Cheese! | 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 | 27 Comments »

Recipe: Blue Cheese + Parmesan Gougères

Posted on March 15, 2012 by vmacandcheese

Have lots of leftover little cheese nubbins? Make gougères. Not only are these bite sized savory pastries the perfect snack, they’re also easy to make and a great dumping ground for whatever you have languishing in your fridge.

For me, that meant a sad hunk of blue cheese and the remnants of a tub of grated parmesan. That’s about all that was in my fridge, so with just a few other staples I always have on hand (flour, some butter, and two eggs), I was able to bake up a batch of these babies in no time. And really, I mean no time.

Confession: I made these this morning and am posting about them now. That’s how fast these are.

Use whatever cheese, herbs, or spices you want to make the gougères your own. Get creative! The sky’s the limit here. Another fun fact: if you can nail the technique for making this pastry dough, called pâte à choux, you can also make eclairs, gnocchi à la Parisienne, profiteroles…the list goes on. One dough, endless recipes. Kind of amazing, huh?

Get the recipe and more photos, after the jump! (more…)

Filed under: Appetizers, Cheese!, Food, French, Little bites, Recipes | Tagged: appetizers, Food, gougeres, Recipes | 15 Comments »

Recipe: Pasta with sun dried tomatoes and spinach

Posted on August 12, 2010 by vmacandcheese

Last Thursday in an attempt to both a) self-medicate and b) pay homage to the great Jersey Shore, Joe and I stopped by A.G. Ferrari and picked up lots of Italian goodies to snack on.

The next day, we had to go for broke and indulge two nights in a row, so the leftovers from our Jersey Shore binge — namely sun dried tomato pesto, sun dried tomatoes and Piave cheese — became the stars of a quick Friday night pasta dish. This is another great example of MacGyvering something together into a totally scrumptious meal (where are your requests, people?). While my pasta dish was pretty simple, one could easily add in grilled chicken, or cooked broccoli, white beans, or any other type of leafy green. Just use whatever you have laying around.

I present to you gemelli with sun dried tomatoes and spinach. The recipe is super easy. (more…)

Filed under: Cheese!, Food, Italian, MacGyver Me This, Pasta/Grains, Recipes | Tagged: food cooking pasta sundried tomatoes | Leave a Comment »

Recipe: Sort-of healthy steak sandwiches

Posted on July 12, 2010 by vmacandcheese

You know, for a night that teetered dangerously on the abyss of Chinese take out, I have to pat myself on the back.

What began as another boring weeknight meat-and-vegetable dinner (“How does grilled flat iron steak and roasted asparagus sound, hon?”) turned into something genius, when Joe pondered thoughtfully on what else might be done and instead responded, “I have an idea. But it’s so good, I don’t know if you’re man enough. So I won’t say it. Okay, okay, I’ll say it, stop poking me. Philly cheesesteaks.”

Clearly, after all this time, he still doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. Cheesesteaks were the best idea he’d ever had, at least since that banana split last week.

Now, I hesitate to call my creation Philly cheesesteaks, because as the sole Philadelphian in my life would be quick to point out: (more…)

Filed under: Cheese!, Food, Other meats, Recipes, Sandwiches | Tagged: beef, philly cheesesteak, Recipes, steak sandwich, weeknight meal | Leave a Comment »

Ten Things Tuesday

Posted on June 1, 2010 by vmacandcheese

This past week, I came across a couple of wonderfully talented designers that I’m stoked to share with you. And of course, there are a few other things (read: cheese) that have been tickling my fancy…