What is your comfort food? To some it could be hamburgers, to others it could be anything that reminds them of home or a pleasant experience requiring incessant repetitions.

And another one of the many comfort food you can have is the Mac and Cheese with Bufala Mozzarella. This recipe has been uplifted into a notch higher by creating it into miniature appetizer bites. Whether you are entertaining over a bottle of wine, or having a kid’s party, none can compare the solace it brings while reminiscing personal episodes over family dinners. And to be a welcoming starter to a celebration is so much of a delight rather than a meal in itself.

This recipe can be made ahead of time and then warmed into a 350 degree oven for a few minutes to reheat before serving. Don’t leave them in the oven for a long time or they will fall apart.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. Small elbow macaroni
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp. All purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
• salt and pepper
• ½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup buffala mozzarella cut into pieces
• 5 tablespoon seasoned dried breadcrumbs
• vegetable spray for the muffin pans.

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook for 7 minutes, or until slightly al dente. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium pot, melt the butter over low heat. When it starts to sizzle, add the flour and stir well to create a roux. Slowly whisk the mil and then the cream into the roux and cook for a few minutes, or until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Season with the thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another minute or two until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cheddar cheeses and then the breadcrumbs.

3. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

4. Lightly coat 30 mini muffin cups with the vegetable spray. Depending on how many pans you have, you may have to make these in batches. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of the macaroni and cheese mixture into each mini muffin cup and, using the back of a spoon, press down to condense the pasta. Place some strips of Bufala Mozzarella on top.

5. Bake the mac and cheese for 8 to 10 minutes, until they begin to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for 2 minutes- you must let them cool before unmolding or they might just fall apart. Place a large plate over the muffin tins and unmold them. Sprinkle bits of mozzarella buffalo on top. Bake and serve hot.

So whether you are making small bites or casserole of comfort food, always get the best ingredients and relive your moments. And for the comfort of buying cheese, always get from the source of all cheeses and the only gourmet cheese shop there is, the Ideal Cheese Shop. They have a selection of the best Bufala Mozzarella, and that indeed is comforting enough.

Gruyere is a hard yellow cheese that is named after the town of Gruyeres, in Switzerland. It is sweet but slightly salty, with a flavor that varies widely as it ages. It is often known to be creamy and nutty when young, becoming more firm, earthy, and complex as it ages. It takes about five months to a year to have a fully mature Gruyere Cheese. When fully aged, it will develop small holes and cracks which impart a slightly grainy feeling when eaten. The holes rarely exceed the size of a pea, and are widely dispersed within the cheese. Because Gruyere has a distinctive but not overpowering flavor, it is an excellent addition to quiches, soups, salads, and pastas. Gruyere can be sliced or grated depending on the desired effect.

How Gruyere Cheese is Made

Gruyere is made from unpasteurized milk which is heated before being curdled with liquid rennet. It is stirred until the curd has begun to get dense, and then it is quickly cut to release the whey before being heated further, until the curd begins to shrivel slightly. These pieces of curd are pressed into molds to be cured, and then salted in brine for eight days. Immediately after being heaved out from the brine, the cheese is ripened for two months at room temperature. Once the cheese has been ripened, it is aged for three months to one year, with more aged cheese having a more developed and intense flavor.

Serving Gruyere Cheese

This cheese is great to eating with crackers, fruit, french onion soup and meat. It is best known for its contribution to fondue.  You can use some fresh fruit on the board such as sliced pears, apples, and seedless grapes. The blackberry jam also goes perfect with the Gruyere Cheese. Another choice would be apple marmalade. You may also make a pumpkin soup with Gruyere cheese.

Gruyere is a popular cheese around the world, where it appears in a wide variety of dishes. For a great tasting meal that would also melt the hearts of your guests, go and try cooking with the Gruyere Cheese now. You can visit your local cheese shop in your neighborhood. If in the event that it is not being sold in the shop, you can always go to the Ideal Cheese Shop’s website and order from there. Treat your family and friends with this superb cheese now!

