Doesn’t just about everyone love great enchiladas? Would you like to learn how restaurants make them? My family had a Mexican restaurant where I was the cook. I will explain to you how we did it and leave you with the best tips for delicious enchiladas.

I would venture to say that the most important part to making great enchiladas, whether they are beef, cheese, chicken or pork, is the sauce. If the ingredients are tasty but the sauce is mediocre then the overall end result is uneventful. In my view it’s the sauce that makes a cheese enchilada recipe great.

Secret #1

Start with a great sauce. You have some options here.

1. Make your own (recipe below)

2. Buy some enchilada sauce from your favorite Mexican restaurant

3. Trader Joes has a respectable bottled enchilada sauce. It’s not great but a little better than what you will find in most grocery stores.

Rockin Robin’s Enchiladas Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 4 Tbs. Chili Powder
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 heaping tsp. garlic powder (no added salt)
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon (less than 1/16 tsp.)
• 1/3 tsp. sugar
• 5Tbs. cold water
• 4 Tbs. white flour

Directions:

In a 2 quart sauce pan add the chicken broth, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, cinnamon and sugar (the sugar is a little secret to eliminate any bitter taste from the chili powder).

Use a whisk to mix everything well. Heat to a boil, reduce heat to a low boil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Whisk frequently to make sure all spices dissolve. This is important for flavor and a nice smooth sauce.

While the sauce is on a slow simmer/boil, add 5 tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl. With another whisk mix 1 tablespoon at a time of flour. Whisk vigorously to avoid lumps. If you have lumps here, you will definitely have lumps in your sauce.

After 3-4 minutes of cooking the sauce, turn the heat up to high. Very slowly, pour the flour mixture into the boiling sauce.

Here you must whisk the sauce vigorously while adding the flour to avoid lumps. After all the flour is added, continue to whisk for one minute. You can turn the heat down to medium during this time. Just make sure the sauce is boiling. Let it boil for 3 or 4 minutes. Turn off the heat, this enchilada sauce is done.

You will notice that as this sauce sits it will form a “skin” on the surface. This is normal and in fact the longer the sauce sits the thicker this skin becomes. All you have to do is peel the skin off and throw it away.

Now that you have options for making or acquiring enchilada sauce, you have secret number 1 out of the way.

Secret #2

Always dip the corn tortillas, one or two at a time in hot oil, to soften them. Many home cooks miss this important step and just put a little sauce on the tortillas, fill them with cheese and roll them up. Dipping the tortillas in hot oil really adds flavor to your enchiladas and makes rolling them much easier. Be careful when rolling the enchiladas as they are very hot.

Secret #3

After dipping the tortillas in hot oil, dip them in hot enchilada sauce and coat both sides of the tortillas. This will get that delicious enchilada sauce on the inside of your enchiladas as well and mix in and flavor your cheese or meat. No dry enchiladas here.

Secret #4

Make your enchiladas fresh. In other words make them and serve them the same day. They simply taste better and won’t dry out. If you absolutely must make them the day before (you will compromise on flavor and texture), top them before heating with a fresh new layer of hot enchilada sauce and then cheese and onion.

Heat them well in a hot oven. In the restaurant business, our steam table kept all of our food hot. So when making up a plate the food was already pretty hot but we always put the plates in the oven to get them really hot. Mexican food just taste better that way.

So make sure you put your enchiladas in the oven and heat them until you see the sauce bubble up. This is especially important when making cheese enchiladas. You want to make sure that cheese melts on the inside.

So there you have it. If you follow those 4 secrets you will have delicious tasting enchiladas. I guarantee it!

Let’s Make Some Great Cheese Enchiladas.

Ingredients:

• 1lb of mild cheddar cheese, grated
• 10-12 corn tortillas
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• vegetable oil
• 24 ounces of enchilada sauce, heated
• guacamole
• sour cream

Directions:

Heat an inch or two of oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Watch the oil so it doesn’t smoke. Cover a tray with foil (for easy clean up) and grab some tongs. Use the tongs to dip two corn tortillas at a time in the hot oil. When they start to bubble, lift and dip the tortillas 3 times quickly in the oil.

