How To Use Cheese To Spice Up Your Food

With all of the many varieties of cheeses available, it is easy to add cheese to any dish to take it from ordinary to unforgettable. From simple dishes like scrambled eggs or hash browns, to complex dishes incorporating fine technique, such as a soufflé, cheese makes everything better. Even with dishes that already have cheese as a primary ingredient, like macaroni and cheese, experiment with a smoked or flavored cheese to spice it up.

Burgers

To spice up an ordinary burger, try adding some crumbled feta cheese to your burger mixture before cooking. The cheese will add moisture to the burger, and give it a great flavor. You can also try adding some bleu cheese, such as Roquefort or Stilton, to the middle of your burger or use it as a topping. The intensity of the bleu cheese is delicious with a rich, meaty burger, and you won’t even need any condiments to make this burger special. Another great cheese is a smoked Gouda for a different flavor.

Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a natural showcase for fresh vegetables, grilled meats, and delicious cheeses. A quesadilla consists of cheese fried between two tortilla shells. For an authentic Mexican dish, use some Queso Oaxaca, a delicious cheese that can stand alone. You could also use some spicy pepper jack cheese or even jalapeno cheddar for a cheesy, delicious treat. Grilled shrimp or chicken or beef strips add to the goodness, and grilled peppers and onions combined with your choice of meat and cheeses make this a versatile dish.

Spicy Grilled Cheese

For a homey grilled cheese sandwich with a kick, add some green chilies to your cheddar cheese before making your sandwich. For extra kick, use spicy jalapeno cheddar. For a milder version, add some sliced tomato to cut down on the bite of the chilies.

Gourmet Grilled Cheeses

A grilled cheese sandwich can be boosted to a higher level by adding gourmet ingredients. Try adding some gruyere, provolone or Gouda to toasted brioche for a delicious, melted gourmet treat. For a hearty gourmet grilled cheese sandwich, add some thinly sliced granny smith apple, a couple slices of smoked bacon, and Gouda or Swiss cheese to some thick, rustic bread. Alternatively, you can try a caprese style grilled cheese by adding mozzarella, fresh basil, ripe tomato slices, and a drizzle of olive oil to a thick, Italian bread.
Soups

To spice up potato soup, add some cheddar, Swiss, or pepper jack cheese. Traditional chowder gets spiced up with the addition of grated cheddar cheese. Adding cheddar cheese to tomato soup also takes the flavor to a new level. Chicken soup is a traditional favorite, but with the addition of cheddar, it takes on a great flavor. Spice your chicken soup up by adding chorizo sausage and pepper jack cheese.

Pie

For a twist on a traditional fall pie, add some goat cheese to your pumpkin puree, along with some garlic, onion, and sage for a savory pumpkin pie. Cheese dishes don’t have to be savory; cheese pairs well with sweet ingredients also. The classic American apple pie becomes a gourmet dessert with the addition of cheddar cheese under the top crust.

How Is Gorgonzola And Blue Cheese Different

Blue cheese is delicious but when you look at gorgonzola and blue cheese you may be wondering what the difference is. First you have to understand that the term blue cheese is given to several different types of cheese which include cows’, goats’ or sheep’s milk based cheeses which are made with a Penicillium mold. Gorgonzola is one of those cheeses so it is not so much the blue cheese and gorgonzola are different but rather that gorgonzola is a particular type of blue cheese.

This is similar to the effect that Sharp Cheddar is still a cheddar cheese just as aged Swiss is still a Swiss cheese.  It is also worth noting how blue cheese came to be. Its origins date to some centuries ago while gorgonzola only goes back to the 11th century. The name gorgonzola comes from an Italian town where it was first created.

Blue Cheese

If you go to a cheese specialty store you will find that there are many types of blue cheese and the flavor depends on the manufacturing of the cheese itself. There are flavors that can be called pungent and some which are mild. Textures can also vary like for example Montbriac is made of cow’s milk and it is one of the French varieties. The texture is very close to that of Brie. One of the best varieties of blue cheese is Roquefort which is also a French type of blue cheese but it is made out of sheep’s milk. If you wanted a mild type of blue cheese then Stilton comes from Britain and will give you that mild taste you are looking for but make sure not to eat the rind.

Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola has a pale yellow color with some streaks of green-blue which run through it. The varieties that are still produced in the country of Italy are milder and creamier than the ones produced across the ocean in the United States. The two most popular varieties of gorgonzola are naturale and dulce. Dulce has a sweet taste because of its shorter aging time. Naturale should be aged for a minimum of 6 months which gives it a strong, sharp and pungent flavor. Gorgonzola should be served at room temperature for optimal flavor. While it is possible to freeze gorgonzola, doing so can affect the texture making it mostly good for salads.
Just as with Mozzarella, Swiss or Gouda, you can use Blue or Gorgonzola in a wide range of dishes. Take the following example:
Recipe: Baked Potato Skins With Gorgonzola And Rocket
Ingredients:

• 12 small potatoes
• 2 handfuls wild rocket (washed and dried)
• 150 grams of gorgonzola cheese (chopped)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Black pepper
• Optional: chopped mustard fruit in its syrup

Instructions:

First preheat your oven to 400 Fahrenheit or 200 Celsius. Get a little olive oil on each potato and place the potatoes in a baking dish. Bake the potatoes for 1 hour until they are tender and golden. Let them cool until you can handle them and leave the oven on. Half the baked potatoes and use a teaspoon to scoop the middle of the potato into a bowl. Make sure to leave some of the potato on the edges to keep shape. Mash the potato using a fork. Chop half of the rocket and add to the potato along with the gorgonzola. Season with freshly ground black pepper and mix. Spoon the mix into a potato skin. Place on baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. The cheese should melt. Serve with the rest of the rocket and a little olive oil. Add mustard fruit if you would like.

And the Cheese of the Month Club Winner is...

Congratulations to Daniel G of Buffalo, NY for winning the Golden Age Cheese Cheese of the Month club membership for half of the year. Now he will enjoy 2.5 pounds of cheese monthly starting this month until April 2013. We are offering up another drawing for an entire membership until December 31, 2013! Win a year's cheese of the month club by entering HERE.

Vote Which Cheese You Want a FREE Pound Of!

This Election Day we are giving you a chance to vote on which cheese you would like a FREE pound of! All you need to do is pick your favorite cheese from the poll above, and whichever cheese is picked the most will be the winner! Shortly after the poll closes at 11:59 PM (EST) Friday November 9, 2012, we will be announcing a special coupon code only redeemable online at www.GoldenAgeCheese.com that is good for one FREE pound of the winning cheese! Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter if you haven't already because the special coupon will be contained in there! Have fun and enjoy!

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Can I put Cheese Back In The Refrigerator Once It Has Been Left Out?

Cheese can in some cases be a little expensive, but sometimes due to a distraction you can leave it outside of the refrigerator by accident. It is then that a lot of people want to know how long cheese can be outside and still be good enough to store in the fridge again. The amount of time that cheese can be outside depends on the type of cheese that you are talking about. Some cheeses will go bad faster than others and how long it stays good depends on the storage conditions. Keeping it in the fridge is not enough; you may also have to take other precautions. Here is what you can expect from some of the most popular products out there such as cheddar, mozzarella and cheese curds.

Mozzarella Cheese

Mozzarella cheese is a very popular type of cheese and it is also one of the cheeses most people will not put back in the fridge right away. The problem with leaving mozzarella cheese out of the fridge (and any cheese for that matter) is that after some time bacteria will start to grow. Our bodies are made to kill the bacteria, but it will not kill all of it. How long does depend on the kind of Mozzarella. The fresh version in a salt bath can last for a few hours up to four. The firmer version of Mozzarella can last a few hours if still in a sealed container.

Cheddar Cheese

Cheddar cheese is a bit different to mozzarella in that it is aged longer and therefore can withstand being out of the fridge longer. Many people used to keep aged, hard cheeses in dishes that had wooden bottoms with glass lids and they would keep fine for even a week. When in its original packaging, store bought Cheddar can be safe to keep outside for a period of eight hours, provided that the package is sealed and that there have not been any extremely high temperatures. Refrigeration at temps of 35-45 degrees Fahrenheit have been used to slow the molding process and prolong the edibility of the cheese.

Cheese Curds

Cheese curds are best when they are made that day and eaten before refrigerated. This is the best way to enjoy their ‘squeak’ and their taste. Some people actually keep them out of the fridge for up to 48 hours. For this purpose, if you want to keep the cheese curds tasting their best then you should make sure to keep them in their original packaging and a sealed plastic bag would also help. If you aren’t going to gobble them up shortly then you can store in the fridge or even in the freezer for up to four months.