Cheese lovers - come on in

[wine_o_girlie]

I didn't see a thread for Cheese lovers and I am sure there are a lot of us out there. :) I would love to see this thread used as a place where people post their favorite cheeses, entertaining with cheese ideas, good wine and cheese combos, etc.

I'll start - My husband and I recently became addicted to Truffle Cheese. OMG, we are in love. I shamefully admit that twice in the past 3 weeks we have gotta a chunk of it, some flatbreads with seeds, and a Cline zin and made that our dinner.

This stuff is addictive but somewhat hard to find - we can only find it at a local wine/cheese bar and we are in a metropolitan area. I have checked our local Trader Joe's but haven't seen it there. If anyone has had this cheese where have you found it locally?

[emmjay]

I LOVE CHEESE! ;)

My favorite is Manchego. I prefer aged, although I like the younger kind as well. I like it with a typical Spanish tapas spread - Manchego, Serrano ham, Marcona almonds and a few other things to nibble. Goes perfectly with Rioja, red or white.

Other cheeses I like are Piave, Mimolette, any Brie-type soft cheese, chevre, etc. I REALLY like sheep's milk cheeses.

OK, so I will eat pretty much any kind of cheese! There is a store near my office with a huge cheese section and a French girl who is a cheese genius who works behind the counter. She always gives good recommendations.

[EJM]

Count me in!!!

DH & I love cheese, and it has been downright torture being off of unpasterized cheese for 8.5 months. For two people who had a post dinner cheese course 3-4 times a week, it was a real switch. The first meal I plan to eat once I give birth will have lots of unpasturized cheese in it :p The main cheese guy where we shop apparently got tired of me asking which cheeses were pasturized so now labels everything so I can tell without asking.

DH eats anything and prefers the stinkest cheeses available. I usually avoid most blue cheeses, but love everything else. My recent favorite had been a strong goat cheese that had brandy soaked raisins on the outside, YUMMY!!! Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of my favorite meals -- a traditional French raclette.

DH and I hosted a cheese party, so every course had cheese in it. I think our poor friends didn't eat cheese for a month after that. It was so fun!

[AVP941]

Count me in! Is there anything better than a fresh baguette and brie? Ah. Maybe a side dish of fresh pesto to go along with it? Yum. The only thing that scares me about pregnancy one day (besides the L/D) is giving up 'soft cheeses'. Is that really necessary?? :D

[KarenS]

s there anything better than a fresh baguette and brie? Ah. Maybe a side dish of fresh pesto to go along with it? Yum. Not much! :)

We love cheese and often we have dinners that are cheese, bread, fruit, and wine. What can I say. :) Right now I'm on a bleu cheese binge - I have started eating it on everything. DH has been picking up Camembert lately. Our local Whole Foods has a fabulous cheese selection and so we've been trying to pick a new one each time we get some.

Here's more information on why soft cheeses aren't good during pregnancy. As with most things, it's about the level of risk you're willing to take.
http://www.babycenter.com/expert/pregnancy/pregnancynutrition/3175.html

[EJM]

The only thing that scares me about pregnancy one day (besides the L/D) is giving up 'soft cheeses'. Is that really necessary?? :D

Don't worry it isn't "soft cheese" that you need to avoid, just unpasteurized cheeses. I've found everything in a pasteurized version with some shopping around at our local markets, well minus blue cheese or anything that has the mold component in the cheese itself. Granted the texture tends to be different, but when faced with a different texture versus not having it at all I'm all for it! :)

[paiger]

I love cheese...all cheese! I don't even need the nice cheeses, but those are wonderful as well. I love cheese slices like white american cheese, muenster (sp), colby-jack, string cheese, the soft 'moo cow' cheese and the cracker barrel cheese (sharp cheddar).

I also love that velveeta/rotel queso that you microwave. I can eat that with tostitoes till I feel sick :o!

Goat cheese on pizza is so good, and I adore brie. I usually have a little bit of salad w/ my blue cheese dressing (the chunkier the better!). I will also confess that I pick out the blue cheese chunks w/ my fork :p! One of the better appetizers that I've made was taking brie and putting a coat of raspberry jam around it, then covering that w/ the roll out pilsbury croissant from the tube. You cook it all in the oven, and it is so yummy!

I also have a recipe for a chicken and cheese log that you put down the Pepperidge Farm sheet dough (I can't remember the name), then you mix cooked chicken, green pepper, chunks of brie, mayo and some seasonings. You then put the chicken mixture down the center of the dough, and cut and tie the dough around it like a braid. It is so pretty, and it is so, so, so good.

