Cheese

A basket of meats, cheese and other goodies from the grocery store cost 6.9% more in the first quarter of 2012 than it did a year earlier, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. A group of 16 items, including cheddar cheese, sirloin-tip roast, salad, orange juice and eggs, cost consumers $52.47 during the first three months of the year, the farm group said . During the same period last year, the price was $49.07. In the fourth quarter of 2011, it cost $49.23. The cost of meats such as sliced deli ham and bacon were up due to strong demand and tight supplies, said AFBF senior economist John Anderson in a statement.

A basket of meats, cheese and other goodies from the grocery store cost 6.9% more in the first quarter of 2012 than it did a year earlier, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. A group of 16 items, including cheddar cheese, sirloin-tip roast, salad, orange juice and eggs, cost consumers $52.47 during the first three months of the year, the farm group said . During the same period last year, the price was $49.07. In the fourth quarter of 2011, it cost $49.23. The cost of meats such as sliced deli ham and bacon were up due to strong demand and tight supplies, said AFBF senior economist John Anderson in a statement.

RACKS of goat's milk cheese are lined up in a tiny aging room: little rounds of a tangy young cheese called Petit Marcel; log-shaped buches that in another week or so will have bloomy crusts surrounding their mild, luxurious interiors; and rows of paves, rather majestic blocks of cheese with slightly rumpled rinds and swathed traceries of white bloom -- four-sided truncated pyramids that look like a classic Valencay from the Loire Valley.

MENASHA, Wis. - If Rick Santorum was weighing whether to abandon his quest for the presidency on Monday, the eve of the Wisconsin primary that could effectively crush his campaign, he worked hard not to show it. On a day packed with rallies, some bowling and a sampling of squeaky cheese curds, Santorum was looking ahead not just to the next round of Republican presidential primaries, but also to a possible floor fight against front-runner Mitt...

Ferment [cheese] Where: Machine Project, 1200 N. Alvarado St., Los Angeles When: 3 p.m. Sunday Price: $5 Info: (213) 483-8761; http://www.machineproject.com

  Total time: About 1 hour Servings: 10 (Makes about 52 small beignets) Note: Adapted from "Larousse Gastronomique" 5 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste 1/8 teaspoon cayenne Freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 generous cup flour 4 large eggs, at room temperature 1 cup grated Gruyère or Parmigiano-Reggiano (about...

Cheese-and-spinach phyllo rolls Total time: About 1 hour Servings: About 3 dozen pieces Note: Phyllo pastry sheets come in various sizes; the size of the pastry sheets are given on the box. Phyllo dough tends to dry out quickly; keep the sheets covered with a slightly damp towel until ready to use. The rolls can be frozen prior to baking. Cover the rolls carefully with plastic wrap and foil, then uncover and bake the rolls frozen (increase the baking time by a few minutes to compensate)

For years, relatives of Zeferino Garcia in Mexico's Oaxaca state routinely sent him a cargo of quesillo cheese by airplane. From Tijuana, the bulk of unpasteurized cheese would be brought to his restaurant and two stores in Los Angeles. Life was good, he thought, and tasty. "If you don't have quesillo from Oaxaca, you practically can't have a Oaxacan restaurant," said Garcia, 43. Then three months ago, a health inspector first came to his store and told him he was breaking the law by selling unlicensed, unpasteurized cheese.

Free samples and packages of Gouda cheese sold at Costco have been removed from store shelves after being linked to 25 cases of an E. coli outbreak in five Western states, according to health officials. Costco, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn consumers not to eat Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda that was sold in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, an FDA news release says. As of Thursday, 25 people, including nine who were hospitalized, had been sickened by E. coli 0157:H7, which causes diarrhea and abdominal cramps.

Need another reason to hit up Saturday's Grilled Cheese Invitational? Evan George and Alex Brown, the creative cooks, cheesemeisters and beloved indie-rock food writers behind the blog Hot Knives, are hosting a chef stage. The stage will feature several hours of cooking, including demonstrations by grilled cheese guru Mark Peel as well as the bizarre cocktail wizardry of Food2's Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark, who will shake up their beloved "bloody bacon and cheese" cocktail. Los Angeles Center Studios, 1201 W. 5th St., L.A. 11 a.m. Sat. $15. Grilledcheeseinvitational.com.

