What's a Christmas without a cookie ...

What with holiday baking on everyone’s mind—isn’t it on yours?—I wondered about CHEESE COOKIES … lo and behold … I found a whole batch of delicious sounding recipes already offered up on:

“Just For Fun: Benji and Petey’s Cheese Cookies Page”
http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/cheesecookiesrecipes.htm

I also found another recipe that makes my mouth water just looking at it (see photo above) I got this photograph and the recipe--at the tail end of the recipes below--from http://whatscookingamerica.net/Appetizers/SavoryCheddarCookies.htm

The Apple Cheddar Cheese Cookie recipe sounds particularly yummy, so why not try something a little different, no?

There's even a recipe here for cookies for your dogs! Suki is going to be a happy Shih Tzu!

If you end up trying any of these recipes, let me know how they turn out!

Here they are. Happy Holiday cookie making!!!!!

Cheese Cookies

Ingredients (1 serving)

1/4 lb Butter

1/4 lb Margarine

2 c Plain flour

1/2 lb Sharp cheese, grated

1/2 ts Salt

2 c Rice Krispies

Instructions Mix thoroughly; form into small balls. Place on greased cookie sheet, mash flat with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cheesecake Cookies (16 servings)

5 tb Butter, softened

1 c Flour

1 pk 8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tb Milk

1/2 ts Vanilla

1/3 c Brown sugar, packed

1/2 c Sugar

1 ea Egg

1 tb Lemon juice

Instructions Heat over to 350. In a medium bowl blend thoroughly butter, brown sugar and flour with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put 1 cup of the mixture aside for topping. Press remaining mixture into an 8x8x2 inch baking dish; bake for 15 minutes. In another bowl combine sugar and cream cheese, mixing until smooth. Thoroughly beat in egg, milk, lemon juice and vanilla. Spread over the baked crust and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar mixture. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool, then chill for at least 1 hour. Cut into 16 squares; serve.

Cream Cheese Cookies

Preheat oven to 350.

2 pkgs. refrigerator chocolate chip cookies

2- 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 c. sugar

Soften cream cheese. Cut 1 roll of cookies into 1/8 inch slices. Place in bottom of 9x9 pan. Pinch together. In a small bowl blend cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Blend in remaining ingredients. Pour over cookie dough in pan. Slice second row of cookies. Place in rows over cream cheese. Bake 35-40 mn. at 350.

Ricotta Cheese Cookies II
Delicate Italian ricotta cookies with an almond flavored glaze.
Ingredients:

1/2 pound butter or margarine

1 3/4 cups white sugar

2 eggs

15 ounces ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

5 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

nonpareil sprinkles

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. Blend the butter, sugar, eggs, ricotta cheese and vanilla together until creamy.3. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Blend flour mixture into thecreamed mixture (you may need to add a little more flour to make the doughworkable but don't add too much or the cookies won't taste right). Scoop upabout a teaspoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Place onto an ungreasedcookie sheet. Repeat until all the batter is used. 4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes. Spoon icing overwarm cookies and top with nonpareil sprinkles. 5. To Make Almond Icing: Mix together the milk, confectioners' sugar and almondextract until smooth. Use immediately to spoon over warm cookies. Variation:use anise extract in place of the almond extract.

Apple Cheddar Cheese Cookies
Ingredients (6 servings)
1/2 c Butter

1/2 c Sugar

1 ea Egg; Lg

1 ts Vanilla

1 1/2 c Unbleached Flour

1/2 ts Baking Soda

1/2 ts Cinnamon; Ground

1/2 ts Salt

6 oz Cheddar; Sharp, Shredded

1 1/2 c Apples; Cored,Peeled,Chopped

1/4 c Nuts; Chopped
Instructions:

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then stir in the egg and vanilla. Add the combined dry ingredients, blending well. Stir in the cheese, apples and nuts. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Remove from the cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack or plate.

CHEESE BONE DOG COOKIES Categories: Pets

Yield: 12 cookies

2 c Unsifted all-purpose flour

1 1/4 c Shredded cheddar cheese

2 cl Garlic, finely chopped

1/2 c Vegetable oil

4 1/2 tb Water (up to 5 tbs.)