Now either dip the tortillas into the hot enchilada sauce to coat and then lay them on the foil-covered tray you prepared.

Sometimes what happens with this technique is that the tortillas will tear due to the weight of the sauce. If that happens try placing the tortillas onto the foil tray before dipping in the sauce. Then ladle sauce onto the tortillas and turn them over to coat with sauce.

Now you are ready for the cheese. Add a layer of grated cheese right down the middle of the tortilla, then a sprinkle of onion. Be sure to add plenty of cheese as it will melt down when heated. Grab the end of the tortilla closest to you and bring it 3/4 of the way over to the other end. Tuck and roll the tortilla into a cylinder.

Pick up the cheese enchilada with your fore fingers on the bottom where the seam is. Let your pinky fingers cover the ends of the enchilada to keep the cheese from falling out while you move it to an oven proof dish. Continue with the rest of the enchiladas.

Using a ladle, pour hot enchilada sauce over the top of the cheese enchiladas and let plenty of sauce run down the sides. Remember, the sauce is what makes it? Sprinkle more cheese and onion over the top.

Place in a 400*F. oven until the cheese melts and the sauce is bubbling. It’s important that these enchiladas are hot enough so that the cheese melts inside. It may take 10 to 15 minutes or more. Let your eyes be the judge.

Serve with guacamole and sour cream.

You can substitute beef, chicken or pork in this basic enchilada recipe.

Enjoy!

Fondue is one of the most delicious and fun ways to eat. A fondue (especially cheese fondue) can be a big hit at a party, a nice choice for a romantic dinner, or a perfect, fun meal with all the kids. It’s different, exciting, and most of all delicious!

So are you ready to learn how to make a tasty cheese fondue? If so, this article will show you everything you need to know to get started.

This article assumes that you already own a fondue pot and forks. If you don’t, you might be able to use a Crockpot and bamboo skewers as forks. A fondue set is definitely recommended, and will make your fondue experience much more pleasant.

We will be making a Swiss fondue, which is the most popular cheese fondue. And it’s a favorite for good reason, the two Swiss cheeses used in this recipe combine to create the perfect flavor and texture for fondue.

Cheese Fondue Recipe

Ingredients

– 1/2 pound of finely grated Gruyere cheese

– 1/2 pound of finely grated Emmentaler cheese

– 1 clove of garlic

– 1 cup dry white wine (preferably high quality)

– 1 tbsp lemon juice

– 3 teaspoons cornstarch

– 1 tablespoon kirsch cherry brandy

– pepper and nutmeg

Directions

1. Cut the garlic clove in half and use it to rub the inside of a medium saucepan. Add the wine and lemon juice then bring to a simmer over medium heat.

2. Mix the finely grated Gruyere and Emmentaler cheese with the cornstarch in a large bowl. Toss it all together. Stir the cheese mixture into the wine one small handful at a time until creamy. Don’t stir in a circle, use a zig-zag motion instead. If the fondue is too thick, add more wine. If it’s too thin, add more cornstarch. Keep the heat just high enough to melt the cheese or it might start to get a bit stringy. When it reaches the desired texture (creamy) add the kirsch and a bit of pepper and nutmeg.

3. Transfer the mixture to the fondue pot and serve as soon as possible with the dipping ingredients.

Dipping Ingredients

-Cubes of French baguette

-Chunks of cooked chicken

-Sausage

-Asparagus

-Broccoli

-Chunks of green apple

Be sure to prepare the dipping ingredients before you start making the fondue. Good timing will make everything turn out better.

These dippers are just suggestions. You can probably think of all sorts of other things to dip into the fondue. If you think it will taste good dipped in melted cheese, you’re probably right.

Eating fondue is simple and fun. Just skewer one of the dipping ingredients then dunk it into the melted cheese Allow the excess cheese to drip off. After it cools a bit, it’s ready to eat. You can provide small plates if you want too, but they are not a necessity.

Traditional drinks that accompany fondue are hot tea and wine, but feel free to drink whatever you like. Fondue is supposed to be fun after all.

A wine and cheese party can be a fun way to relax and make new friends. It’s also a great way to lower your blood pressure.

