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Smoked Cheese: Everything you need to know
Are you a cheese lover? Have you ever tried smoked cheese?
We stock a huge range here at Shisler’s Cheese House but we know that some customers don’t pick it up because they’re not sure about how it’s made or how to use it. That’s where this blog post comes in. We’re going to tell you everything you need to know about smoked cheese and show you some great uses for it so that you can add this delicious treat to your table.
A huge range of smoked cheese
We currently offer Smoked Baby Swiss, Smoked Bacon Cheese, Smoked Cheddar, Smoked Gouda, Smoked Habanero Cheddar, Smoked Horseradish Cheese, Smoked Hot Pepper Cheese, Smoked Mozzarella, Smoked Provolone, and Smoked Swiss Cheese.
That’s 10 smoked cheeses to choose from! We recommend that if you haven’t tried it before, start with a simple hard cheese such as the Smoked Cheddar or Smoked Gouda.
How is cheese smoked?
There are several ways to smoke cheese, but the main ones are the cold or hot smoke processes. The cold smoke method involves smoking chunks of cheese in a smoker for a few hours at a time with a tray of ice under the cheese. This allows the smoke to infuse into the cheese without it getting too hot and melting. Some smokers will keep the heat source separate to the cheese so that there is no need for the ice.
Smoked cheeses are usually aged for a brief period to allow the smokiness to mellow. The type of wood used will affect the flavor of the cheese. Common types of wood used include apple, oak, hickory, and chestnut. Our Smoked Cheddar is slowly smoked over a hickory fire to give it a deeply smoky flavor. So is our Smoked Horseradish Cheese which has a kick from the horseradish root and our Smoked Hot Pepper Cheese which is also really spicy. Our Smoked Mozzarella is smoked using both hickory and cherry wood smoke.
How should I eat smoked cheese?
There are so many ways to enjoy this but we are going to share just a few with you to give you inspiration today.
- On a cheeseboard
Add another dimension and extra flavor to your cheeseboard with smoked cheeses. They’re also great if you’re building a board around different textures of cheese. These are hard to semi-soft cheeses so you have a good range to choose from. Smoked cheese will surprise your guests if they haven’t tried it before!
- In a sandwich
Thin slices of smoked cheese alongside a good quality ham makes for a very special sandwich indeed. A sweet relish will offset the smokiness if you need some balance.
- On tacos
Grate some smoked cheese over your tacos for an authentic, smoky flavor.
- With fruit
Tart apples or white grapes are the perfect accompaniment to smoked cheese as the flavors marry really well.
We hope you learned something about smoked cheese today! Have you tried it? Let us know in the comments!
How to Make Fresh Pasta
We all know that fresh pasta tastes so much better than any dried pasta. But how many of us have actually tried to make it at home?
It might seem daunting, but pasta really isn’t so hard to make. Today we’ll show you how to make it from scratch.
Recipe – Makes enough fresh pasta for 6 people
You will need:
6 large eggs
600g ‘00’ flour
Method – making the dough:
- Put the flour onto a board or in a bowl.
- Make a well in the center of the flour and crack the eggs into it.
- Beat the eggs with a fork until they are smooth.
- Using your hands, incorporate a little of the flour into the eggs at a time, until everything is mixed together.
- Combine the dough until you have one smooth lump.
- Knead the dough to develop the gluten. Stop when the pasta feels smooth and silky.
- Cover the dough fully and rest it in the fridge for at half an hour.
Method – rolling the dough:
You can simply use a rolling pin to roll pieces of the dough until they are lovely and thin.
If you have a pasta machine, the best thing to do is follow the instructions that it comes with as some have different mechanisms. In general, though, this will be your basic method.
- Dust your work surface with some ‘00’ flour. Take a handful of pasta dough, press it flat and roll it through your machine on the widest setting.
- Move the pasta machine down a setting and roll the dough through again.
- Fold the pasta in half. Repeat steps 1 and 2 five or six times, folding each time.
- Once the pasta is very smooth, roll it through all of the settings on the machine from widest down to narrowest.
- If you are making tagliatelle or lasagne, rolling it until it is just slightly thicker than a playing card. For stuffed pasta including ravioli and tortellini, make it thin enough that you can clearly see your hand through it.
