Cheese Recipe 13: Ham and Cheese Crepes Breakfast

This recipe will serve approximately 2.


Ingredients:

Crepes:


1/3 cup cold water


2 tablespoons melted butter


1/8 teaspoon salt


½ cup flour (all-purpose)


1 egg


1/3 cup milk and 2 or 3 tablespoons divided


Filling:


1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard


4 thin slices deli ham


½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Method:

Use a blender or mix to blend together flour, egg, 1/3 cup milk, water, butter and salt until smooth. Refrigerate for about thirty minutes. Stir the mixture, add remaining milk if it appears too thick. Grease up a small to medium skillet and heat it(about 8 inches). Place 3 tablespoons of batter in. Tilt pan to evenly coat the bottom with batter. Cook until top is dry, turn and repeat (about 15-25 seconds longer). Use this process for remaining batter, grease skillet again if needed. Put aside. Crepes can be frozen up to 3 months.

Spread mustard over crepes and add ham and cheese. Roll up tightly, place in greased cooking pan and bake at 375 for 10- 14 minutes or until heated through.

Alternative Cheeses:

Swiss, Provolone, Muenster, or Cheddar

If You Don’t Have This, Use That: A Substitution Guide for Cheeses

When you are cooking with cheese you may find you don’t have the exact cheese that the recipe calls for. When this happens you certainly can substitute ingredients and still have that recipe come out just fine. There are several things you should know when you go about these substitutions. There are specific cheeses that have similar properties so in general you should keep those with the same properties as the ones you choose to substitute. Also remember this rule of thumb when substituting, ½ pound equals 2 cups. Or 1 cup shredded equals ¼ pound of product.

There are several types of this product which depend on which animal they come from. There is cow’s milk which makes up the bulk of all of them made simply because there is a greater abundance of cows around. This product is generally sweeter and cleaner in flavor. There is more fat in cow’s milk than goat and less than the sheep milk. Goat’s milk is generally tangy and often has an herbal taste. It has less fat content than from a cow. Then there is sheep’s milk which generally has a sweet nutty flavor or some people believe a more distinct flavor that has more fat content than from cow’s milk.

So the general rule when substituting cheeses is to stay with the type of milk it is made from. This means substitute sheep for sheep, goat for goat and cow for cow. Of course as with any rule of thumb you can be creative. In macaroni and cheese you generally use the flavors you like best but the taste will certainly change.

Another way to look at substitution of products is the type it is. There are several distinct types of cheeses such as fresh, semi soft, semi hard, hard and so forth. Fresh would be without a rind like ricotta. Semi-soft melts well and an example is a jack or provolone. Semi hard or firm would be cheddar or gruyere both with a similar texture. Then there is hard or the grating products like an asiago or parmesan. When a recipe calls out for cheddar then you should substitute with a similar semi hard or semi firm piece. So basically you are keeping the different types of cheeses in the recipe. So a good melting one is substituted for another similar good melting one and that way the recipe will work out fine.

Cheese Recipe 12: Sausage and Cheese Bake Breakfast

This recipe will serve about 6-8 people.

Ingredients:

1 lb. sausage already cooked, set aside to drain on paper towels.


1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


6 medium to large eggs


1 tsp. mustard


1 tsp. salt


6 pieces of bread trimmed and cut into squares


2 cups of milk

Method:

Get the oven preheated to 350 degrees. Use the bread that has crusts removed, to layer the bottom of large casserole dish that has already been greased. Top the bread with sausage then cover the sausage with the cheese, evenly. Mix the eggs, milk, salt, and mustard. Pour the mixture over the rest of the ingredients. Bake for about 40 minutes, but make sure to keep an eye on it after the first twenty to twenty five minutes. Eggs should be cooked all the way through before it is done.

Alternative Cheeses:

Smokey Swiss, Swiss, Jalapeño Cheddar, Italian Cheddar Cheese Curds, or Provolone

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What Factors Differentiate Sharp and Mild Cheeses?

It is not hard to understand the taste difference between sharp and mild cheeses. We know what we like, and we know what products are creamier and which are crumbly or more difficult to cook with. However, there are very specific physical factors that affect the taste of your choices, as well as the texture and ultimately the price.

Cheddar is the first example that comes to mind when you think about sharp and mild options. Mild cheddar is softer and has a less tangy flavor, while sharp cheddar is hard and crumbly, and the taste is very harsh and flavorful. A walk down the dairy aisle in the grocery store or at a farmer's market will show that cheddar comes in a wide range of varieties from very mild to very sharp. There are reasons for the differences that start with the production of the cheese, and sometimes depend on ingredients as well.

Sharp cheddar, and other cheeses as well, are aged for a longer period of time than their mild counterparts. The longer period of aging leads to a harder product because more moisture is leeched out. This is why sharp options are crumbly and not so creamy as that which is aged for shorter period of time.

Gouda, like cheddar, comes in a wide range of tastes from soft and very mild to hard and sharp and tangy. All varieties have a nutty flavor, but the sharper options which have aged longer have a saltier taste as well. This longer aging product is slightly bitter and tends to be so hard and brittle that it cannot be sliced, but must be broken off in chunks instead. All of these varieties are an excellent partner with fruit.

Other sharp and extra-sharp examples include Parmesan, Gorgonzola, and Asiago. All of these, as well as sharp cheddar and Gouda are great recipes because of their strong taste. They also help you watch your fat and calories because you do not have to use as much to get the taste you are seeking and therefore, you do not need to add as much fat to the dish.

Prices of cheese are affected by various factors, like whether or not the cheese has been imported and what ingredients are used; cow milk is more common and more plentiful than other alternatives, so specialty products cost more. In general sharp cheeses are more expensive than their mild counterparts because it is more costly to age cheese for a longer period of time.