Recipes

Our kitchen smells wonderful. We are in the process of cooking up some mmmmmh... aahhhhh... great tasting dishes we can all be fond of.

Bonifaz yogurt red-white-and-blue treat - great for your July 4th Celebration.

Easy to prepare:
Bonifaz with live active yogurt cultures + raspberry + blueberry = refreshingly unique, fun and good for you treat.

Also great with other fruits, such as mangoes and tropical fruit. Let your taste buds and imagination fly.

 

Allgäuer Bergkäse Fondue

Fondues originated centuries ago and so did Allgäuer Bergkäse. This raw milk mountain cheese is simply perfect for fondues. Also a tasty treat by itself with nuts and fruit!

List of ingredients
(serves 8-12 as an appetizer, 4 as a main course)

16 oz Allgäuer Bergkäse shredded (4 cups)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp hot paprika
Pinch freshly ground white pepper
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
1 clove garlic - split in half
2 cups dry white wine (Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc or Gewürztraminer)
3 tbsp Kirschwasser (Optional)
Lots of crusty bread, whole grain loaves (like Fond O'Grains) fruits, veggies. Choose any fruit and veggies you desire. Apples, pears, grapes, carrots, broccoli, celery are just suggestions, but not a must, the choice is yours!

Have all items prepped prior to heating wine!
Toss shredded cheese with cornstarch, mustard and pepper.
Cube crusty bread, grain loaves, veggies and fruits in bite size pieces.

Rub the top pot of a double boiler liberally with the garlic clove.
Add white wine, Kirschwasser (optional) and heat to just simmering.
Add cheese, handful at a time, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk. As each handful of cheese is completely melted and absorbed, add the next and so forth until all cheese is incorporated, and never boil the fondue! Now, you should have a beautiful emulsion of melted cheese and wine. Add the ground nutmeg and paprika, stir and serve!

You can use a fancy fondue pot for service, or for informal service I wrap the double boiler in a pretty kitchen towel and serve right out of the pot! The water below will keep it hot as long as I need it to!
Enjoy!

By Mark Todd.

 

Grilled Suds N' Cheese (Serves 4)

"This recipe was developed as a bridge to bring my husband and I together at the dinner table. I am a vegetarian and he is a Texan. What can I say, except opposites attract! Most nights I am cooking two sets of meals. He is usually eating at the table by himself while I am still fixing my meal. There are only a few meals that we can eat together and one of them is grilled cheese. We both LOVE cheese. One night he was craving grilled cheese and beer so I mixed them together and it worked out great! I hope you enjoy it as much as he did." - Cristal Ortiz

1/2 stick unsalted butter softened
8 1/2 inch slices of Grand Como
1 pint of good German beer (I used Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen)
1 large Walla Walla sweet onion
4 ounces German Chiantino shredded
4 ounces Irish Invernia shredded

Peel the onion and cut it in half. slice each into thin half rings.

Melt 2 Tbsp of the butter in a skillet. Add the onion and stir to combine. Pour all but about 2 ounces of the beer over the onions in the skillet and cook them down over medium heat stirring occasionally until all the beer evaporates and the onions are soft.
Mix the last 2 ounces of the beer with the softened butter until combined. This is best done by smooshing the butter into the beer with the back of a spoon over and over again in a small ceramic bowl.
Butter each slice of bread liberally. Place the buttered bread into a skillet over medium heat and top with 1 ounce of each of the two kinds of shredded cheese. Put a generous spoonful of the softened onions on top of the cheese. Top with another buttered bread slice.

Cook for about 4 minutes on the first side, then flip it and cook about 2 minutes on the second side until the onions melt into the cheese and the bread is brown and crusty.

By Cristal Ortiz - Winner of the 2009 Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe Contest.