Cheddar and Swiss Fondue Recipe

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow! In previous posts, I’ve shared a Gluten Free Cheddar Fondue Recipe and my favorite Brie and Blue Cheese Fondue Recipe, but this time for the day appreciating love I’m going with a classic combo here of a Cheddar and Swiss Fondue Recipe. This Cheddar and Swiss Fondue  is perfect for a romantic Valentine’s Night or any romantic night meal at home where you can snuggle in close together chatting and dipping.

Cheddar and Swiss Fondue Recipe

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Curse of the Haunted Curds 2016 at Portland Brewing

Two years ago I attended the first Curse of the Haunted Curds event at Deschutes. Although I missed it last year being out of town, this year I’ll be attending again and I’m super excited about it! The Curse of the Haunted Curds 2016 will be taking place at Portland Brewing Company Tap Room at 2730 NW 31st Ave. From 11 AM at lunch to the 8 PM evening on October 27, guests can choose to sample a flight of 5 poutines (fries, gravy, and cheese curds), each created from 5 competing chefs for just $10. You can optionally enjoy the poutines with beer pairings for an additional $6.

The Curse of the Haunted Curds at Portland Brewing 2016, 5 poutines from competing chefs of 5 breweries using beer in their gravy and Face Rock Creamery Vampire Slayer cheese

As before, Curse of the Haunted Curds continues to be for a good cause. 50% of all poutine and beer pairing proceeds go towards Friendly House, a non-profit neighborhood center and social service agency. Founded in 1930, Friendly House provides programs and services at no charge or on a sliding fee scale to ensure access to all members of the community of all ages and backgrounds in three program areas: Children’s Programs, Community Recreation and Education, and Community Services.

You’ll be sampling the 5 poutines from competing chefs from

Then cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award for Curse of the Haunted Curds 2016. The winner of the live judging as well as People’s Choice will be announced at 7:30 PM. Each of the poutine recipes must use one of the breweries’ beers from the competing brewery in the gravy.

Curse of the Haunted Curds, a Poutine Pop-up with proceeds to the D Wright Way Foundation featured 5 poutines from 5 chefs for $10 at Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House
My flight of 5 poutines from 5 chefs from 2014 Curse of the Haunted Curds

Teaming up with them is also local (Bandon Oregon) Face Rock Creamery with their Vampire Slayer cheese curds, which took 1st place at the American Cheese Society’s 2013 Competition. Face Rock sources grass-fed cow’s milk from Oregon dairy families, and they make cheese the same day the cows are milked. Face Rock cheese, including these curds, are available at their creamery, in more than 3,000 stores, and online at their website.

At $10, there’s a huge value with the amount of poutine you get, definitely enough for 2 to share. They are also doing a costume contest!

If you haven’t been to the Portland Brewing Tasting Room before, parking is easy in this industrial area and they offer not only their own brewed beers but also beers from their sister brewery the Pyramid Brewing Co. Their Thursday daily special is “Throwback Thursdays” with $2 pints from 6 PM to close – they have one daily special every day, ranging from Kids 12 and under eat free for each adult Sunday to matching a purchased flight or pint or growler with a free one on other days and “hoppy hour” every day 3 – 6 PM and 9 PM – close.

This entire month of July 2014, Portland Brewing is donating a portion from every case or growler of ZigZag River Lager (growlers must be purchased at the Portland Brewing Co Taproom, cases must be purchased in the state of Oregon) sold back to our Northwest waters via Sandy River Basin Watershed Council.

Have you been to Portland Brewing? What do you think about this upcoming Curse of the Haunted Curds 2016 at Portland Brewing event?

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Israeli Couscous and Cheese

This recipe was something I had bookmarked from the blog Food Wishes Israeli Couscous and Cheese for quite a while. I have to admit it does take balls (a lot of little balls, hee hee) to combine Israeli Couscous, with it’s lovely texture, with cheese in a version that combines risotto and macaroni and cheese and a little pimento surprise! It’s wonderful as a new twist for a side dish for a rainy day or as a fun addition to a vegetarian holiday spread.
Israeli Couscous and Cheese Recipe - enjoy this ballsy (ha ha) vegetarian take on mac and cheese and risotto

The original recipe is here, on the video he posted: doesn’t Chef John just sound so nice and friendly? I wish he was my neighbor. He’s so humorous but clearly a great lover of food, is very knowledgeable but approachable, and puts together interesting combinations so you should check out Food Wishes, and he’s also a huge contributor to All Recipes. He may not make the most Pinterest worthy photos, but that makes him seem even more homey and a testament that even without the visuals, he delivers on taste.

Ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoons melted butter or olive oil
  • 1 cup Israeli couscous
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup diced pimentos
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • cayenne to taste (I used about a 1/4 teaspoon but I like it spicy)
  • 3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1 tablespoons of freshly sliced chives
  • salt, to taste
  • pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Measure 1 cup of Israeli couscous and put in a deep saute pan to toast it with 2 teaspoons of melted butter in a pan. Don’t brown it, it should just become a bit golden.
    Israeli Couscous and Cheese Recipe - toasting the couscous with a little butter before adding the vegetable broth to cook it
  2. Now add your 2 cups of vegetable broth (you can use any stock but I want this to be vegetarian so used that kind of stock – he uses chicken stock). Bring the heat up to high and once the broth and couscous is at simmer, lower the heat. Let it sit for 6 – 7 minutes as the couscous plumps up, stirring occasionally, letting the liquid evaporated while leaving all the flavor behind.
  3. Turn the heat down to medium, and then stir in the 1/4 cup diced pimentos, the 1/2 cup heavy cream, and bit of cayenne pepper. Let it cook for a few more minutes until the couscous is as tender as you want it and at the texture is as thick as you want
  4. Turn off the heat and add the 3 ounces of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, and then the tablespoon of chives for a bit of bite. You may want to add salt and pepper to fit your taste.
    Israeli Couscous and Cheese Recipe - after letting the couscous cook in the broth, add in the diced pimento, cream, and then remove from heat and add cheese and fresh chives Israeli Couscous and Cheese Recipe - after letting the couscous cook in the broth, add in the diced pimento, cream, and then remove from heat and add cheese and fresh chives

It is a fun textural experience – it may not have the crispiness of a baked mac and cheese, but it has the creaminess of a risotto with a little extra cheesiness.

Israeli Couscous and Cheese Recipe - enjoy this ballsy (ha ha) vegetarian take on mac and cheese and risotto

What do you think of this take? What’s your favorite vehicle for mac and cheese – elbow pasta? rotini? shells?

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Gluten-free Cheddar Fondue Recipe

Last week, for a ladies wine night I hosted at my home, I prepared a Cheddar Fondue. This is so easy to do- the most time consuming part will be grating the cheese. You want to use freshly grated cheese rather than pre-grated because the kind that come in the bag already have starches and powder added to them during packaging. I generally do this while watching TV – I did this while watching Amazing Race and Walking Dead!
Gluten-free Cheddar Fondue Recipe with broccoli as your dipper instead of bread is healthier. You can have the broccoli raw or blanch it quickly to soften it (but not too much) Cheese fondue with cauliflower as your dipper instead of bread is healthier. You can have the cauliflower raw or blanch it quickly to soften it (but not too much)

Otherwise, it’s pretty straightforward, but so worth it for a party. Or dinner. Or lunch. Is there ever a wrong time to enjoy melted cheese?  My secret for this version is that besides the cheddar, I add additional flavors via a pinch of nutmeg, dry mustard, and sometimes a  few tablespoons of pesto (you can make your own or buy it from the store, whatever works for you) if no one in your party has a nut allergy. Other optio nsmight be to add in diced tomatoes or red peppers.

For dippers, I sliced up apples and had blanched broccoli, but other veggies would work like cauliflower, asparagus – and this was too time consuming for me, but boiled fingerling potatoes would be a perfect addition too. If you’re not trying to be vegetarian, you could also slice up some cooked sausage. Since this time I was intentionally striving to be gluten free I didn’t have bread – though you could seek out gluten free bread if you’d like.
Great dippers for a cheese fondue that is healthier than bread - broccoli and cauliflower! Just quickly blanch them to soften them up

Since this time I was intentionally striving to be gluten free I didn’t have bread – though you could seek out gluten free bread if you’d like.
Cheddar fondue, a fun interactive way to eat together

A particular guest I had coming not only was gluten-free, but also has corn allergies. So, as a subsitute for the cornstarch that most fondue recipes call for, I used tapioca flour! Tapioca flour, also known as tapioca starch, is gluten free as it’s made with a root. I first became acquainted with tapioca flour when making pao de quejio Brazilian cheese bread rolls in the past, and often have it on hand.

