Projo Football Food & Spirits

Weight Watchers offers a simple recipe made with low-fat cheese, and doesn't suggest you serve it with bread or crackers.

Beer and Cheese Fondue
1 12-oz. can or bottle light beer
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 pound low-fat cheddar or colby cheese, shredded
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

In a medium saucepan over moderate heat, warm beer until it boils; stir in mustard and pepper.

In a bowl, toss cheese with flour. Slowly add cheese to beer mixture, stirring. Continue stirring until mixture is smooth and thick, about 6 minutes total.

Yields about 1/4 cup per serving.

(Tip: Serve this dip with cubes or rolled slices of lean ham and smoked turkey as well as carrots, celery sticks, baked tortilla chips or cubes of crusty bread.)

Photo / Sheila Lennon

I've been playing with this versatile, easy recipe that's rich enough to satisfy a crowd and, if there are leftovers, it's even better the next day. It's fine with just mushrooms, or add sun-dried tomatoes to give it a bite. The cheese makes its own delicious browned crust. (This is not quivery like a quiche, since there's no milk or cream in it.)

You might add scallions or leeks, substitute (lightly steamed) broccoli for the spinach, or use 1/2 pound of cheddar and 1/2 pound of other cheeses (leftovers from your cheese plate). Double the spinach if you want it to be more like a spinach pie. Feel free to improvise -- the cheese will hold it all together.

Spinach & Cheese Squares
1 lb fresh baby spinach
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms or 4 oz. fresh mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 tablespoons melted butter
6 eggs, beaten
16 ounces cottage cheese or ricotta
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese (or half Cheddar and half other cheeses), coarsely grated
1/4 cup sherry wine (optional)
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Drain spinach well; the drier the better.

Photo / Sheila Lennon

Bring about 2 cups of water and sherry to a boil in a saucepan and add the dried mushrooms and sundried tomatoes. Blanch for 2-3 minutes, then let sit for at least 10 minutes to absorb the liquid. Drain.

In a heavy soup pot large enough to fit all the spinach, sauté onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of the melted butter till translucent.

Add spinach, stirring it down till it wilts, then drain. Add mushrooms and sundried tomatoes, eggs, cottage and cheddar cheeses, flour and the remaining butter and mix. Season with pepper.

Pour into prepared dish and bake for 1 hour. Serves 8 to 10.

Note: Use more water and sherry when reconstituting the mushrooms if you want to spin off a flavorful addition to soup. I've added the excess sherry-mushroom water to overly-carroted turkey soup and it cut the sweetness, much improving it.

This comes from a story by Kathy Carrier at The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press. I would use salmon bits, which are less expensive than whole fillets.

Smoky salmon ball

4 smoked salmon fillets (4 ounces, each)
4 packages (8 ounces, each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded plain Gouda cheese
1 cup shredded extra sharp white cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons dried dillweed, divided
1 tablespoon good quality lemon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Cajun jerk seasoning

Flake the salmon, removing all bones and skin. In mixing bowl, combine the flaked salmon, cream cheese, Gouda cheese, cheddar cheese, 1 tablespoon dillweed, lemon pepper, paprika and jerk seasoning. Mix well by hand. Form into a ball, and sprinkle with remaining dillweed on top and sides for presentation.

Wrap well in plastic wrap, and chill until ready to serve.

To serve, unwrap and serve with crackers or bagel chips.

Serves 16.

The Toledo Blade found this recipe in the monthly newsletter of the Maumee Valley Herb Society, which maintains the Herb Garden at the Toledo Botanical Garden. It was served, to raves, with toasted French bread at the group's July meeting.

A cheesecake that's savory, not sweet, concocted by an herbalist:

Pesto Cheesecake

For the Crust:
1 tablespoon butter, softened
¼ cup Italian Seasoned bread crumbs

For the Filling:
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup ricotta cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 large eggs
½ cup pesto

For the Garnish:
Fresh basil
Roasted red and yellow peppers

Cook’s note: To make fresh pesto, pulse 2 cups firmly packed fresh basil in food processor (use ¾ cup at a time). Add ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 3 tablespoons grated pine nuts or walnuts, ¼ cup olive oil, and 3 cloves garlic (finely minced) and process 15 seconds until smooth.

To make the crust: Rub butter over bottom and half way up sides of 9-inch spring form pan. Sprinkle bread crumbs evenly over bottom of pan. Set aside.

To make the filling: Combine cream cheese, ricotta cheese, and parmesan cheese in food processor. Add eggs and mix thoroughly. Pour half of cheese mixture into a small bowl. Add pesto to remaining cheese mixture in the processor and mix well. Pour pesto cheese mixture into pan. Carefully pour plain cheese mixture over pesto cheese mixture and smooth to cover the entire surface. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until cake is set in middle. Cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Before serving, garnish with fresh basil and diced roasted red and yellow peppers. Serve with toasted bread rounds.

Source: Kathie Cliffel of Holland, Ohio, and the Maumee Valley Herb Society. "You can also make it in mini cheesecakes pans (about four or five) and then freeze them individually," she said.