1. Preheat oven to hot (400 degrees) 2. Make a cardboard pattern of a dog bone, 4 inches long or use a dog-bone cookie cutter. 3. Combine flour, cheese, garlic and vegetable oil in container of food processor. Cover, whirl until mixture is consistency of coarse meal. With machine running, slowly add water until mixture forms a ball. 4. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece to 1/2" thickness. Cut out bones. Transfer to ungreased cookie sheet. Do not reroll scraps. 5. Bake in preheated hot oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until bottom of cookies are lightly browned. Carefully transfer bones to wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate in airtight container.

Savory Cheddar Cheese Thumbprint Cookies
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup (2 ounces) freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg yolk

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup (4 ounces) finely chopped pecans, unblanched almonds, or hazelnuts

1 cup water

1 cup hot pepper jelly (red and/or green pepper jelly may be used)
NOTE: When measuring cheese and nuts, it is best to use the weight measurements.
In a food processor, combine cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, and butter; process until creamy. Add egg yolk and pepper; process until well blended. Add flour and pulse just until soft dough forms. Dough will be sticky at this point.
Using your hands, roll approximately 1 tablespoon of dough into 1-inch balls; place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes to firm the dough up.
Place finely chopped nuts on a plate. Place 1 cup water in a bowl.
Roll all the balls first, then dip refrigerated balls in water, and then roll the balls in nuts to coat (pressing nuts lightly into dough balls). Place balls on an ungreased baking sheet. Using your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each cookie ball. Refrigerate for 15 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake cookies in center of your oven for approximately 15 minutes or lightly golden. Remove from oven and place baking sheet on a cooling rack, allowing the cookies to cool directly on the baking sheet.
After cookies have cooled, they may be stored in airtight containers at room temperate or freeze. If you have stored the cookies for a long time before serving them, you can re-crisp them by baking them at 350 degrees F. for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and allow them to cool fully before adding the hot pepper jelly.
Before serving, fill the indentations with hot pepper jelly.
Makes approximately 3 dozen appetizer cookies.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Appetizers/SavoryCheddarCookies.htm

American Cheese ...

I watched a Kraft Cheese commercial on television last night touting themselves as THE American cheese. I knew a little about Kraft cheese, but thought I would look into the history a bit more.

Why?

Because that American entrepreneurial spirit and sense of discovery is resulting in American artisan cheesemakers creating incredible advances in the world of artisan cheese and claiming more competition prizes from other countries who have reigned superior for a very long time.

But back to Kraft American Cheese.

James Lewis Kraft, a Canadian born on a farm near Ontario in 1874, was the founding father of Kraft Cheese.

At age 18, he worked at Ferguson’s grocery in Fort Erie, and later invested in a cheese company in Buffalo.

While in Chicago, Illinois attending to the company branch there, he found his partners had eased him out of the partnership.

Although he found himself lacking funds and stranded in Chicago in 1903, he put his knowledge of merchandising to good use. He bought a horse and wagon, and went every day to the wholesale warehouse district where he bought cheeses wholesale and resold them to small stores.

Kraft proved his retailing determination and was so successful that several of his brothers joined his efforts and the cheese business was incorporated in 1909.

Kraft was driven to improve, or change, certain qualities in cheese to give it a longer shelf life and more uniform flavor. Until that time cheddar cheese, which was the favored cheese in the United States, either molded or dried quickly, so there was excessive waste. It also varied greatly in taste.

As a result of years of experimentation to give cheese longer lasting qualities, Kraft’s major contribution to the cheese industry in America was processed cheese. He experimented with mixtures of cheeses and found that if he heated and stirred the cheese and placed it in sterile containers, it would cool to a solid state and stay fresh longer. He was granted a patent for the “Process of Sterilizing Cheese and an Improved Product Produced by Such Process” in 1916.

Since then, Kraft has diversified into many industries and last night I saw the most recent example of that company’s claim as the American Cheese.

I bring this up because Kraft tried to eliminate the very aspects of cheese that artisan cheesemakers are offering to appreciative cheese consumers today. Where Kraft wanted conformity and consistency, there are cheese connoisseurs the world over who delight in the taste differences between a spring cheese and a winter cheese, who appreciate that the cows (or sheep or goats or buffalo) grazed on alpine slopes or limestone valleys or wherever in the world they grazed because it affects the taste of the milk and thereby the cheese. Artisan cheese aficionados tout the exquisite taste experience of a fresh cheese versus the developed flavors, complexities and textures of an aged cheese.

