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Friday, June 4, 2010

The Best Melting Cheeses


I love nothing more than a good grill cheese, or good melted cheese on vegetables or some homemade pizza. But not all cheeses are equal. And not all cheeses melt into yummy goodness. For whatever reason you want to add some meltolious cheese to your recipe, here is a list to help pick a good cheese that will melt.

Asiago
Bel Paese
Brick
Brie
Butterkase
Cantal
Cheddar
Cheshire
Colby
Comte
Crescenza
Double Gloucester
Edam
Fontina
Gouda
Gruyere
Havarti
Iberico
Jarlsberg
Mahon
Mimolette
Monterey Jack
Mozzarella
Muenster
Ossau-Iraty
Fresh Pecorino
Port-Salut
Provolone
Queso Oaxaca
Raclette
Roncal
Swiss
Teleme
Urgelia


Bon Appétit

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Uhh?!?!?!?! What kind of Cheese is this?




If you have been to the cheese section at your local grocery store lately, you might have noticed that is has become a little foreign. With cheese names like Ossau-Iraty, Urgelia, Tomme de Savoie, or Bel Paese. You might think you need to learn another language just to understand these cheeses.

To help you in your foreign adventures at the cheese section, I created a way to understand the different styles in which cheese is made and that gives it its flavor. If you know what you like then you can try to find other cheeses in the style to try. So hopefully the next time we are standing in front of a sea of foreign names at the cheese section we are not so frightened to try something new.


The first style Fresh; it has a mild, milky, and/or tangy flavor. The flavor strength is mild. Examples include Ricotta, Mozzarella, and Fresh goat cheese.


The second style is Semi-Soft; it has a milky, tangy, and/or sweet flavor. The flavor strength is mild. Examples include Colby, Havarti, and Monterrey Jack


The third style is Soft-Ripened; it has a buttery, mushroomy, and/or creamy flavor. The flavor strength can be mild to medium strong. Examples include Brie, Camembert, and Banon


The fourth style is Surface-Ripened; it has an earthy, creamy, mushroomy, and/or tangy flavor. The flavor strength can be medium to strong. Examples include Le Chevrot, La Tur, and Rocchetta.


The fifth style is Semi-Hard; it has an earthy, buttery, nutty, and/or fruity flavor. The flavor strength can be medium to strong. Examples include Cheddar, Gruyere, and Gouda.


The sixth style is Hard; it has a salty, sweet, sharp, and/or caramel flavor. The flavor strength can be medium-strong to strong. Examples include Parmigiano-Reggiano and Aged Asiago.


The seventh is Blue Cheese; it has a floral, pungent, musty, and/or salty flavor. The flavor strength can be medium-strong to very strong. Examples include Gorgonzola, Stilton Blue, and Maytag Blue.


The eighth is Washed-Rind; it has a beefy, gamy, creamy, nutty, and/or salty flavor. The flavor strength can be strong to very strong. Examples include Munster, Taleggio, and Chaubier.


Bon Appétit