese

April is apparently National Grilled Cheese Month, but I hadn’t noticed, since every month is pretty much grilled cheese month here in Wisconsin. Need a quick snack? Make a grilled cheese. Too tired to actually cook dinner? Make a grilled cheese. Bored? Make a grilled cheese. 

This is the mantra of every Wisconsinite. When we’re hungry, we eat cheese. It just comes naturally.

So when I read a column posted today by Ron Krueger, of the Flint Journal, on grilled cheese, it immediately took me back to my childhood, watching my mom pull the Velveeta from the fridge, which she kept in a specially-made green plastic Velveeta container with a lid (everyone had one of those back then), slice a couple of big old slabs of the gooey orange stuff they called cheese, sandwich it between two pieces of buttered bread, lightly toast on a pan over the old farm gas stove, and voila, three minutes later, I had the greatest snack ever.
Ron is exactly right when he says Kraft and Wonder Bread had a corner on the grilled cheese in the 70s and 80s. Heck, here in Wisconsin, people I know STILL make grilled cheese with white bread and Kraft Singles (one step up from Velveeta, I suppose).
But since it’s National Grilled Cheese Month, let’s break out of our Wisconsinite pattern, people, and actually buy some real cheese and real bread. Here’s a secret I’ve learned over the years — you can use almost any cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich as long as you shred it first. Most cheese, when shredded, melts beautifully.
My favorite is an aged cheddar grilled cheese — Hook’s 5-year or Widmer’s 6-year are best — just shred the cheese a bit, butter your bread, and toast until done. Aged cheddar is particular good with any sort of artisan bread — a sourdough is a nice touch. I also enjoy a Swiss & marbled rye grilled cheese — again, just shred your favorite Swiss cheese and toast on buttered marbled rye bread. Yummy.
Laura Werlin has a great book on grilled cheese that came out several years ago, but it’s always worth repeating — she’s also doing some recipes for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board this month for off-the-beaten-track grilled cheese. Check them out here. 
In the meantime, try making a Grilled Blue Cheese & Bacon Sandwich — here’s the recipe:
• 1/2 c. blue cheese, crumbled
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• 8 slices artisan onion bread
• 2 T. butter, softened
• 4 slices bacon, cooked crisp
In a small bowl, blend blue cheese, cream cheese, green onion and black pepper. Butter one side of each slice of bread.
Spread the cheese mixture on the non-buttered side of 4 bread slices. Cut bacon slices in half and place 2 halves on top of each blue cheese- topped slice. Cover with remaining bread, buttered side out.
Place sandwiches on an electric griddle heated to 275 degrees or in a skillet heated on medium. Cook 4-5 minutes per side, or until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted.
Enjoy!
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Wanna Be a Cheesemonger?

Here’s a class I’d love to go to if I had a chance — Becoming a Cheesemonger, offered in Portland, Oregon, by the esteemed Steve Jones of Steve’s Cheese.

The press release announcing the class hit my inbox a couple of months ago, and in true post-journalistic form, I skimmed it quickly, decided there wasn’t a story, and hit Delete. Today, another email filtered through, this time announcing the May 1 registration deadline and now I’m thinking — wow, this is actually pretty cool. I could go to Portland for three days, hang out with Steve Jones, and learn how to be a real cheesemonger. Awesome.
The class runs for three days in June and is billed as a mini-apprenticeship. Steve, the son of a herdsman for Maytag Dairy, has had experience in every aspect of cheese distribution, purchasing and sales.  He directed the cheese department for Provvista Specialty Foods Inc., and then spent more than two years as head cheesemonger at one location of New Seasons, the groundbreaking boutique supermarket chain. His next venture was acting as a broker for a group of Oregon artisan cheesemakers. In his spare time, he also did an internship at London’s revered cheese merchant, Neal’s Yard Dairy.
In November, 2005, Jones opened Steve’s Cheese, which can only be described as a compact wonderland of fine cheeses, cured meats and related hand-made food products.  Read an interview with Steve here. 
So, in addition to working with a great guy for three days, you’d also get to rub shoulders with Sasha Davies, of Cheese By Hand acclaim. Sasha is working at a cheesemonger at Steve’s Cheese these days. I got to hang out with her for a day at the California Artisan Cheese Festival last month — we toured some California farmstead dairies together and it was nice to catch up.
So for all you aspiring cheesemongers out there — this class sounds like a great opportunity to learn some tools of the trade.  Now if I could just squeeze it into my schedule … sigh.
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Unwrap and Roll Hits You Tube