Cheese and wine parties are great for large get-togethers. Make it lots of fun by having every guest bring a bottle of wine and an exotic cheese. It’s a fantastic way to try new wines and cheeses … and a perfect conversation starter.

A cheese and wine party is also the perfect way to relax … both yourself and your arteries. Wine is good for lowering blood pressure … and so is cheese.

A Glass of Red Wine

Red wine contains a protective antioxidant — the flavonol called resveratrol. This powerful antioxidant protects your arteries against the damage done by free radicals … and helps prevent hardening of your arteries.

The flavonoid in red wine also keeps your blood platelets from clumping together … stopping this first step in the formation of deadly blood clots. A glass of red wine keeps your blood flowing smoothly through your arteries.

Even more important for your blood pressure … recent studies have shown that drinking red wine improves the function of your artery linings. When the linings of your arteries are working well … they freely dilate and bring down your blood pressure.

A glass or two of red wine a day … this is the perfect amount to keep your heart and arteries young — and keep your blood pressure normal. The darker the red wine … the better. Dark red wines are higher in the protective resveratrol flavonoid. Forget about white wines … they pale by comparison.

A Wedge of Cheese

Although cheese has lots of saturated fat and can raise cholesterol levels … a little cheese is good for you. Like red wine, cheese is good for you if eaten in moderation.

During the cheese making process, while the milk is fermenting … peptides are released from the milk proteins. These peptides help control your blood pressure … by inhibiting the enzymes that convert angiotensin.

When the protein angiotensin is converted into angiotensin II. Angiotensin II is a peptide that constricts your arteries and increases the retention of water and sodium. This whole process really pumps up your blood pressure.

The other peptides — found in fermented milk products like cheese — put a stop to this reaction that ups the blood pressure. Eating a small wedge of cheese blocks the enzyme that creates angiotensin II, keeps your arteries relaxed, and keeps your blood pressure down.

Relax With a Glass of Shiraz and a Slice of Gruyere

After a hard day at the office … when tension has got your blood pressure creeping up … enjoy some nice cheeses with a glass of red wine. Relax … relax your arteries … bring your blood pressure back down to normal. Your heart will love you for it.

Have you heard of the Tete de Moine cheese? If you’re tired of buying different kinds of cheese for different kinds of dishes then this cheese is the solution to your dilemma. In English translation, it means monk’s head. This refers to the bald head monks in Bellelay, Switzerland. This cheese dates back to 1520, made at the Swiss Alps called Bernese Jura. Tete de Moine is defining what real gourmet Swiss cheese is all about. It is a true masterpiece of cheese-making. It is unpasteurized cow’s milk that is cooked lightly. The aroma is simply amazing. Its flavor is so complex and this particular cheese exhibits much more flavor and aroma compared to other Swiss cheeses. It is truly a fantastic gourmet Swiss cheese.

Cutting the Cheese
Tete de Moine is very aromatic even before you cut them into pieces. To be able to experience the full extent of its aroma and flavor, it would be best to have it shaved with a knife into thin slices. A wonderful tool that is so perfect for shaving this cheese is the Swiss made Girolle. This tool is specially designed for accenting cheese platters and making perfect cheese rosettes. This will give you a perfect shaving at a minimum effort. But if you don’t have this particular tool, you can use your knife. You can thinly cut the top off with your knife and then shave it.

Keeping it Fresh
To keep the freshness of your Tete de Moine, store this in the refrigerator. You can wrap it with aluminum foil or a waxed paper can also be very useful. You can serve this gourmet cheese with almost anything. It is certainly fantastic to serve it in fresh salad. You can mix it with fruits like apples and grapes. It also complements well with prosciutto or other cured meats. You can put in on top of crackers or for whatever food that you will serve it with. When you use this Swiss cheese, rest assured that there won’t be any leftovers.

Before you buy Tete de Moine cheese, make sure the shop you are buying is trusted in selling authentic cheeses. This cheese is certainly worth the price. If you are looking to buy for the top quality Swiss cheese, then Tete de Moine cheese is the right choice. So go and try one now!

A lot of us are not familiar with Saint Maure Cheese. This is another top quality French cheese that was first made by a Loire Valley dairyman. Saint Maure de Touraine Cheese, commonly called as “Sainte Maure”, is a log shaped goat cheese from Touraine, France. It is said to have been created during the Arab invasions in the 8th and 9th centuries, when goat breeding was first introduced in the Touraine region.