A lot of us are not familiar with Saint Maure Cheese. This is another top quality French cheese that was first made by a Loire Valley dairyman. Saint Maure de Touraine Cheese, commonly called as “Sainte Maure”, is a log shaped goat cheese from Touraine, France. It is said to have been created during the Arab invasions in the 8th and 9th centuries, when goat breeding was first introduced in the Touraine region. This soft French cheese has a distinctive complex flavor. What makes this cheese unique is that it is an aged goat milk cheese. We are familiar with fresh goat milk cheese that is soft and spreadable. However, most French would prefer this older type.

The aging comes with more complex flavor to this cheese. It has a walnut aroma and a slightly salty but nutty taste. It’s made from goat’s milk and is soft with a natural rind. The rind should be thin, smooth with blue-gray molding that is completely natural. The traditional Saint Maure cheese will be produced with a blade of straw or a wooden stick placed through the cheese log from end to end. It is moist and creamy in texture. It is pure white colored and if the rind is not ash coated, it will be tan in color that becomes increasingly darker colored as it ages.

Buying Saint Maure goat cheese will certainly bring creaminess in your delectable, mouth-watering dishes. You can eat it in plain, place it in sandwiches or you can perfectly add this to your mixed green salads. Make this as a cream to your fried-fish fillet or top it to your side dishes. You can also use this cylindrical ash colored French goat cheese to make delicious puffy pastry appetizers. Without doubt, this is one of the very best French cheeses available in the market today. Making this cheese part of your shopping list will definitely be a smart choice. If you can’t find at your local gourmet store, try finding a good cheese shop or check out at Ideal Cheese website, they have available best quality Saint Maure Cheese. You might also want try their cheese board selection of the month. There are so many superb cheeses like Saint Maure cheese; it’s just waiting to be tasted by you. So what are you waiting for, try one now and get the ultimate French goat cheese experience.

Do you think that having a Cru Blanc Camembert Cheese everyday is expensive? Well, you will be surprised at how you can actually include this cheese to your everyday meal. There are at least 700 varieties of French cheeses and Cru Blanc Camembert Cheese is based on the use of raw unpasteurized milk. This soft ripened raw milk cheese is creamy and full of flavor. Cru Blanc cheese is really a raw milk gem. Frenchman invented the process of making raw milk cheese that ruined most of the world’s cheese but in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration has mandated to use pasteurized milk for all dairy products to avoid the bacteria called Listeria. It is an obscure food-borne bacterium that can kill babies who are not yet born. However, most mothers or pregnant women don’t feed or drink on raw milk-cheese, as it is clear in the products labeling and doctors would never recommend it to them. There is actually nothing dangerous about raw milk cheese. Every study suggests that raw milk cheeses, if proper standards are maintained, are actually safer than pasteurized cheese. In pasteurized cheese, all the microbes are killed. The good and bad bacteria are being eliminated, so if a bacteria attack the cheese after it leaves the factory, it is defenseless. In raw milk cheese, there is a natural and living balance of good and bad bacteria of which the good defends you against the bad.

Today in the U.S. there are some shops that are selling pasteurized Camembert cheese. However, the Camembert cheese, like Cru Blanc, should be made from raw milk. Camembert cheese is perfect when you cut them and the crusty layer in the center is thick as a knife’s blade. If there is no crusty layer then it is a little too ripe. This cheese should be stored upside down to preserve the beauty of the top of the cheese when served. Ideally, this cheese should never be put in the fridge. If you do, take it out at least an hour before eating.

Gourmets say that the best time for eating Camembert cheese is during the late spring and early summer. This creamy raw milk cheese will bring additional flavor to your appetizers and dishes that you will be cooking. You can serve this with some crackers and use it as a spread. You can mix it with pears and cranberries. This can also greatly complement as a side dish, you can try creamed Camembert. If you haven’t tried this delectable creamy cheese, try one now. There are cheese shops that offer authentic, genuine Cru Blanc Camembert Cheese. So what are you waiting for? Log on to the Ideal Cheese website for that ultimate gourmet experience everyday. They also have ideal cheese board selection where you can try their top 4 selected cheeses at a lower price.