While You Tube is full of guys singing in self-filmed tributes to Wisconsin cheese like this one, I’ve never before seen a Wisconsin cheese company promoting itself on You Tube and listing the link on its sell sheets.

Leave it to BelGioioso Cheese to break this marketing barrier. Francis Wall, VP of Marketing, sent me a copy of the company’s new sell sheet for Unwrap and Roll Fresh Mozzarella, and directly on the top of the sheet, in bold red writing, is this: Check out our demonstration on You Tube! 
So I click on the link — see it here — and sure enough, there’s Francis on You Tube, talking about how he’s found the perfect appetizer for tonight’s dinner — the new Unwrap and Roll from BelGioioso. 
I have to admit that this product is actually pretty cool. It comes wrapped in a plastic package and at first looks like just any other log of fresh mozz. But when you open the package, it’s actually a big sheet of mozzarella that you can unroll, put anything you want on top, and then roll it back up. Then when you slice it – voila – you’ve got an instant appetizer.
While Francis of course demonstrates the new product using fresh basil and tomatoes – the classic appetizer – you can really put anything you want it this baby.  I recently bought some at the store and started experimenting — turns out just about anything is good wrapped in fresh mozzarella.  
If you’ve got kids, try putting in pepperoni and some pizza sauce, roll it up, slice it, and bam – you’ve got instant mini pizzas.  Or, if you’re really lazy, just get out some cookie cutters, push into the sheet of fresh mozz, and serve to your kids as a fun snack.
My husband is a big fan of bacon, so we tried cooking some bacon and wrapping that up — yummy. Then we went way out of the box and pretty much tried putting anything in the fridge inside fresh mozz, and it turns out that it’s actually pretty hard to screw it up. The worst combination we found was whipped cream. Wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyhoo, if you’re looking for an easy, classy appetizer, I’d highly recommend it. Impress your friends and look like a foodie – but stick to the classic ingredients for best results.
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Bohemian Blue

Geez, I leave town for a few days and all hell breaks loose back home.  Apparently some nutjob stole a plane in Canada, flew to Wisconsin, steered it close enough to the State Capital building in Madison to have it evacuated, and then got arrested after fighter jets forced him to finally land on a highway in Missouri. 

I always miss the exciting stuff.

But in more important breaking news that revolves – I mean, what else – around cheese, Wisconsin cheesemaker Brenda Jensen emailed me this week with the most glorious news. While I’ve been traipsing the back country of New Mexico with the family on spring break, Hidden Springs and Hook’s Cheese have been busy teaming up to make a sheep milk blue cheese.
Brenda is calling the creation Bohemian Blue and it will be ready for sale in about three weeks. I absolutely love the label, which reads: “For people with artistic or literary interests who disregard conventional standards of behavior.”
Brenda, who makes several fabulous sheep milk cheeses at her Hidden Springs Creamery near Westby, and Tony & Julie Hook, who make world-famous blue cheeses and aged Cheddar at their plant in Mineral Point, connected at a party at Fromagination earlier this year.  They started talking about the U.S. government’s intentions to assign a 300 percent tariff to Roquefort, the world’s most famous sheep milk blue made in France, and thought perhaps the U.S. might be ready for a domestic sheep’s milk blue to fill the gap.
While their new concoction can not be called Roquefort, due to AOC regulations, Brenda’s new cheese should resemble the King of Blues. I can’t wait to try it — I’ll let you know just as soon as it hits cheese shop shelves.
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Stinky Cheese is Back

Check out today’s issue of the Wisconsin State Journal and you’ll read that “Stinky cheese makes a comeback.”