This soft French cheese has a distinctive complex flavor. What makes this cheese unique is that it is an aged goat milk cheese. We are familiar with fresh goat milk cheese that is soft and spreadable. However, most French would prefer this older type.

The aging comes with more complex flavor to this cheese. It has a walnut aroma and a slightly salty but nutty taste. It’s made from goat’s milk and is soft with a natural rind. The rind should be thin, smooth with blue-gray molding that is completely natural. The traditional Saint Maure cheese will be produced with a blade of straw or a wooden stick placed through the cheese log from end to end. It is moist and creamy in texture. It is pure white colored and if the rind is not ash coated, it will be tan in color that becomes increasingly darker colored as it ages.

Buying Saint Maure goat cheese will certainly bring creaminess in your delectable, mouth-watering dishes. You can eat it in plain, place it in sandwiches or you can perfectly add this to your mixed green salads. Make this as a cream to your fried-fish fillet or top it to your side dishes. You can also use this cylindrical ash colored French goat cheese to make delicious puffy pastry appetizers. Without doubt, this is one of the very best French cheeses available in the market today.

Making this cheese part of your shopping list will definitely be a smart choice. If you can’t find at your local gourmet store, try finding a good cheese shop or check out at Ideal Cheese website, they have available best quality Saint Maure Cheese. You might also want try their cheese board selection of the month. There are so many superb cheeses like Saint Maure cheese; it’s just waiting to be tasted by you. So what are you waiting for, try one now and get the ultimate French goat cheese experience.

If you ever felt bloated, gassy or just plain ill after eating certain dairy products, you are not alone. Ironically, shortly after I started this gourmet cheese business I found myself to be lactose intolerant. Certainly a cruel hand dealt from fate, or so I thought. Panic, depression and anxiety set in with the notion of never being able to partake in some of the most exquisite foods. Cheese had become my life and my livelihood. But after doing some research, I discovered that not all dairy products are equal in lactose levels and gourmet cheese can resume its rightful spot in my daily diet (phew!).

Lactose intolerance is a hereditary condition affecting up to 70% of the world’s population. Southern European, Asian and African populations tend to be the most afflicted. Lactose is a type of sugar naturally found in milk and dairy products. Lactose intolerance occurs when the small intestine doesn’t produce enough of the lactose-digesting enzyme called lactase. So when milk products are consumed, the large intestine cannot easily digest lactose and therefore stomach aches ensue. Cramping, bloating, gas and belly pain are some of the (less gross) symptoms associated with lactose intolerance. The tricky part in managing lactose intolerance is that it affects people differently with some dairy types being easily tolerated (such as yogurt with live cultures) and in varying amounts. To help determine the right mix of dairy your body can handle without discomfort, it helps to know which milk-based foods have lower levels of lactose.

Milk, ice cream and yogurt are high in lactose (10 grams per serving). When it comes to gourmet cheese, the amount of lactose present is determined by the production and aging process rather than the type of milk used to produce the cheese. Turns out that cow, sheep and goat milk all contain approximately the same amount of lactose. Hard, soft-ripened and blue cheeses has less than 1 gram per serving. And most aged cheeses contain virtually no lactose. How could this be if real cheese is made with milk? As the cheese ages during the cheese making process, the lactose is converted to lactic acid.

So, cheese-loving, lactose intolerant afflicted foodies rejoice! If you have been giving gourmet cheese the cold shoulder, invite it back into your life. If you are unsure as to just which cheeses to extend the invitation to (meaning how long a cheese has been aged), take a look at this list differentiating fresh cheeses versus aged cheeses, listed in order of lactose levels from low to high.

