Tuesday, November 30, 2010

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.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

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

Thursday, November 18, 2010

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 1st 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