Freelance writer Brian E. Clark did a great job writing about the renaissance of stinky cheese in the United States. He was also kind enough to interview me for the story and asked me rank my top seven stinky cheeses currently being made in Wisconsin. 
So get out a clothespin and try these one at a time. Ranked in order of “stinkiness”, with the most pungent listed as No. 1., here are my favorites:
7.  Fleuri Noir, Fantôme Farm, Ridgeway, Wis.
This award-winning bloomy rind goat’s milk cheese is hand ladled into forms, dusted with ash and salt, and then allowed to age for several weeks. Cheesemaker Anne Topham sells this pyramid-shaped delicacy at the Dane County Farmer’s Market between April and November.
6.  Petit Frere, Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, Waterloo, Wis.
Cheesemaker George Crave created this rich, rind-washed cheese to reflect his family’s Irish-French heritage.  Made in small batches, ladled into draining molds, and then washed daily, the cheese carries an earthy, fruity flavor and velvety texture.
5.  St. Pauline, Capri Cheesery, Blue River, Wis.
This mixed milk, washed rind cheese is crafted using both goat and cow milk and is aged four to eight months by cheesemaker Felix Thalhammer. A firm, raw milk cheese, it is an American Original best described as a cross between gouda and havarti. Cured on cedar boards for at least three months.
4.  Brau Käse, Roth Käse USA, Monroe, Wis.
The aging cellar masters at Roth Käse USA gently coat this rind-washed Brau Käse cheese with brewer’s yeast to impart an earthy flavor, creating a creamy interior perfectly balanced with a slightly assertive rind.
3.  Aged Brick, Widmer’s Cheese Cellars, Theresa, Wis.
Master Cheesemaker Joe Widmer makes this surface-ripened stinking beauty by hand, filling each cheese mold with curd and weighting it down with the same bricks his grandfather used. After resting in a brine bath, the cheeses are aged on wooden shelves and hand-washed daily. 
2.  Earth Schmier, Bleu Mont Dairy, Blue Mounds, Wis.
This signature raw milk, washed-rind Havarti-based cheese was created by cheesemaker Willi Lehner. He injects the cheese with microbes harvested from his farm in southwestern Wisconsin, giving a whole new level to  the meaning of “terroir”.
1.  Country Castle Limburger, Chalet Cheese Cooperative, Monroe, Wis. 
The last of all U.S. cheesemakers crafting the granddaddy of stinky cheeses is Myron Olson at Chalet. This pungent smelling, surface-ripened cheese is often compared to the odor of stinky feet, but once it reaches the palette, it pairs exceptionally well with hearty rye breads and a slice of onion.
Remember to buy these in small amounts if at all possible, and eat it all in one serving. Because I don’t care how many layers of foil or plastic wrap you put around these cheeses, they are still going to “stink up” your fridge – in a good way of course. Happy eating stinky cheese!
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Mars Cheese Castle Rises Again

If Wisconsin is known for anything besides cheese, it is our landmark roadside cheese stores. The most famous of all is the Mars Cheese Castle, located along I-94 between Kenosha and Racine.  

Built in 1947, Mars Cheese Castle is synonymous with Wisconsin. A combination of cheese store, restaurant, bakery, knick-knack haven and overall kitsch, the Mars Cheese Castle has served millions of tourists since it opened. And earlier this year, it looked like it just might vanish.
Turns out the shop is in the path of a new interchange being built on I-94 at the intersection of Highway 142.  It will be torn down as part of a massive highway reconstruction project that stretches from Milwaukee to the Illinois state line.
However, fear not my out-of-state friends, the Mars Cheese Castle is rising again. The Mars’ owners, the Ventura family, just received approval from the local planning commission to allow construction of a brand new Cheese Castle that will be built directly behind the existing shop and storage facility on the Mars property.
And guess what? It’s going to be bigger, better and more kitschy than ever.
The new Mars Cheese Castle will include turrets and a “drawbridge” — notice that’s in quotes — in keeping with its name. Because the Mars Cheese Castle is such a Wisconsin icon, its Mars Cheese Castle sign – extremely visible from the interstate – has received a special variance from the state that will allow its relocation to the new store.
The new building will be 25,000 square feet and will include a store, restaurant and lounge, gift shop and bakery. A wine shop will be included at the base of a turret. Classy.
The Ventura family is still awaiting approval from the Paris Town Board and Kenosha County for the project. They hope to begin construction in July, hoping to time the project so the existing store can remain open until the new roadway and the new castle are ready to open.
Long live Mars Cheese Castle.
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Wisconsin Artisan Frozen Yogurt