[Jad]

Cheese lover here, too! I'm particularly fond of stinky, runny cheese. Affidelice is one of my favorites. But I love lots of cheese. In terms of blues, I love Roaring 40's. And there's a delicious Persian Feta from Australia that is marinated in olive oil and spices. And you can't beat a nice triple creme with champagne. Oh, I could go on! Yum! Cheese!

[steviem]

Major cheese lover here! I'll take it any way I can get it :D

I especially love strong cheeses: Blue, gorganzola, limberger. I also enjoy fresh mozerella, dill havarti, smoked ghouda, sharp cheddar, brie. Yum... my mouth is watering.

I love buying cheese at Trader Joe's. They have such a great selection and you can't beat the prices. I will have to look for the truffle cheese which wine_o_girlie mentioned. That sounds so good :)

[trishcutie]

My favorites are fontina, a good chunk of parmesean, and manchego. With apples, grapes and wine - delish!

[meganth]

Count me in! Is there anything better than a fresh baguette and brie?
This is how i feel about Manchego. A few slices of french bread, maybe some grapes or some apple slices and a ton of slices of Manchego and i'm in heaven!!!!

DH and i have been on a HUGE cheese kick for the past year. So obessed that in my first trip ever to NYC my #1 spot to go to was Murray's Cheese Shop!

[Sposa06]

Mmmm.... Asiago is far and away my favorite! I also like pecorino, fresh mozzarella, ricotta, parmigiano reggiano, provolone ... I like cheeses besides Italian ones, I promise! I like manchego, havarti, gouda and most Portugese cheeses as well!

I miss cheddar whenever I'm in Europe for an extended period of time and I don't like gorgonzola or bleu cheese. I think that's it!

[dragonfly28602]

I absolutley love cheese. Any and all kinds. Used to drive my mother nuts when I was living at home. I would eat a block of cheese in two days. Now I'm more careful about what I eat but cheese is my true weakness. Triple creme brie, goat cheese, mozzarella, parmesan. Even pimento cheese. I have a really good recipe for that.

[wine_o_girlie]

Yay, other cheese lovers! I knew there had to be a bunch of us out there.

I recently saw fried gorgonzola balls in an arugula salad on Everyday Italian and I think I am going to make that for dinner tonight. My husband is crazy and doesn't like gorgonzola, so I am going to sub goat cheese for gorgonzola. Do you think that would work?

Here's the recipe -

Arugula Salad with Fried Gorgonzola Balls

7 ounces Gorgonzola
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 cup dried Italian bread crumbs
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for deep-frying
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 cups coarsely torn arugula (about 10 ounces)


Blend the Gorgonzola in a food processor until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the work bowl occasionally. Using 1 rounded teaspoon of cheese for each, form the cheese into 18 (1-inch) balls. Working in batches, coat the balls with the egg then with the bread crumbs. Repeat coating the balls in the egg and bread crumbs. Arrange the balls on a small baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours or overnight.
Whisk the lemon juice, garlic, and lemon peel in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in 1/3 cup oil. Season the dressing, to taste, with salt and pepper. Set the dressing aside.

Add enough oil to a heavy small saucepan to come 2 inches up the sides of the pan. Heat the oil over medium heat. At this point, remove the refrigerated Gorgonzola balls from the refrigerator. Working in batches, add the cold balls to the hot oil and fry just until golden brown, about 20 seconds. (It is essential that the Gorgonzola balls be cold when they go into the oil, otherwise they will fall apart in the oil. If they start to warm up at any point, return them to the refrigerator to firm back up.) Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried balls to paper towels to drain.

Toss the arugula in a large bowl with enough dressing to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mound the salad on plates. Top the salads with the hot fried Gorgonzola balls and serve immediately.

[EJM]

I'm sure goat cheese would be great!!

Sounds like one of my favorite salads that has warm goat cheese on the top (and the bacon and mustard based vinaigarette are delicious as well) :) . I would just make sure to use a hard enough goat cheese and like the recipe says, make sure it is cold. To make my favorite salad, we use a small goat cheese log which DH cuts into 1/4 inch -1/2 inch thick slices using unwaxed dental floss (the cheese holds together better). Then we marinate it overnight in olive oil in the fridge. The next day we would coat it in bread crumbs (or panko) a few times, alternating between the olive oil and the bread crumbs. Then we bake it in the oven for a few minutes, and serve on the salad. Basically the same concept you plan to use, just baking the oven rather than deep frying. Let me know how yours is, DH would love it with the gorgonzola.

[Jad]

My husband is crazy and doesn't like gorgonzola, so I am going to sub goat cheese for gorgonzola. Do you think that would work?

