Simply post your original grilled cheese recipe using your favorite Cheese Plus ingredients, along with a picture of your masterpiece, and your most creative name for your entry on our Cheese Plus Facebook wall.

We’ll do the hard work of making and tasting your entries, while you rest assured that your Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a lock!  Our favorite 3 entries will win a chance to be featured in upcoming Grilled Cheese Sandwich specials, plus (Cheese Plus) you’ll have bragging rights with friends and family for life.  Taste will be 75% of the judging but a clever name counts for 25%, so sharpen your pencils as well as your cheese graters!

First Prize Winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to Cheese Plus.  The 2 runners-up will win their choice: our totally stylish Cheese Plus T-Shirt, or our classic cotton twill Ball Cap!

Make sure you submit all your ingredients, and any tips for the recipe.  Remember, you must use at least one cheese from our outstanding selection of more than 250 cheeses from around the globe.

All entries must be submitted by midnight PST, Sunday, April 28th.

On April 30^th we’ll announce the winner!

Pecorino di Filiano is made with the fresh raw sheep milk from the province of Potenza in northern Basilicata (the instep of the heel of Italy).  Although recently awarded DOP status in 2007, Pecorino di Filiano has been made for centuries.  Unique to Pecorino di Filiano is the method of forcefully pressing the cheese curd into the woven basket molds by hand described as pasta pressato, or pressed curd.  This lo-tech process yields a soft-textured firm cheese, not as firm and uniform as Parmesan can be.  Another unique production method is stufatura, or heating the cheese in the remaining whey in the cheese vat at a high temperature for a few minutes to extract excess moisture.  Again, this allows the cheese to retain a light and flaky texture.

Once formed, the wheels are salt brined for 3 days before aging at least 6 months.  Early in the maturation process the wheels are washed with red wine vinegar and olive oil.  The vinegar detracts aggressive mold growth, while the olive oil retains moisture and gives a nice golden glow to the exterior.  Although made year round, we only receive wheels from spring and summer when the sheep eat fresh grass.

Visually Pecorino di Filiano is a stunner – the basket weave rind is striped with dark wine vinegar stains throughout its glowing golden Mediterranean skin.  The aroma reflects the months in the cellar, with earthy sheepy lanolin notes.  Slicing into the cheese you’ll find it is firm but not hard, yielding a few flakes and crumbles.  The flavors are tart and salty, making your mouth wake up and ask for a glass of wine.  After a few moments you’re hit with layers of brown butter, toasted hazelnuts, and fresh hay.  Deeper on the palate, you’ll find slate-y characters reflecting the volcanic soil of the mountainous region.  The texture is flaky and just a bit chewy.

The bright and salty flavor welcomes a juicy red wine – our Tuscan Fubbiano from Lucca comes to mind for it’s bright cherry flavor, as does a great Priorat for its minerally texture and dark fruit characteristics.

On Thursday, January 24^th we’re hosting Giovanni Samela from the Pecorino di Filiano DOP to Cheese Plus for a special tasting and discussion.

2011 Pierre Henri Muscadet Sevre et Maine 

2011 Valdesil Godello Sobre Lias
The NW corner of Spain is lush, rainy and cool and the local cuisine is centered around the ocean: a far cry from the dusty plains of La Mancha. The white wines there are correspondingly briny and fresh. These old vines are planted on schist soils which contribute their characteristic minerality. Extended fine lees aging gives the wine an unctuous texture balanced by bright acidity and citrus notes. Fried whole sardines with meyer lemon aioli and arugula on the menu?

2010 Roland Tissier Sancerre 
Sancerre is perhaps the most famous spot in France for Sauvignon Blanc which means that it can be difficult to find a well-made example for a reasonable price. This one’s a classic. Fresh flower buds, grapefruit, with a streak of slate running straight through the middle. Perfect with oysters on the half-shell, mussels steamed with shallots and white wine or asparagus with tarragon vinaigrette.