Hard Cheese (virtually no lactose per serving)

Comte

Dry Jack

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Piave

Firm Cheese (less than 1 gram of lactose per serving)

Asiago

Cheddar (such as our 3 Year Old Cheddar)

Gouda (such as our Aged Gouda)

Gruyere

Manchego

Mobier

Pecorino Romano

Provolone

Swiss

Blue Cheese (less than 1 gram of lactose per serving)

Our Cave-Aged Blue

Gorgonzola

Roquefort

Stilton

Semi-Soft Cheese (less than 1 gram of lactose per serving)

Fontina

Tipsy Goat

Soft-Ripened Cheese (less than 1 gram of lactose per serving)

Brie

Camembert

Pierre-Robert

Fresh Cheese (higher levels of lactose) – proceed with caution

Burrata

Chevre (fresh goat cheese)

Feta

Mozzarella (including Buffalo and Smoked)

Ricotta

Washed Rind Cheese (higher levels of lactose) -proceed with caution

Epoisses

Taleggio

More healthy foods are appearing on store shelves. When I saw a carton of egg whites at my grocery store I immediately thought of cheese souffle. Cheese souffle is one of my favorite foods, but it’s high in fat, and I hadn’t made one in years. If I could come up with a healthy recipe I could eat cheese souffle again.

I bought two cartons of egg whites, fat-free cheddar cheese, and fat-free milk. “This should do it,” I thought to myself. On Monday morning I wrestled the souffle dish from the back of the cupboard, assembled my ingredients, and began what turned out to be “The Great Cheese Souffle Experiment.”

My first souffle was made with one tablespoon of butter, instead of three, and a teaspoon of margarine. Butter is a thickener and, to compensate for less butter, I added extra flour to the sauce. I added a teaspoon of Dijon mustard to bring out the flavor of the cheese. The classic recipe calls for six eggs, but I used one whole egg, and egg whites for the rest. To stabalize the egg whites I added a teaspoon of cream of tartar.

When I put the souffle in the oven it looked perfect.

The souffle started to rise and the aroma of melting cheese wafted through the kitchen. “This is going to work,” I said to myself. But it didn’t work. Fifteen minutes before the souffle was due to come out of the oven it fell. My classic cheese souffle had turned into a cheese tortilla. I don’t like to waste food, so I ate part of the souffle top for lunch.

“Oh well,” I thought. “Tomorrow is another day.” On Tuesday morning I got out the souffle dish, assembled my ingredients, and made souffle number two. This time I used two tablespoons of butter. I was careful to beat the egg whites until they were stiff, not dry, and folded them ever-so-gently into the cheese sauce.

When I put the souffle in the oven it looked perfect.

But the same thing happened. Fifteen minutes before the souffle was due to come out of the oven it fell. Again, I ate part of the brown, cheesy top for lunch. Cooking is chemistry and, since I’m not a chemist, the only thing I could do was make souffle number three. Then four. Then five. I experimented with more butter, more flour, two whole eggs, low-fat cheese, and one percent milk.

Every souffle fell. Much as I love cheese souffle, I was getting tired of the same whacky lunch. Despite a reputation as a gourmet cook I felt like a failure. By the end of the week I had consumed so many egg whites I felt like a giant parade balloon – a thin person filled with air. Maybe I’d float around the kitchen. Heck, I could float around the neighborhood.

On Saturday morning I announced to my husband, “I’m going to make one last souffle.” (It was a dramatic announcement.) Years ago, when we weren’t as health conscious, I used to make souffle for dinner. My husband would come home hungry and smell the baking souffle when he got out of the car. The oven was next to the door I would stick a “Don’t slam, souffle in oven” sign on it.

The note always made my husband smile and he always raved about my cheese souffle. And so, with great care and determiniation, I prepared souffle number six. When I put the souffle in the oven it looked perfect. I kept peeking in the window to see if the souffle was rising. It rose steadily and looked like a cook book photo. Had I invented a healthy cheese souffle?

Five minutes – just five minutes – before the souffle was due to come out of the oven it fell. We ate the brown, crusty, delicious top for lunch, along with a green salad. Though it wasn’t the best lunch I’ve ever served, my husband appreciated my efforts. I’ve given up on inventing a new cheese souffle. Sometimes you shouldn’t mess with a good thing!

Copyright 2006 by Harriet Hodgson

Manchego Cheese is an ancient and delicious Spanish cheese which has been made since well before the birth of Christ. We’ll give you some background on this great cheese before getting down to business – novel and delicious Manchego cheese recipe suggestions.