There's a restaurant near us that does something similar with goat cheese and it's fantastic. So I'm sure it'll work and be delicious. Do report back on how it goes. I've never thought to try it at home but DH would be thrilled.

[Amuse Bouche]

I adore cheese too. My favorite cheese generally is probably Reblochon -- a creamy rind cheese (kind of like Brie, but firmer) that's made in the French alps. I also love mature cheddar, parmiggiano reggiano, stilton, really good Camember, Livaroise (a French Creamy goat cheese), Humboldt Fog, Red Hawk from the Cowgirl Creamery -- I could just go on and on. One of DH and my favorite restaurants when we lived in NYC was called Artisanal, and they had a seven page cheese menu. Many of their menu items were cheese based, too, like several different kinds of fondue. We loved that place!

[mrsfromage]

I just saw the Cowgirl Creamery in the Ferry building the other day!

I love warm goat cheese in salads at restaurants though I can never quite duplicate that at home.

[magrat]

I like cheese, but my husband is from England and hates grocery store quality American cheddar and so he spends a fortune on high quality and imported cheeses! He really suffered until we found an upscale grocery store nearby (Byerly's) that carries them all! I agree with him that Americans are used to really really low quality cheese - in England even grocery store brand cheddar is completely different from what we eat, it's much more like something you'd only get at a specialty shop here. Even mozzarella pretty much only comes in the forms of balls in bags of brine, I really had to hunt to get the dry, block kind when I was living there - maybe that's why they often put cheddar on pizza there, yuck. The funny thing is that in England you don't really see cheese from other countries except your typical brie, camembert, parmesan, etc. So I haven't tried cheeses many from other countries.

The coolest thing we've found at Byerly's is something called Cornish Yarg. It's from Cornwall - where DH is from, and typically not even found in the rest of England! It is on the soft side and wrapped in nettle leaves. We went to the place they make it last time we went over there and got lots of free samples. Yum. The locals all roam around picking nettle leaves by hand for a few weeks every summer and sell them to the dairy. The best cheese was another variety they do - it's wrapped in wild garlic leaves instead. It tastes lightly garlicky, but with no aftertaste. Heaven, but we weren't sure we wanted to risk trying to bring it into the US!

[smiles33]

Ooooh, CHEESE! I love Cowgirl's Creamery, Humboldt Fog, aged manchego, goat cheese (especially when rolled in fresh herbs), parmigiano reggiano, triple creme, and a whole bunch of other cheese whose names I never remember. I, too, love Trader Joe's (and Whole Foods!) as well as local cheese shops where you can try samples to confirm you like something before buying the whole wedge.

[Missy2U]

Just a source... http://www.marscheese.com/

[Etoile]

I too love cheese, but am in the unfortunate predicament that DH hates cheese! He's such a wierdo!

My favorites are really sharp cheeses, triple cremes, and a rich bleu. There is a place called the Cheese Importer near my house that has an enormous walk-in cooler room with shelves and shelves of cheese from everywhere. I love it.

One cheese I don't like--that norwegian fudge cheese. I was really looking forward to trying it after seeing how they made it on some show, I think the travel channel? But yuck!

[wine_o_girlie]

I am so happy to see so many cheese lovers. I broke down on Friday and we had cheese and wine for dinner. :) I went to my favorite wine/cheese bar and was shocked to see that they doubled the price of my beloved truffle cheese. I was pissed but desperate. They claim this is a new kind of truffle cheese with larger truffles, hence the larger price tag but eh, it seemed the same to us. I sucked it up big time and bought the damn cheese. We had a lovely dinner of truffle cheese, parmagiano reggiano, triple creme brie and a bottle of a Paso Robles Syrah on our patio. Yum. Worth the $28/pound truffle cheese bill (we have leftovers).

[luzbel]

oooooh, I was just telling my fiance how I was addicted to cheese. And as an asian, I'm so glad I'm not lactose-intolerant. My favorite types are gorgonzola and camembert

[yby1]

I'll start - My husband and I recently became addicted to Truffle Cheese. OMG, we are in love.

I'm a truffle cheese addict. :D We'll buy whole rounds of Boschetto al Tartufo Bianchetto at the cheese shop or online. We can't get enough. It makes great grilled cheese sandwiches. ;) It's great in risotto too.

Another cheese I'm addicted to is Idiazabal from Spain. Suffice to say that I love sheep's milk cheese.

