Grant County Gourmet

We’ve been fans of Cougar Gold cheese for quite some time. When I started writing this piece, we had seven cans in the refrigerator of the stuff, the oldest can only dating from 2009. I won’t go into the history of Cougar Gold, being the flagship cheese of the WSU creamery program, except that most any alum of the school is quite proud of the stuff.

Most of the time we just eat Cougar Gold out of hand, or with crackers as a snack. Being that it is quite a hard cheese, I do like to use it as I would any other hard cheese, such as a Parmigianno-Reggiano.

COUGAR GOLD POTATO SOUP

1/4 cup butter

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

1 small carrot, grated

3 cups peeled and diced potato

1 cup chicken stock

2 cups heavy cream

3 cups Cougar Gold, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the butter in a large pot. Sauté onions until soft. Add celery, carrots, and potato. Toss with onions until browned lightly. Add stock and cream and bring to a light boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cook until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Adjust seasonings before serving.

GOLD FETTUCCINE ALFREDO

2 cups heavy cream

1 ounce butter

12 ounces fettuccine

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup fresh grated Cougar Gold

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the cream and butter in a sauté pan. Bring to a simmer, reduce by one-fourth, and remove from the heat. Watch it carefully and stir frequently, as the cream may want to boil over and make a mess. Drop noodles into boiling salted water, return to a full boil, and drain. The noodles must be slightly undercooked because they will cook further in the cream. Put the drained noodles in the pan with the hot cream and butter. Over low heat, toss the noodles with two forks until they are well coated with the cream. Add the remainder of the cream and the cheese and toss to mix well. If the noodles seem dry and this point, add a little more cream. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE

1 pound hamburger

2 onions, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cup stewed tomatoes

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound spaghetti or other pasta

1/4 cup grated Cougar Gold

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet, brown meat, stirring till light brown and crumbly. Add onions, celery and green pepper. Cook for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and herbs. Simmer a few minutes. Adjust seasonings. Cook pasta; drain. In a buttered 2-quart casserole, combine pasta and sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes.

GOLD RISOTTO

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 cup uncooked long grain rice

3 cups chicken stock, seasoned

Cougar Gold cheese, grated

Sauté the onion in 2 tablespoons of the butter and the oil, combined, until it is soft; then add the garlic and immediately pour in the rice. Stir the rice until it is completely coated with the butter and oil, then allow to cook another 5 minutes. Pour in 1 cup of boiling hot stock, cover the pan, and turn the heat to low. Simmer until the liquid is all absorbed, then add a second cup of stock, and repeat. When the third cup is absorbed, the risotto should be ready. Adjust seasonings and consistency. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and about 3 tablespoons of Cougar Gold, fluff with a fork, and serve with more cheese on the side.