With a gentle tang similar to yogurt and a texture something like a cross between sour cream and soft ricotta, quark cheese can be used in a variety of recipes, whether you're thinking sweet or savory: • Use it as you would yogurt, stirring in some granola and fresh fruit for an easy, on-the-go breakfast. • Spread it over toast or bagels or in between sandwich layers for a little extra tang and richness. • Dollop it over potatoes or rich pasta dishes, even ragus.

  Total time: 25 minutes, plus 1½ to 2 days setting and draining times Servings: This makes a generous cup of quark. 2 cups whole milk 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk 1. In a stainless steel, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside until the milk is cooled. Whisk in the buttermilk. 2. Transfer the mixture to a glass, ceramic or plastic container, and set aside at room temperature until the mixture is thickened, with a consistency similar to yogurt or crème fraîche, about 1 day. 3. Transfer the mixture to a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl.

Take some milk, add a little acid and give the mixture time to do its thing -- who would have thought homemade cheese could be this simple? What with all the equipment and specialized ingredients I'd read about, cheese making sounded as if it were better suited to a chemistry lab than to my tiny kitchen. That is, until I tried quark. I know. Hear the word "quark" and you may conjure up images of dancing physics particles or "Star Trek" characters. Or of wending your way through "Finnegans Wake.

Total time: 1 hour Servings: 4 to 6 1/4 cup farro Water Salt 1/4 cup mixed dried fruit (such as sour cherries, cranberries, raisins) 1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier 1 pound kale (about 2 bunches) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese 2 tablespoons minced red onion 2 tablespoons chopped toasted pecans 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar Freshly ground pepper to taste 1. Toast the farro in a dry medium saucepan over medium heat until it smells nutty and turns golden, about 5 minutes.

The 5-inch round of cheese was slightly orange, as it should have been, I guess. I cut it in half and, hoping I wouldn't end up in the hospital, I spread the creamy cheese on some bread. Hey, this was good! It tasted like … Camembert? This was the first cheese I'd ever made from scratch. I basically had no idea what I was doing. Not only did I not kill anyone, but I also actually made something that tasted pretty good, which is a testament either to how easy it is to make cheese or to my dumb luck.

The most interesting gasoline stop I've ever seen is at Exit 106 on Highway 99 at Traver, Calif., between Tulare and Fresno. Called Bravo Farms, it's like a small, enhanced Knott's Berry Farm without the entrance fee. Bring your camera and your kids. There are shops and hundreds, if not thousands, of old artifacts: barrels, antique advertising signs, bicycles, meat grinders, etc. There's also a cheese factory where you can watch it being made. Don't forget the courtyard, where you'll find rabbits, chickens, turkeys, a parrot and an amazing seven-story tree house.

THE plate with five different cheeses seems such an elegant thing. But leave it to restaurants and food photographers. At home, there is nothing better than one cheese in perfect condition served with just the right drink. The cheese course: The late British cheese monger Patrick Rance used to urge his customers to buy "little and often."

Whole Foods Market Inc. joined a cheese recall Friday, pulling seven types of cheddar cheese over the risk of listeria or E. coli . The cheeses ? Sage Cheddar, Silver Mountain Cheddar, Chipotle Cheddar, Premium Block Cheddar, Premium White Chunk Cheddar, Chipotle Chunk Cheddar and White Black Wax Cheddar ? were sold in its stores in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Arizona. Packaged in clear plastic wrap bearing a sticker that reads "Distributed by Whole Foods Market," the cheeses are part of a factorywide recall announced by Bravo Farms of California.

Dear SOS: I was in Santa Barbara recently for a little vacation and stopped at Palazzio . Loved everything we had there, but especially loved the mac and cheese pie. It was incredibly rich, but so delicious. I'm especially curious as to what technique they use to make it so dense. Any chance you could get their recipe? Thanks! Cynthia Crass Los Angeles Dear Cynthia: Palazzio was happy to share its take on this classic comfort food, folding in no less than three kinds of cheese as well as some prosciutto for a little extra love.

Fire. The wheel. A hamburger with cheese. Pasadena is staking its claim this week as the birthplace of one of mankind's greatest discoveries with the launch of Pasadena Cheeseburger Week, a Chamber of Commerce event promoting area restaurants. Legend has it that teenage short-order cook Lionel Clark Sternberger invented the cheeseburger one fateful day in the mid-1920s at a restaurant called The Rite Spot on Colorado Boulevard, west of the Colorado Street Bridge, then part of Route 66. The chamber makes its case with less than rock-solid proof: a Wikipedia entry citing competing claims and second-hand accounts of the Sternberger story, including an unsourced, single-sentence obituary from a 1964 issue of Time magazine.