While we’re on the topic of cheese …. If you have an excellent recipe for mac-n-cheese you can win $5,000, possibly even $7,500, in the fourth annual Tillamook Macaroni and Cheese Recipe Contest. (If you enter the contest, let me know and we’ll post your recipe here on the blog!)

Here are the contest details:

Foodies from across the country will have the opportunity to submit their homemade macaroni and cheese recipes on the contest’s new Web site, www.MacaroniAndCheeseAndCheese.com/Contest. Select recipes will be tested by a professional chef and narrowed down to the top six recipes in the country. The six chosen finalists will compete in the grand finale cook-off in Portland, Oregon, to take place on October 24. The finalists and their guests will be flown out to Portland, where they will cook their recipes from scratch in front of an audience and, most importantly, a panel of national celebrity judges and culinary experts. Finalists will compete for the 2008 title, $5,000 cash and 25 pounds of Tillamook cheese. Not to worry, the first runner up will receive $2,000 cash and 20 pounds of Tillamook cheese and the second runner up will receive $1,000 cash and 15 pounds of Tillamook cheese.

The zesty addition to this year’s contest is the first ever “People’s Choice” winner. The six chosen recipes will be announced and online voting will begin August 22. One of our six finalists will walk away with $2,500 in cash. The “People’s Choice” winner will be announced at the grand finale cook-off.

The deadline for online recipe submissions is 12:01 a.m. Monday, July 28. Entries can also be mailed to Macaroni and Cheese Recipe Contest at 1100 SW Sixth Avenue, Suite 1425, Portland, OR 97204-1014. Mailed recipe submissions must be postmarked by Wednesday, July 23, 2008 to be considered with other recipe submissions.

For more information, to submit a recipe, vote, view winning recipes or view how to make a Tillamook macaroni and cheese recipe visit www.MacaroniAndCheeseAndCheese.com/Contest.

If you’re heading south this weekend, don’t miss the fourth annual Seattle Cheese Festival, May 16-18, at Pike Place Market. More than 250 artisan cheeses from around the world will be available to taste at the Cheese Showcase. Yummy!

Here is what event organizers say is new for this year’s event:

Grilled Cheese Recipe Contest – So you think you can make a mean grilled cheese sandwich? The Seattle Cheese Festival seeks recipes from home cooks. The winning recipe will be featured in the café at DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine and present their award-winning recipe at the Festival’s Chef Demonstration Booth.

Cheese Fest Best Month – For the month of May, area restaurants will feature a dish that celebrates cheese and the Seattle Cheese Festival.

Truckle Relay – The inaugural Beecher’s Handmade Cheese truckle race in 2007 was an individual event. This year, Beecher’s will invite local Seattle teams to “paddle up” and propel 18-pound barrel-shaped wheels of cheese along the cobblestone course four times.

Children’s Costume Contest and Parade – Children are invited to create a costume for a parade of “milk animals” that will take place the morning of May 17. Costumes must have a cow, goat, sheep or cheese theme. The most creative costume wins a prize.

And, back by popular demand:

Friday Cooking Classes – Several restaurants will offer exclusive cooking classes on how to incorporate diverse cheeses into recipes.

Cheese Seminars – Experts will gather to discuss everything from how the Northwest terroir affects the flavor of regional cheeses to the importance of affinage, or the art of finishing cheeses. To learn more about the seminars and to sign up, visit www.seattlecheesefestival.com.

Wine (and Beer) Garden – For $10, visitors may sample five wines or beers. The Pike Brewing Co. will pour craft beers, which are brewed on premise at the Pike Place Market.

Chef Demos – Watch cooking demos from chefs including Leslie Mackie, of Macrina Bakery; Matt Janke, of Matt’s in the Market; and Jason McClure, of Sazerac. The complete list is available at www.seattlecheesefestival.com.

Cheesemaking Demos – Experts from DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine will share techniques for making mozzarella and burrata.

Costs:
Cheese Showcase: $1 admission fee for unlimited tasting; proceeds benefit the Seattle Cheese Festival Scholarship Fund for aspiring cheesemakers
Seminars: $40 each
Wine Garden: $10 for five pours

Recipe published May 11, 2008 in the Whatcom Life section.

