We had another fabulous day at the Food & Wine festival. Attendees loved our flatbread pizza, especially paired with the Cavit wine (check out the recipe in yesterday’s post!). It was a gorgeous day, the sampling was fantastic and we met a lot of great people.

One of our most memorable moments was chatting with Michelle Bernstein, the chef of Michy’s in Miami, Florida. She recently won the Best Chef in the South award at the 18th annual James Beard Foundation Awards. Michelle hosts the hit public television series Check, Please! South Florida, defeated Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America and co-hosted The Food Network’s Melting Pot, a show that presents the traditions, stories and recipes of her Latin background. We are really looking forward to the upcoming release of Michelle’s first cookbook.

We will be sure to upload pictures as soon as we can to show you all the happenings! In the meantime, check out the Food & Wine Classic site at http://www.foodandwine.com/promo/classic.

Greetings from the Food & Wine festival in Aspen, Colorado!

We arrived last night and attended a fabulous opening party at the St. Regis. It was full of good eats, good wine and great conversation. We rubbed elbows with food personalities such as Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio from Bravo TV’s Top Chef!

We also shared a glass of wine with Sissy Biggers, who is hosting “The Classic Cook-off” at Food & Wine Sunday morning. She frequently appears in cooking segments on the The Today Show, CBS Early Show and has been showcased on Food Network’s Ready, Set, Cook! and ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover. We talked about her activities and about Sargento. She loves the Sargento Artisan Blends and her daughter enjoys Sargento Mozzarella String Cheese snack sticks. We look forward to keeping in touch with her.

Today was the first day of tasting and it turned out great. Everyone enjoyed our flatbread pizza recipe, which we are sharing below. The tasters agreed it paired very well with the Cavit Pinor Noir. Many people came back for second or thirds - yes, we know who you are!

We are excited for another day of tastings tomorrow and will come back to dish up the details. Stay tuned!

Mushroom and Herb Flatbread Pizza

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
3 cups sliced portobello mushrooms
3 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme or sage
1/4 cup white wine1 flatbread
2 cups (8 oz.) Sargento® Artisan Blends™ Shredded Whole Milk Mozzarella & Provolone Cheese, divided

Directions

1. Preheat over to 450°F.
2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook 2 minutes. Remove onion from skillet; set aside.
3. Add mushrooms, garlic and thyme to skillet; cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Stir in wine: cook over high heat 1 minute more or until wine is evaporated.
4. Sprinkle flatbread with 1 cup cheese. Top with mushroom mixture, onion and remaining cheese.
5. Bake in preheated 450°F oven 5-8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

At the 2008 World Championship Cheese Contest, several Wisconsin artisan cheeses gained international recognition for their high-quality and superior flavors. Congratulations to the following cheeses and their cheesemakers:

Cheddar, Aged One to Two Years
Award: Best of Class
Company: Maple Leaf Cheese
Co-op Name: Roger Larson
Location: Monroe, WI
Score: 99.75

Provolone, Aged
Award: Best of Class
Company: Burnett Dairy Cooperative
Name: Steven Tollers
Location: Grantsburg, WI
Score: 99.25

Award: Second Award
Company: Burnett Dairy Cooperative
Name: Earl Wilson
Location: Grantsburg, WI
Score: 98.80

Smear Ripened Hard Cheeses
Award: Best of Class
Company: Roth Kase USA Ltd.
Name: Team Roth Kase USA
Location: Monroe, WI
Score: 99.40

Pepper Flavored ‘American’ Style Cheeses (Cheddar, Colby, Jack)
Award: Third Award
Company: Burnett Dairy Cooperative
Name: Rob Stellrecht
Location: Grantsburg, WI
Score: 99.05

Open Class Semi-soft Cheeses
Award: Second Award
Company: Roth Kase USA Ltd.
Name: Team Roth Kase USA
Location: Monroe, WI
Score: 99.50

To celebrate, here’s an artisan blends recipe that will make a delicious accompaniment with any meal: Fabulous Focaccia Bread.

In this video, we take you to artisan cheesemaker Roth Käse in Southern Wisconsin to see the time and care that goes into achieving the right texture and flavor in their award-winning cheese.

 

 Podcast Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (290)

For a delicious recipe highlighting artisan cheese, try Swiss Cheese Soufflé that uses Artisan Blends Swiss featuring Roth Käse’s robust Gran Cru Gruyere alpine cheese.