-By James Mellgren

Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese —  toasted mostly.


Many of us dream of cheese, toasted or otherwise. No wonder, as cheese is one of the most satisfying of foods and nothing can quite take the edge off hunger like a piece of ripe, delicious cheese. Food retailers across the country are concerned about making it through the tough economic times that are sure to be with us for the near future. Running lean and mean with great customer service; good signage; attractive, well-maintained displays; and loads of sampling are all sound ways to safely navigate the troubled waters of a recession

Another and too often overlooked merchandising strategy is cheese in the kitchen, either by encouraging customers to cook with cheese or using it in your own prepared foods served in-store. Of course, cooked cheese is nothing new to consumers, but getting them to move beyond cheeseburgers, nachos and pizza, as well as upgrading to finer-quality cheese, can help increase sales at the cheese counter and expose your shoppers to new flavors — and you may come up with some very tasty dishes in the process. Grilled, melted, fried, swirled, layered or spread, cheese speaks volumes in the kitchen. It's the stuff dreams are made of.

An International Pantry of Flavors

In every cheesemaking country in Europe, cheese is commonly used in the kitchen, often as a way of using scraps of cheese left over from the table. Italy stands out in this regard, with an array of cooking cheeses that is hard to beat — Parmigiano-Reggiano, mozzarella, provolone, crescenza, gorgonzola, Grana Padano, asiago and more. Switzerland produces some of the best-known cooking cheeses, including Emmental, Gruyere, Appenzeller, raclette, sapsago and Sbrinz, to name a few, as well as solid cooking traditions to go along with them. The great majority of English cheeses are good in the kitchen, and there are plenty of English recipes for cheese, from a simple ploughman's lunch (bread, cheese and pickle at its most basic) to cheese on toast and Welsh rarebit. Even our own macaroni and cheese can be elevated to the level of haute cuisine with the use of aged farmhouse cheddar or other specialty varieties. With a world of cheese and a world of cheese recipes from which to choose, the prepared foods case suddenly got a lot more interesting.

Using cheese in the kitchen, besides being delicious and nutritious, is a great way to reduce some of the waste that is common in the cheese department. Facing cheese wheels, trim from sampling and various other remainders are excellent materials for a number of tasty dishes such as tarts, cheese breads, dips, salads, soups, and the French farmhouse staple fromage fort ("strong cheese"), a wonderfully tangy cheese spread that can serve as a quick snack melted on a slab of toast, or a fancy dip at your next soiree. In "Steven Jenkins' Cheese Primer," the master cheesemonger suggests mincing three or four peeled cloves of garlic in a food processor. Add a pound or so of cheese, the more varieties the better, a splash of white wine to moisten the whole thing, plenty of freshly ground black pepper, and blend until it is a creamy mass. Use right away or cover tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator indefinitely.

Any time one is using grated cheese in the kitchen, it may as well be scraps. Cheese with any serious defects, of course — such as black mold or cheese that is dried out to the point of no return — should be discarded. But cheese that has been sliced from the face of a wheel, or the ends of wheels that are either too small or too unsightly to sell, can go straight to the kitchen. In our kitchen at home, we routinely use scraps of cheese in cooked dishes. Recently, after going through a mass of samples from Vella Cheese Co. in Sonoma, we gathered the end pieces, trimmed the rinds and baked the whole in a vegetable pie with zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes and onions. Topped by some freshly made bread crumbs with a few knobs of butter, baked to golden-brown perfection and accompanied by a bottle of good ale, the impromptu pie was a delicacy I would have paid good money for in any restaurant.

Soups are a wonderfully economical way to use up cheese. A little goes a long way, especially when you spice it up with other ingredients. Besides using scraps of leftover cheese for soups, the rinds are also excellent flavor enhancers for soups. Save all those rinds from the Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano and other hard-rind cheeses. Simply toss in one or two of them to lend loads of flavor to all kinds of soup, not only cheese soups.  The cup-and-a-half worth of cheese in Chef Michael Symon's economical Heirloom Tomato & Wisconsin Asiago Tart (see recipe below) could easily be gleaned from the scraps usually thrown away at the cheese counter, leaving one only with the cost of eggs, butter and flour. The same is true for grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza and cheeseburgers. Thrift and the skills to stretch one's ingredients are sound strategies anytime, but especially during a recession.

If these cost-saving ideas for using cheese scraps are effective in the store, they will be no less so at home, and your customers will appreciate tips on how to economize. Try posting informative signage at the cheese department and in prepared foods, detailing these ideas along with plenty of recipes and other cheese-cooking tips. For example, the following are a few tried-and-true pointers  I developed regarding cheese in the kitchen. They are as sound now as they ever were, and offering them to your customers will boost your sales even while saving money for them.

