Comments on: Value Guru and the Mystery Cheeses

By: J.B. Bulharowski

J.B. Bulharowski — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:21:09 +0000

I usually save any of the rinds from Parmigiano Regianno and when I want to flavor soups, stews tomato sauce, I throw in a chunk. After cooking it’s almost soft enough to nibble on, or if you must, throw that away.

Best,
jb

By: tt

tt — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:21:48 +0000

Something my family has always done with the rinds of hard, aged cheeses (we tend to have parmigiano reggiano rinds around) is to scrape off the waxy exterior, cut it into small cubes (about fingernail size) and toss them into risotto. If you do this at the beginning of the cooking process they get nice and gooey…like little bites of cheesy happiness. I remember fighting with my brother when we were younger over who got more rind bits in their risotto…
I suppose you could do the same in soups and casseroles provided you cook them long enough.

By: Leah

Leah — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:42:18 +0000

My hubby & I eat only gluten & dairy free meals, so what I do with the abundance of sheep & goat cheese in our fridge is make an 8 layer lasagna. Brown rice pasta (spirals … live dangerously) Buffalo meat (garlic & onion power) and 4 – 5 different cheese varieties (hard & soft) Then pile it up in a glass pan after cooking & pop it in the over for the cheese to get done. There you have it ~

PS I layer X2 pasta X2 buffalo plus cheese in all the cracks

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:45:35 +0000

When I was growing up, my mom billed it as the “surprise plate” for supper. It would be what might be a cheese/chacuterie plate with veggies (avocado was my favorite), seasonal fruit and French bread. It is like comfort food. Years later I arrived at my mom’s house after driving across the country east to west). What was for dinner? The Surprise Plate with fresh, seasonal produce, cheese and fresh San Francisco Sourdough bread. It was the best.

By: Katie

Katie — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:10:51 +0000

I haven’t tried the cheeses yet at Whole Foods, but I’d like to try the gorganzola! I like to have it in salads with walnuts and fruits – well that’s pretty much how everyone likes it, right!? haha

By: Sherri

Sherri — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:58:06 +0000

Smorgasbord! What a great idea. We call it “leftover night” and it’s usually met with a lackluster response. But as I well know, with kids, presentation is key. I bake bread on Fridays so perhaps that should be our Smorgasbord night. Even 3 day old steamed carrots are better with fresh bread!

By: kelly sharp

kelly sharp — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:52:23 +0000

i love all the mystery cheese ideas. we end up with so many tiny pieces in the fridge – now i know what to do with them – i have some ideas about how to help people track their favorites too!

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:22:37 +0000

If the cheese isn’t too hard and will melt easily, quesadillas work well, especially paired with a hearty bowl of soup. Whole wheat tortillas and a veggie heavy soup make it a healthy cold weather dinner. I always keep a can of whole black beans and some frozen spinach around so I can hide more veggies and some protein in with the melty cheese!

By: JJ

JJ — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:15:36 +0000

I use it to make a strata since I always have bits of bread in the freezer (to make fresh breadcrumbs or use in a strata) and eggs. I must admit I’ll throw small bits of leftover cheese into the freezer in a bag, shredding or chopping them into smaller bits. It doesn’t really matter too much whether or not they’ll freeze well since I’m going to throw them into the bread and egg mixture anyway. I’ve found that most cheese will just crumble when thawed – so I take them out while preparing everything, and “whack” them on the counter to separate and mix them into the rest of the ingredients. No problems yet.

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:20:09 +0000

Thanks for the great post. I LOVE cheese!! I usually find myself working it into just about every dinner – in moderation of course. Marinated mozzarella on top of a spinach and walnut salad is one of our favorites.

When in a super hurry… Prepare whole wheat couscous or quick cook brown rice, stir any kind of cheese into warm grains while still in pot, add leafy green (once again spinach is our first pick). Eat.