picnic foods that use cheese

"Julia Altshuler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Now I'd like to add recipes to the company's weekly email newsletter.
The ideal recipe would a) use lots of cheese and b) be appropriate for
the season, i.e. would be something that could be served at a picnic
or barbecue since our weather has been so hot, and c) be moderately
more complicated than just cutting up the cheese and putting it on a
plate.

Well, this doesn't use lots of cheese, but what about those fancy salads
involving greens, some peak-of-season fruit, nuts (often candied) and
crumbled bleu, goat or feta cheese? Check epicurious.com for recipe
ideas...they have some great salads.

What about sandwiches...long, skinny baguettes, stuffed with fresh
mozzarella, summer-ripe tomatoes, basil, and slathered with something
decadent.

Hmmm....have never made this, but have seen cheese-stuffed flank steak
on menus. I've never understood how the meat gets cooked. What about
some kind of roast chicken w/ herbed goat cheese under the skin...

Mi e' parso che Chris abbia scritto:

Quoted message said:

Well, this doesn't use lots of cheese, but what about
those fancy salads involving greens, some peak-of-season
fruit, nuts (often candied) and crumbled bleu, goat or
feta cheese? Check epicurious.com for recipe
ideas...they have some great salads.

Other than those cheeses, also low-medium seasoned cheeses
generally work well in these salads. Also cold rice salads are
good for diced cheeses as Tome, Emmenthaler or medium-young
Pecorino.

Quoted message said:

What about sandwiches...long, skinny baguettes, stuffed
with fresh mozzarella, summer-ripe tomatoes, basil, and
slathered with something decadent.

I totally quote this (BTW it makes me remember spanish tapas :°)

Quoted message said:

Hmmm....have never made this, but have seen
cheese-stuffed flank steak on menus. I've never
understood how the meat gets cooked. What about some
kind of roast chicken w/ herbed goat cheese under the
skin...

Or the "bistecca alla valdostana" recipe, where a steak is cooked
on a pan and gets finally covered with melting "Fontina
valdostana", a cheese from "valle d'Aosta" in northern italian
alpes.
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

"Julia Altshuler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I thought I could stay away from usenet, but here I am back again with a
question. When y'all last heard from me, I had taken a job at a wine
and cheese shop. I'm still there. I enjoy the work. I'm getting to be
known as the cheese whiz. Don't ask me why, but I seem to have a memory
for the different sorts of cheeses.

(snip)

Quoted message said:

Now I'd like to add recipes to the company's weekly email newsletter.
The ideal recipe would a) use lots of cheese and b) be appropriate for
the season, i.e. would be something that could be served at a picnic or
barbecue since our weather has been so hot, and c) be moderately more
complicated than just cutting up the cheese and putting it on a plate.

--Lia

What about a nice feta, olive, pasta salad? Depending upon the occasion,
you could do a gorgonzola burger, if a grill is to be had. If you're
creative enough, you may be able to come up with a crab or shrimp and goat
cheese dip. (It would be fun to try to make, anyway!)

I'm all out of ideas, I'm afraid. Nice to see you back posting, Lia!

kili

For a picnic, I love to do a huge baguette, some lovely fresh fruit,
good cheeses, and then pickles, olives, roasted red peppers along with
it.

Or else, you could do skewers of cheese cubes alternating with grapes
and melon balls.

"kilikini" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm all out of ideas, I'm afraid. Nice to see you back posting, Lia!

Yes! Truly!

Thanks for the ideas so far. I do like the salad and sandwich ideas. I
realize that there's one more criteria for the perfect recipe to go in
the company email. That's the one that says the customers shouldn't
come in expecting us to have the dish available to them.

