Monday, April 11, 2011

National Cheese Fondue day.

First off, Happy Manic Monday to everyone out there. Second, let's get to the biz-nass that is cheese.

Today the food of the day is Cheese Fondue.



Not sure how this is actually a food, but I guess since you can consume it, it counts. Here's a site dedicated to the 411 on cheese. Side note: the 411 as in information and 4-11 because April 11th is National Cheese Day. Thought that was catchy.

Do you have any idea how much melted cheese alone the world consumes?

FUN FACT
: The U.S. is the top producer of cheese in the world. Wisconsin and California (where Happy Cows come from according to Cali's latest commercial) lead the states in production. In a year, the average American consumed around 31 pounds of cheese, although cheese consumption in the US has tripled since 1970 and continues to increase. Now, that's a lot of hunkin cheese!


I'd like to focus more on getting people who have not had cheese fondue to try it. If you are not a professional chef, home cook, or even small child that can plug in a pot and fill it with cheese, (I kid, I kid), I'd suggest going to The Melting Pot. My gracious this place has awesome food, but buyer beware, melted cheese ain't cheap.

If you are however, the aforementioned foodie like myself, you can purchase a really good fondue kit for a little bit of money. Here's a great set for around $35 at Amazon.com: Rival Electric Fondue Set.

Now, I know that this isn't fondue per say, but the food portion of today is cheese. So, I'd like to share a little recipe my sister taught me (Love her to death!) for making your own homemade Cheeze-itz. No, I'm totally not kidding. They SUPER taste like cheese-itz. I adapted it a little to my taste. Just kidding guys and gals. Seriously the recipe is so easy to make and you might even have the list of ingredients at home right now because there are only TWO!

Homemade Cheeze-its



Ingredients
Kraft Deli Deluxe American Cheese Slices
Cayenne Pepper
Non-stick cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 375˚.
2. Cut slices of cheese to desired cracker size.
3. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
4. Place cheese on cookie sheet.
5. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper (don't over do this step, a little goes a long way).
5. Place in the oven at 375˚ for about 3 minutes, just until the cheese melts. (Since I know that oven temps vary, be sure to check frequently past the 3 minute mark).
6. Let cool and enjoy!

Since this is such a simple recipe (basically two ingredients) you could vary it any way you'd like. Try different cheeses, different spices like smoked paprika. I'm sure if you wanted to really turn up the creativity you could even make a batter and smother the crackers in the cheese and spices or add bacon, or sauces, or sea salt, and .... that's it, now I got a hanker for a hunka cheese. To the store I go!

Buon appetito!
 
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