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Use these tips to prepare and serve some incredible recipes with cheese. Incude cheese as a base ingredient in antipasto often. This "Cheese How To" will help you to become a “Master Pasta Fan.”
Enjoy cooking with CHEESE!
How to Keep and Serve Cheese:
Cheese is best kept in a room where the temperature will remain constant at about 45-50 F, preferably in a dark, humid, and ventilated area. When storing cheese in a refrigerator, wrap it in cheesecloth (or something that will allow air to move through it), and place it in the refrigerator's vegetable drawer.
To enjoy the taste of cheese at its best and to allow its full flavor to develop, be sure to serve it at room temperature.
How to serve Cheese course:
Serve cheese at room temperature. Once you've decided what you'll serve for your cheese course, the only real rule you should remember is to bring cheese to room temperature before serving it. Cheese that's just been removed from the refrigerator has only a fraction of the flavor of cheese that has been tempered.
For a cheese course, this is convenient, because you can take the cheese out of the refrigerator, arrange it as you'd like to serve it, and loosely cover it, all before dinner. Let the cheese breathe by removing all wrappings and by covering the tray loosely with cheesecloth, a dishtowel, or a glass cheese bell.
Depending on the hardness of the cheese, this could take about an hour in cool weather, or in hot weather, as little as 30 minutes. Hard cheeses take longer to come to room temperature than soft ones. When you take it out, leave the cheese wrapped so that the exposed surfaces don't dry out. Just before you're ready to serve the cheese, unwrap it and throw the wrapping away. Never use the same wrapping twice—it won't reseal properly.
What type of knives I need to cut cheese:
You don't need special knives for a cheese course. While cheese knives with a variety of blades and decorative handles are available, you probably have what you need in your kitchen drawers. You'll want to provide a small knife for each cheese with a different texture -- a sharp knife for semi hard or hard cheeses and a spreading or butter-type knife for each softer, messier cheese. Start a few cuts or slices in each piece by following the natural lines of the cheese or by cutting a small wedge out of a wheel of cheese. If you're not sure how to cut a certain shape, or if you want suggestions on which rinds to eat and which to trim, ask your cheese merchant.
What type of bread to serve the cheese with:
Although many of us grew up on "cheese and crackers," the proliferation of excellent fresh-baked breads in many parts of the country allows many more options for cheese lovers. We're fond of dense breads studded with nuts and dried fruit to pair with cheese. Any sort of fresh bread, Crostini or Brushetta usually served as Antipasto are also excellent options
Creative Ideas to serve Cheese:
Cheese is a gorgeous, tempting, delectable food, but remember, too, that cheese doesn't have to be embellished. While olives, cornichons, chutneys, dried and fresh fruits, and toasted nuts complement most cheeses, they aren't necessary. Consider how substantial the rest of your meal will be before designing your cheese platter. If you've had a fairly light main course, you can round out your cheese selection with accompaniments.
For serving, it is a good idea to present each cheese on a small wooden cutting board, piece of marble, or plate, rather than forcing two, three, or four cheeses to share one big platter. If you put them all together, soft cheeses may run into each other; also, the aromas intermingle and it's hard to differentiate between them. What's more, big plates often aren't completely flat, and cheese must lie flat in order to be easily cut. That's why I prefer flat, sturdy, individual cutting boards rather than plates, which tend to be tippy. If you don't have small cutting boards or marble slabs, then use a big cutting board and keep the cheeses as far away from each other as possible.
Leftover Cheese Tips:
Never discard those little leftover bits and pieces of cheese lurking in your refrigerator. The tag ends of Brie, Cheddar, farmer cheese, chevre, Roquefort, Mozzarella, and scores of other cheeses can be quickly transformed into a tasty mixture which the thrifty French call fromage fort ("strong cheese"). Seasoned with fresh garlic and a few splashes of wine, it makes an assertively flavored topping for toast or thick slices of crusty country bread and tastes best when briefly melted under the broiler.
To make fromage fort, gather together 1 pound of leftover cheese (3 kinds is enough, 6 or 7 will be even better). Trim off any mold or very dried out parts from the surface. Toss 3 or 4 peeled cloves of garlic into a food processor and process for several seconds until coarsely chopped. Add the cheese to the garlic along with 1/2 cup dry white wine and at least 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Process until the mixture becomes soft and creamy, about 30 seconds. Remove the mixture from processor and transfer it to a crock or bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
How to Find and buy good cheese:
Finding good cheese today is much easier than it was even ten years ago, thanks to the fantastic growth of American artisanal cheeses and better importing of European cheeses. These are some good guidelines:
Always inspect the cheese before buying it. If it smells at all like ammonia, or if the rind is either dried and cracked or very wet, it's probably not in the best condition.
If the merchant offers tastes, always accept Even if you've tried the cheese before. Cheese is an ever-changing product that varies with season, maturity, and handling. Tasting the cheese is the only guarantee that you will like it.
Refrigerate cheese when you get it homeCheese continues to ripen as it ages, and refrigeration slows this process. The very freshest cheeses (like ricotta) have the shortest shelf life -- just a few days. The hardest aged cheeses (like Parmigiano-Reggiano) keep for months if properly stored.
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