It does not take a genius to decide to give someone a cheese basket this holiday, but it is narrowing down the types of cheeses to include in the basket that’s more challenging. Just like any gift that you want to give to a friend or to a business associate, there are some things to consider before buying a cheese gift basket.

The most crucial part of choosing the right cheese basket is knowing what type of cheese to include. If the recipient of the cheese basket is a cheesemonger and has a favorite, order that particular type of cheese in different variations. But if you are not sure of the recipient’s preference, the safest thing to do is to order a sampler of wide variety of cheeses. This way, the person who gets the basket will have to chance to taste different kinds of cheeses, some he may have never had.

Know that there are different kinds of cheese baskets. There are some baskets that are filled with cheese alone, while some include a bottle of wine to pair the cheeses or some meat. You also have to decide what kind of cheese basket you would want to give. So for example the person does not eat meat, then make sure that the cheese basket that you order does not have any in it – do not just look for individual meat packages, there are some cheeses that have bits of meat mixed into it so make sure you go through each cheese too. If you are not sure whether the recipient eats meat or not, you will be better off buying a cheese basket filled with just cheeses or has other non-meat items.

Another thing to watch out for is the recipient’s health. You have to know whether the person has certain allergies or is lactose intolerant. For all you know, the recipient could be allergic to nuts or sesame seeds (on crackers), both items could be included in the basket. But just to be sure, go for a cheese basket that does not have a these type of items.

If the recipient likes wine, then choosing a cheese basket is going to be more convenient. Most cheese baskets come with a bottle of wine that is compatible to the kind of cheeses included, either white wine or red. There are even some cheese baskets that have a bottle of each!

Always remember that the cheese basket should complement the taste of the recipient. But don’t forget to be creative, and add a little thought into the gift. Give a cheese basket filled with various treats the the person can really enjoy.

Blue Stilton cheese is a versatile cheese, which is why it is preferred in a wide variety of starters and main courses. Although usually served in small chunks, the little European flavor in Stilton goes a long way. With just a click of the mouse, you will find hundreds of mouthwatering Blue Stilton recipe ideas in an instant!

Like all good cheeses, Blue Stilton is best served at room temperature (20 degrees C or 68 degrees F). So if you are planning to serve Blue Stilton to your guests, try to get the cheese out of the fridge for an hour or so before serving in order to let its flavor develop. Stilton cheese is usually served with crackers or a traditional plum loaf, but it is definitely a must for any cheese board.

You can also freeze Blue Stilton cheese, a quality that you rarely find in most cheeses. You can wrap Blue Stilton cheese in several layers or cling film and a layer of foil and leave it frozen until three months. Again, you need to defrost the frozen Stilton cheese first, preferably overnight, and allow it to reach room temperature before plating.

Stilton Cheese Serving Tips
If you will use Stilton cheese for a cheese platter, take it out of the fridge for about 2 hours before serving in order to let it come to room temperature. You can serve it with plum bread or if you want to try something new, have it with mango chutney for a change.
Although a number of wines pair well with Stilton, sweet wines such as Port, are especially preferred by many. But you can also try a dessert wine or a full bodied, strong red wine if you are feeling a bit adventurous.

Stilton cheese stores quite conveniently. Simply cut the cheese into small, easy portions and wrap them in cling film or foil. You can have it frozen for up to 3 months. While Stilton freezes beautifully, it is recommended that you defrost it slowly – preferably in the fridge overnight, and let it come to room temperature before serving.

Blue Stilton cheese crumbles effortlessly, which makes it an easy ingredient to use for salads, soups, and dips. It goes well for sandwiches too! After taking it straight from the fridge, simply make easy slices and put it right between fresh lettuce and tomatoes. You can also great it straight from the freezer for last minute add-ons.

Stilton cheese melts beautifully, which makes it a great ingredient for pastas and pizzas. You can melt crumbled Blue Stilton cheese in a pan or simply use it as toppings with some onions and mushrooms.