Eta: Burrata!! I'm pretty much in ecstasy when I find burrata at the store. The stuff is heavenly with some olives, tomatoes and crusty bread. *drool*

[muguet27]

I love cheese! It’s my favorite food. The grocery store I usually go to has a decent cheese selection (though not amazing) and I love getting something I’ve never heard of before, just to try it out. I’ve loved colby-jack my whole life, it used to be the only cheese I really liked. But now I’ve branched out. Just last week I bought a baguette, a brie round, and some pecans that I salted & toasted. It was the best meal I’ve had in so long and it was so simple! I’ve also discovered this Greek cheese that I really like. I can’t remember the name of it now, and I’ve looked online to see what it would be used for, but I can’t find anything about it. I would guess it should be crumbled on salads or something, but I just eat it by itself. It’s really salty & dry and I just adore it. At an Italian restaurant a few nights ago we got an appetizer of goat cheese, tomatoes, and crostini (sp?). It was heaven. And goat cheese with spinach on a pizza? YUM! I’m also a fan of smoked cheese. I like smoked string cheese and smoked gouda especially. I used to get the cheese spreads with herbs for crackers, but I found that I would just pig out on it and it would be gone in a day or two. Not too great for the waistline, so I have to control myself, which is hard when it comes to cheese.

I’m trying to broaden my horizons, maybe someday I’ll even like Swiss cheese and stinky cheeses!

[wine_o_girlie]

Oh, Yby, what's your on-line source for truffle cheese? I might be in trouble. :)

[Renrel]

Another cheese lover here. DH and I always have wine bread and cheese with various spreads as the highlight of our vacations, be it in the room or on a picnic. When I was trying to get pregnant, we would "celebrate" still being non-pregant after learning a cycle did not take by drinking wine and eatting what would later be forbidden cheese in front of the fireplace.

My current favorite is aged Gouda,with those little crunch calcum bumps. Ralph Bular (sp) is absolutely amazing but costs an arm and a leg. I recently found Pradera Extra Aged Gouda Cow Milk cheese from Bodegraven Holland for $14 a pound and it is also pretty wonderful.

We have an amazing cheese shop around here called Frommagio Kichen. They have an actaul cheese cave. They will let you sample any cheese that is not sold sealed. They always have samples. I love love love to go there.

http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/kitchen/asp/home.asp

[Janey]

I LOVE cheese, and wish, wish, wish it wasn't usually 100cal/oz!! :(

B and I went through an entire can of Cougar Gold (http://www.wsu.edu/creamery/cougarcheese/1flavors.html) - my faaaavorite - during our honeymoon last week. We put it on everything -- garlic naan with roasted chicken (and then popped in the toaster oven so the cheese would melt...ahhhh...), in eggs for breakfast, on crackers for a snack. It was heaven. If you cheese lovers enjoy gouda-type cheeses, I highly recommend Cougar Gold! The tin is big enough for a party... or week of serious cheese-indulgence-for-two. ;)

[yby1]

Oh, Yby, what's your on-line source for truffle cheese? I might be in trouble. :)

Igourmet. here's the link (http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/search.asp?cat=51&qry=boschetto&search.x=0&search.y=0). :)

[mgrace]

Bumping this up for more cheese talk.

[hockeybrat]

oooooh, I was just telling my fiance how I was addicted to cheese. And as an asian, I'm so glad I'm not lactose-intolerant. My favorite types are gorgonzola and camembert


I am lactose-intolerant but seem to do ok with cheese.

I LOVE creamy blue cheeses. I can't remember but I think Camboza (?)

[pickle]

Oh, I must subscribe to this thread!

I honestly think I could give up any other food in world, but never cheese. For a Christmas gift, my DH just signed me up for a wine and cheese pairing class at Pastoral Artisan (http://www.pastoralartisan.com/). I'm so excited about it!

[Mrs U]

Yeah! I love cheese especially living here in a very cheese influenced country!

Favorites:
Appenzeller
Le Gruyere
Sbrinz
Parmesan
Buffalo Mozzerella (made from buffalo milk)
Provolone
Manchego
UK chedder (which a lot of store carry here surprisingly :) )
Feta
Havarti
Fresh cheese with herbs (similar to cream cheese)
Blue cheese

[kari]

Cheese fledgling here. Just had an aged gouda - Beemster Lite. Way yummy!

[moderngal]

I could live on aged gouda and wine. For sure.

We're working on a local organic farm cheddar right now and it is freaking good. We've also been eating a lot of fresh mozzarella lately (so good on homemade pizzas).

[kari]

I definitely want to try more!

[curlyjr]

Cheese glorious cheese!!! I love cheese, my current favorite is King's brand smoked gouda. Unfortunately in my area it is pretty hard to find a lot of variety. Our local grocery store doesn't even have water packed mozzerella. Now you guys have me thinking of ordering cheese online. There goes my diet!