The Great Big Cheese Cookbook

As a newly appointed Chef Ambassador to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board I’ve been working overtime incorporating a variety of Wisconsin cheeses into my menus. It’s been great to have this collection at my fingertips to go through and see what has already been created utilizing the wonderful flavors and varieties of Wisconsin Cheese.

This inspired collection of recipes are every bit as good as their pictures and descriptions. I’ve made several recipes, most notably the Chocolate Moussecarpone Tarts which were well received at our last Catering function. The simply addition of rich creamy mascarpone cheese to melt chocolate gave a velvety richness to the tart as well as a beautiful presentation platform atop the chocolate tart shell. That’s just one of over 300 classic and modern recipes presented within the cookbook from celebrated chefs across the country. Classics such as fondue, or Wisconsin Cheese Straws blend well with Steak and Gorgonzola Thyme Crust followed up with Wisconsin Cheddar Peach Shortcakes.

Cooking with cheese comes easy if you follow the opening pages of the cookbook. It walks you through choosing, handling, storing, freezing and cutting and trimming the cheese. You are also given a “Perfect Pairing” guide at the end to help with pairing cheese with suggested wines and beer. There is even a Cheese substitutions guide to assist if you are in a bind. If you don’t have Brick then try Havarti or Muenster and if your Pasta dish is lacking in Parmesan then try grating on some Asiago.

Where cheese comes from truly matters, and unless you have quality milk you can’t produce quality cheese. No matter how happy the cows are in California; the difference is that Wisconsin has Happy Cows AND Happy Customers.

Tags: Asiago, blue, brick, Brie, Butterkase, cheese, colby, edam, Fontina, gouda, Gruyere, havarti, Mozzarella, Muenster, Parmesan, Provolone, swiss, wisconsin