No buts about it: cheese brings us together.
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t melt for mozzarella, salivate over smoked gouda or lose their head over a finely aged cheddar. After all, cheese’s gooey strands bind people together as well as they do our favourite recipes.
This feeling of community is exactly what Bothwell Cheese seeks to embody. Founded in 1936 in New Bothwell, Manitoba, this proudly Canadian cheese company prides itself on bringing high-quality cheese to the masses.
But the fine folks at Bothwell Cheese weren’t willing to settle for just an all-star roster of 100 percent Canadian milk products. In addition to bringing the company’s delicious cheeses into your home, you can now see them on the big screen with the launch of The Cheese Channel: an online video streaming channel dedicated to all things creamy, crumbly and delicious. With a tagline like “All Cheese Content. All the Time,” it’s basically the Netflix of cheese.
Considering this achievement, we rounded up a handful of Bothwell recipes inspired by four of The Cheese Channel’s new shows.
- 1. Bothwell Cheddar Grilled Cheese
This feel-good classic is taken from the pilot episode of The Cheese Channel’s Slow Cheese series, which delivers exactly what it promises: slow motion clips of melty goodness. Grilled cheese is one of the most comforting sandwiches, harkening back to simpler times sitting around mom’s kitchen table.
If you’re a traditionalist, you’ll agree that a grilled cheese needs a little cheddar. For this reason, let’s keep this recipe simple: slice up some Medium or Old Bothwell Non-GMO Cheddar (the first of its kind to be produced in Canada!), slap it between two slices of your favourite bread, then slather both sides of the bread with a generous layer of butter for maximum crispness and grill until golden brown. Looking to take your grilled cheese game to the next level? Try this Muenster and Tomato Melt with Garlic Butter instead.
- 2. Chorizo Habanero Stuffed Poblano Peppers
This flavourful creation is taken directly from Bothwell Cheese’s online cache of recipes and makes liberal use of their Habanero with Cracked Pepper cheese — a Monterey Jack blend that packs a wallop of spice into every slice and recently won silver at the World Championship Cheese Contest.
A festive take on the classic stuffed pepper, this recipe combines the savoury heat of chorizo sausage with the mild crunch of poblano pepper to create a dish that’s perfect for pre-dinner nibbles. Just slice the peppers in half length-wise and stuff them with a hearty helping of rice, sausage, garlic, cheese, lime juice, black beans and paprika. Top them with even more Monterey Jack for good measure, then bake at 400˚F until the cheese creates a nice crispy crust on top (about 20 minutes).
3. SqueaK’rs Poutine
Every good Canadian knows that poutine isn’t really poutine without the use of cheese curds. Shredded cheese? Please. Processed single-slices? You might as well turn in your hockey stick and dump out your double-double right now.
If you’re hankering for an authentic poutine, the first thing you’ll need is a big bag of cheese curds — or rather, Bothwell Cheese SqueaK’rs, the snackable cheese curds. From here, it’s a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure type of dish: vegetable or meat broth gravy? Pre-cut, frozen fries or freshly baked potato wedges? You decide. And for a cooking soundtrack that’ll make your homemade poutine holier than a good block of Swiss (pun intended), consult the fourth episode of Slow Cheese.
4. Chocolate-Dipped Smoked Gouda Fingers with Candied Bacon
In the first episode of The Cheese Collector, cheese connoisseur Harry Flannigan melts over the story of the iconic gouda that the Canadian national hockey team allegedly munched on before their 1972 win against the Russians. Inspired by Harry’s passion for this creamy cheese, this recipe is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: thick slices of Bothwell Smoked Gouda dipped in melted chocolate and topped with candied bacon bits.
The real beauty of this recipe is in its room for variation. Not a fan of bitter dark chocolate? Sub in a sweeter milk chocolate. Not satisfied with serving it as a mere appetizer? Have it for dinner! The opportunities for experimentation (and shameless cheese binging) are endless.
If the launch of Bothwell Cheese’s new Cheese Channel has left you with visions of mozzarella sticks dancing in your head, try whipping up one of these recipes at home. Whether you prefer your cheese paired with wine, charcuterie meats, chocolate or some quality binge-watching time, Bothwell Cheese has your back — so get cooking, for gouda’s sake!