2010 Edmunds St. John El Dorado Heart of Gold 
Steve Edmunds has been making delicious and unique Rhone style wines since the mid-eighties in his facility in Berkeley. His Vermentino / Grenache Blanc blend carries on the tradition of Rhone whites: lushly textured, redolent of white flowers, peaches, and almond paste, but with a fresh zippy brightness to keep things tight. Extremely versatile at the table. Enjoy with trout almondine, seared salmon with lemon-caper butter or even roast chicken.

Winemaker Duncan Arnot and cooper (yes he makes barrels) Nathan Roberts teamed up to make some of the most compelling cool-climate wines in CA right now. Watson Ranch is the southeasternmost tip of Napa Valley, looking right out over the San Pablo Bay. The soils are limestone with a layer of marine deposit on top. The grapes are picked at a moderate level of ripeness, pressed, fermented in stainless steel, and then transferred to neutral barrels for seven months. All of this is to say that it is a wine of tension and finely-tuned elegance that has a distinct sense of place and time. Forget oak and butter, this is limestone and sea breeze. Just about anything from the ocean will do, but especially crab.

Finca Dehesa de las Páginas

Moral de Calatrava, Spain

Raw Sheep Milk

Manchego is America’s favorite Spanish cheese.  It takes its name from both the breed of sheep and the rugged terrain from which they graze – La Mancha, south of Madrid.  While you might find other regional cheeses that look like Manchego with their basket weave motif on their wax rinds, only Manchego is named protected and certified to the region, the recipe and manufacture, and the breed of sheep.  We’ve tasted a lot of Manchego over the years, and we’re very proud of Pasamontes Manchego.  This artesano produced Manchego is made with raw milk and aged about 9 months for a firm texture and a nutty flavor.  The cheesemaker, Maria Delores Palomares Pasamontes (now in her 80’s), fights the good fight against industrialized production, continuing the time-honored tradition of cheesemaking at her family’s farm since the 1850’s.  The sweet and nutty flavor of Manchago Pasamontes pairs well with Spain’s most famous red wine – Rioja.  We’re also partial to enjoying Manchego Pasamontes with Spanish Marcona Almonds, dried apricots, and sweet quince paste known as Membrillo.

Toma Celena

Cooperstown Cheese Co

Milford, New York

Pasteurized Cow Milk

Cooperstown Cheese Company makes just a handful of cheeses, and we’re partial to their Toma Celena.  It’s an original cheese, not necessarily modeled after a particular European original, but we find it satisfies our desire for aged Italian Asiago.  Cooperstown buys their rich golden milk from a neighboring farm of Brown Jersey cows.  Once transformed into cheese, the high butterfat and protein from the milk gives a creamy mouthfeel.  Toma Celena has a sweet grassy aroma, with a firm texture, and a long bright finish.  A curious note of trivia – Toma Celena was named for after the first person who liked and purchased the cheese.  We like to pair Toma Celena’s warm and nutty character with a ripe juicy red wine such as California Zinfandel.  It’s also quite delicious with a dark malty ale.

Roquefort

Rodolphe Le Meunier Selection

Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, France

Raw Sheep Milk

Roquefort was the first cheese to receive AOC status (now called AOP) which guarantees the authenticity of the cheese by protecting the manufacturing process and location.  For Roquefort this means (among other regulations) the cheesemakers are required to use raw sheep milk from the region, and the cheese must be aged in the caves under the town of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.  Ironically though, there is no Roquefort cheese made in Roquefort.  It all comes from the hills above the town as Roquefort is barely a town – just a curve in the single lane road at the bottom of the valley about 400 feet wide and a little more than a mile long.  But under the town there are many caves built into the stone.  These caves are wet, cold, and moldy; housing thousands of wheels of Roquefort aging to perfection.  Currently there are only 7 Roquefort producers, but each has many labels for their distinctive cheese.  While visiting Roquefort a few years back I was treated  to a tasting of about 12 Roquefort from the region ranging from very mild and slightly firm, to the creamiest and strongest blue I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. I was blown away that although there are strict laws governing the production methods, each house produces Roquefort with a unique character of its own.  Rodolphe Le Meunier is an affineur who has his Roquefort produced to his standards.  We find his Roquefort to be sweeter, with a dense fudgy texture unlike other Roquefort available.  In France we were taught to enjoy Roquefort with butter – smear your baguette with a little soft butter, then a nice slice of Roquefort on top – yum!  Oh, and Roquefort is best with a dessert wine, especially Sauternes or sweet Muscat.  John our wine specialist also recommends rich California Zinfandel.

