Cheese All Around! 

Day or night, any time is a good time for cheese. This month's recipes offer tantalizing options for breakfast, a snack, dinner and the perfect wine party appetizer.

Gorgonzola Breakfast Pears 
Dry Jack Wafers 
Quesadilla Especial
Tony's Three-Cheese Focaccia
Swiss and Gouda Curry Fondue

Click here for a list of past recipes from Dairy Cuisine

Try this classic recipe, perfect for Sunday Brunch, using Nestlé® Carnation® Evaporated Milk.

Recipe courtesy of Nestlé® Carnation®. For more delicious recipes, ideas and information, check out the Nestlé® Carnation® Web Site.

Quiche Lorraine
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients (makes 8 servings)
1 unbaked 9-inch (4 cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
6 slices bacon, chopped 
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
1 1/2 cups (12 fluid-ounce can) NESTLÉ CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
3 large eggs, well beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

COOK bacon in large skillet over medium heat. When bacon starts to turn brown, add onion. Cook until bacon is crisp; drain. Sprinkle cheese into bottom of pie shell. Top with bacon mixture. Combine evaporated milk, eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg in small bowl until blended. Pour into pie shell.

BAKE for 30 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes on wire rack before serving.

NOTE: Quiche fits a variety of meal occasions from brunch to dinner and also makes an outstanding appetizer. If using metal or foil pans, bake on preheated heavy-duty baking sheet. 

Recipe courtesy of Nestlé® Carnation®. For more delicious recipes, ideas and information, check out the Nestlé® Carnation®  Web Site.

Gorgonzola Breakfast Pears with Cinnamon-Raisin Sauce
Makes 6 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 8-12 minutes

Pears: 
6 canned pear halves; 1 cup of the juice reserved
1/2 - 3/4 cup (2-3 ounces) Gorgonzola cheese

Sauce:
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup golden raisins
Walnuts
Powdered sugar

Pears: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place the pear halves, hole facing upwards, in a 9-inch round baking dish. Fill the hole of each pear with a teaspoon of Gorgonzola cheese, and spread a little extra around the surface of the pear. Bake the pears for about 8 minutes or until heated through and the cheese has melted.

Sauce: While the pears bake, prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted, pour in the pear juice and blend until smooth. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and raisins. Cook until bubbly (sauce will be runny). Keep warm.

Finish by placing the pears under the broiler just long enough to lightly brown the tops. Remove from the oven. Place each pear in a small individual serving bowl, topping with the cinnamon-raisin sauce and garnishing with walnuts and powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

For more delicious cheese recipes, ideas and information, check out the American Dairy Association Web Site http://www.ilovecheese.com.

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Dry Jack Wafers
Makes 15 to 18 wafers
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes

4 ounces (1 cup) artisanal Dry Jack* cheese, rind removed and grated

Preheat broiler. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of grated cheese into a 2-inch round on a cold nonstick baking sheet. Spread the cheese as thin as possible for even baking. Repeat with remaining cheese, leaving 2 to 3 inches between rounds to allow for spreading.

Broil cheese 3 to 4 inches from the heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbling subsides and wafers brown around edges. Watch carefully as the wafers can burn quickly. Remove baking pan from oven and allow wafers to stand until firm, about 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

If making wafers in batches, be sure baking sheet is completely cooled before preparing next batch.

*If Dry Jack is unavailable, Parmesan or Asiago may be substituted.

For more delicious cheese recipes, ideas and information, check out the American Dairy Association Web Site http://www.ilovecheese.com.

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Quesadilla Especial
Makes 6 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

5 medium cloves garlic, unpeeled*
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 can diced green chiles, drained (4 ounces)
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
8 ounces Asiago cheese, thinly sliced**
salsa (optional)
sour cream (optional)
guacamole (optional)
cilantro sprigs (optional)

Heat a medium heavy skillet over low heat. Add garlic cloves and cook until garlic skin is dark brown, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat; cool. Peel and slice garlic. Heat oil in same skillet over medium heat. Sauté onions until slightly limp, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and chilies. Remove from skillet. Wipe out skillet with paper towel. Place one tortilla in skillet. Arrange one fourth of the cheese on half of the tortilla. Top with one fourth of the onion mixture. Fold remaining half of tortilla over filling. Cook on each side until light brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from skillet and repeat with remaining ingredients. Cut each quesadilla into thirds. Serve immediately.

For more delicious cheese recipes, ideas and information, check out the American Dairy Association Web Site http://www.ilovecheese.com.

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Tony's Three-Cheese Colossal Focaccia
Makes 8 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes

1 12-inch loaf round focaccia bread
1 15-ounce jar pizza or tomato sauce
6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 ounces pepperoni, sliced
6-8 ounces mozzarella, sliced
4 ounces each: ham, turkey and Genoa salami, thinly sliced
6-8 ounces provolone, sliced
6-8 ounces mild Cheddar, sliced

Preheat broiler. Slice bread crosswise and place cut-side up on cookie sheet. Spread pizza sauce on both halves, reserving 1/4 cup sauce. Layer top half with mushrooms, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. Layer bottom half with deli meats, provolone and Cheddar cheeses. Place under hot broiler 4-5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from broiler. Place halves of sandwich together. Cut into 8 pie-shaped wedges and serve with remaining pizza sauce for dipping.

For more delicious cheese recipes, ideas and information, check out the American Dairy Association Web Site http://www.ilovecheese.com.

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Swiss and Gouda Curry Fondue
Makes 10 servings
Prep Time:10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

1 cup white grape juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white grape juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Gouda cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup lemon juice


For dipping: Bite-size pieces of cooked chicken or turkey; blanched broccoli and cauliflower florets; apples, plums and pineapple, cut in bite-size pieces.

In a medium-size heavy-bottomed saucepan heat the grape juice, garlic, curry powder and salt until barely simmering. In a cup dissolve the cornstarch in the sherry; add to the juice mixture, stirring until slightly thickened. Add the cheeses, a handful at a time, stirring until the cheeses are melted before adding more. Gradually stir in lemon juice.

Transfer the fondue to an enamel or ceramic fondue pot and keep warm over a fondue burner. Serve immediately.

For more delicious cheese recipes, ideas and information, check out the American Dairy Association Web Site http://www.ilovecheese.com.

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