Post-holiday gifts for foodies

Christmas always brings new food items, gadgets and recipes to my home, and ’07 was no exception. My belated gift to you is to share some of these finds.

My friend Marilyn McAlpine, who lives in Minnesota but grew up in Wisconsin, turned me on to a new cheese being produced by students at the University of Wisconsin dairy school. Called Cobblestone Red Cheese, this original creation is made by combining creamy, semisoft cheese with wine from a Wisconsin winery, Chateau St. Croix. The winery’s Chateau Rouge gives the cheese a cobblestone look.

Though pricey due to shipping costs, the cheese is worth the investment as an occasional treat or to give as a gift for those hard-to-shop-for foodies. It’s sold in 1-pound wheels ($12 plus $5 for shipping) and 2-pound wheels ($24 plus $10 for shipping). To order, visit www.uwrf.edu, then click on F for Falcon Food Store, or call 1-715-425-3702.

My friend also included a DVD of one of my favorite food-centric movies: “Ratatouille.” It came with a bonus DVD made by the Food Net-work, called “Ratatouille: Cooking Fun for All Ages.”

The DVD is filled with the network’s celebrity chefs — Emeril Lagasse, Robert Irvine, Rachael Ray and Alton Brown, to name a few — preparing recipes and offering tips. So you don’t have to scribble frantically to copy their recipes or haul a DVD player into your kitchen, the DVD comes with a set of recipe cards for the DVD’s dishes.

The cards are themed for each of the six main characters of “Ratatouille.” The card for Remy (the main character) has a recipe for, of course, Grilled Vegetable Ratatouille.

If you have aspiring young chefs in your home, or you just like to get in touch with your inner-child cook, you might want to track down this DVD duo. I found them online at www.walmart.com. Click on Entertainment, then click on DVD and find the Wal-Mart Exclusive link. The DVD set can be ordered for $19.96.

Next up, some new recipes. My friend Arina Drakulich had sent me a recipe for Hash Brown Sausage Bake, and I decided to give it a try for Christmas morning. It was terrific. I actually prepared it the Saturday before Christmas, refrigerated it, and then reheated it the morning of the big day. It makes a nice, big casserole.

I’ve included the recipe, which pulls together frozen hash brown potatoes, cooked sausage, onions, cottage cheese, eggs, canned chopped chiles and Gruyêre cheese. I used spicy Italian chicken sausage from Whole Foods, and — because I didn’t have the canned green chiles — I opened a can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce and chopped up three of them. The smoky flavor of the chipotle added a very nice, warming taste to the dish. It’s definitely a keeper.

The other new recipe came from a book. I always get a kick out of reading author Jill Conner Browne, the originator of the “Sweet Potato Queens.” I was flipping through “The Sweet Potato Queens’ Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner)” and spotted Bacon Monkey Bread.

This easy recipe calls for three cans of refrigerated canned biscuits. I couldn’t find the 10-ounce cans called for, so I substituted two 16.3-ounce cans of Grands.

First, you fry about a dozen strips of bacon until crisp (I used peppered bacon). While the bacon is frying, cut the biscuit dough into quarters in a large mixing bowl. Melt a stick of butter and drizzle it over the dough. Add the crumbled bacon, a chopped small onion and ½ cup Parmesan cheese.

I used my hands to mix the biscuit dough around in the bacon and butter mixture. When the bacon, onion and cheese have coated most of the dough wedges, place them in an oiled Bundt or tube pan.

Bake the bread at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, until golden brown. Turn out of the pan and serve.

It makes a big, impressive bread and will serve about 16 easily. It reheats nicely in the microwave, or you can toast the slices.

Reach Farney at 636-0271 or teresa.farney@gazette.com. She appears Tuesdays on KOAA’s Comcast Channel 9 at 4 p.m.

HASH BROWN SAUSAGE BAKE

Yield: 10 servings

1 (20-ounce) package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules

1 pound turkey or chicken Italian sausage

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 cup small curd cottage cheese

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup Gruyêre cheese, coarsely grated

1 small can chopped green chiles, or three chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch pie plate.

2. In large bowl, combine hash browns, butter and bouillon. Press onto bottom and sides of pie plate. Bake 25-30 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.

2. Meanwhile, in large skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Combine sausage mixture and remaining ingredients. Pour into crust. Bake 40-45 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Source: Arina Drakulich