Recipes from the Editor

By Paula O'Brien, Editor

Winter’s full of celebrations centering around food. Make it fun with small bites to get the party started! Be sure to take a trip to BriarPatch’s “Cheese Island” at the new Auburn store for all your grazing needs. It’s fabulous!

Cheesy Baked Stuffed Olives

Makes 50 hors d’oeuvres

An appetizer first popularized during the “Mad Men” days, its versatility and deliciousness have stood the test of time. Cheddar cheese gives the dough its pleasing texture and savory goodness. Go with extra-sharp cheddar, or for a twist, the smoked version!

Pre-stuffed pimento olives are an easy go-to, but you can try your hand with whatever’ll fit inside.

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

8 oz (2 cups) grated extra-sharp cheddar

1 ½ cups unsifted all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

¼ tsp cayenne powder

Pinch of dried thyme

Dash Worcestershire sauce

1 large egg

50 small pimento-stuffed cocktail olives, drained/patted dry

Heat oven to 350º. In large mixing bowl, cream butter then add cheese and mix well. Stir in flour, cayenne, thyme, salt and Worcestershire. Mix until smooth. Beat egg with 2 Tbsp cold water, add to dough and mix until just incorporated. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Remove dough, flatten out a walnut-size piece into a thin round. Put an olive on top of it and shape dough around olive, pinch to repair any breaks. Place on ungreased sheet pan. Repeat with remaining dough/olives.

Bake until dough sets, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Heat a grill pan until very hot, Brush both sides of cheese with olive oil and place on grill pan. Cook until you get grill marks, then rotate cheese 90º until you get a crisscross pattern. Carefully flip cheese over and cook/create the same crisscross pattern on the other side. Transfer grilled manouri to a serving plate and drizzle with about 1 Tbsp

Grilled Manouri Cheese with Honey-Balsamic Reduction

Makes 6-8 servings

Manouri is a Greek cheese made with the drained whey from the feta-making process, pressed and rolled into logs that are great for slicing and grilling. It’s less salty than feta, creamier and some say it has a slight citrus flavor. This is the perfect meze, and ready in about five minutes. Slice up a baguette or serve with your favorite crackers.

1 round manouri cheese, 1” – 1 ½” thick

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp Honey-Balsamic Reduction (recipe below)

Optional: cracked black pepper, ¼ tsp finely chopped fresh thyme, fresh rosemary flowers

Honey-Balsamic Reduction. Sprinkle on cracked black pepper, thyme, or about 1 Tbsp of little blue flowers from an organically grown rosemary plant.

Serve slices with baguette pieces or your favorite crackers.

Balsamic Reduction

Makes about ½ cup

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp honey

Place small saucepan over medium-low heat and add ingredients. Stir well.

Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer while stirring occasionally until glaze is reduced by half and lightly coats the back of a spoon, about 10-12 minutes.

Remove from heat, let cool. Store in a glass container.

Gougères

Makes about 28

These cheesy morsels are magical! Made from the classic French pastry pâte à choux, the dense, silky dough turns into something entirely different in the oven – light, airy puffs that are crispy on the outside. Gruyère is the classic cheese choice, but you can also use Gouda and a few extra Tbsp of grated Parmesan.

½ cup plus 1 Tbsp water, divided ½ cup milk

4 oz unsalted butter, cut into Tbsp size

Large pinch coarse salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

5 large eggs, divided

3½ oz shredded Gruyère cheese (1 cup) plus more for sprinkling

Ground black pepper

Fresh-grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400º, line two sheet pans with parchment.

In medium saucepan, combine water, milk, butter and salt. Bring to a boil. Add flour, stir with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms. Stir over low heat about two minutes, until it dries out and pulls away from sides of pan.

Scrape dough into a bowl and cool 1 minute. Beat 4 eggs into dough one by one, beating thoroughly between

each one. Add cheese and a pinch of nutmeg and pepper.

Transfer dough to pastry bag fitted with ½-inch round tip (see note). Pipe Tbsp-size mounds onto sheet pans, 2 inches apart. Dip your finger in water and tap down the points of each mound to prevent burning.

In a separate small bowl, beat together 1 egg and 1 Tbsp water to make egg wash. Brush onto mounds and then sprinkle with cheese.

Bake 20 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Serve hot or room temperature or freeze until ready to serve. Reheat in 350º oven until piping hot.

Note: If you don’t have a pastry bag, you can use a Ziploc bag or a cone you shape from parchment paper. With a spatula, put dough into one corner of a gallon-size Ziploc bag, or parchment cone. Fold up large end of cone, or seal bag and twist up empty part so dough goes into a cone-shaped point. Snip off a small hole in one corner and pipe away!

For more deliciousness, check out Phyllo Phinger Foods in our digital Vine.