I also admit I had 3 times as much of all the ingredients below- as I was making the fondue I measured 8 ounces of recipe at a time, but I prepped more than that in case the cheese ran low so I could add another 8 ounces or 4 ounces as desired. You should do this even if you aren’t sure of your party size because having a little bit of extra cheese or wine available will mean you can adjust the thickness and amount of your cheese as you need based on the way your cheese is melting to get the desired melty texture.

Make sure you don’t get your cheese too hot, as it will start to glomp together and fats will ooze from it. You want it just warm enough to be melted.

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces of sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup of dry white wine
  • 4 teaspoons of tapioca flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard
  • 2 tablespoons of pesto –  regular basis or red pepper sauce
  • Blanched broccoli (you can also use raw or steamed, but I like blanched because it softens it slightly but not too much so you still get great green color and firmness to stay on your fondue fork)
  • Sliced apples
  • Whatever else you’d like to dip into your cheese!

Directions:

  • Grate the sharp Cheddar cheese and then set aside – it will melt better if it’s closer to room temperature rather than cold from the refrigerator when you start to melt it.
  • In a small bowl, mix the 4 teaspoons of tapioca flour with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Stir until it dissolves.
  • Peel the 2 garlic cloves  and rub the inside of the surface of your pot or saucepan with the cloves. I then minced the garlic and put it in the pot along with 1 cup of the white wine. Heat the wine until it is simmering.
  • Slowly whisk in a handful of the 8 ounces of cheese at a time so that it will melt evenly. The liquid cheese should still be at a simmer.
  • Once the cheese has melted, whisk in the tapioca and water mixture, then the 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard until it is smooth and fully incorporated.
  • Swirl in the 2 tablespoons of pesto at the end for a little extra depth of flavor
  • If you want to use a slow cooker to keep it warm, you may have to start this on a pot on the stove to get the heat needed to first melt and incorporate everything, and now move it into the slow cooker.

From here, just dip and eat! If for some reason you have leftovers, I will often refrigerate it and add it in an omelette or on open faced sandwiches or other veggies later.
Cheese fondue with broccoli as your dipper instead of bread is healthier. You can have the broccoli raw or blanch it quickly to soften it (but not too much)

Other fondues we had were broth (a great shortcut for this is to buy pho broth!) with meat and seafood, chocolate (dip crackers, cookies, fruit, cream puffs and eclairs…). It’s a fun theme for a party as it kept everyone standing around my table to move around to the various stations and accompaniments. Or, it’s lovely for a dinner with close friends or your loved one because the constant dipping as you eat helps with conversation as you are interacting with your food together!

What’s your favorite type of fondue?

 

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Recap of Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015

July is Oregon Craft Beer Month, and as part of the celebration I am going to share a way to celebrate beer. Today, I’m going to talk about beer and cheese.

As per my previous years where I recapped the beer and cheese pairings of the Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2014, and 2013, and 2012, here is the one for 2015. I hope besides for those researching in 2016 whether to attend, this post also gives you ideas on how you might want to think about pairing beer and cheese. At the end of this post, I include some of my own general tips for pairing beer and cheese in case you want to give it a try at home,  and list some upcoming events that include beer and cheese.

As usual, the Portland and Beer Cheese festival took place on Father’s day last month. They had a punch-card that helps you look forward to the list of beers and the pairing that Steve from Steve’s Cheese Bar and Chizu and Cheese Annex (Cheese Annex is also located here at the premises of The Commons Brewery). It’s also smart as it lets them manage the number of samples with the attendance. If you are having your own beer and cheese tasting at home, you may want to follow this example by creating and then print out a pairing sheet yourself.
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, charcuterie by Olympica Provisions and chocolates by Woodblock Chocolate helped compliment the beer and cheese pairings (here Lompoc Doppelbock with Le Saut du Doubs Summer comte cow cheese from France) Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of Firestone Walker Lil Opal with Ferns Edge Mt June goat cheese from Oregon along with some Olympia Provisions charcuterie and Woodblock Chocolate

Olympia Provisions was on hand providing charcuterie buffet of sliced meat, sausages, pickled things and bit of mustard to also allow you to try some additional flavors with the cheese and beer. To help balance the flavors of beer and cheese, having some side charcuterie and mustard, or fruit compotes and nuts and crackers, is something to add to your own beer and cheese pairing party.
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, charcuterie and crackers and pickles and a touch of mustard offered by Olympia Provisions helped compliment the beer and cheese pairings Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, charcuterie and crackers and pickles and a touch of mustard offered by Olympia Provisions helped compliment the beer and cheese pairings