You will never run out of options when you use Blue Stilton cheese. Choose from these serving suggestions or experiment with your own recipe. Order Blue Stilton cheese today and Bon Appétit!

The options that you have when it comes to complementing the textures of French cheeses are simply unrelenting. Whether you have a semi-aged Bucheron cheese or a young Camembert, you will always a perfect pair for every French cheese.

People have been pairing wine and cheese for a very long time, perhaps as long as there has been wine and cheese. There is an incomprehensible relationship between the two – wine and cheese just well with each other. Although the clear origin of such practice has not been traced to date, it was believed that before, people simply served wines and cheeses, separately.

Perhaps the reason why wine and cheese go well together is the fact that they have a great deal in common – both are made through fermentation, and both may be consumed while fresh, simple, young, and even when they are aged and mature.

There are no firmly established rules that dictate which wines should be served with which particular types of cheeses. When setting up an exciting wine and cheese pairing, there is only one thing that you should remember – if it tastes good, it’s a pair!

Do not be fooled by those fancy gourmet chefs that you see on TV giving their two cents about what kind of cheese is perfect for this kind of wine, because at the end of the day, pairing wine and cheese is all about personal taste. However, even though everything boils down to personal taste, certain guidelines have been recommended favorable by a majority of wine and cheese pairing enthusiast. In order to have a successful wine and cheese party, you should know the basics such as:

White wines are best paired with soft cheeses and stronger flavors.

Red wines are best paired with hard cheeses and milder flavors.

Fruity and sweet (not dry) white wines and other desert wines work well with a wider range of cheeses.

The sharper cheese you choose, the sweeter your wine should be.

If you are still learning to pair cheese and wine, perhaps it is better that you start simple. It might be a safer choice to serve cheeses that go well with almost any kind of wine, like the Bucheron cheese.

Bucheron cheese is a very wine friendly cheese that goes well with a wide variety of whites and reds. You can serve chunks of Bucheron cheese with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Cabernet. While some might consider Sauvignon as the ultimate pair for Bucheron cheese, all these wines are excellent.

The key to a successful wine and cheese party is harmony, which you can definitely achieve with Bucheron Cheese. So next time you invite your friends over, serve them Bucheron cheese with a bottle of wine today!

When it comes to cheese made from sheep’s milk, there are several forms to choose from – soft or hard, strong or mild. But regardless of the texture or the taste, one thing is certain for all of sheep’s milk cheese – it is very delicious. And if you have not tried having any sheep’s milk cheese just yet, it is never too late to try a P’tit Basque!

P’tit Basque is an unpasteurized and uncooked hard sheep’s milk cheese that comes from the Pyrenees Mountains, the border that separates France and Spain. While most of the known cheeses today have been around for hundreds of years, this particular French cheese is different. Unlike its other relatives in the cheese kin, the P’tit Basque is the youngest that debuted only in 1997.

But although P’tit Basque is technically a very new cheese, it is made using traditional methods. It is manufactured using the same techniques that local shepherds used several hundred years ago. The very first P’tit Basque was made from pure sheep’s milk that the farmers put aside while milking their ewes.
Sheep’s milk cheeses are considered as the ultimate reward for cheese lovers. Cheese made from sheep’s milk definitely tastes better than cow’s milk cheese and goat’s milk cheese because it contains a higher butterfat and protein content than cow or goat’s milk. That makes any sheep’s milk cheese extremely rich in the two very essential components that make good cheese. It has a unique quality that translates into a certain depth and complexity that is absent in any other cheeses.

For the lactose intolerant, a sheep’s milk cheese like the P’tit Basque is a very great alternative to regular cow’s milk cheese. However, the main health benefit that one can get from a sheep’s milk cheese like the P’tit Basque is its high calcium content – it will only need two cups of sheep milk to get the daily minimum calcium requirement for an average person, while it takes three to four cups of cow’s milk to provide the same nutrition.

