Announcing the New President and the Sales/Marketing Manager at Marin French

Marin French Cheese is pleased to announce the appointment of Maxx Sherman as company president, with responsibility for sales, marketing, new product development and all operational activities. Sherman has 30 years of experience in the specialty food industry. When he joined Marin French in September of 2004, Sherman created the national sales and marketing department. Since then, sales have increased over 50%. During the past six years the company has secured strong positions in more than 30 states as well as numerous countries in Asia.

Maxx Sherman believes that the goal of Marin French is to deliver the best quality American soft-ripened cheese to consumers. “There are millions of new customers who are looking for quality American cheese. Many still do not know we exist and why our cheese is so exceptional. We will find them and help them discover the delicious flavors of the Rouge et Noir brand.”

Along with Sherman’s new role as president; Marin French has hired Suzanne Reifers to take over the position of National Sales and Marketing Manager. Suzanne was formerly the Marketing & Brand Manager for Laura Chenel’s Chevre. Reifers has extensive distribution and retail experience. She also has a strong background in culinary arts and has worked for many years with food service customers.

Other key members of the Marin French team are cheese-maker Alex Borgo, who brings a wealth of production experience from stints in Switzerland and Canada, as well as long-time Marin French veterans operations manager Cheri Katen and shipping manager Kathy Bordessa. Together, Katen and Bordessa have more than 50 years of experience with Marin French Cheese.

baked brie with garlic and honey

From IEATTHEWORLD blogger:

Ingredients are simple. a brie wheel, 3 or 4 good sized cloves of garlic, salt, and honey. any kind will do. oh, and a good loaf of bread. the recipe tells you to grind the garlic into a paste (using the salt as an abrasive) by crushing the cloves on a cutting board using the side of your knife, but i just used a garlic press to smush it through. smear the garlic paste over the brie, and then pour on the honey. if you have enough, be liberal, bc most of it will drip down the sides and make a delicious dipping sauce for your bread dipped in the cheese.

Yellow Buck Camembert Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients

· 5 pounds Yukon Potatoes

· 6 cups Yellow Buck Camembert (shredded)

· 6 cups Parmesan (shredded)

· 1 1⁄2 quarts heavy whipping cream

· 3 oz. finely minced garlic

· 1⁄2 pound softened butter

· Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Freeze Camembert overnight to harden cheese, making it easier to shred. Peel and slice Yukon potatoes. Grease bottom of hotel pan with softened butter. Shingle one layer of sliced potatoes onto pan. Drizzle 1 cup of heavy cream over potatoes. Follow with 1 cup of each cheese (shredded Camembert and Parmesan) and 1 tablespoon of garlic. Repeat these steps for six layers and lightly season with salt and pepper every other layer. Cover with plastic wrap and foil. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 45 min. Uncover potatoes and brown for 5 more minutes. Let rest for at least one hour before cutting to portion or transferring to another pan.

Makes two, 2-inch hotel pans.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Ricardo Avila, House of Blues, Houston, TX.

Shiitake and Brie Pizza's

3 to 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic, crushed

4 (6 to 7-inch) flour tortillas

4 ounces Brie cheese, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh plum tomatoes, diced and seeded

1/3 cup scallions, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350 F. Remove stems from the mushrooms, slice the caps thinly and set aside. In a small saucepan melt butter, add garlic, cook and stir for 30 seconds, then set aside. Place tortillas in a single layer on a baking sheet. Cover with Brie. Scatter tomatoes and reserved mushrooms over cheese, sprinkle with scallions. Drizzle with reserved garlic butter. Bake until cheese melts and mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes.

Serves 4

Recipe from mushroomLovers.com.

Wine- and Citrus-Poached Pears with Triple-Crème Cheese

Another excellent holiday dish to incorporate locally harvested pears with our Triple-Crème Cheese!

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1 3x3/4-inch strip lemon peel (yellow part only)

1 whole clove

2 firm but ripe medium-size pears, peeled, stems left attached, halved lengthwise, cored

1 tablespoon cassis (black-currant-flavored liqueur; optional)

8 ounces triple-crème cheese (Rouge et Noir Triple Crème Brie), cut into 4 wedges

Combine wine, sugar, orange juice, lemon peel, and clove in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add pear halves to saucepan. Cut out round of parchment paper same size as saucepan. Place parchment round atop pears, pushing edges of parchment into liquid to prevent edges from curling up. Reduce heat and barely simmer until pears are tender when pierced with knife, about 12 minutes.

Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to bowl. Boil liquid in saucepan until slightly syrupy and reduced to 3/4 cup, about 14 minutes. Cool syrup to room temperature; stir in crème de cassis, if desired. Pour syrup over pears. Cover and chill at least 12 hours, turning pears occasionally.

Thinly slice pear halves lengthwise almost to stem end, leaving stems attached. Spoon generous 1 tablespoon pear syrup onto each of 4 plates. Top each with 1 pear half, pressing gently to fan. Serve with cheese.

Brie and Crispy Bread Salad with Cranberry Dressing

A great recipe for the holidays!












Ingredients:

· 2 pieces flat bread

· olive oil, for brushing

· 250g brie, sliced

· 2 cups wild rocket (arugula) leaves or baby spinach

· ¼ cup roughly chopped sweetened dried cranberries

· 2 tablespoons olive oil

· 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

· sea salt and cracked black pepper

To make the dressing, combine the cranberries, olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper in a bowl.

Preheat the oven to 400. Brush the bread with the oil, bake on a baking sheet for 4-5 minutes until it’s golden and crispy. Allow the bread to cool, and then break into bite sized pieces. Divide the brie, spinach (or arugula) and bread between the plates and drizzle with dressing.

Serves 4

Press Release from Marin French Cheese Company

Dear Friends,

As many of you are already aware, Jim Boyce passed from this world on September 26, 2010. Jim spent the last twelve years of a wonderful and productive life stewarding and nurturing a dedicated staff at Marin French Cheese Company to unprecedented heights of cheese making and marketplace presence, while garnering an ever increasing number of national and international awards for a variety of traditional and innovative cheeses.

Jim purchased Marin French from the founding family heirs. Established in 1865, the company began by introducing fresh cheese to the influx of gold miners arriving in San Francisco. Breakfast Cheese was sent by horse and wagon and steamers across the Bay, and became widely accepted in saloons among San Franciscans. In the early 1900’s, the company began making hand crafted European-style soft-ripened cheeses.

From Jim’s start with the company in 1998, the four cheeses made at that time have expanded into twenty-six varieties. He enjoyed a crowning achievement by winning Gold against the best French cheeses at the 2005 World Cheese Awards for his Rouge et Noir Triple Crème Brie, a first ever for an American company. At the same competition, Marin Chèvre Blue won Gold and Yellow Buck Chèvre was awarded the Best American Cheese 2005. Just last August, Marin French received two 1^st Place awards, among 12 honors it garnered, at the 2010 American Cheese Society Judging, one of the most prestigious U.S. competitions. Clearly, Jim set high standards of excellence for Marin French’s artisan cheese team.

During spring 2010, Jim recognized it was time to transition management of Marin French Cheese for the future. That effort resulted in the appointment of Maxx Sherman as President to succeed Jim, and brought together a group of individuals close to Jim and his visions who will guide the Company forward as Board Members. The current Board spent numerous hours with Jim reviewing in detail his long-term business goals, plans for the facility upgrades and recently completed aging room expansion, new cheese product opportunities, and market development. Maxx, having spent over five years collaborating with Jim on product development and marketing, is well equipped to lead the team of dedicated managers at the company.

Our overall goals continue to be to: (1) deliver to our customers the finest, consistent quality soft-ripened cheese in the marketplace, (2) excel at customer satisfaction, and (3) continue our tradition of producing innovative, hand crafted cheeses. The Board is deeply grateful to Jim for the legacy he leaves. We share with our loyal customers, retailers, distributors and employees our commitment to enter this new era of Marin French Cheese Company with the same enthusiasm and dedication as Jim had bestowed during his tenure.

