Hanfkase and Moser Truffel Cheese from Switzerland

February 26th, 2010

The New York Times, discovered some delicious flavours, when tasting new cheese from Switzerland. Hanfkase and Moser Truffel cheeses were tasted and not only did they offer a pleasant surprise, but the New York Times have recommended them for your cheese tray, the next time you’re entertaining.

Hanfkase and

Hanfkase and Moser Truffel, will be your perfect weapons for entertaining

Wash rind, cows milk cheese Hanfkase, offers a crunchy texture with a faint fruity taste.

Mascarpone enriched, cows milk cheese Moser Truffel, offers a black truffle aroma.
For more on the recommendation, head over to the New Your Times article

Emeril Lagasse Interviews James Coogan, from Ideal Cheese

February 12th, 2010

Emeril Lagasse interviewed Ideal Cheese’s very own, James Coogan. Manager of New York’s Ideal Cheese store, James Coogan was happy to bring along some of his favorite cheeses, while pointing out some helpful tips on storing and preparing them.

James Coogan on the Radio Sirius

James Coogan on the Radio Sirius

Cheeses that James Coogan brought along to the Radio Sirius interview:

- Quadrello Di Bufala from Italy
- Roncal from Spain
- Capra Verde Cremificato from Italy
- Comte Marcel Petite from France
- Stanser Rotelli

As well as providing Emeril with a high quality lunch, James Coogan also gave listeners some great tips on what to look for when purchasing cheese, how to store cheese and how to prep it, close to serving.

One great tip from James Coogan, was to always make sure your cheese comes out of the refrigerator, for at least a few hours before serving. It’s ideal to leave it out for 24 hours, if serving for a planned occasion.

James Coogan also provided great tips on creating the very best cheese plates for your guests, as well as advising us exactly what to look for in a cheese store, when shopping for quality cheeses.

To read more about the Radio Sirius interview with James Coogan, head over to the Sirius Radio Blog

An Ounce of Full Fat Cheese a Day…

January 28th, 2010

Cheese is one of the worlds many delicious luxuries and because of this, you would be forgiven to think that it must be bad for your health, simply due to the tasting pleasure it offers?

Studies have found that regular cheese consumption….can actually help reduce those pounds.

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that women who ate an once of cheese a day, put on less pounds over time, than women who didn’t! Our good friend to thank here, is the conjugated linoleic acid, found in such cheeses which has been proven to help boost metabolism, therefore reducing steady weight gain.

Hmmm...now we think of it...have you ever seen a fat mouse?

Hmmm...now we think of it...have you ever seen a fat mouse?

Find out more on this great discovery, as well as exactly what cheeses are better at boosting your metabolism, by reading Lucy Danziger’s ‘Eat Cheese to Say Thin’ article.

Happy New Year from Ideal Cheese

January 13th, 2010

We hope you and your family and friends, enjoyed a fantastic Christmas. We hope you gave as well as you received and enjoyed a great Christmas feast, that’s left you frantically hunting down workout DVD’s, for the new year.

If you’re trying to cut back for the begining of the new year, why not take a look at Ideal Cheese’s superb collection of fine meats?

Parma Procuitto is a great tasting meat, that can be used for many stylish dishes

Parma Procuitto is a great tasting meat, that can be used for many stylish dishes

Ham

Jambon De Paris is a traditional, slow cooked ham, with high flavour and low salt.

Bresaola is an air dried beef fillet, that's aged around 2 months. Thinly slices and absoloutly mouth watering!

Bresaola is an air dried beef fillet, that's aged around 2 months. Thinly sliced and absolutely mouth watering!

We hope you enjoy these fine meats as much as we have. Again, we wish you all a Happy New Year!

Gift Baskets - The Perfect New Years Gift

December 29th, 2009

That all important day, has now been and gone and we hope you all had a fantastic Christmas day, with your friends and family. We hope you got everything you wished for and enjoyed that special day of gifts to one another.

Earlier we posted an article on Christmas Gift Baskets, as they make the perfect Christmas gift for your friends or family and also make a perfect gift for yourself, to stock up for the holiday season. The exact same can be said for New Years Eve and New years Day. If your hosting this year, why not order a delicious Gift Basket to stock up? If your traveling to a friend or relatives home for the New Years celebrations, a Gift Basket would make the perfect gift for the host.

Ideal Cheese Gift Baskets...perfect for the New Year Celebrations

Ideal Cheese Gift Baskets...perfect for the New Year Celebrations

Whether it’s for your home, or for a friend or relative, order a fantastic Ideal Cheese Gift Basket

SAVE 20% ON ALL CHEESE GIFT BASKETS!