In addition to dried beans, we also received dried hominy, popping corn, and New Mexico chile powder from Rancho Gordo.  I was so inspired by the beans we prepared on Saturday that I brought home a bag of dried hominy to cook for my Sunday dinner at home the next day.  When I was a kid we ate hominy regularly.  Where I’m from it’s quite common, but in our house the hominy was always from a can.  My dad liked to cook it with lots of butter (margarine actually), and I liked to mix it in my mashed potatoes  Initially I was thinking to make Posole, or maybe a green chile stew with hominy, but I ended up making a “kitchen sink” hominy stew instead.

I soaked the hominy in water before going to bed.  Like many dried grains, it plumped overnight to about double.  The next morning I drained the water, and added fresh water to the pot.  I brought the hominy to a boil, and lowered the heat all the way and let it simmer for a couple of hours.  The hominy doubled in size again, and became soft yet chewy in texture.  To make the stew, I browned a couple of slices of Pancetta we had in the fridge, and sweated chopped white onion with a crushed garlic clove, mexican oregano, thyme, and bayleaf.  I deglazed with white wine, and filled the pan with chopped kale, coarse chopped carrots and fingerling potatoes, a bone in chicken leg quarter, the cooked hominy, and topped it with stock.  After about an hour of gentle simmering I removed the chicken and bay leaf, shredded the chicken and returned it to the pot, and seasoned the stock with salt, cayenne, and sherry vinegar.  Oh, and I chopped a little cilantro for garnish in the bowl at serving.  We ate the stew with bread, and Manchego cheese.  It was delicious.  Leftovers will be even better!

Hominy Stew

• 1/2 cup dried hominy
• white onion
• kale
• garlic
• carrots
• potatoes
• bone in chicken thigh(s) or breast(s)
• mexican oregano
• thyme
• bayleaf
• cayenne pepper
• stock – veggie, chicken, veal – it’s all good
• options – pancetta or bacon to build the base; cilantro, parsley, or chives for garnish

Enjoy!

-Ray

A soft dense sheep cheese from the region near Roquefort in France.  We like to think of it as a sheep milk Crottin, all soft and wrinkled with a sweet milky layer of cream near the rind and a smooth dense interior.

A cazelle is a stone hut created centuries ago to shelter the shepherds from storms and is small, round and squatty.  Herve Mons, our favorite French Affineur, named this disks after these squatty stone huts.

St. Affrique is a town located a few miles above Roquefort, and is the center for Roquefort production. The farms along the Midi-Pyrénées provide fresh raw sheep milk for the production of Roquefort and a few regional favorites such as Perail and our Pick o’ the Week – Cazelle St. Affrique.

Under that wild wrinkly rind you’ll find a sweet, nutty, butterball of cheese.  All the richness we love from sheep milk matched with a little tartness and gentle salty notes.  Spread this baby on a crusty Acme baguette and drizzle with a touch of your finest olive oil, and you’re in heaven!  Match with a rich Chardonnay such as our favorite Macon-Charnay from Manciat-Poncet, or Keller Estate’s Oro de Plato; or maybe a great Rosé like Verdad from Edna Valley or Domaine de Beaupré from Provence.