Sheep’s milk cheese is often an acquired taste, so it is better if you start with something “friendly to the tongue” like the P’tit Basque. The P’tit Basque has a mild flavor because it is only aged for seventy days. That means that it is very enjoyable in the tongue, tasting like nuts and fruits with hints of caramel. So before you move on to more aged sheep cheeses that have more complex and sheepy flavors, start your sheep cheese adventure with P’tit Basque first.

You can serve it with sliced tomatoes, olive oil and some bread, or make a sandwich out of it – the P’tit Basque will not disappoint you when it comes to flavor and aroma! Slice some apples, open a fresh Burgundy, and order the P’tit Basque cheese today from your favorite cheese shop, Ideal Cheese Shop!

The Ideal Cheese Shop, New York’s trusted gourmet cheese shop, invites all cheese lovers to a French Cheese and French & Corsican Beer Demo on Saturday July 10, 2010 from 12 noon to 4 in the afternoon at the Ideal Cheese Shop outlet at 942 First Avenue, New York.

Ideal Cheese is hosting this French Cheese and French & Corsican Beer Demo to coincide with the celebration of Bastille Day, a French national holiday on July 14. Customers and guests will be treated to free beer and a delectable assortment of French cheeses.

For more information please call Michael at the Ideal Cheese Shop at 1-800-382-0109 or email cheeseinfo@idealcheese.com.

About the Ideal Cheese Shop

Ideal Cheese is New York’s trusted gourmet cheese shop named World’s Best Cheese Shop by Forbes.com and 56 years in business. Ideal Cheese offers a selection of over 250 cheeses from 17 countries. Their cheeses are always fresh and hand cut to each order.Idealcheese.com today!

Join the Ideal Cheese Shop Fan Page on Facebook and get exclusive promos and offers.

The word ‘Raclette’ can be used to refer to three things –  a particular type of cheese, a grill that is placed on the dining table to melt cheese, and a type of meal or a manner of eating.

The Raclette cheese is a Swiss semi-firm cows-milk cheese that is very popular in Switzerland, and although originally from the Alps, it is also made in France. Good Raclette cheese is mild, creamy and slightly nutty, and is very ideal for melting. The classic use of Raclette cheese involves melting it and serving it with boiled potatoes, pickled onions, a variety of sliced meats, and vegetables. Most people believe that fondues is the most popular dish in Switzerland when it fact, Raclette is actually more popular than fondue in most parts of Switzerland. The term Raclette comes from the French word racler, which means “to scrape”, pertaining to the fact that the melted cheese must be scraped from a grill and on to the plate of the diner.

Raclette cheese can be melted into different kinds of dishes, even fondue, or it may be eaten plain. Its creamy, mild taste fits well with an assortment of things, which is why Raclette cheese is a favorite for quick snacks and dinner cheese platters. A lot of people nowadays enjoy these Raclette dinners because they make a great venue for catching up with friends without the tedious food preparation.

For most of use who have just recently discovered Raclette may feel like we have stumbled on to the latest and perhaps the most enjoyable dinner party trend ever. A Raclette meal is pretty much like a fondue party, but better – the same socializing, but with more cooking options. Aside from being absolutely fun for the guests, a Raclette meal is also one of the easiest parties to hose. This is because much of the food preparation can be done ahead, while the cleanup afterwards is equally simple.

In a nutshell, Raclette party goes like this.

The Raclette grill usually serves about up to eight people, and can take different shapes – some Raclette grills are rectangular while some are round or oblong in shape. Although traditionally, the Raclette grill is made of wood, modern Raclette grills are available in most department stores today. While the cheese melts on the grill, the guests get to cook their own meats, sausages, fish and even vegetables on the grill. The melted cheese on the trays is then scraped out and onto a selection of side dishes (the most common of all, are small boiled potatoes). Guests cook, talk, eat, and repeat the entire process often a few times, for several enjoyable hours.

Be sure to offer your guests a cocktail, something dry but not too sweet – perhaps a good old wine or a martini. But what good would your Raclette party be if you do not have the best Raclette cheese? Organize your next Raclette party and order Raclette cheese today!