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5 Tips for Cheesing in Summer
Be wary of the temperature
While many of us relish the rising mercury, cheese isn’t so keen on it. Left out for too long, oozy, soft cheeses can quickly turn into a puddle on your kitchen table, while harder cheeses can get sweaty and flopsy – neither of which are very appetizing. To avoid this pitfall, only remove what you’ll actually eat from the refrigerator, and let that come to temperature. Once it’s at an optimum warmth, enjoy as quickly as possible.
Fontina Fonduta with White Truffle Butter
"The basic technique of slowly melting a single cheese, such as the Italian Fontina Valle d'Aosta, with the help of whole milk, rich egg yolks, and the best-quality butter can also be applied to several different cheeses blended to your own taste." says Chester Hastings.
Botanical Mushroom Tart
"In autumn, just as soon as the mushrooms start popping up throughout our woods and the cool, crisp air is filled with chimney smoke from aged oak," says Maryjo Koch, "I notice mushroom foragers with baskets or burlap sacks scurrying around the woods looking for their favorite wild mushrooms. Our town celebrates the arrival of mushroom season with an annual mushroom festival.
"Mushrooms are always favorites botanical subjects in my painting classes. We study books of botanical styles of the Old Masters for inspiration and students are served this mushroom tart filled with smoky mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses for our class lunch. My daughter Sunny artfully arranges woodsy mushrooms and fennel fronds from the garden on the surface of the tart to resemble an antique botanical print, a case of life imitating art.
Bangin' Inside-Out Cheeseburgers by the Brokeass Gourmet
Ever run into the problem of frying a beef patty, only to have the delicious, gooey cheese slide right off your burger? Well, cry no more. The Inside-Out Cheeseburger is here to save the day.
How many times have you cooked a cheeseburger at home, only to have half of all that delicious cheese melt off the burger as you cook it, into your barbeque, grill pan or frying pan? It’s not only a waste of cheesy deliciousness, but a highly-annoying waste of money. Here, I’ve solved that problem by tucking the cheese inside a juicy, flavorful burger, leaving both your wallet and your tastebuds happy!
Photo by Brokeass Gourmet
2013 Cheese Trends
What's hot in 2013? Cheese! Well, officially, cheese never really goes out of style, but the trends do evolve. Have you tried any of this season's runway favorites?
This time around the trends go beyond how cheese can be made to what can be done with cheese in the process that you maybe weren't expecting. Infusions at various stages of cheese making, such as adding fruit, savory herbs, spicy elements or other ingredients before the final product, are dominating the scene.
Photo by someToast via compfight
Paula Deen Launches Own Butter
In an effort to change her image from the Queen of Butter, Paula Deen is now selling her own…butter? Yep, and the "flavored butter spread" comes in groovy flavors like lemon dill and sweet citrus to be sold in Walmart Stores.
Deen's new butters are actually, really, truly being marketed as healthy. They're "finishing" butters that "let cooks bring a wonderful fresh butter taste to various dishes while just adding butter to the end of the cooking process."
Photo Courtesy of Eater
Cheddar Corn Soufflé
From Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito: "Yes, this incredibly rich, creamy, Cheddar Corn Soufflé can be served as a dessert—a studious, old-school, cheese course. It can also be served as an appetizer. Or as a side. Or, less typically, as a main course. We actually encourage you, if you are feeling full of morning pep, to try it our on unsuspecting breakfast or brunch guests. Fact is, we really don't care when you serve this multipurpose concoction, we just encourage you to make it often. Our riff on this venerable dish is punched up with the decidedly unsubtle extra-sharp cheddar (we have classic macaroni and cheese on the brain) and a handful of corn—the two flavors complement each other well, and the corn adds a bright burst of texture. Finally, we think our perfectly golden Cheddar Corn Soufflé is one of those dishes that fancifies the mood with little effort, and everyone knows we could use a bit more fancy in our lives."
The Key to Healthy Teeth: Eating Cheese?
A new study published in the most recent issue of General Dentistry suggests that eating cheese can decrease the odds of developing cavities. It's just one more good reason to keep eating lots and lots of cheese (as if we needed another).
Researchers believe that eating cheese stimulates saliva production, which is the body's way of keeping the mouth at a normal acidity level. The saliva acts as a flush to remove any residue in your mouth, and also provides a buffer against high levels of acidity.
"BLT" Gougères
This is a tongue-in-cheek version of a BLT sandwich. Gougère, the classic French cheese puff, can be made ahead and frozen for an improptu gathering, but mini-brioche toasts can also be substituted.
Parmesan Cheese Lamp
Goodbye boring light fixture, hello cheese-chic! What better way to be close to your cheese than to have a lamp that looks like a wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano? We hope there’s more cheese-themed home décor where that came from.