There’s room for all cheese in this big, wide world of ours! But in this big, wide world of ours, American artisan cheesemakers are starting to reign innovative and influential!

It’s been interesting to read how “American Cheese” has grown from a simple dairy craft to world authority.

Move over, Kraft!





www.kraft.com.au/Products/KRAFTHistory/
www.cookingdeliciousfood.com/kraft-cheese/

Cheese Saver Tips ala Beecher's Handmade Cheese ...

I was browsing Beecher's Handmade Cheese website and came across some interesting cheesemonger tidbits. This is a really good site for their line of really great artisan cheeses, recipes, etc. I took the above photograph at The Market at Birch Bay cheese department, which carries some of Beecher's but check out the Beecher's website for a full array of their cheeses.

Since there will be Thanksgiving leftovers, I thought this article from their website particularly helpful:

"Purchase only as much cheese at one time as you can eat in 2 or 3 sittings to avoid having to store cheese for too long.

Store cheese in the warmer parts of your refrigerator, such as a produce drawer or the top shelf, away from the fan.

Always rewrap cheese after it has been opened using a fresh wrapping.

Plastic wrap is acceptable for wrapping cheese. Some purists believe that plastic wrap does not allow the cheese to breathe. They will only use wrappings such as waxed paper, parchment paper, butcher paper or aluminum foil.

Some feel that plastic wrap imparts a flavor to the cheese, but new improvements in the quality of plastic wrap now make that less likely.

If cheese is wrapped in plastic, the wrapping should be changed every few days to allow the cheese to breathe, and to keep the cheese from becoming slimy or discolored.




Different types of cheese require different methods of storage. Follow these simple guidelines:



Hard cheeses with little moisture (such as Parmesan, Dry Jack) should be wrapped to avoid further moisture loss using plastic wrap.



Semi-hard cheeses (such as Cheddar, Jack, Swiss) can be wrapped in either plastic or waxed paper or parchment paper.



Semi-soft cheese (such as Brie, Gorgonzola) should be wrapped in parchment or waxed paper, or may be kept in a plastic container



Soft or fresh cheeses (such as Ricotta, Feta) should be kept in a plastic container.



Double wrap strong, pungent cheese like Blue Cheese or Limberger to avoid having these aromas permeate the refrigerator. It is best to place these cheeses in an airtight container for extra assurance against aroma leakage.



If a cheese develops a mold, slice the cheese about ½ below the mold to insure that it has been entirely removed, the rest of the cheese will still be fine. The exception to this rule is soft cheese or semi-soft cheese where the mold can more easily spread. Soft or semi-soft cheeses that develop a mold should be discarded.



Cheese may be frozen but the texture may become crumbly after it is defrosted, and the flavor is frequently diminished. Frozen cheese is best used for cooking. Goat and sheep milk cheeses tend to hold up better when frozen than cow milk cheeses. Defrost all cheeses slowly in the refrigerator instead of bringing them to room temperature right away. Do not freeze cheese longer than one or two months. Cheese that is already cooked and then frozen, such as cheese in a frozen macaroni and cheese, does not suffer in flavor or texture. "


Find many more interesting articles on their website:



http://www.beechershandmadecheese.com/

Happy Thanksgiving

Correction, if you please ...

By-the-by, I heard from Terry about the grilled Havarti sandwich I previously mentioned that we enjoyed at that restaurant in Redlands, and she graciously reminded me that the sandwich wasn't veggie, it had bacon in it. How could I forget bacon?????

The name of the restaurant is Briskets and is located on Orange in Redlands, CA.

Crusty Country Special

Crispy bacon, fresh oregano leaves, Havarti on a crusty French bread, grilled. With a fresh--and I mean fresh--fruit garnish. Heavenly!

Merci beaucoup, Terry!

Cranberry Caper ...

I was wandering around the cheese deli at Haggens in Fairhaven, WA and came across a little package of cheese and read that it was a Gorgonzola blended with pear and finely chopped cranberries and hazelnut. I’ve enjoyed cheese/fruit blends before but I hadn’t eaten any with cranberries.

Because we’re so close to Thanksgiving, I wondered if cranberries could be found in other cheeses, as well. I was excited about the prospect and started looking around at cheese deli counters in other shops.

Lo and behold … I quickly came across three other cheese selections that blended cranberries. So, let’s get to it.