Very gratefully yours,

The Board of Directors

Marin French Cheese Company

Marin French Cheese Company featured in MC2 magazine

Marin French Cheese Company was recently mentioned in MC2 magazine for mini cooper owners and here is what they had to say:

"If you do decide on a wine and cheese picnic, remember that the choices can be overwhelming. There are literally dozens of cheeses and hundreds of wines to choose from. My advice here is to stay away from the plastic- wrapped supermarket cheddars and instead, buy a serious cheese, such as a camembert, brie, stilton, English cheddar, or Roquefort. Then choose a wine to go with it. To make your decision a little easier, a cheese/wine pairing chart at the end of this article lists the popular pairings. Buy a nice pate, too, as long as you are at it. It will slightly complicate the wine parings, but it will be worth it. Supermarket cheese selection can be somewhat limited in certain areas, but thankfully, there are lots of artesian cheese makers in the states. One such company, the Marin French Cheese Company (Petaluma, CA) sells to gourmet markets and even offers mail order sales through their website (www. marinfrenchcheese.com)."

Issue #25 Page 32

Whose Big Basket in the Lake at the Cheese Factory?

We've had some crazy requests to do events on the Cheese Factory grounds through the years, although this past weekend was one of our more wacky ones. Lawrence Batterton from Woodacre emailed us to see if he could float test a giant Picnic Basket in the lake, which he is racing in the upcoming Kinetic Grand Championship," the Triathlon of the Art World." The race, which goes from Arcata to Ferndale, is 41 miles long and covers sand dunes, bridges and even the Humboldt Bay. It is quite an event, taking place Memorial Day Weekend. They arrived with a team of people and put the 14 feet long by 7 feet wide basket in the water. Success!!!

Triple Crème Brie, Fruit and Nut Delight

Serves 5

1 - 8 oz. Rouge et Noir Triple Crème Brie
2 – kiwi fruits
5 - strawberries
1 – small basket of blueberries
5 – glazed walnuts
5 – glazed pansies
Lavender or other honey – enough to lightly drizzle on top of Brie
Seasonal fresh fruit that is sweet and not too acidic (sour), may be substituted

• Cut Rouge et Noir Triple Crème Brie into 5 equal wedges and place on a dessert plate.

• Wash all fruit.

• Slice strawberries and kiwi into approximately 3/16” slices

• Arrange fruit around the Brie.

• Place walnut and flower in the center of the brie.

• Lightly drizzle honey on top of the Brie just prior to serving.

• Can be prepared up to 8 hours prior to serving if covered in plastic.

• Best served at room temperature. May be taken out of refrigeration up to 60 minutes prior to serving. Keep wrapped in plastic in order to prevent the fruit from drying out.

Serves 5

Sample Artisan Cheeses, Local Wines & Dance it Off @ Café Cocomo

Click on Image to inlarge flyer

Marin French Cheese Co. in association with Café Cocomo is beginning its summer series of monthly Sunday Salsa, Cheese & Wine on Sunday, May 2, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. We will spend the first two hours socializing in the outdoor patio; eating delicious handmade cheese from America’s oldest cheese producer, tasting fine local California wines. At about 3:00 pm, after everyone is a relaxed and comfortable, our professional salsa instructors will teach you the basics on how to properly move your body to the sexy rhythm of salsa. After this event the Sunday evening La Milonga (Tango) party begins at 7:00pm. The idea behind this program is to introduce the exciting rhythms of salsa music and the sexy dance to people who love wine and cheese but might be intimidated by the idea of stepping out onto the dance floor. Inversely we are introducing folks who would typically shy away from the pretentious world of fine wine and cheese to a new sense of appreciation and enjoyment. Café Cocomo is the ideal setting for such an event. The club is going on 15 years of weekly salsa dancing and an on going Sunday Milonga (Tango) evening. Café Cocomo has earned the following awards: USA TODAY: Voted 3rd best salsa club in the nation, SF Bay Guardian: Best Salsa Club - 2004-2009: City Best Night club - 2006-2009, SF Weekly: Best salsa club – 2007 and Zagat: rated Excellent. For more information, contact Maxx Sherman maxx@marinfrenchcheese.com (415) 317-5609

4th Annual Cheese Festival in Petaluma

Chefs Jason and Alicia from Jackson's Restaurant in Santa Rosa

Here we were again at the 4^th annual Artisan Cheese festival hosted by The Sheraton in Petaluma, Ca. We sampled seven of our cheese’s including the Petit Dejeuner, our most recent award winner. It was named “Best in The U.S’ at the World Cheese Awards! Another was our newest cheese, the Mélange Camembert, made with half goat and half cow’s milk – 2010 World Championship Cheese Competition Award Winner. We also sampled out our corporate chefs latest creation, a Schloss and ham spread to die for. The recipe is on our web site HERE. Everything was a BIG hit! Six hours later, the crowd of over 1,400 savored everything we brought and in the end, only a few wheels of cheese remained. Notable critics and authors, like Laura Werlin, were there for book signings. The weather turned out to be incredible, rendering the huge tents pointless and despite the huge crowd, everyone seemed to make their way through the event with ease. Of course, they were perfectly willing to wait in line to taste our Petit Dejeuner.