Low and slow is the mantra for dishes that feature cheese — low heat and slow cooking time. This is especially true for harder cheeses with a low moisture content that will become quite tough if overcooked When cheese is a topping, add it close to the end of the cooking time, about five or 10 minutes before the dish is finished For cheese sauces, add the cheese in increments, a little at a time, stirring all the while, and again, low and slow Starch added to cheese — flour or cornstarch, for example — will help prevent cheese from curdling or separating. This is particularly true for dishes cooked for longer periods of time or at higher temperatures, such as fondue Acid added to the cheese — vinegar, lemon juice, wine — will keep the melted cheese from becoming stringy This is a no-brainer, but grated cheese melts faster and more evenly, making it a great idea for grilled cheese sandwiches and cheese on toast. The cheese should melt thoroughly before the bread is burnt It's best to remove a sauce from the heat before adding cheese Cooked cheese can change quite a bit during cooking, with blues becoming more intense and goat cheeses going to the mild side As with cooking in general, better-quality cheese will result in better-tasting dishes Substitute fresh, creamy cheeses in place of milk or cream when you want a thick, creamy consistency. Use fresh goat cheese, fromage blanc, yogurt or creamy blues for mashed potatoes, cooked greens and sauces
Offering recipes, serving suggestions, beverage pairings and cooking tips are great ways to actively involve your customers with the cheese department, saving them a bit of change and ultimately expanding their cheese-buying choices. There are a number of excellent cheese books that offer recipes, some full-on cookbooks and some reference books containing a few of the author's favorite recipes. A quartet of books that comes immediately to mind is the following:

"The Cheese Lover's Cookbook & Guide" (Simon & Schuster) by Paula Lambert, owner of The Mozzarella Company in Dallas. The book is a brilliant reference work with tips for buying and cooking with cheese as well as advice on substitutions. She gives over 150 great recipes gleaned from her travels and love of food "The New American Cheese" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) by Laura Werlin is a lovely cookbook that also features profiles of many of our most interesting cheesemakers. Her other books include "All American Cheese and Wine Book," "Great Grilled Cheese" and "Laura Werlin's Cheese Essentials" (all Stewart, Tabori & Chang) "Steven Jenkins' Cheese Primer" (Workman) is still one of the best resources for solid cheese information that covers thousands of varieties. Jenkins offers a few family favorites in the recipe realm "The Cheese Course" (Chronicle) by Janet Fletcher offers sage advice on buying cheese and assembling a cheese course, as well as recipes for accompaniments, beverage pairing suggestions and much more
Heirloom Tomato &  Wisconsin Asiago Tart

I pulled this recipe from my archives, since it was perfect for the subject. I was pleased to note that the author of the recipe, Chef Michael Symon, whom I had not heard of when I originally printed this, courtesy of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB), has gone on to become one of the Food Network's Iron Chefs. This is a great, quick way to use up leftover cheese.

Serves 6 to 8


1     9-inch blind-baked tart crust
2     large tomatoes, preferably heirloom varieties
1.5  cups heavy cream
3     eggs
4     garlic cloves, roasted and pureed
1.5  cups (6 ounces) Wisconsin Asiago cheese, grated
20   basil leaves for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Peel and seed the tomatoes. Cut vertically into eighths. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Mix together the cream, eggs, roasted garlic puree and cheese. Pour the mixture into the pre-baked crust. Top with tomato pieces. Bake for 30 minutes or until it is firm in the center and lightly colored. Bake five to 10 minutes longer if necessary. Let cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Garnish with the basil leaves and serve.


Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese & Chili Poblano Soup

This recipe, also from the archives, was created by Chef Dean Fearing of the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas for the WMMB, and it uses two of the state's most famous products, beer and cheese.

Serves 4

1     tablespoon bacon fat
1/2  white onion, chopped
1     large shallot
1     clove garlic, chopped
1/2  jalapeno chili, seeded and chopped
1     teaspoon pure chili powder
1     tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1/2  tablespoon chopped fresh epazote (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1    Pinch of ground cumin seed
1/2  cup beer
4     cups chicken broth
2     tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2     tablespoons all-purpose flour
2     small chili poblanos, roasted, peeled and seeded, and cut into1/2-inch dice
1.5  cups (5 ounces) shredded Wisconsin aged cheddar cheese
Salt to taste
Juice of 1/2 lime

Heat the bacon fat in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, shallots, garlic, jalapeno and chili powder. Saute for two minutes or until soft. Add the cilantro, epazote, cumin and beer. Bring to a boil. Boil for five minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Knead the butter and flour together into a paste. Slowly whisk bits of the flour paste into the boiling soup, mixing it until smooth. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes.

Remove the soup from the heat and immediately stir into the cheese. Pour into a blender in batches and blend until smooth. Add the chilis. Season with salt and lime juice. Pour into soup bowls and serve immediately.