Food | vmac+cheese

Fall in Love with Cheese Cupid (+ giveaway!)

Posted on May 18, 2012 by vmacandcheese

It should come as no huge shock to you that I love cheese. Who doesn’t? I mean, even most people I know who abstain from dairy all say the thing they miss most is cheese. But to be honest, most of the time when I’m putting together a platter, I just open up whatever wine we have around and roll with it. Total pairing fail. I was STOKED to discover Cheese Cupid, a beautifully designed site that helps you pair your favorite cheeses with beverages that go beyond the vino. Whiskey with blue cheese? Don’t mind if I do. Stout with gruyere? Sounds good to me! (Psst — they have an iPhone app too, perfect for the next time you’re at the store and freaking out about what to buy!).

Cheese Cupid also just premiered a series of ten videos, featuring the flavorful stories that come when you’re celebrating any occasion, however small (even a Wednesday night is reason enough for some Chardonnay and swiss). They make me hungry — and smile! And I am happy to say that my future in-law situation does not drive me to drink.

Cheese Cupid is the amazing brain child of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, which also runs a blog, Cheese Talk. Today, I’m happy to be over on Cheese Talk, sharing my own flavorful pairing idea (it includes one of my absolute favorite beers, tied to many childhood memories. Okay, that doesn’t sound right. You’ll just have to go read the post!).

And, if it wasn’t enough to give you a new app to download, and videos to spend time watching at work on this lovely Friday morning, you can win some cheese too. That’s right, today, Cheese Cupid and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board are shipping one lucky reader their choice of two cheeses. Get ready to stuff your face, lovers! Here are the deets:

1. Simply enter a comment below, being sure to input your email addy in the email addy field so I know how to contact you. You can comment about your favorite cheese, your favorite pairing, your favorite flavorful story video, anything!

2. The giveaway is open until next Friday, May 25, at 11:59pm Pacific time.

3. Sorry friends, this one’s only open to US residents.

Get the full scoop on the giveaway, right after the jump below.

Bonne chance and bonne fromage!

For running this sweepstakes, participating in this sponsored post, and contributing original content to the Cheese Talk blog, I received compensation from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. (more…)

Filed under: Cheese!, Food, Giveaway | 18 Comments »

Cream Free Chocolate Mousse

Posted on May 15, 2012 by vmacandcheese

Well, friends, this has what it’s come down to. Me posting half eaten bowls of chocolate mousse. I guess you could say it had been that kind of day (week?).

I’ve actually been meaning to share this recipe with you for a while. It’s a throwback to my days as a culinary student, something a fellow classmate (who also happened to be an immensely talented vegan cook) came up with. I love it because sometimes, you just need a little chocolate. Most of the time, you really don’t want the added calories from tons of cream. In my case, too much cream can also upset my stomach, so this cream free version is a god send.

If you buy the right kind of chocolate without any milk fat in it, it’s also vegan! But the process is the same and takes just a few minutes. The only rub with this recipe is that it does require a scale of some kind, unless you work with chocolate a lot and can eyeball it. Here’s what you do: (more…)

Filed under: Desserts, Food, Recipes | 9 Comments »

Green, Eggs, and Ham

Posted on May 3, 2012 by vmacandcheese

I liked it so much (and yeah, okay, was so hungry) that I forgot to shoot it before I ate it. So what is this mess of a meal before you? Something delicious. Pretty. And a total fake out, because it was so gosh darn easy.

Asparagus goes especially well with eggs, so on a whim, I decided to pair the two for a light lunch, using a bunch that I’d had in the fridge for a while. But instead of doing the usual preparation of a sunny side up egg over roasted or even blanched rows of asparagus, I decided to do something different and shave the stalks, just to see what happened. And what happened was delish. Little hints of asparagus flavor, without crunching through a whole piece of stalk.

Garnish the whole shebang with a bit of crispy prosciutto, and you have a lovely lunch for one, or an easy meal to make the next time you host brunch. And it’s ready in 10 minutes flat. See how it’s done, right after the jump! (more…)

Filed under: Eggs, Food, Recipes | 12 Comments »

10 Things to Do with Tomatoes

Posted on April 30, 2012 by vmacandcheese

There are a few ingredients in my kitchen that I put in basically everything. Tomatoes are definitely one. They’re just so versatile! A few tomatoes — be it from the vine or in cherry form — and a couple other basics and you’re guaranteed a decently good meal. I got to thinking about all the things you can do with tomatoes and decided to round up my top ten faves. Summer’s on the horizon — you can bet I’ll be doing every single one of these in a few short months. (more…)

Filed under: Food, Kitchen Basics, Recipes, Veggies | 9 Comments »

Recipe: Super Healthy Chinese Chicken Salad

Posted on April 19, 2012 by vmacandcheese

I put this salad together on the heels of a mini-detox Joe and I did last weekend. We’d both had a bit of a blowout week food and drink wise, so to rein it in, we went to the grocery early Saturday morning and stocked up on tons of fruits and veggies.

Monday night, I was looking around the contents of the fridge and realized I had half a large head of cabbage left. Right after I thought, “What will I ever do with that,” I arrived at the perfect solution: Chinese chicken salad. And, I already had a bunch of other veggies to throw in, and some chicken thighs too!

This is extremely easy to make and can last a few days if you don’t dress it. While the chicken cooked, I chopped up all the veggies and prepped the dressing. Once it’s all mixed, portion out how much salad you want to eat, then dress just that serving. The rest of the dry salad can be stored and eaten for lunch or dinner the next day (or even the day after).

Below is a basic recipe of what I did. But mix it up! There’s no exact science to this. Throw in whatever veggies you love or have on hand! (more…)

Filed under: Feel Good Food, Food, Recipes, Salads | Tagged: chinese chicken salad, healthy, leftovers, lunch ideas, raw, raw foods, Recipes, Salad Recipes | 13 Comments »