Thank you to the Sheraton and we hope to see all of you there next year.

San Francisco International Chocolate Salon

We had a sweet time at the 4^th annual San Francisco International Chocolate Salon, presented by Taste TV at Fort Mason. With over 50.000 sq ft of chocolate, wine and cheese, it was no wonder everyone was smiling. Right from the start, we had a line of more than 25 people eager for a sampling and it stayed that way for the entire event. Imagine, over 5,000 people were there to taste chocolate and we could barely keep up with the demand to sample our cheese! These discriminating chocoholics couldn’t resist our corporate chef’s delicious Triple Creme Brie and bittersweet chocolate Tartlet. And, the Mélange Brie and other award winning tastes were also a big hit. KCBS food critique, Narcie David stopped by to enjoy our award winning Artisan cheeses and was greatly intrigued with our chef’s amazing Schloss spread. Keep in mind, all of our recipes can be found HERE.

February wrap up and March upcoming events

February was a very busy month for Marin French Cheese. We served up our delicious cheese and Schloss Spread at the Make A Wish benefit, paired our cheeses with about 70 awesome Petit Syrahs at Dark & Delicious, served 3,000 people at the Chronicle Wine and Food event at Fort Mason and then off to Sonoma for the Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference.

This month in March we will be partying at the Amnesia Bar in San Francisco with Gordon Edgar, the author of "Cheese Monger" and mixing it up with Cheese and Chocolate at the S.F. Chocolate Salon in Fort Mason. And, then the Grandest of all cheese events begins on March 26th. The California Artisan Cheese Festival will begin with a Barn Dance and Cheesemaker Mixer at the Green String Farm in Petaluma .

To follow our upcoming events go to http://www.marinfrenchcheese.com or become our friend on Facebook HERE.

Chef Phillip's Marin French Blue Apple Tower

On Sunday, February 21, Marin French Cheese Company joined with many other cheese makers, cheese book authors and fine food producers for the Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference at MacArthur Place in Sonoma. Marin French was paired up with chef Phillip Kaufman of Sea Ranch Lodge in Mendocino.

Chef Phillip produced a delicious hors d'oeuvre called the "Marin French Blue Apple Tower." This very simple dishes pops with flavor in your mouth. The crisp apple if sour, compliments the creamy and sweet sensation of the Triple Creme Blue Cheese. In addition it is easy and fast to make.

Marin French Blue Apple Tower

1 wheel Marin French Blue cheese

or substitute with Le Petite Bleu

1 Fuji Apple or other sweet apple

1 bunch green grapes

Turbinado sugar (raw sugar)

1/2c fig balsamic vinegar

1/2c huckleberries

Start by placing fig balsamic vinegar and huckleberries in a saucepan.

Over med heat reduce mixture by half. Set aside.

Next using an apple corer start at stem end of apple and cut out three cylinders.

Slice each cylinder into half-inch circles.

Slice grapes in half

To assemble tower:

Start with an apple circle. Top it with a slice of cheese to cover.

Place a grape slice on plate and sprinkle with sugar.

Using a bakery torch caramelize the sugar.

Place caramelized grape half on top of cheese.

Drizzle reduction over towers.

Serve using toothpicks

Read Edgar Gordon's new book on Google Books

Wine and Wishes

On February 6th Marin French Cheese Company celebrated 5 years of supporting Make A Wish @ the Wine and Wishes event. This years they raised $500,000, plus another $300,000 in in-kind donations. This highly glamorous event was held on Treasure Island!

Just in time for Valentine's Day

Marin French Cheese Company offers you this sweet and luscious recipe for Valentines Day. It is very and quick simple to prepare. The main ingredient, Triple Crème Brie, is luscious and creamy. This international award winning cheese pairs lovingly with Champagne, strawberries and chocolate. It has a slightly sweet irresistibly creamy texture. And, the Brie is perfect with fresh fruit and Champagne.