Just in time for warmer weather, Ian’s Pizza in Madison, Wis., is planning to debut the state’s newest artisan product — frozen yogurt made from local Sugar River Dairy yogurt and fresh Blue Marble Family Farm milk, both located in southwest Wisconsin. 
The new Ian’s Frozen Yogurt will be available in 8-ounce cups beginning Monday, April 20, at Ian’s Pizza by the Slice on Frances St in Madison.  It will almost always be available in original or vanilla flavors, along with specialty flavors that will reflect the seasons.
 
“Since Sugar River Yogurt is so flavorful, we knew it would make an excellent base as we were developing our frozen yogurt,” says Cindy Gross, head chef at Ian’s Pizza (pictured above). “Using just their plain yogurt and sugar during the initial testing phase, everyone on staff was blown away by just how good real frozen yogurt can taste. And our employees are definitely some of our toughest critics!”
I got the chance this morning to try two of the flavors Cindy is currently perfecting – maple and honey.  Both flavors reflect the freshness of the milk and the quality of Sugar River Dairy yogurt. Ian’s Frozen Yogurt doesn’t taste like the commercial gooey stuff you get at TCBY. This is the real deal, and the flavor of the milk is allowed to shine through.
Chef Gross says she plans to offer seasonal flavors, such as choke cherry, in the summer. She is working with a local farmer to develop fruits and flavorings designed to specifically compliment Sugar River Dairy yogurt in a frozen form.  She is also developing special in-house toppings, such as granola and organic chocolate, to accompany individual servings. 
If all goes well at the Frances St. location, Ian’s plans to expand its frozen yogurt offerings to its other restaurants in Madison, eventually establishing a commissary to sell it direct to consumers. 
Using local ingredients is nothing new to Ian’s Pizza. The restaurant has long been buying high quality meats, as well as seasonally-available produce, from local farmers.
“Since a big part of our company vision is to lessen the impact we have on the environment, incorporating more locally-produced food into our menu makes a lot of sense to us,” says Ian Gurfield, founder of Ian’s Pizza. “Plus we get to support other area small businesses, and the food just tastes better. Not only that, but we’ve found that our food costs have, in some cases, actually fallen since we started actively pursuing more Southern Wisconsin-based products.”
Hallelujah, brother. Bring on the local frozen yogurt!
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Farmstead Dairies in California

Today is my final day at the California Artisan Cheese Festival, and it’s my favorite day of the event – Tour Day!!  I was extremely excited to visit two farmstead dairies here in Sonoma/Marin Counties that normally don’t allow visitors — Pt. Reyes Farmstead Cheese and Bellwether Cheese Company.

