Cheese

[cape chef]

I can't get enough cheese.
I love to cook with it,pair it with wine.
Cheese to me is comfort.
Morbiar from France,Manchego from Spain,stilton "yum"give me a 77 Fonseca with the Stilton
What are some of your favorite cheeses?

How do you like to apply them to cooking?
cc

[Jim]

Great topic!!

I love a well-aged stilton teamed with some Seckel pears and a drizzle of walnut oil.

Extra-ripe Brie smothered with mashed cherries.

Arina on a piece of toasted brioche.

Local goat cheese stuffed into ravioli.

Super sharp cheddar melted into some ale and scooped out with chunks of pumpernickel.

Shrimp sauteed with basil and mascarpone.

Buffalo mozz absolutely soaked in really good balsamic (okay, okay everybody does it but its good!!)

Overly-processed, thin sliced white American grilled on Texas toast

[foodnfoto]

I really LOVE St. Andre--so do my hips. At 70% butterfat, who can blame them? I only allow myself to eat it once a year-New Year's Eve.

Oka, from Canada, is especially good. Buttery, nutty, just a little stinky-YUM!

If you like Stilton, you should also try Shropshire-yellow, with blue veining.
Funny how the English only seem to produce cheddars, but OH, the cheddars they produce! No shame in doing one thing really, really well!

[Anneke]

There aren't too many cheeses that I don't like, except maybe, no offense, American Emmenthal. My favourite has to be Roche Baron. I could eat it every day, 8 times a day, no problem.
I also love crunching into a peice of really good Parmesan, maybe with a drop of well aged balsamic vinegar and a slice of pear. Also love this sheep cheese from Corsicca (I buy it at least monthly but I keep forgetting the name). It's a faily large wheel, covered with rosemary and small hot peppers.

I don't like cooking with really good cheeses because I find it dilutes the perfect taste of a good cheese. That is not to say that I wouldn't eat a dish prepared with cheese... I guess I'm a purist...

That said, nothing beats a good ol' Mac&Cheese with gorgonzola!

[Mezzaluna]

A four or five year old Wisconsin Cheddar is one of my favorites. I'm not a lover of "stinky" cheeses, so well-aged camembert or brie are not to my liking (even when washed down with a glass of a good St. Emilion). Younger ones are delicious, though! I enjoy nibbling on parmesan or a nutty Swiss, too. I'm sure there are many cheeses out there I'd love, given the chance to taste them. Except the maggoty cheese, of course!

[cape chef]

Stropshire,
yes..Very good and "pretty"cheese.
I also love St Andre and almost all semi soft "fat laden" cheeses.
In the meadows in the of the Savoie cheese is king.
Think about the young children enjoying "lait bourru"the warm milk fresh out of the cow.
Foodnfoto..you must try if you have not yet Reblochon.
the cows where feed on the second growth of hay in the season witch was more pure.
still today in the incredible savoie they select a montagnards who works with the fruitier who makes the cheese.the head shepherb (Gros berger)was in charge of making sure the cows ate a "proper" diet..one day eating grass and the next on plants bearing beans. Geez..theres so much tradition to cheese making.
the more i write the more I relieze that these are my favorite cheeses.
vacherin,rebblochen,tome,beaufort (similar to Gruyere)Yum!!!
I think tommorow i will go pick up some little chevrotines
cc

[Anneke]

Doh!! Mezz, the nightmares were just starting to go away..!

[momoreg]

Oh, Mezz., you had to mention that, didn't you?
Some of my faves have already been mentioned, but I love sage Derby, and Gjetost (not together). .

One thing I can't get past my tongue is Morbier.

CC, you mentioned a couple that I haven't tried yet: Tome and Beaufort. hmmm..

I love cheese too.

[lynne]

Rambeau, a smoked semi soft, just slightly warmed

Sage Derby

A good Havarti

St. Andre, my mouth waters...

My friend's mom's goat cheese


I can get lost in the cheese section of the market.

One of my favourite things in DC was to go to Eastern Market and browse the cheese stand -- the opportunity to try so many wonderful new and exciting flavours!

[Athenaeus]

Oh my God!!

I read this thread and I switched off my pc to have my lunch first!!!!

I can live with eating nothing but cheese!!

Feta cheese of course,mytzithra and gruyere are my favorite.

Do you make cheese at home?

I do some times!!

What a tread. Pass a good recipe to the poor amatrice please!!!

[shroomgirl]

5 year old Gouda.
Montgomery cheddar
I love the crunch from the crystals in both
Shropsire....Neals Yard does good cheese

French feta

Camembert from the NE
Parmesan....
Morbier melted on a crouton with a drizzle of Truffle honey...
Love Tree Farms cheeses
Armenian String cheese
Sweet gorgonzolla
.........I have probably 2dz cheeses in my fridge at any given time.
There was a special one I picked up last year at the Winter Pantry in Chicago at CHIC....Morels in a semi soft cheese. Who'd a thought.
Great thread CC.

[monpetitchoux]

Castello Danish Blue is the cheese that I am into right now. Just can't seem to get enough of that stuff. Even though I eat some at work, I like it so much that I buy it for home consumption. I also like freshly pulled buffalo mozzarella. The chef where I work used to put a ribbon of truffle paste in it. But it's good just au naturel, too. I also snack on Parmegianno Reggiano. It is great with figs. But for some reason, I can neither enjoy the wine nor the cheese to their fullest when they are together, even when paired by a chef and sommelier with compatible tastes. Not a bad journey for a gal who started off on those packaged cheese and crackers snacks. You know. Those where you spread the processed cheese one one side with the plastic red stick on the rectangle crackers that had way too much salt on them. What were they called?

[thebighat]

I like cheese too, but you guys are really serious here. I once had to make caramelized orange sauce with port to be served with St. Andre. Not bad. We have an English waiter doing an externship this year and we were razzing him about how much he doesn't know about his own country and I asked him if he knew what it was Ben Gunn dreamed of..."Cheese, toasted mostly."

[nancya]

"Handy Snacks" Monpetitchoux --- shudder

I love cheese - I suppose I have fairly simple taste. I love a good Cheddar, especially White Cheddar. I love Baby Swiss. Oh, and I really love a smooooooth Havarti.

I'm with Mezzaluna, I don't really like "stinky cheese" but I would be interested in trying more different types of cheese. I used to frequent a cheese shop in Kansas City called the Better Cheddar that had many interesting cheeses...alas, 'round here Kraft Cracker Barrel is about the best I can do. I'm considering mail-ordering cheese, but I really like to taste it before I buy a lot of it.

Haven't been able to eat Brie since I got sick while eating it...it was probably not the poor Brie's fault, but my associative memory is far too good.

[Anneke]

For those of you who aren't fans of smelly cheeses, you should try to keep in mind that some of the stinkiest are also the mellowest in flavour. If you are lucky enough to live in a big city that has specialised cheese shops, go and ask for samples; most shop keepers will be happy to oblige and to advise.

I forget: are unpasturized cheeses allowed in the US?