December 14th, 2009

You should know by now, that Ideal Cheese offer the ideal cheese gift baskets, perfect for filling your cupboards for Christmas, or making the perfect Christmas gift. But what you may not know, is that Ideal Cheese have an extra Christmas treat in store, for all gift baskets:

Every one of Ideal Cheeses Gift Baskets, now have 20% OFF!

Every one of Ideal Cheeses Gift Baskets, now have 20% OFF!

Ideal Cheese is offering 20% OFF all Cheese Gift Baskets, so hurry and save on a great Christmas addition or gift and head over to Ideal Cheese

Cheese Gift Baskets - The Ideal Gift

November 30th, 2009

Christmas is only a matter of weeks away and we’re all rushing to purchase our friends and family, great and memorable Christmas gifts.

Food has always been the most welcomed choice of gift for any occasion, so why not give the gift of good food…but with an added touch of style and sophistication, with an Ideal Cheese Gift Basket.

Cheese Gift Baskets make a superb gift, offering a hand picked selection of the world’s finest cheeses. Many Cheese Gift Basket selections add crackers, meats, sweets, jams, olive oils and vinegars, to the superb cheese selection as well.

Ideal Cheese Gift Baskets, not only offer high quality cheeses from around the world, but also many other different foods, perfect for Christmas

Ideal Cheese Gift Baskets, not only offer high quality cheeses from around the world, but also many other different foods, perfect for Christmas!

Cheese Gift Baskets are a superb way of showing someone you care, as well as being a great way of displaying your thanks, if your invited round a friend or relatives home, this Christmas.

American Cheese Demo Month

November 20th, 2009

Ideal Cheese have been offering a Cheese Demo service on Saturdays. Customers can come into the store and taste a delicious selection of American cheeses, with a great selection of beers to match.

The last Cheese Demo is tomorrow (November 21st 2009) so hurry down to your Ideal Cheese shop, for a great cheese tasting experience!

November 21st - Grafton Village Cheese Company - Classic and 4 Star Cheddar’s.

Don’t miss it!

One of the Best Cheeses in the World?

November 9th, 2009

The World Cheese Awards 2009, voted Montreal Cheese, one of the best cheeses in the world. Montreal had beaten 2,440 other cheeses entries, from 34 other countries. Three hundred of the world’s top cheese experts, worked together to sample and give their experienced opinion, on the world’s best cheeses.

Is Montreal one of your favrite cheeses?

Is Montreal one of your favorite cheeses?

Montreal is a Quebec goat’s cheese, produced in St. Raymond de Portneuf. Montreal is a soft surfaced and ripened , goats’ cheese. Montreal offers a semi-strong and slightly sour taste, that will become even stronger tasting, as this fine cheese matures.

Halloween Snacks: Ghost Toasts

October 27th, 2009

We’re getting closer and closer to the big night, so we’re going to share another delicious and spooky treat with you. We’ve currently armed you with some fantastic looking scary fingers, so now it’s time for some spooky and crunchy treats…with Ghost Toasts!

Toasted bread, cream cheese and currents, creates some spooky Ghost Toasts!

Toasted bread, cream cheese and currants, creates some spooky Ghost Toasts! Photo from www.familyfun.go.com

Again, this quick method for creating spooky treats, will still require some knife carving skills, but you can also use a cookie cutter. After toasting your bread, you simply take the knife and cut out a shape above. It really isn’t as hard as it sounds and as long as you take it slow, you’ll easily be able to match the shapes, as seen in the photo above (you could even print out this page, so you can refer to the photo as you cut).

Once you’ve got the hang of the basic ghost shapes above, you can really get creative. Experiment with cutting different angled bottoms to the ghosts cloaks and you can even experiment with their arm positions, if you feel that extra bit creative.

Once you’re done with cutting your ghost shapes, spread a generous amount of cream cheese all over the top of your ghost shapes. Make sure it’s even and thick, while making sure that not a single spec of toast can be seen through the cheese.

After that, it’s time to get creative with the eyes. This recipe uses currants for the ghost eyes, but if you prefer to use some chocolate or jelly sweets, they could be much more friendly on the kids taste buds. Dark chocolate drops, would be excellent for the dark eyes and black jelly sweets, would also give the same effect.

For the full step-by-step recipe, visit:

http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/halloween-recipes/halloween-snacks-treats/ghost-toasts-689005

The Disney Family Fun website, really has been fantastic at offering some imaginative Halloween Treats. We’ll continue to keep our eyes open for some more cheesy Halloween treats and share them with you all, as soon as we see them.