- Cut or shape your pasta before it dries. Use a clean, damp cloth to stop it from drying out if you need to.
Shaping and cutting fresh pasta:
For lasagne or tagliatelle, you will simply need a sharp knife to cut the pasta to the desired shape. Your pasta machine may have attachments to cut the pasta. If you are shaping the pasta we recommend finding video instructions that will show you the quickest method. Get the family involved to get the pasta ready before it dries!
To cook your pasta:
- Add pasta to a large pot of boiling salted water.
- It will take 1 to 3 minutes, so watch the pot closely.
- Test the pasta to ensure that it is just slightly al dente before serving.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed learning how to make pasta from scratch. Do you have any tips for first-time pasta makers? Let us know in the comments!
Father’s Day is Coming Up: Grab a Gift Now!
Father’s Day is coming up on June 17th, so now is the time to grab a great gift.
We know that you will all want to show your Dads how much they mean to you. This is a special day to show them your appreciation for all that they do for you. Our range of gifts is the perfect thing for the man who has everything. You’re sure to find something that will appeal to every taste.
Our Gift Box for Dad contains Troyer’s Trail Bologna Ring, Ohio Swiss Cheese, Pepper Jack Cheese, Shisler’s Private Label Mustard, Shisler’s Private Label Hot Pepper Relish, and Carr’s Crackers. It’s everything that your Dad could need for a perfect Father’s Day.
Pepper Jack is a cow’s milk cheese that has been given a spicy intensity through the use of jalapeno, serrano, and habanero peppers. Troyer’s Trail Bologna Ring is a chunky, all-beef bologna with a smoky taste, created by the fourth generation of the Troyer family. Don’t be fooled by imitators.
You could add a bottle of wine, beer, or scotch if you want to impress Dad even more.
We also have a whole range of gift boxes for your Dad this Father’s Day.
Our cheese lover’s box is extra cheesy! You’ll receive a 3/4Lb. wheel each of Cheddar, Cojack (Marble), Farmer’s Cheese and Pepper Jack. Just like our other boxes, you’ll find some assorted chocolates as well.
For a showstopping gift, our Baby Swiss Cheese Gift Box is certain to create a stir. It contains a whole 4Lb. Baby Swiss Cheese Wheel. Our Baby Swiss is made in Charm Ohio, by the original producer Guggisberg Cheese. It is a young, semi-soft whole milk cheese with small holes and a mild flavor. It also comes with chocolates for those with a sweet tooth!
We also offer a Scotch Collection and Beer Collection for those Dads who like to pair cheese with their favorite drinks.
We can’t wait to get your Father’s Day gifts to you all and make it a great day for everyone. Please remember to check our shipping policy if you are ordering online to make sure that your gifts will arrive on time.
If you need some help to pick out a great gift, please get in touch or pop into the store to see how we can help.
Summer Drinks to Enjoy This Weekend
It’s getting warmer and sunnier, so it’s time to think about summer drinks to brighten up your weekends!
We’ve put together a list of some of the best for you to enjoy.
Rosé wine
It’s an absolute classic for the summer. Whilst we want robust reds when it’s cold outside, a lovely refreshing rosé in the sun is the perfect thing. We love a Pinot Noir based rosé because they’re packed with strawberry and cherry flavors.
Sangria
Sangria hails from Spain and can be made with red wine or white wine. A traditional red wine sangria is made with bold red wine, orange juice, brandy or rum, sugar, ice and chopped fruit. It’s one of the best summer drinks to enjoy with tapas dishes. Make a large jug of it to keep all of your guests refreshed.
By Personal Creations – www.personalcreations.com – Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0
Mojito
A mojito is one of the easiest summer drinks to make up ahead of a party. Muddle together lime juice, fresh mint, and sugar, before adding ice, white rum and a dash of soda water. You can add berries like raspberries or strawberries to create an even fruitier mojito. Mix up a punch bowl of this before an event and you won’t need to spend all evening mixing up drinks.
Aperol Spritz
This is a cocktail to savor in the summer. It has bitterness from the Aperol and sweetness from Prosecco. If you haven’t had one of these before, mix one up this weekend! Mix equal parts of Aperol and Prosecco over ice. Top with a dash of soda water and add a slice of orange. In Venice, they even add an olive on a stick!