This is the darnedest thing about the customers. (I'm generalizing
here.) They love and appreciate good food and wine, but they don't
cook, or they don't cook much. The grocery items that sell are the
pre-made sauce and spice mixes that get poured over an ordinary dish
like burgers or lettuce. Overpriced chocolate in fancy boxes sell.
Stuffed grape leaves and marinated mushrooms sell. Best quality olive
oils and vinegars don't sell. Unless the recipe is on the side of the
package, people don't know what to do with it. Most of our sales are to
people who want something to bring to a dinner party where someone else
is cooking (or has ordered out). Cheese platters where we cube the
cheese and put it on a plate with some kale and grapes sell like crazy.
(We do a nice job, but it drives me nuts since I want to treat
customers the way I'd want to be treated, and the way I'd want to be
treated involves not paying an arm and a leg to do something I could
just as easily go home and do myself.)

We do a great business in dips. We don't make them in the shop.
(That's been a disappointement. I'd hoped the job would involve more
cooking, but the boss has a point that given what we could do with the
available space, it is probably more cost effective to devote it to
wrapping and packaging than cooking.) They're delivered to us from a
commissary, and the mark-up is fine so we make a profit.

My idea for the recipes isn't that the customers would actually come in
to buy the ingredients and make them at home. I know they're not going
to do that. I want the recipes to be a sort of advertising. I want the
customers to read the recipes and get a warm fuzzy feeling that draws
them into the store. I'm afraid that if I send a recipe for dip,
they'll come in and want to buy the pre-made dip. The same goes for
salads and sandwiches. I'm hoping that with casseroles and cold soups
the customers will know that they can't just drop by and demand the food.

--Lia

In article <[email hidden]>, Julia Altshuler

Quoted message said:

My idea for the recipes isn't that the customers would actually come in
to buy the ingredients and make them at home. I know they're not going
to do that. I want the recipes to be a sort of advertising. I want the
customers to read the recipes and get a warm fuzzy feeling that draws
them into the store. I'm afraid that if I send a recipe for dip,
they'll come in and want to buy the pre-made dip. The same goes for
salads and sandwiches.
--Lia

Rather than sending the recipe is there any chance you could get them to
buy the cheese for the dip if you 1) sampled the dip right where the
cheese is in the cooler; 2) had copies of its recipe available for the
taking? $$ JAT.
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> 5/8/05.
"Are we going to measure, or are we going to cook?" -Food Critic Mimi Sheraton

Frittatas

Foccacia pizzas topped with cheese and "fancy" toppings -- pesto,
herbs, flavored oils, tapenade, artichoke hearts. Boboli.com has lots
of ideas. I'm thinking your store sells some convenience items that
would make good toppings.

I think this idea came from tasteofhome.com -- fill frozen mini phyllo
cups with a square of brie and top with preserves, tapenade, nuts,
etc. and bake.

Tara

Julia Altshuler said:

The idea is to sell cheese by creating an attractive image in the
customer's mind. It is unlikely that anyone will actually make these
recipes; our clinetele isn't the cooking kind, but the recipes should
work just in case. I thought of spanakopita which can be baked ahead of
time and then served cold or at room temp at a picnic. Paul Prudhomme
also has a blue cheese soup that sounds like it would be great cold.
Now I need more ideas.

Greek Salad... a proper one with tomato, onion, Calamata olives and lots of
crumbled feta, not one of those things they bastardize with lettuce.

Sliced tomatoes with boccinccini, basil and balsamic vinegar.

stuffed veggies....bleu cheese stuffed into celery stalks, topped with
chopped toasted walnuts; cherry or grape tomatoes hollowed out and
stuffed with a good cheddar-style cheese; miniature zucchinis stuffed
with herbed goat cheese; brie on apple slices; blanched asparagus
stalks wrapped around slices of sharp swiss; pitted olives stuffed with
feta. easy to make but very gourmet eating!

"Julia Altshuler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

<snippage>

Quoted message said:

Now I'd like to add recipes to the company's weekly email newsletter.
The ideal recipe would a) use lots of cheese and b) be appropriate for
the season, i.e. would be something that could be served at a picnic or
barbecue since our weather has been so hot, and c) be moderately more
complicated than just cutting up the cheese and putting it on a plate.