1. Arrange tartlet shells on a tray. Fill tartlet shells three-fourths full with Rouge et Noir Triple Crème Brie. (With or without rind).

2. Place chocolate pieces in a small microwaveable dish. Microwave on HIGH 15 seconds, stirring until melted. Spoon melted chocolate over Brie. Or, transfer melted chocolate to a plastic bag. Cut off corner of bag and pipe over Brie to cover. Let cool.

3. To garnish, remove rind from remaining Brie. Place softened Brie into pastry bag fitted with star tip. Pipe star on each tartlet. Chill tartlets up to 2 days or serve at room temperature within 6 hours.

Serves 4

Fancy Food Show Report

Marin French Cheese Company was up front and center in this year’s cheese section at the Fancy Food Show, Moscone Center January 19th-22nd. The halls were filled with a sophisticated crowd tasting award winning cheeses in an attractive booth. Chef Ironbott was on duty serving up special recipes like our famous Schloss and Ham Spread stuffed inside mushroom caps (see video below).



And, lucky guests were able to enjoy Ironbott's inventive desert including our Triple Creme Cheese in a chocolate covered tartlet, which was a big hit as well! Don't these look yummy (they were) above.

It was a good year for the food show with a large turnout and a high caliber of customers who saw the quality in the products we make. Many also noted that our prices were right. Nothing better than being able to afford the best! Okay, now were bragging.

Schloss and Ham Spread

This recipe is a favorite of Marin French Cheese lovers and can be found posted on "Mikes" website here. He notes *American original Schloss "The Castle" is a "smear ripened" with heritage originating from Austria. It is a tawny, golden "brick" full of flavor. Marin French Cheese ages this milk-based cheese for 5 months.

Nice to have fans who are spreading the word . . . . no pun intended Mike!

This hearty hors d' oeuvres is great for the winter.

1/3 lb Rouge et Noir Schloss Cheese
6 oz ham steak – roughly chopped
1/3c chopped walnuts
1 ½ T hot chili sauce (recommended: Sriracha)
1 package Pumpernickel bread or
rosemary flavored cracker

Place all ingredients in the food processor and process until desired consistency

Makes 40

Cartier and America at the Legion of Honor

Marin French Cheese Triple Crème Brie on exhibit at the ArtPoint opening reception of "Cartier and America." Wow! This was one our grandest and most fun events yet. If you are not familiar with the ArtPoint organization here is description:

“ArtPoint is the young professionals’ organization dedicated to promoting an awareness of, interest in, and a long-term commitment to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Hosting social and educational events throughout the year, ArtPoint has creative people in mind. Members receive invitations to behind-the-scenes tours, ArtPoint-specific museum receptions, the aMuse lecture series, the Engage! gallery series and special offers from our partners. Proceeds benefit the Fine Arts Museums.”

Marin French has worked with ArtPoint at various events for such exhibitions as the YSL, Andy Warhol, Monet and now “Cartier and America." The Cartier event was sold out to 650 Bay Areas connoisseurs of fine art. They were predominantly dressed in the theme of “old Hollywood," wearing suites, tuxes, evening gowns and other extravagant attire that made for a beautiful evening.

Please join Marin French Cheese for future exciting events such as the Make A Wish Wine and Wishes and the Chronicle Wine Tasting event listed here on our blog, our Facebook page, and on our website.

Make A Wish Wine and Wishes, Saturday February 6th

Join Marin French Cheese Company at the Make-A-Wish Foundation Wine and Wishes Gourmet Food and Wine Tasting benefit in San Francisco. Over 1,000 culinary enthusiasts will experience one of the most talked about food and wine events of the year!

The 9th Annual Wine and Wishes will focus on the best talents the epicurean world has to offer while celebrating and highlighting the powerful impact a magical wish has on a child. Wine and Wishes 2010 will feature extraordinary Bay Area chefs and winemakers blending flavor, presentation, service and style. We hope to see you there.

Charity: The Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. The Greater Bay Area chapter has now granted over 5,000 wishes in its 25 year history.

Website: http://www.makewish.org

Price: Various ticket options are available. Please visit the website for more information.