After a great day at The Plus I wanted a fast and delicious dinner. Giants on TV; I only have a few minutes to pull it together. Everything from Cheese Plus, so here it is:

Fresh Pasta with Chanterelles

Bucatini from Marin Pasta Works in our cooler;

1/4 lb fresh Chanterelle mushrooms

1 garlic clove

1 shallot, parsley – from our produce table

2 ounces Pancetta

3 ounces grated Parmesan or Pecorino

a few drops of Sherry Vinegar (or white wine)

Pamplie Salted Butter, Olive Oil.

Sautee the finely diced pancetta in butter and olive oil ‘til brown, add sliced mushrooms, shallot and garlic. Boil the fresh pasta for 3 minutes. Season the sauce with vinegar (or wine or lemon), salt, pepper and herbs. Add the hot cooked pasta to the sauce. Add a 1/2 cup (or more) pasta water and toss the pasta in the sauce. Sprinkle the cheese and add more black pepper.

Simple, quick, perfect!

Rustichella Pizzichi Farro Pasta w/Fresh Peas, Preserved Lemons and Ricotta

It’s just Rustichella Pizzichi (pinched) Farro Pasta with Fresh Peas, Preserved Lemons, and Whole Milk Ricotta. Simply saute’ your Peas with a little diced Preserved Lemons, Onion, and Garlic. (Meat lovers can add a little Pancetta, Prosciutto or Sausage) When the Pasta is cooked, add to the Peas and toss with spoonfuls of fresh Whole Milk Ricotta, a few grinds of Black Pepper, and a splash of EVOO. Enjoy!! -Ray

Here are a few of our favorite Valentine’s Day Cheese in stock this weekend:
La Tur – Creamy and rich Italian Cow, Goat, and Sheep blend to match with Strawberries and Champagne
Tomme du Chevre du Grandmere – Grandma’s Traditional Goat “Cheese Cake”. Simply scrumptious in a Frisée salad, or matched with Sour Orange Preserves
Tasmanian Signature Camembert – A new selection at the Plus. Sweet and creamy. Perfect for licking off fingers
St. Agur Blue – Cream enriched blue from France. Sweet and grassy. Match with a sticky dessert wine.
Pyrenees Brebis – Southern French Sheep cheese. Toasted hazelnut praline flavors to match with Spanish Jamon Iberico Ham.
Saenkanter 3 Yr Aged Gouda – Salted toffee and caramel notes. Match with a rich Zinfandel or Port and Dark Chocolate.

Maybe you’ve got Champagne wishes and Caviar dreams for this Valentine’s Day. We have a full selection of Champagne and Sparkling wines to compliment our Tsar Nicholai California Farm Raised Caviar. And don’t forget the smoked Salmon, Crème Fraîche, and Buckwheat Blini to serve with your Caviar.

For all you chocoholics out there – we saw you coming! In addition to fabulous Red Velvet hearts, we’re stocking all your favorite dark chocolate bars including our latest addition of Amano Chocolate from Utah. And we’ll also make our own Chocolate Dipped Longstem Strawberries this Friday and Saturday.

And don’t forget the Roses! Paul Robertson will deliver fresh Longstem Roses, Tulips, and more to the store just for you this Valentine’s Day!

The line-up includes:

Dee Harley of Harley Farms

Jeanette Hurt – Author of The Cheeses of Wisconsin

Sid Cook of Carr Valley Cheese – *2008 American Cheese Society Best of Show Award Winner

Laura Werlin – Author of Cheese Essentials

David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery

Clark Wolf – Author of American Cheeses

Sheana Davis of Delice de Vallee Cheese

Janet Fletcher – Author of Cheese and Wine

Bob McCall of Cypress Grove Chevre

Culture Magazine

Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and More!!

If you’re a cheese lover, you won’t want to miss this one of a kind event at Cheese Plus.  Save the date and be sure to stop by on Saturday, February 21st from Noon – 4 PM!

This event is co-hosted by Sheana Davis proprietor of The Epicurean Connection.  Sheana is a Chef, Caterer and Culinary Educator based in Sonoma, and is the host of the 7th Annual Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference being held in Sonoma on Monday and Tuesday, February 23rd and 24th.  For more information about the cheese conference please follow the link here.