And, new this year was Woodblock Chocolate also offering some samples of their various chocolates to pair with the cheese and beer (I liked them best with the last 2 beers, though their chocolate infused with hops worked well with the other beers as well). Woodblock even made two special chocolates, a Milk Chocolate infusion with Patagonia Crystal Malt and a Dark Chocolate Infusion with Meridian Hops. Just like cheese can be paired with beer, and food can be paired with beer, you could theoretically do a whole pairing of just chocolate and beer too!
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, chocolates by Woodblock Chocolate helped compliment the beer and cheese pairings and could be tested to pair with the beer too Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, chocolates by Woodblock Chocolate helped compliment the beer and cheese pairings and could be tested to pair with the beer too Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, chocolates by Woodblock Chocolate helped compliment the beer and cheese pairings and could be tested to pair with the beer too Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, chocolates by Woodblock Chocolate helped compliment the beer and cheese pairings and could be tested to pair with the beer too Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, chocolates by Woodblock Chocolate made special batches of Milk Chocolate infusion with Patagonia Crystal Malt and a Dark Chocolate Infusion with Meridian Hops Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, chocolates by Woodblock Chocolate helped compliment the beer and cheese pairings and could be tested to pair with the beer too

The pairings this year at the Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015 included:

pFriem Family Brewers pFriem Pils with L’Amuse Brabander Goat Gouda Goat Cheese from Netherlands
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of pFriem Family Brewers pFriem Pils with L'Amuse Brabander Goat Gouda Goat Cheese from Netherlands

The Commons Brewery French Country Ale with Raclette du Haut Livadors cow cheese from France
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of The Commons Brewery French Country Ale with Raclette du Haut Livadors cow cheese from France

Fat Heads Rye bock with Willamette Valley Cheese Brindisi cow cheese from Oregon – one of my favorite beers, cheese, also pairings of the day
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of Fat Heads Rye bock with Willamette Valley Cheese Brindisi cow cheese from Oregon

Laurelwood Brewing Co Chateau du Sylvia with Uniekaas Vintage Grand Ewe sheep cheese from Netherlands
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of Laurelwood Brewing Co Chateau du Sylvia with Uniekaas Vintage Grand Ewe sheep cheese from Netherlands

Lompoc Doppelbock with Le Saut du Doubs Summer comte cow cheese from France
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, charcuterie by Olympica Provisions and chocolates by Woodblock Chocolate helped compliment the beer and cheese pairings (here Lompoc Doppelbock with Le Saut du Doubs Summer comte cow cheese from France)
(the photo of the meat, cheese, chocolate together, no lone photo of just cheese and beer)

Firestone Walker Lil Opal with Ferns Edge Mt June goat cheese from Oregon
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of Firestone Walker Lil Opal with Ferns Edge Mt June goat cheese from Oregon

Ecliptic Ultraviolet Blackberry Sour with Hooks Cheese Co 8 Year Cheddar cow cheese from Wisconsin – the only beer pairing I was not as enthused about because the cheddar was strong and overwhelmed the beer
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of Ecliptic Ultraviolet Blackberry Sour with Hooks Cheese Co 8 Year Cheddar cow cheese from Wisconsin

Breakside Brewing India Golden Ale with Mahon Curado Reserva cow cheese from Spain – a great pairing because the cheese could stand up to and last as long as the flavors of this hoppy beer
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of Breakside Brewing India Golden Ale with Mahon Curado Reserva cow cheese from Spain

Alameda XX Stout with Marquis del Castillo Zamerano sheep cheese from Spain
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of Alameda XX Stout with Marquis del Castillo Zamerano sheep cheese from Spain Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of Alameda XX Stout with Marquis del Castillo Zamerano sheep cheese from Spain

Hopworks Urban Brewery Big Poppa with Neals Yard Colston Bassett Stilton cow cheese from UK – my other favorite beer, cheese, and beer cheese pairing of the day. Overall I think Big Poppa (aged Notorious FIG in Woodford barrel) was my favorite beer all day with its big bold flavors.
Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2015, pairing of Hopworks Urban Brewery Big Poppa with Neals Yard Colston Bassett Stilton cow cheese from UK

In case for Oregon Beer Month you are interested in creating your own beer and cheese matching at home, you can see some hints at how to pair beer and cheeses with this line up.