Ever heard of Don Quixote? You might remember his tilting at windmills. He’s the hero of one of the greatest novels of all-time, written by a man named Miguel de Cervantes. This was all set in the La Mancha region of Spain — we mention it because it’s also the only place in the world where real Manchego Cheese can be made.

There’s a board in this pretty region in central Spain which keeps a close eye on the cheese-makers, certifying that the Queso Manchego is made from the milk of the Manchega sheep and aged for 60 days or more. Only then can they put the special D.O. sticker on it certifying that it’s an authentic and tasty Manchego.

This whole regulation process has only existed since the early 1980s, but Manchego Cheese has been made in this area for much longer than that. Cervantes mentions it in Don Quixote, which was written in the very early 1600s, so it’s at least that old. Or much older — historians say that there’s evidence that very similar cheese was made in La Mancha well before the birth of Christ, so in fact the cheese is thousands of years old! You can’t actually buy a thousand year old cheese, though, and probably just as well! Manchego comes in three varieties, depending on how long it’s been aged for (in a cave, no less):

• A Manchego Fresco is a white, fresh variety of the cheese aged for only a couple of weeks. This is hard to get outside Spain and is not technically a real Manchego, but still has a great smooth, rich flavour. You’ll just have to make a trip over there to eat it!
• Most common is the Manchego Curado which gets between three and six months of aging. It’s semi-solid and a yellowish-white, with a mild, nutty taste and a smooth, creamy texture. It’s an excellent melting cheese and very complementary to all kinds of flavours.
• My favourite, however, is the Manchego Viejo. This is aged for up to a year and so is a bit more expensive. The colour is a rich yellow and the cheese is much more solid, with a complex flavour — an intense, peppery body with a sharp edge to it and the characteristic sheep’s milk aftertaste. It’s a main course cheese, as you’ll see…

Now that we’ve whetted your appetite, how do you get hold of a delicious Manchego? Most gourmet supermarkets or delicatessens should have some for you to choose from – but look closely to make sure you’re buying real Manchego. Make sure that you see the herringbone pattern on the rind, the wheat ear pattern on the top and bottom of the wheel, and most importantly, the official D.O. tab on the back which gives you confidence that it’s real. And now it’s finally time to make a meal! There’s no limit to the versatility of these cheeses, especially if you can get hold of multiple types, but here are some Manchego serving suggestions which work well for us:

• First, Spanish tapas platter: a strong Manchego Viejo works perfectly in the middle of a tapas platter, surrounded by gorgeous Spanish Jamon, green olives, crusty bread and dulce de membrillo (a sweet quince paste). This should be your first option for Viejo.
• For a Manchego Curado, you have infinite options. Apple and Manchego Salad is easy — a salad of tart Granny Smith apples, smooth Manchego Curado cheese, chives, smoked almonds, olive oil and apple cider vinegar.
• How about a Manchego Hot Dog? It’s a hot dog variant with a Spanish touch. A crusty bun with deep red chorizo sausage, rocket and Manchego Curado.
• Italian fusion Manchego Pizza: take a good thin pizza base, cover with tomato passata mixed with paprika, add slices of fresh tomato, sweet green olives and top with grated manchego curado – simple yet so effective!

Think carefully about how you serve this beautiful cheese and you’ll be rewarded.

The grilled cheese sandwich is a staple of simple and delicious cuisine; Simple enough to allow just about anybody to make it, and delicious enough for anybody to enjoy it. Of course a simple food should go hand in hand with a simple food, but is ‘Grilled’ truly the most fitting word to preface ‘Cheese Sandwich’ in this case? It is absolutely true that the meal has been prepared with the use of a grill, and may have originally been prepared by these methods, but it seems that recently the grilled cheese sandwich has spent a great deal of time away from the grill.

Grilled cheese sandwiches can be either homemade or prepared at a restaurant, but the real eye opening fact is that they are often served without any visible grill marks. Every now and then you will run into the local bar and grill and get a true grilled cheese sandwich right off the grill, but times are changing and the frying pan, griddle, and broiler may be overtaking the trusted grill. Whether or not this is a change for the better, or for the worse is hard to say. Differences can arise in the final product when the preparation process is changed, but as we all know: it can be very difficult to make a bad grilled cheese sandwich.