The idea is to sell cheese by creating an attractive image in the
customer's mind. It is unlikely that anyone will actually make these
recipes; our clinetele isn't the cooking kind, but the recipes should
work just in case. I thought of spanakopita which can be baked ahead of
time and then served cold or at room temp at a picnic. Paul Prudhomme
also has a blue cheese soup that sounds like it would be great cold.
Now I need more ideas.

--Lia

Quiche Lorraine made with Swiss gruyere, emmentaller and/or appenzeller
serves nicely at room temperature at a picnic. Steamed fava beans with
grated pecorino romano and a little EV olive oil and lots of freshly ground
black pepper makes a pleasing picnic side. I like to serve a good quality
feta drizzled with EV olive oil, minced fresh oregano and/or thyme topped
with fresh ground pepper along with kalamata olives is a nice simple
appetizer. You could even add some of those pricey white anchovies if you
want ;-) Others have mentioned the classics of Greek salad with feta or
Italian bufala mozzarella with fresh tomatoes and some EVOO, basil, balsamic
vinegar and S & P. Another salad idea would be a salad of mixed baby green
with some type of fruit (like pears), some type of bleu cheese (roquefort,
gorgonzola or Maytag blue) some kind of nut (walnut or hazelnuts do well)
and a nice vinaigrette drizzled on just before serving.

If your shop carries cured meats and bread it would be a natural to suggest
picnic crostini. A person could slice a crusty loaf of French or Italian or
whatever bread that they prefer and pair it with several options. First
they could toast the bread slices ahead of time They could slice, crumble,
shave or grate the appropriate cheese and meats and keep the meat and cheese
in separate containers and combine at picnic time. A Spanish crostini could
be thinly sliced serrano jam and some shaved manchego or preferred Spanish
cheese. An Italian could be bresaola and pecorino or prosciutto with
reggiano parmesan drizzled with a bit of white truffle oil and chives.

Frico, the lacy fried cheese things, are very good at room temperature. I
like frico using reggiano parmesan or asiago. Just store in an airtight
container. You can also use these as a base for holding other compatable
flavors. In effect making the frico function like the crostini does. Top
with pate or a cured meat or chopped tomatoes etc.

I hope this helps!

Kate

Kate

Kate B wrote on 07 Jun 2005 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

"Julia Altshuler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

<snippage>

Quoted message said:

Now I'd like to add recipes to the company's weekly email
newsletter. The ideal recipe would a) use lots of cheese and b)
be appropriate for the season, i.e. would be something that
could be served at a picnic or barbecue since our weather has
been so hot, and c) be moderately more complicated than just
cutting up the cheese and putting it on a plate.

The idea is to sell cheese by creating an attractive image in
the
customer's mind. It is unlikely that anyone will actually make
these recipes; our clinetele isn't the cooking kind, but the
recipes should work just in case. I thought of spanakopita
which can be baked ahead of time and then served cold or at room
temp at a picnic. Paul Prudhomme also has a blue cheese soup
that sounds like it would be great cold. Now I need more ideas.

--Lia

Quiche Lorraine made with Swiss gruyere, emmentaller and/or
appenzeller serves nicely at room temperature at a picnic.
Steamed fava beans with grated pecorino romano and a little EV
olive oil and lots of freshly ground black pepper makes a pleasing
picnic side. I like to serve a good quality feta drizzled with EV
olive oil, minced fresh oregano and/or thyme topped with fresh
ground pepper along with kalamata olives is a nice simple
appetizer. You could even add some of those pricey white
anchovies if you want ;-) Others have mentioned the classics of
Greek salad with feta or Italian bufala mozzarella with fresh
tomatoes and some EVOO, basil, balsamic vinegar and S & P.
Another salad idea would be a salad of mixed baby green with some
type of fruit (like pears), some type of bleu cheese (roquefort,
gorgonzola or Maytag blue) some kind of nut (walnut or hazelnuts
do well) and a nice vinaigrette drizzled on just before serving.