  • Gouda always tends to be a good choice as it is mild and depending on the age of the gouda, can be slightly nutty to having caramel notes, both which go well with flavors in pale beers varying from ales to lagers and farmhouse styles and most German styles that have a malty component. To me having gouda is like having pretzels – of course it’ll go with beer.
  • The citrus tang that you can often found in goat cheeses like chevre go great with wheat and Belgian beers. Some soft cheeses like brie can also go well with this style in echoing a bit of the earthyiness and grassyness
  • Another alternate way is to let the pale beer help cool some spiciness – and thus pairing a pale ale or pilsner with a pepper jack or jalapeno cheese
  • I pretty much trust any Willamette Valley Cheese to good with anything – in particular their Brindisi is an aged fontina that is a good balance of nutty and salty (though WVC also makes many gouda and havarti styles). During my recap you saw that Steve paired it with a rye bock, but it works just as well with many other darker German styles that are smoky like a Rauchbier or other Oktoberfest and dark lager beer styles. That means you a lot of the alpine cheeses (Swiss, Gruyere) or Italian (Fontina, Parmesan) could work with the beer style as well.
  • With a hoppy beer, you want a cheese that is strong enough to balance the slight bitterness and bring out citrus and grass if they are present in the beer. A Spanish cheese, or aged sharp cheddar, or muenster, could work well here depending on the IPA’s IBU and flavor profiles. Or go intense in a funky way with a soft rind cheese
  • Blue cheeses and stiltons, which are rich and salty and big and flavors themselves, are fabulous with imperial stouts, barleywines and big boozy barrel aged beers because they can stand up to the strength of the beer
  • For a fruit beer, I like the idea of a fresh light cheese like ricotta, ladysmith, and marcarpone the same way fruit and cream go well together.

Goudas and Cheddars or Specialty Cheeses with special treatment (aka rubbed with espresso or with dill or cumin or such) are the cheeses I most often buy to pair with beers. Favorite cheesemakers that often show up on my receipts include cheeses from Willamettte Valley Cheese, Beecher’s Handmade Cheeses, Sartori Cheeses and Beehive Cheeses have never failed to make an interesting combo with beer.

To get more ideas, visit Cheese Bar, Chizu, or Cheese Annex at The Commons to see more examples of the great cheeses Steve pairs with beer, and at all those locations Steve has even selected beer to already go with his cheese offerings!

Any cheesemonger at your local store is sure to be happy if you bring ideas of beer you might be serving to help you pick out a cheese, or you can have them help pick cheese and suggest beers – don’t be shy about asking. I’ve had great luck asking the Murray’s Cheese cheesemongers at Fred Meyers or the cheesemongers at every Whole Foods for unusual pairings when I’m looking for something new to try (plus often they let you try a sample to make sure it’s right).

With July being Oregon Craft Beer month, I suggest keeping an eye out for future possible beer and cheese pairing events: you can see the Oregon Craft Beer calendar here, and also check Brewpublic and New School of Beer for listings. I’ll also try to share events on Twitter. A few upcoming ones include

  • For another Beer and Cheese Fest this month, the next upcoming beer and cheese specific event is July 11thSaturday at Fred Meyer Wilsonville with their own Beer and Cheese Fest. The Beer and Cheese Fest kicks off at 5 PM featuring Ecliptic Brewing Beers. There will be a Beer and Cheese pairing class on July 15th at Fred Meyer Stadium on W Burnside/100 NW 20th from 6 – 7 PM featuring Burnside Brewing. This “Suds & Curds: The Perfect Pair” class is FREE (you can even sign up online). Contact those specific locations of Fred Meyer for more information.
  • Although this isn’t a beer and cheese pairing event, this coming Saturday is a Brewer’s Dinner with New Belgium Beer and Elephant’s Deli that sounds delicious – see the specifics of the 5 course meal for $50 (one of the courses includes a cheese- Pecorino Two Ways paired with a beer) at the Brewpublic article here.
  • Food Pairing Dinner every Friday in July at Rogue in Astoria — If you are escaping to the Coast and by Astoria during any weekend this month, you might consider grabbing dinner at Rogue on Friday nights. Rogue Public House is featuring a Rogue Ales and Food Pairing every Friday on top of their normal 30 taps featuring Rogue beers along with other Oregon beers on tap, including Buckman Brewery. While in Astoria, also consider stopping by Fort George, and Buoy Brewing!

Do you have any plans to celebrate Oregon Craft Beer month of July, whether it be out at an event or at home? Do you have a true and tried favorite beer and cheese combo?

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