Grill marks are clearly the signature of any grilled meal. From cheeseburgers to steaks to wraps to the trusty grilled cheese sandwich, nice bold grill marks really let you know it is straight off the grill. Some people may enjoy the crunchier taste of the grilled bread, while others may find darkened marks and the crunchier texture to be displeasing. Another common trend that may go along with truly grilled sandwiches is a much smaller amount of butter used if any, compared to other means. This subtle change may actually create a new dining experience and perhaps the make the meal a tad more diet friendly.

A more common observation may be the ever enticing golden brown grilled cheese sandwich that glows on the plate. Rich with butter and sure to have that authentic buttery, cheesy, hearty taste any grilled cheese sandwich should deliver, just about everybody should be able to relate to this type of sandwich. A golden brown sandwich like this is fried or broiled, and comes with a lot more butter and questionably a lot more flavor then its grilled counterpart. A common side effect of indulging in a meal like this is a greasy plate and some greasy fingers; this may be just fine with some people but may also be a huge turn off to others.

Personal preference reigns supreme when it comes to food. One of the most obvious factors in choosing something to eat is clearly how much you like it, and the key word in the previous statement is you. A grilled cheese sandwich that is actually grilled may deliver crunchier bread with more focus on the cheese, while a fried or broiled sandwich may be rich with a buttery flavor to complement the cheese. Discerning between which option is the ultimate dining experience is impossible, and the best candidate is going to be whichever appeals to your palette.

While I have experienced many different methods of fishing and used many types of bait up to and including a piece of foam rubber on a treble hook; grasshoppers, real flies (I had a devil of a time getting the danged thing on the hook not to mention how often it flew off, no pun intended, when I cast out); to artificial lures or the standard live baits such as worms usually in tandem with marshmallows or something that would help the worm up off the bottom and into the feeding zone some of my greatest successes have come from the use of a “secret ingredient” with my Velveeta Cheese.

On a fishing trip with a buddy of mine back more years than I care to count he suggested we try a new approach he’d heard of from a”friend of a friend”. So we went to the local grocery store, purchased a two pound brick of Velveeta cheese and a bottle of the “secret ingredient” which we took home. We spent the next couple of hours eating tacos his wife prepared and cutting up the two pound brick of cheese into bait sized pieces. After we finished with the bait and the tacos, not necessarily in that order, we poured the entire one ounce bottle over the cheese, put it into a sealed container for the night.

The next day we headed for Willow Beach on the Colorado on the Arizona side; a popular fishery for those who like to catch the big ones. There were six men in our party of two boats. In my boat we had the secret bait. The other boat did not. Within two hours of setting out on the water our boat had caught our limits of ten fish each using the secret bait. The other boat had exactly three fish and they were all small. Ours, on the other hand averaged more than two pounds apiece. We were fishing the same waters using essentially the same method of drifting with the bait suspended off the bottom a few feet. When we pulled ashore for breakfast and showed the others our catch we were forced to give up the secret or risk taking a long swim in the mighty Colorado. We chose the easy way out. The second boat then set out and using the secret, homemade bait had their limits by noon. Over the next ten years we fished together regularly and always had success with our homemade bait. We let a few people in on the secret but most of them thought it foolish and refused to try. Their loss I am sure.

When Powerbaits came out and forever altered the tackle boxes of countless fishermen it was only a matter of time before our secret ingredient fell by the wayside. Factoring in the cost of the cheese which as tripled in the last thirty years and the waste caused because one cannot use the cheese for anything else once it has been soaked and one can see why it fell out of favor. Besides it is much easier to just open a bottle of Powerbait and scoop out an appropriate portion to use as bait. So… our secret ingredient: anise seed oil more commonly known as licorice oil went the way of the dodo. Still I occasionally wonder if I shouldn’t give it a try especially when the fish are not biting on anything at all.

There you have it. Licorice oil and Velveeta cheese. Ironically enough no other processed cheese seemed to work as well. We did try some spicy Velveeta once and managed to catch some very nice “latino” trout. Still, if you are not having any success consider giving this one a try. It cannot hurt and you can always use the leftover cheese to make a great chili con queso dip.