I’ve discovered that not only does this part of California have happy cows (what cow wouldn’t be happy with an ocean view?), they also have very happy sheep — as in super cute baby sheep (it’s lambing season) whose mothers produce milk that makes awesome cheese.
My tour group of 15 die-hard cheese fans got to see those sheep up close and personal at Bellwether Farms, a family-owned farmstead cheese operation run by Liam Callahan and his mother, Cindy. We also toured the cheese make room, sampled many of the family’s cheeses, and in what could be the highlight of this trip – got to taste the new Bellwether Sheep Milk Yogurt.
Holy sheep, is this yogurt yummy. Imagine the best cow’s milk yogurt you’ve ever tasted and then multiply by 10. And in even better news, Bellwether hopes to have nation-wide distribution in a couple of months. I first tasted the strawberry, and then when no one was looking, snuck another cup of vanilla and ate that before we left. Wowsers.
Bellwether of course also makes several cheeses (and have been since 1992). Cindy and Liam craft an excellent sheep’s milk cheese called San Andreas, which has pretty decent distribution around the country. However, in a smart marketing move (since sheep give milk only seasonally), the Callahans also buy Jersey milk from a cow dairy just down the road. They turn that milk into some amazing Fromage Blanc, Creme Fraiche, Crescenza, and my all time favorite – Carmody, an American Original semi-soft Jersey milk cheese that absolutely melts on your tongue (pictured above – receiving its second layer of waxy rind by hand brushing).
After we finished oohing and ahhing at the baby sheep at Bellwether Farm, it was off to Pt. Reyes Farmstead Cheese, a cow dairy perched on the rolling hills overlooking Tomales Bay. I have to admit that I’ve seen this company’s marketing materials that include a lovely picture of cows in knee-high green grass with a bright blue bay in the background, and thought
 to myself, yeah, right, as if it actually looks like that.
Turns out it ACTUALLY does. Pt. Reyes Farmstead Dairy is one of the most picturesque places I’ve ever seen. The Giacomini (pronounced Jack-uh-meany) family has been milking cows here since 1959. In an effort to both improve profitability and pass the farm on to his four daughters, Bob Giacomini decided to begin making farmstead blue cheese in 2000.

Today, the 700-acre farm has gone organic, with all the milk from 200 cows going into making Pt. Reyes Farmstead Original Blue. The farmstead creamery is expanding rapidly — construction is nearly complete on a brand new building, which will house a new, larger cooler to house some new cheeses with which the family is experimenting, as well as more dry storage space, new offices, conference rooms, and an entertaining center with commercial kitchen to host chefs, media and special groups.
So, look for new, original cheeses coming from Pt. Reyes at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco next January. If they can make farmstead blue this good, who knows what else they will come up with? I’m sure it will be amazing.
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Classico Cheese

It’s Saturday and I’m here in Petaluma at the third annual California Artisan Cheese Festival. Today was seminar day. One of my favorite sessions was “Traveling the Oregon Cheese Trail,” hosted by David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery, Tami Parr of the Pacific Northwest Cheese Project, and Flavio DeCastilhos, owner/cheesemaker at Tumalo Farms near Bend, Oregon.

As you may recall, Tumalo Farms’ cheese, Classico, just won reserve champion at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin this week. While I didn’t get a chance to taste it at the contest, I did get a chance to not only sample it here at the California festival, but to also listen to the cheesemaker describe the cheese and its history.

Like many American Original cheeses, Classico, a creamy farmstead goat’s milk cheese, has a unique story behind its origination. Owner Flavio DeCastilhos spent 20 years as a manager and executive in Silicon Valley’s fast-paced, high-tech industry. He co-founded Healtheon/WebMD, introducing online healthcare to the market. He also worked at Silicon Graphics. His wife, Margie, is also a computer industry veteran, with 15 years experience at Hewlett Packard.
Flavio told the story that during a vacation to southern Brazil’s wine country, he became fascinated with the local cheese industry and the tastes and textures of artisan cheeses. When he returned home, he decided to research the potential for building a business centered on what he considers “food for the soul.” A few years later, he and his family founded Tumalo Farms.
Starting a farm and a business from scratch gave Flavio the opportunity to build a state-of-the-art cheesemaking operation. He spent two years researching, studying and learning the art and science of running a dairy goat farm and making goat’s milk cheeses. He became particularly interested in perfecting traditional Dutch and Italian cheeses, and in experimenting with local ingredients to develop new recipes that would celebrate the terroir of Oregon.
Today, Flavio has invested in modern barns and automated milking stations. The creamery has separate rooms for holding the milk in stainless steel tanks and making the cheese. He also built an aging cellar into the side of a hill designed systems to control temperature and humidity to perfect age his cheeses.
Tucked in the triangle between Bend, Sisters, and Redmond in central Oregon, Tumalo Farms consists of 84 acres surrounded by views of the Cascades. At 3,500 feet above sea level, the high desert climate means more than 300 days of sunshine a year (sign me up!!). 
Tumalo Farms’ flagship cheese is the now award-winning Classico, a hard goat’s milk cheese inspired by traditional Dutch cheeses. Made in 9-pound wheels, it boasts a honeysuckle aroma and becomes more caramelized as it gets older. Flavio crafts about eight different cheeses, five of them based on the Classico recipe, including cheeses with capricorns, cumin, fenugreek seeds and rosemary. He also makes a couple other American Originals, including Pond Hopper, a goat’s milk cheese made with a local microbrew.
If you get a chance, I’d highly recommend trying Flavio’s Classico. Especially now that it has won such a high profile award, more retailers should start carrying it. You can also buy it online at the Tumalo Farms website. Enjoy!
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On Location: California’s Artisan Cheese Festival