Iced Tea
Sometimes you need to whip up something alcohol-free for your summer table. Iced tea ticks all the boxes with citrus flavors and sweetness. The simplest way to make it is to cool strong tea with some sugar and lemon slices, but you can add different fruits and herbs for different flavors. We love peaches, orange, or mint.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our suggestions for summer drinks. Which will you be making this summer? Let us know in the comments!
Goat’s Cheese: 7 Ways to Eat It
We absolutely love goat’s cheese here at Shisler’s Cheese House. We’re hoping that you will too and that’s why we’ve put together a list of 10 great ways to eat it.
We stock chevre goat’s cheese imported from France. This has a crumbly, cream cheese-like texture with a very creamy flavor. You’ll also get plenty of that goat’s cheese tang!
In a salad
This is how we often think of using goat’s cheese. It’s a classic for a reason! Crumble your cheese over salad leaves, roasted tomatoes and red peppers for a great combination. Add some pumpkin seeds for crunch and a balsamic vinegar dressing to bring everything together.
As a stuffing
Goat’s cheese works really well as a stuffing because it won’t melt too much and run out during cooking. Slice open a chicken breast and stuff it with the cheese, chopped tarragon, lemon zest and seasoning. Wrap the chicken in bacon or prosciutto and bake for approximately 20 minutes at 370F, until the juice runs clear.
On toast
It’s the simplest dish around but it’s still delicious! Spread some cheese on a piece of toast and dig in. You can even drizzle over some honey or spoon on some chopped fruit for a hint of sweetness.
With fruit
The creaminess and acidity of a crumbly chevre make it a very good friend to fruit. Try it with roasted fruits like figs, cherries, apricots, or peaches. It also goes really well with apples and honey. You can pair them in a tart, as a simple snack, or in a sandwich.
In pasta
Goat’s cheese works as a filling or a sauce for pasta dishes. Pair it with spinach, butternut squash or pine nuts. Stir it into a cream sauce with a little lemon zest to pack it full of flavor.
In a burger
There are a couple of ways to do this that will make your burgers pop. If you are making burgers from scratch, you can put a slice of goat’s cheese into the middle of the burger mix. Alternatively, add goat’s cheese on top of your burger whilst cooking or when you add it to your burger bun.
With a glass of wine
Goat’s cheese pairs really well with wine, but you’ll need to find one that stands up to strong flavors and the creaminess of the cheese. We recommend a Sauvignon Blanc, especially one from Sancerre if you can find it. The acidity of the wine will cut through all that creaminess and enhance the flavors of the cheese.
Do you like goat’s cheese? Which recipe would you try? Let us know in the comments!
How to Make the Perfect Crepe
Do you love a crepe for breakfast? Perhaps you want to wow your guests with savory ones at a party? Look no further. Today we’ll tell you how to make the perfect crepe. We even have some topping suggestions!
History of the crepe
A crepe is a very thin pancake. Unlike American pancakes, they are very fragile in texture and can even appear lacy.
Crepes actually originate from the Greek Tiganitai, from tiganos meaning frying pan, which literally translates into English as pancakes. The French crêpe derives from the Latin crispa, meaning tiganitai with creases.
In France, crepes are traditionally served on Candlemas (February 2). If you toss a crepe in a frying pan in your right hand, whilst holding a gold coin in your left hand, it is said that you will become rich for the year ahead. The shape of the crepe is often also seen as symbolic of the sun.
Crepes are also popular across other parts of Europe and are referred to by many names. In Spain, they are traditionally served at carnivals, where they are sometimes made with pork blood instead of milk.
You will need:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
0.25 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups of milk
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
How to make the crepes:
- Mix all ingredients in a blender. This will create a puree and will ensure that all of the ingredients are mixed well. If you don’t have a blender you can do this by hand, but ensure that you mix thoroughly.
- Bubbles will form on the top when the batter is ready. Allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. If you are preparing ahead for a dinner party, it can be kept in the fridge for 1 day.
- Heat a non-stick 12inch skillet over a medium heat. Add a little butter and allow this to melt and coat the pan.
