Small Towns, Wisconsin Southwest Region Fall 2015 | Page 34

From the Cheesehead:

Simple Grilled

Cheese Sandwich

During our second visit to New Glarus, we sampled a number of cheeses at the Maple Leaf
Cheese and Chocolate Haus (where we ended up getting homemade peanut butter
chocolate and bubble gum fudge) and the Edelweiss Cheese Shop. Our final selection
was Edelweiss’ award winning Havarti cheese; we preferred the standard Havarti, but
also enjoyed the Dill Havarti.
Havarti is a semi-soft cheese made with Danish cow’s milk; it was first created in the 19th
century by a woman named Hanne Nielsen, who named it after her family farm. It’s a
creamy cheese with a mild taste that somewhat resembles Swiss.
Often ignored in favor of cheeses with stronger flavors, Havarti makes an excellent
sandwich cheese. I first used it in place of American cheese on a simple grilled cheese
sandwich and found it delicious:

• Heat a cast iron skillet on the stove.

Did You Know?
• Two Wisconsin teams – Mill Creek Cheese in
Arena and Land O’Lakes in Kiel – placed in
the top 3 at this year’s US Cheese Contest. The
contest drew 1,885 entries!

• The Havarti cheese we brought home took
third place in the Havarti division; another
Havarti from Decatur Dairy (which we covered
in our Spring 2014 issue) took second. Edelweiss’
Dill Havarti, which we also enjoyed, won the
Flavored Havarti division; Decatur Dairy’s
Havarti Dill took third.

• Run a stick of butter over the skillet; if it’s
hot enough, you’ll end up with a buttered
surface.
• Place two slices of bread (I prefer Italian) on
the skillet and grill until browned.
• Flip over one slice of bread and cover with
Havarti cheese, then place the other slice
on top so that the browned side of each
slice is facing the cheese.
• Grill until the cheese is melted, flipping
occasionally so that the bread browns
evenly.
• Serve with tomato soup or chips.