Today I got up at 4:30 a.m., talked my husband into driving me to O’Hare, got on a plane to San Francisco, rented a car, drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and up Hwy 101 all the way to Petaluma, California. 

All in the name of cheese. 

This weekend is California’s Artisan Cheese Festival in Petaluma, located about an hour north of San Francisco. After only getting lost twice (had to stop in Sausalito for a ham & cheese on sliced sourdough), and nearly 15 hours after leaving home, I finally had the opportunity to taste more than 30 different artisan cheeses at tonight’s Meet the Cheesemaker event. For great photos all weekend, visit the Canyon of Cheese blog, written by Bryce Allemann, who’s also serving as assistant director at this year’s festival.
I was on a particular mission to meet the owner of Beehive Cheese Co., after rediscovering his cheese at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest this past week. Beehive Cheese has the distinction of being one of only five artisan cheese plants in the entire state of Utah. I figured anyone who goes through the trouble of finding milk and making cheese in UTAH – of all places – has got to be worth talking to.
After a few minutes of stalking him from across the room, I caught up to Tim Welsh and his lovely wife, Kari, introduced myself, and found out the Welshes started Beehive Cheese from scratch in 2005. Prior to that, Tim and a business partner had been running a software company for 15 years and had the opportunity to sell. His partner went on to start another company and Tim decided to make cheese.
“Everybody thought I was nuts when I told them I was going to be a cheesemaker. They literally thought I was out of my mind,” Tim told me tonight.
So Tim and Kari went on a cross-country mission, talking to other artisan cheesemakers and trying hundreds of different cheeses in an effort to decide what kind of cheese to craft. After major help from Utah State University’s dairy center, Tim gave up his briefcase and laptop for the romance of making hand-crafted cheese.
Today, he procures 500 gallons of milk a day to make a variety of different American Originals. My favorite is Barely Buzzed (pictured above), a full bodied cheese with a nutty flavor and smooth texture that Tim makes in 20-pound wheels that are about 4 inches high. The cheese is hand rubbed with a Turkish grind of Colorado Legacy Coffee Company’s (who just happens to be Tim’s brother) “Beehive Blend”. The blend consists of a mix of South American, Central American, and Indonesian beans roasted to different styles. 
Tim says French lavender buds are also ground with the coffee and the mixture is diluted with oil to suspend the dry ingredients in the rub. The result is an artisan cheese with notes of butterscotch and caramel which are of course more prevalent near the rind, but find their way nicely to the center. Barely Buzzed has won several major awards, including two first places at the American Cheese Society in 2007 and 2008 in the flavored cheddar category. 
Another favorite is Aggiano, a unique American Parmesan style cheese named after the Utah State Aggies. I have no idea what an Aggie is, but Utah State decided on it for their mascot. Pronounced “AGGI” ano, the recipe is courtesy of the Utah State University dairy center. A dry, yet creamy cheese, this beauty is tangy with a pineapple note (but not overpowering) and flakes off the wedge leaving a butterscotch aftertaste. Yummy.
So I know what you’re thinking … what exactly is a Utah cheesemaker doing at a Californian Artisan Cheese Festival? Well, when you’ve only got five cheesemakers in your entire state, you look to the closest place and hope they adopt you. And that’s just what California has done. Smart move on their part, because if the Welshes were any closer, we Wisconsinites would claim them as our own.