- Add 1/3 of a cup of batter, swirl it to evenly cover the pan, and cook until golden brown. This should take 2 to 3 minutes.
- Carefully flip the crepe using a silicone spatula. Cook for another minute and remove from the pan.
- Continue with the remaining batter, adding butter before each crepe.
Toppings
Now you can get creative! We like to fill our crepe and roll it up, but you can serve them open if you like.
Try sweet toppings like chocolate, maple syrup, marshmallows, cinnamon, baked apples, peaches and cream. We have a huge range of syrups for you to drizzle on.
If you prefer a savory crepe, then cheese is an excellent choice. We especially like ricotta with spinach or gruyere with ham.
The best thing is that you can experiment and find your favorite flavor combinations.
Enjoy your crepes!
What is Paprikash?
We love to answer your burning cuisine questions here at Shisler’s Cheese House! If you’ve been browsing our site or store for something new then you might have come across paprikash sauce and wondered what it’s for.
Paprikash is a Hungarian dish made with chicken. The name paprikash simply comes from the use of paprika. The meat is cooked slowly for a long time to let the flavors infuse.
It’s become famous around the world and Jonathan Harker even eats it in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
We stock Jozef’s Premium Chicken Paprikash Sauce. This sauce allows you to cook traditional Hungarian Chicken Paprikash in half the time. It is made with Hungarian yellow peppers, onions, garlic, sea salt, olive oil, and paprika. To make paprikash, you combine the sauce with raw chicken, preferably bone-in thighs, and cook it to create your dish. You could even try it with other meats including pork, veal, or beef, for a twist on the traditional.
Jozsef was born in Budapest, Hungary into a restaurateur’s family. His mother and father, Erzsebet and Janos, owned and operated Csarda, a two dining room restaurant on Balycsi Zilinski Ut, in Budapest. In 1950 the restaurant was confiscated by the Communist Regime, which came to power after the Russian occupation of Hungary. In 1956, after the collapse of the Hungarian Revolution, the Russians were searching for his father to arrest and execute him. Jozsef’s family fled to Austria and eventually emigrated to the United States in 1957. His father brought with him the cookbooks and recipes from his restaurant, which Jozsef guards and cherishes to this day.
The family settled in Cleveland, Ohio where Jozsef was raised and educated. Jozsef became a prominent divorce attorney in Cleveland, but he never forgot his heritage and his love for Hungarian cuisine. Throughout the years he cooked his favorite dish, Chirke Paprikas (Chicken Paprikash), for family, friends and charitable and civic events.
In 2008, on a whim, he entered the Cleveland Paprikash Cook-Off with 30 other contestants. Jozsef’s recipe won the popular vote by a landslide. He was bombarded with questions from event attendees as to where they may be able to eat or buy his chicken paprikash. One gentleman suggested that he produce a sauce so that they could make and eat it at home. At the time, Jozsef thought it was impossible since cooking chicken paprikash was a 3-5 hour process.
However, Jozsef toyed with the idea for the next two years and much to his surprise he was able to develop a formula and a manufacturing process which recreated his award-winning paprikash. We’re proud to stock a sauce with such a great story and heritage.
So, will you be trying this Hungarian treat this week? Let us know in the comments!
Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend
As thoughts turn to the Memorial Day Weekend, we just wanted to share with you some ideas for making the most of it. Whatever you are doing to remember our veterans, the long weekend is a time to come together with friends and family.
Read our post on how to plan a dinner party and wow your guests with a beautiful table setting. If you’re trying to impress but you aren’t super experienced in the kitchen, try our post on how to start cooking from scratch. We also have tips to cater for picky eaters if you’re serving a difficult group.
If it’s hot where you are, why not try our salad ideas? If you simply need to throw something together quickly for a crowd, you can’t go wrong with a charcuterie board.
We hope that you enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend and that it’s a time for sharing food and fun with your loved ones. Let’s not forget what the day is really about, though. We remember those who have given our lives in service so that we might live. It is a true sacrifice, and for that, we are immensely grateful.
Read our post on the real origins of Memorial Day here.
Quick Baking Mixes to Get You Through the Week
You know how it is. Sometimes you just need some quick baking to get you through the week. Whether it’s for packed lunches or unexpected guests, we have the perfect solution for you: our baking mixes.