(I can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ll let you know how yummy it turns out. Gonna’ wait until after my horrid spring cold subsides, so that I can actually taste it and enjoy it! -Laura, Herald newsroom)

Submitted by: Jean Mann

Pro’s comments: “The vanilla bean seeds will look like dirt or black pepper, and taste so good!”

Ingredients
2 croissants
5 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
2 cups cream
1/2 vanilla bean pod, split lengthwise down center
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Cube croissants and spread in one layer on flat cookie sheet with edge. Place in oven to toast until crisp and lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool, maintaining oven temperature.
Divide croissant cubes into six ramekins. Divide chocolate and sprinkle over croissants. Set aside.
In medium saucepan, place cream with vanilla bean over medium heat. Stir often to keep from burning. Do not boil, bring to a scald. Remove from heat, scraping seeds from vanilla pod back into the cream, blending well. Discard empty vanilla pod.
In a clean bowl, combine egg yolks with sugar, stirring to blend well. Ladle a small amount of hot cream into bowl while continuing to stir (avoid cooking eggs). Repeat until egg mixture is getting warmer and thinner, then pour rest of cream into egg-sugar mix, blending well, incorporating vanilla seeds which may have settled to bottom.
Divide cream-egg mixture, pouring over croissant mixture slowly, so as not to spill. Should come about ¾ of the way to top.
Place ramekins in larger pan and pour water in outer pan to reach halfway up sides of ramekins. (I wait until it’s in oven and pour from a little pitcher … fewer spills that way!)
Bake 30-40 minutes, until custard has set. Cool. Best eaten warm.
Serves 6.

About the pro: Jean Mann started an in-home cooking service in 1984, long before she ever dreamed of picking up the guitar in 1996. She combines these arts for a cooking class and musical performance at In the Kitchen cooking school.

Class information: “Symphony of Spring Flavors,” 6:30 p.m. May 19. Mann will demo this recipe and perform music from her new album, “Daisies and Fire,” and chef Doug Doolittle will prepare a full menu to accompany Mann’s dessert course. $60. Register at 927-4890 or classes@inthekitchenbellingham.com.

Info: inthekitchenbellingham.blogspot.com.

GET INVOLVED
Submit your original short and simple recipe, along with your name, city of residence and a sentence about what makes this recipe one of your favorites.
E-mail: newsroom@bellinghamherald.com.
Mail: Recipes, The Bellingham Herald, P.O. Box 1277, Bellingham, WA 98227.
Fax: 756-2826.
Please include a contact phone number for verification purposes only.

Rebecca, the girls and I took my mother-in-law out for Mother’s Day lunch at the Old Town Cafe (her request), where I had possibly one of the best grilled sandwiches I’ve ever eaten.

I don’t think it would be too hard to duplicate, and it’s certainly impressive.

They call it the Greek Salad Sandwich, and it’s sourdough bread with olive tapenade, spinach leaves, tomato slices and feta cheese.

p.s. For the record, I made Rebecca a breakfast of my “cheesy eggs,” which is eggs scrambled with a little Asiago, and my special hash browns of potatoes, red bell pepper and mushrooms, mixed together and fried with olive oil. It was seasoned only with salt and pepper, the way she likes it. But it would’ve been good with fresh or dried basil and a little garlic.

You may have noticed that the recipe page in the Sunday Whatcom Life section has changed a bit in the past few weeks, but we still want your recipes! We are now featuring only one or two recipes per week and no photos. So, if being camera shy was keeping you from submitting your favorite recipe, wait no longer and send it in.

With picnic and barbecue season just around the corner, I’d love to start collecting your best summertime dishes. We’ve gotten some great feedback from folks who have both submitted recipes and those who have prepared the recipes at home. Join in the fun and send in your recipe to be included in Whatcom Life.

Submit to: laura.steiger@bellinghamherald.com. Include your name, city of residence and contact phone number (in case I have questions, no phone number will be published).

Looking forward to seeing what you’ve got cooking at home!

Thanks
Laura, Herald newsroom