The first one I came across was Rising Sun Farms Gorgonzola Cheese Tortette™ It’s a velvety Gorgonzola with cream cheese and pears; then crowned with cranberries and roasted hazelnuts. All natural ingredients are the mantra of Elizabeth and Richard Fujas, owners of Rising Sun Farms—free of trans fats, genetically modified organisms, growth hormones, preservatives, sulfites or other chemicals. Gluten free.

Their convenient 3 oz size and plastic container, is great for eating on the go. However, you can also refrigerate it for 6 weeks, or freeze it for up to 18 months. I don’t personally see it lasting 18 months, though. Once you experience the taste, you’ll want another one!

They also offer it in a Torta size (9.5 oz) and I came across this recipe on their website

http://www.risingsunfarms.com/ . Mmmmmmm

CHICKEN BREAST WITH GORGONZOLA TORTA - 5/30/2007

1 tablespoon butter

4 ounces mushrooms, finely diced

¾ cup Gorgonzola Cheese Torta1/2 cup green onion tops
6 chicken breast halves

6 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 450°F. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. In bowl, mix Torta with green onions. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Loosen skin of each chicken breast gently with fingers. Spread 1/6 of Torta mixture between skin and meat of each breast. Place on baking sheet. Spread 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard over each breast. Bake until golden brown and thoroughly cooked, about 45 minutes.

Serves 6.

Is your mouth starting to water?

Next on my list is Real Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries. This is a registered cheese of the Wensleydale Creamery in North Yorkshire UK. The creamery has been in the business of making cheese for over 100 years.

White Real Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese has a mild, fresh flavor and a crumbly, flaky texture. I must admit that this was my least favorite of the cranberry cheeses. It seemed a little dry to my taste, and a little sour in the nicest context of the term.

However, I came across a cross-reference to Wallace and Gromit animated shorts—I absolutely LUV Wallace and Gromit, as obviously many others do, too.

I read that in the 1990s, Wensleydale cheese sales had fallen so low that production was at risk of being suspended. However, the popular Wallace and Gromit animated shorts A Grand Day Out and A Close Shave had the main character Wallace, a cheese connoisseur, mention Wensleydale as a particularly favorite cheese. Animator Nick Park chose it solely because it had a good name that would be interesting to animate, unaware of the company's financial difficulties. The company contacted Aardman Animations about a license for a special brand of "Wallace and Gromit Wensleydale", which proved to be an enormous success. When the 2005 full-length Wallace and Gromit film, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, was released, sales of Wensleydale cheeses jumped by 23%.

Third on my list is another product of England, White Stilton® with Cranberries. White Stilton is made in the same way as blue Stilton except that the blue mould is not added to the vat at the making stage and the cheese will be sold at about 3 weeks of age. White Stilton has a fresh, milky flavor with a beautiful creamy background. Ideal with fruit or crumbled onto salads or melted onto toast.

One of my favorites is a blend of Mango and Ginger, but when I saw the Cranberry version, I figured it to be worth the purchase. It was!

This is way more creamy consistency than Wensleydale. I thought it interesting that one reviewer observed that “…even though it is extra creamy and deliciously tangy, it was somehow unfinished by itself—much like a plain yogurt.” They liked the introduction of the fruit, and reports the fruity blends are among the best selling blended cheeses in the UK.

Especially in light of Thanksgiving, I came across a Turkey and Cranberry Ciabatta Sandwich and figured it would come in handy for leftovers:

Cut freshly baked Ciabatta bread in half and then slice it in two horizontally. Spread one side of each half with cranberry sauce. Place some sliced turkey on top. Add stuffing if desired. Crumble White Stilton with Cranberries over the top and serve.

The final cranberry selection is Carr Valley Chipolte and Cranberry Cheese created at Carr Valley Cheese in LaValle, Wisconsin.

I came across this blog by James Beebe and he sums up this cheese so nicely that I’m just printing his words.

http://corksandcurds.blogspot.com/2008/08/carr-valley-chipotle-cranberry-chedar.html

Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Corks and Curds
Reflections on Wine and Cheese

Carr Valley Chipoltle Cranberry Cheddar
Master Cheesemaker Sid Cook at Carr Valley Cheese has done it again. He has created another unique and interesting variety of flavored American cheddar: Chipotle Cranberry Cheddar.

