This recipe takes me back!..  a great dish to put in the oven on a cold winter day.  It's from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a time when a mushroom flatbread was an exciting restaurant option.  The call for exotic mushrooms cracks me up.  This was the first time I sautéed them with sweet vermouth, which was amazing!  Am I that old that I will call this a classic?!

Wild Mushroom Flatbread Pizza
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - July 25, 2010

​1/4 cup butter
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups exotic mushrooms (oyster, shitake, etc), chopped
sea salt
pepper, freshly ground
1/4 cup sweet vermouth
4 10" Italian Herb Flatbread (see note)
extra virgin olive oil
8 ounces gouda cheese, coarsely grated

​Notes: Marek-Loper uses Tandoori Naan, which is a thicker flatbread than some brands.

​​1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Add butter to saute pan over medium-high heat until mostly melted.  Add shallots and garlic and saute until opaque, stirring constantly to prevent burning or browning.  Add mushrooms, then salt and pepper to taste. Saute until almost soft. Add sweet vermouth and continue to saute until liquid is absorbed.

3. Remove flatbreads from package, place 2 per cookie sheet and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Generously top with Gouda cheese and layer mushroom mixture on top.

4. Bake pizzas in preheated oven about 10-16 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is slightly golden brown around the edges. Be careful not to burn. Cut each into 8-10 pieces and serve immediately.

And my favorite - Cheese!  They have two of the richest, creamiest cheddars available in the grocery store.  They are soft and smooth, making a great addition to a cheese plate (yes, sometimes I have cheese plates for dinner or lunch or snack).  There's two options of cheeses-  Natural Aged Cheddar, which is a lighter cheddar, aged 6 months.  I like it with something spicy, like hot pepper jelly or melted in a sandwich.  My favorite goes to the Natural Sharp Cheddar, which is bolder, aged 12 months.  This one I prefer on it's own, as a snack with fruit like grapes.

A note about how this stuff is made.  Not only is it made by 3,000 family farms across Ireland, but it's certified animal welfare approved by A Greener World, a non-profit that focuses on food transparency.  The cows are graze outside, each on an average of 2 acres of land to roam free on.  I don't buy a lot of cheese but when I do I prefer it to come from smaller farms that treat cheesemaking like a craft and not a factory farm.

Contest time! 🧀
​I have some Truly party packs to give away; fun stuff and coupons!   
In the comments leave me a good old cheesy joke.  Here's one of my favorites I've heard recently:

What do you call a factory that makes OK products?  
A Satisfactory!
😂

Winners will be chosen at random on 9/20/20 at midnight EST.  Open to US residents; winner will be contacted by email to get shipping address.  Name and contact information will not be kept on file or used for any evildoing or spam.

#pairswithyou #trulygrassfed #tryazon #freebee #giveaway

Being from Wisconsin I do love cheddar and I do love beer...  so this dip from the Penzey's catalog is in my rotation of party foods.  It's so simple and good.  For the non beer lovers a lighter choice like PBR works to add a slight bitterness.  But for those like me that prefer something a bit more bitter an IPA or darker ale is a nice contrast with the creamy cheese and garlic.

I feel in love with pupusas on my first trip to El Salvador.  Those tasty cheesy corn cakes topped with that tart slaw was unlike anything else I've ever had!  I looked forward to my trip there to eat more and got excited to find a Salvadorian restaurant that would serve 'em. 
Now I am dealing with an abundance of squash in the garden so I scanned my cookbooks for squash recipes and was thrilled to come across this.  These little guys were easy to make.  I shredded a block of smoked mozzarella one day, roasted a big batch of squash another day and whipped this up another time.  I topped mine with sour cream and salsa! 
​The leftovers were good as well.  I did some topped with egg, another with vegan crumbles.  They are a great vehicle for many toppings that kicked up the leftover game!

​1. Preheat the oven to 400.  Cut the squash in half lengthwise, and spoon out the seeds.  Put the squash halves cut side down into a casserole dish, and bake them 40-50 minutes, until they are tender.  Let them cool.  Spoon out the flesh, and put it into a large bowl.
2. Add the masa harina to the bowl of squash.  Mix in the salt and pepper.  Add the cheese, and mix well again.  Add the water, and mix with one hand until the dough is smooth.
3. On a lightly floured surface, for a 3" wide patty from a large spoonful of masa dough.  Form seven more patties from the remaining dough.  They will be rather soft and fragile.
4. Place a large skillet over medium heat.  When it is very hot, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.  Fry four of the pupusas for about 5 minutes per side, until they form a golden crust on both sides.  Transfer them to a plate, and keep them warm in a slow oven. Heat the skillet again, add the remaining olive oil and fry the four remaining pupusas in the same manner.  Serve the pupusas with dollops of sour cream, if you like and pass the hot sauce around the table.

Feta-Mint Zucchini Bites from Vegetarian Times 

This is a winner even without mint.  I've made when I didn't have mint on hand and still love this recipe.

Fresh mint takes on a very different flavor when it’s cooked—it tastes a bit like oregano, which is also a member of the mint family. These light appetizers can be assembled ahead of time, then broiled just before serving.

• 2 medium-size zucchini, cut into ¾-inch-thick slices
• 2 roasted red peppers from jar, drained, rinsed and chopped (about ⅓ cup)
• ⅓ cup crumbed feta cheese
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint
• 2 Tbs. pine nuts

1. Scoop out centers of zucchini slices, leaving 1/4-inch-thick shell. Steam 4 minutes, or until just tender. Set in baking pan.
2. Toss together red peppers, feta, mint and pine nuts in bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat broiler. Spoon filling into zucchini cups, mounding slightly. Broil 3 minutes, or until cheese is melted and lightly browned. 

Being vegetarian is easy for me since I never liked meat.  Vegan is another story.  I'm from Wisconsin, I love cheese!!!  I was very skeptical of cheese replacements but after falling in love with Daiya and getting my skeptical husband as addicted I started to ponder other dairy free cheesestuffs.  I started with my Vitamix book and hit the jackpot.  This sauce is versatile and good, better than any processed cheese sauces.  I've used this to make mac n cheese, nachos and to top anything.  And unlike my friend Daiya, it's oil free so ok for the Engine 2 Diet!  It has been a lifesaver, elevating any oil free veg dish.  The consistency of this sauce as below is very thin.  I prefer it on the thick end so only add as much water to get everything moving at first then slowly adding the boiling water just to make it smooth.  I use a little under half the amount of water they suggest.  It lists a few choices for nuts, I've only tried with cashews but it looks like almonds work as well.

Not-So Cheese Sauce Vitamix
1 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup canned pimentos or roasted red pepper
1/2 cup raw cashews or almonds
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons potato starch, mixed in 1/4 cup cold water

Place all ingredients, except the boiling water and potato starch mixture, into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.

Select variable 1.

Turn machine on and quickly increased speed to Variable 10, then to High.

Blend for 6-7 minutes or until heavy steam escapes from the vented lid.

Reduce speed to Variable 7 and remove the lid plug.  Pour boiling water and potato starch mixture through the lid plug opening.

Continue to blend until mixture is thickened, about 1 minute.
​