We offer a wide range of quick baking mixes. You can take them home and get them in the oven before anyone can even say “I’m hungry!”
Bread Baking Mixes
Bread becomes quick and easy to make at home. Everything you need comes in a beautiful bag. You’ll have bread on the table in no time. We stock beer bread, cheezy beer bread, golden cornbread and red hot cornbread baking mixes. There’s something for everyone’s taste!
If you have guests coming at the last minute or you’re just pressed for time, you can turn this bread into a whole meal. Blend up a quick soup or even put out lots of cheese, pickles, and crackers. Let people help themselves and they’re sure to be happy. Everyone will be impressed that you have made your own bread. You don’t have to tell them it’s from a mix if you want to keep it as our secret!
Cheezy Biscuits Baking Mix
Another savory choice is our cheezy biscuits baking mix, which is sure to wow a crowd or even keep the kids happy after school. Of course, we would serve cheezy biscuits with some cheese, but if that’s too much for you then they are great with some delicious rolled Amish butter. Ours is produced locally. Butterfat is one of the byproducts of cheese making. Because there are abundant amounts available from the local cheese artisans, Northern Ohio is a production hub for fresh Amish butter as well. It is made using milk from hormone-free cows and no preservatives are added. The taste is incredible. We stock it in both salted and unsalted varieties.
Muffin Mixes
For the sweet tooth, we have a great range of muffin mixes. These include strawberry, apple cinnamon, chocolate chip, pumpkin raspberry and “bran”ana.
Every sweet craving will be satisfied by these. You can take them to bake sales or serve them for an afternoon snack.
We hope that you enjoy our recommendations for baking mixes. Most of all, we hope that you have fun baking this week! Which are you going to try? Let us know in the comments!
Carolina Reaper Cheese: Our Hottest Cheese Yet!
We know that you love spicy cheeses and that’s why we’re super excited to tell you about our Carolina Reaper Cheese. This is a rich and creamy cheddar blended with Carolina Reaper Chili Peppers. Tasting Carolina Reaper Cheese is an experience that you won’t forget! This cheese may actually cause a rush of endorphins, and may even put hair on your chest!
For reference, the Scoville Heat Scale measures how spicy foods are in Scoville units. A bell pepper has a Scoville rating of 0, with paprika reaching 1,000 and a jalapeno heading up towards 10,000. A Cayenne Pepper is between 30,000 – 50,000 Scoville units. Carolina Reaper pepper is between 1.4 million and 2.2 million Scoville units!
This is a cheese to try with friends. Watch their reactions as they try to withstand the spice. You could use this in recipes but be careful to only add a little at a time if you want to make something that is enjoyable to eat as well as surprisingly spicy! Our favorite way to enjoy it is to simply pair it with crackers and challenge our friends to eat it.
If you know the spice might be too much, have a glass of milk or a square of chocolate on hand. Casein, the protein found in milk, breaks down the bonds that capsaicin (the active component that makes chili peppers spicy) forms on our nerve receptors. Milk chocolate is best because of its higher volume of casein, but capsaicin is also more soluble in fat than in water, so it will be carried away by the fat content of the chocolate. We don’t need another excuse to eat some chocolate, but we think this fiery cheese might just need it!
If you want to try a whole range of spicy cheeses then we have you covered:
Scorpion Cheddar is our second hottest cheese. It has 1.2 million Scoville units of heat. This is another one to take to a party and challenge your friends to take a bite.
Ghost Pepper Cheese is made from the Indian Bhut Jolokia pepper. It has a Scoville score of 855,000. This is a slow burner so be sure not to eat too much at once!
Hot Pepper Cheese is perfect for adding just a hint of spice, whilst still enjoying a creamy cheese.
We even offer a Hot Stuff Collection, which includes Hot Pepper Cheese, Habanero Cheese, Troyer’s Trail Bologna with Hot Pepper Cheese, Shisler’s Private Label Hot Pepper Relish, Shisler’s private label Hot Jalapeno Mustard, Hot Pepper Jelly, and Carr’s Crackers.
Do you love spicy cheeses? Let us know if you would try Carolina Reaper Cheese in the comments!
CAUTION: This cheese is extremely hot and can cause eye and skin irritation.
