What are the Best Combinations for Cheese and Fruit?

Whenever you talk about combinations of foods or pairing one type of food with another you always have to take into consideration the personal taste of the person who is assembling those foods. You also have to consider just what purpose the food is being prepared for. If you are going to have a cheese and wine tasting you would use different types of cheeses and fruits than if you were serving beer and popcorn and block cheeses for a group of males who will swill down the beer and use the cheese and fruit to keep their stomachs full until they consume the nachos and sandwiches later.

When you are assembling foods for a TV game marathon you would most likely choose simple block cheeses such as jack, pepper jack, cheddar or maybe Swiss, all of which would go with beer. Then you would serve this with fruits that are fairly hardy like apple slices, seedless grapes and maybe almost ripe pears. These fruits won’t discolor or go bad very quickly especially if you dribble some lemon juice over the fruit so it won’t discolor if it is not consumed immediately. You can also serve some dried fruits with this like raisons or cranberries or even apricots. The flavors will all work well together because the cheeses are not hand crafted or considered artesian.

If you are having a wine tasting with cheese and fruits you may be serving those that are considered hand crafted or artesian or perhaps with more flavor such as one made out of goat or sheep’s milk. They may also be flavored with herbs or pepper or other spices too. All of this has to be considered when pairing with fruits. In general, apples pair well with almost all of them. Especially if you choose a nice crisp juicy on the tart side apple. It is bland and juicy enough to work with most of them. Pears also seem to work well with most choices. Naturally you have to consider what wines are being tasted too.

If you are going to serve dried fruits such as figs or apricots which are sweeter and in the case of figs, have a distinct taste you could use a creamier textured one such as a brie which generally has it’s own flavor so that the two kind of meld together when chewed. And that makes a yummy cheese combination for sure.

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

Please Give Golden Age Cheese your Feedback

We are always striving to please everyone 100% at Golden Age Cheese. If you have completed a cheese order with us in the past, we ask that you please take a moment and fill out a short survey by clicking clicking HERE.