One of Sid's newest creations, it has already won a Bronze Award at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest.

Chipotle Cranberry Cheddar uses a robustly flavored white cheddar. The sweetness of the cranberries contrasts nicely with the spicy, smoky flavor of the chipotle peppers. Carr Valley's website describes the cheese as having the flavor of Texas barbecue sauce. One writer described the cheese as a "mouth party." It is at the very least a good cheese to bring to a party.

As a general rule, I do not buy cheese-with-stuff-in-it because of the inferior quality of most such products. The "stuff" is typically added because the cheese-without-the-stuff would be exceedingly uninteresting.

On the way to a party last week, however, I took a chance with Carr Valley's Chipotle Cranberry Cheddar because I knew Sid Cook was behind it. I was not disappointed. I recommend this fun variation on ordinary cheddar."

And I found it to taste every bit as spicy delish as James Beebe describes.

To wrap up this cranberry caper … I took a platter of the four cheeses, along with Fuji apples slices and buttery crisp crackers, to the office for the gang to sample and enjoy. It was a total success. There wasn’t a crumb of cheese, a cracker or an apple slice left on the platter!

It seemed most favored the chipotle and cranberry cheese, but the Gorgonzola was a close second. I thought it was interesting that one of the guys wouldn’t even try the gorgonzola because he was informed beforehand that it was a kind of blue cheese. His loss! The gorgonzola was soooooooo creamy and mild and an excellent complement to the finely chopped dried cranberries and hazelnut. So, I didn’t tell him that the White Stilton was also a mild sister of the Blue Stilton cheese or he wouldn’t have tried that either.

Because I so enjoyed the Gorgonzola cranberry combination, I Googled and came across the following recipe. I think I’ll be whipping it up for Thanksgiving. And I really mean whipping it up because it takes almost no time at all! Give it a gander:

Phyllo Cups with Gorgonzola, Fruit and Nuts

Tiny phyllo shells are filled with a mixture of Gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries, apple and walnuts, then baked.

Ingredients:

36 mini-phyllo cups (3 packs of 12)
6 ounces of Gorgonzola cheese
½ tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
¼ tsp seasoning salt
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup of sweet apple, finely diced
½ cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees and place phyllo cups on baking sheets. In a bowl mix together remaining ingredients. Divide filling equally between phyllo cups; bake 10 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Servings: 36

Note: phyllo cups are available at most larger grocery stores in the frozen food section.


Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!


http://www.risingsunfarms.com/
http://www.wensleydale.co.uk/
http://www.stiltoncheese.com/
http://www.carrvalleycheese.com/
http://www.corksandcurds.blogspot.com/

What? More Havarti?

Well, as a matter of fact, yes, more Havarti.

Good friend, Terry, reminded me that we used to enjoy a very rustic veggie grilled Havarti sandwich at a little restuarant on Citrus Avenue in Redlands, CA. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the restuarant, but that is neither here nor there.

Both of us started salivating at the memory of THE Havarti sandwich.

As soon as I could, I ran to the kitchen, slathered butter on a couple of thick slices of very hearty wheat bread I got from Avenue Breads in Bellingham, sliced some dill Havarti, tossed it onto the skillet! A little sizzle, sizzle and it was browned and melted and ready to savor and enjoy! I had it with some jalapeno Dorito chips. It wasn't THE Havarti sandwich Terry and I had in Redlands, but it was the hot and melting one I had in hand.

Delicious with an icy cold beer!

A little more Havarti, please ...

I came across a couple of YouTube offerings about Havarti! I know, I know, you're thinking, "Havarti cheese videos? Ya gotta be kiddin' me!"

Not the case, I assure you. The first is an ad for Havarti ... kinda cute. The second is about the cheesemaking process (gouda) made at Smith's Farmstead Cheese, but they also make and sell a Havarti.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR1Vc9G2F8m

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpfEB7_EMDw

There was another YouTube video made by some young men, a bit high or inebriated--perhaps, about the moon being made of Havarti cheese and they video-ed a guy "appearing" to eat the Havarti moon. It made me laugh, but ... it got a little off the subject ... especially when they discovered the light they thought was the moon was really a distant street light. Ohhhh yes, they were having a lot of fun and unless Havarti has some properties unbeknownst to me, they must have been eating brownies and not cheese. Hmmm

Enjoy!