Rosemary Garlic Montery Jack

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fried gizzards

Fire Starter
Original poster
Mar 2, 2016
38
54
Kelso, Washington
Before the wife and I head to church this morning I decided to through on some cheese to smoke while we are gone. Last night I bought a block of Winco Monterey Jack. I diced rosemary and added it to garlic powder to form a rub. I have never put a rub on cheese so this is kind of a shot in the dark. I applied the rub last night while the cheese was at room temp, wrapped in in wax paper, throw it in a ziplock, and put a cast iron pan over it in the fridge over night. I really wanted to press the rosemary into the cheese. Here's what it looked like this morning




Should be gone about 3 hours and when I get back my hope is that the cherry wood smoke has combined nicely with the garlic and rosemary. I'll keep you guys posted.
 
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That sounds good. The fat in cheese absorbs flavors fairly well. my take more than overnight to get deep in the cheese but like smoke too much may be overpowering...JJ
 
This is just an experiment that's been rattling around in the back of my mind for a month or so. If I like the outcome I'll stick with it, but I had also though of vacuum sealing the crusted cheese for a month or so and really letting the flavors develop. I have some delicious rosemary and garlic infused Olive oil that gave me the idea for this. We are having friends over tonight and I thought I'd mix the oil with some balsamic and serve the cheese with small bits of toast.
 
I have done this with dried hatch chiles, jalapeños and other spices. I always vac-pac and let it meld for 3-4 weeks before sampling. Works great.
 
Flavor was awesome. The cherry wood and rosemary came together nicely. The garlic got lost a little bit in the process, I will use more next time. I highly suggest you try this if you're at all curious!
 
Now I have a question for the masses... What if, next time, I vac seal the cheese for 2 weeks in a slurry of minced garlic (not the pwder)and chopped rosemary prior to smoking would that be a better way to impart in infuse the flavor?
 
Now I have a question for the masses... What if, next time, I vac seal the cheese for 2 weeks in a slurry of minced garlic (not the pwder)and chopped rosemary prior to smoking would that be a better way to impart in infuse the flavor?

You will end up with a slimy moldy mess. I tried that once with fresh peppers...
 
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