A Signature Ingredient in Roadhouse Mac & Cheese and More
By Lindsay-Jean Hard
Did you know that Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB) has a “house” cheddar cheese? It’s true! Years ago, our American Cheese Society award-winning cheesemongers at Zingerman’s Delicatessen (who have been handpicking the best of the best cheeses from around the world since 1982) selected Cabot Creamery’s Aged White Cheddar for that honor, and now you’ll find it featured across the ZCoB. Here at the Roadhouse, you can find it in our classic Mac & Cheese and a number of other dishes; we actually use it so often that long-time manager Marcy Harris refers to it as a “cherished cheese.” (You can even ship Cabot Cheddar to fellow cheese lovers across the country!) What makes Cabot so special? We’re glad you asked.
A Legen-dairy (& Like-Minded) Business
Cabot Creamery is an embodiment of the idea of being better together than apart. Cabot is a farmer-owned co-op, founded in 1919 by a group of nearly 100 families from Cabot, Vermont with one initial product: butter. Today, it’s made up of dairy farm families throughout New England and New York with an average herd size of 200 cows, all focused on producing exceptional dairy products while providing for their families and giving back to their communities.
Cabot was the world’s first dairy co-op to achieve B Corporation certification (in 2012). It’s a third-party certification that recognizes Cabot’s commitment to environmental and social impacts for their consumers, employees, and network of dairy farm families. A key tenet of B Corps is that businesses can drive positive change in the world. Here are just a few examples of how Cabot is prioritizing people, profit, and the planet:
- They want everyone to have access to delicious dairy products, so they’ve partnered with over 15 organizations across the Northeast that are focused on addressing food insecurity or food justice.
- Cabot joined the US Dairy Stewardship’s commitment to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050.
- There are multiple opportunities for co-op farmers to engage in leadership opportunities and collaborate to share additional resources and learn from each other.
Cabot goes to great lengths to ensure the well-being of their cows, from making sure all the members on their Board of Directors are active dairy farmers to participating in a program designed to verify that their farms are committed to the highest standards in animal care. World-class cheeses start with great milk, and great milk comes from happy, healthy cows, so it perhaps won’t come as a surprise to hear that Cabot is one of the most-awarded creameries in the world.
This is just scratching the surface of Cabot’s commitment to “nourish communities, foster cooperative relationships, and steward the land.” We know, it’s impressive. In fact, that’s a big part of why we partner with them! We’re both focused on traditional methods, full-flavored foods, collaborative work, and community support.
Life is Better with Cabot Cheddar
You can enjoy Cabot Aged White Cheddar in a number of dishes at the Roadhouse. You’ll notice the Cabot Creamery logo featured proudly on our menu because we exclusively use their cheddar in some of our most signature menu items:
Ari’s Pimento Cheese
A classic starter all over the South, Pimento Cheese is a creamy spread made with lots of thick-shredded Cabot Cheddar, Hellmann’s mayonnaise, and roasted red peppers and is served with celery. It’s gained such a following, it even has its own T-shirt! To tide you over between visits, we’ve shared our recipe if you’d like to whip up a batch at home.
Macaroni and Cheese
We make our take on this cozy comfort food with a housemade béchamel sauce and lots of Cabot Cheddar caramelized with Mancini penne pasta. This is the dish that landed us on chef, author, and television personality Alton Brown’s top ten comfort food spots in the country for Food Network Magazine! In addition to the classic Roadhouse Mac & Cheese, there’s also the Pimento Cheese & Bacon Mac, the Fried Chicken Mac & Cheese, and the Smoked Chicken & Monterey Jack Mac.
Roadhouse Burger
Pasture-raised, dry-aged beef grilled over oak and served on a Bakehouse brioche bun. Make the Roadhouse Burger your own by choosing your favorite cheese, like Cabot Cheddar, from our all-American cheese list to add to your burger. One long-time customer declared, “This burger is the best around! Seriously, I eat a lot of burgers, and this is really something. You really can taste the difference! It’s terrific!”
Anson Mills’ Grits & Cheese
Stone ground organic grits from Anson Mills in South Carolina made with lots of butter and topped with Cabot Cheddar. You can also tuck into this satisfying pairing in our other grits dishes, like Grits & Eggs, Smothered Grits, and Grillades and Grits.
Grits ‘N’ Bits Waffles
The Georgia Grits ‘N’ Bits Waffles are a Southern version of the Dutch classic waffles filled with bits of Anson Mills’ organic grits, Cabot Cheddar, and Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon and served with Michigan maple syrup. Try the gluten-free version, Carolina Gold Rice Grits & Bits Waffles, made with gluten-free rice flour.
The Roadhouse American Breakfast
Start your day with a plate full of sunshine: two eggs scrambled with red and green bell peppers and topped with Cabot Aged Cheddar and served with housemade breakfast sausage, biscuit, and breakfast potatoes.
Breakfast Sammie at the Roadshow
A better breakfast to-go made with farm-fresh scrambled eggs, Nueske’s applewood-smoked bacon, and, you guessed it, melted Cabot Aged Cheddar, served on your choice of toast, brioche bun, bagel, or a buck more, a freshly-baked butter croissant.
As you can see, we love Cabot Aged White Cheddar so much we’re using it in dishes all day long! As Marcy Harris explains, “The crumbly, nutty, delicately sharp cheese lends itself well to recipes where we want to enhance natural flavors of other artisanal ingredients, not overpower them.”
It doesn’t get any cheddar than these cheesy dishes. Peruse our menus and make a reservation to come see us soon!