If your shop carries cured meats and bread it would be a natural
to suggest picnic crostini. A person could slice a crusty loaf of
French or Italian or whatever bread that they prefer and pair it
with several options. First they could toast the bread slices
ahead of time They could slice, crumble, shave or grate the
appropriate cheese and meats and keep the meat and cheese in
separate containers and combine at picnic time. A Spanish
crostini could be thinly sliced serrano jam and some shaved
manchego or preferred Spanish cheese. An Italian could be
bresaola and pecorino or prosciutto with reggiano parmesan
drizzled with a bit of white truffle oil and chives.

Frico, the lacy fried cheese things, are very good at room
temperature. I like frico using reggiano parmesan or asiago.
Just store in an airtight container. You can also use these as a
base for holding other compatable flavors. In effect making the
frico function like the crostini does. Top with pate or a cured
meat or chopped tomatoes etc.

I hope this helps!

Kate

Kate

A Peasant meal plate of various sausage slices and mixed cheeses. (What
I had for lunch today).

--
No Bread Crumbs were hurt in the making of this Meal.
Type 2 Diabetic Since Aug 2004
1AC- 7.2, 7.3, 5.5, 5.6 mmol
Weight from 265 down to 215 lbs. and dropping.
Continuing to be Manitoban

Today I walked in and presented my boss with a recipe for spanakopita
using 3 Greek cheeses we sell in the store. This was to be the first in
a long series of recipes that would go in the weekly email notice. He
was polite about it, but he didn't like the idea. His objections were:

The weekly email is already too long.

He's been more or less promising to keep the emails down to 1/week so
having a Thursday email with the information on the Friday night wine
tasting plus a Monday email with information on cheeses with recipes is
too much.

70% of the store's business is wine. All other products should lead the
customers back to wine. If they think of us as another gourmet grocery,
they'll be disappointed that our selection of foods is minimal. The
groceries and cheeses are more there as a little added something to keep
people interested in wine, not as advertised products in their own
right. Most of the store's efforts and resources should be devoted to wine.

Only the 3rd reason really makes sense to me, and if that's it, he's
doing a terrible job of limiting the grocery and cheese section. As
near as I can tell, he LIKES cheese so he orders way more cheese and way
more types of cheese than he can sell in a given time period. Too much
goes bad and gets tossed, or too much appeals to only a small group of
people. I can see where this could be a problem. You don't want to
appeal to mass tastes, or you'd be competing with the supermarkets. You
want to have the cheeses that are excellent and different, maybe local.

On the other hand, we must have 10 sorts of blue cheese when most blue
cheese affectionados would be satisfied with a selection of only 4. We
must have 10 different hard Italian cheeses too, and then we sell only
the sharp provolone, the Piave and the occasional Parmesan. No one
wants Brigante or Peppato or the less sharp Provolone.

I digress. Let me thank everyone for their efforts and put together a
summary. I love these ideas and intend to keep badgering my boss.

Fancy salads. (We sell the candied nuts which is a bonus.)
Pesto. (I can make a big deal out of how much better pesto is with a
great cheese in it.)
Roasted chicken with herbed goat cheese (or other cheeses under the skin).
Quiche (Duh. Why didn't I think of this?)
Frittata.
Fava beans. (Good one. Fava beans are trendy and cool.)
Skewers as a presentation idea. (We often give away samples in the form
of tiny sandwiches. This is one we can produce in house.)
Pasta salad. (We sell fancy pastas. I could come up with a thousand
recipes for pasta salad, and we have dressings too.)
Frico. (I'm not sure the customers will go for this, but I will.)

Thanks to all, and thanks for the welcome back.

--Lia

kilikini said:

Depending upon the occasion,
you could do a gorgonzola burger

I love blue cheese on burgers, so gorgonzola would be good too!