What is YOUR favorite cheese?

[Clipper]

www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodculture/what-your-favorite-cheese-says-about-your-personality/ar-BBt1FgW?jid=50076&rid=7&FORM=MDU14L&OCID=MDU14L#page=10

I love all of the varieties listed in the article. I must have multiple personality disorder. I am a cheese nut from way back. I love good sharp cheddar such as the store cheese we used to be able to buy at our local neighborhood corner store. It is great with a slab of apple pie, good simply placed on a cracker, or used as one of a combo of cheeses for mac and cheese. I love Muenster for grilled cheese sandwiches, pepper jack for cheese burgers or on crackers, blue cheese crumbles for salads or on top of a steak, Mozzarella for all Italian casseroles, Parmesan for sprinkling on pasta dishes or salads, Limburger for sandwiches or served on a plate drizzled with vinegar and sprinkled with black pepper, Provolone for topping meat sandwiches, and even Velveeta mixed with salsa or picante sauce for a queso dip.

There are so many wonderful cheese recipes out there that one can spend their entire grocery budget at the gourmet cheese counter if they wish to. I always wander by there even if I am not purchasing cheese on that particular day, just to see what they are offering for free samples.

[Deleted]

I love Caprice Salad any time of year nothing better than tomato, Mozzarella and fresh basil drizzeled with a great olive oil. I could eat just that all the time. My other favorite is Ricotta. I like that for breakfast with either fruit on top like blueberries, raspberries, pineapple or mango. I also like it in on top of pasta with tomato sauce. I love Savory Ricotta Cakes they are like pancakes and you put some good tomato sauce on top and have with a salad. Ricotta Sformata a nice appetizer, or light first course to serve either with just a simple topping of butter and grated parmesan, or with a dollop of tasty tomato sauce. I also love cottage cheese and today I found a no added salt variety by Hood at Walmart. Oh boy. My Doctor did not want me eating that because of its high salt content. This has 35 g per 1/2 cup which is also great for breakfast. Monday I always have my Toasted cheese sandwich with Pastrami and my homemade Tomato Soup. I do my own soups in order to watch the salt content and Herb-Ox make a dry chicken broth base in a packet that has no salt at all and it is excellent. I use either Muenster or Land O Lake Italian blend.

I'll put the two recipes in the other thread

[Clipper]

I used to enjoy sliced mozzarella with cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil when we lived up there, but it seems here in the Southeast I cannot find mozzarella in a ball. We can only buy the shredded variety in a bag and I suspect in many cases it isn't even real mozzarella. We have been down here for 14 years this fall. I used to buy the balls of mozzarella at Chanatry's. It was in the deli case and was fresh. It was not packaged. It was in a pan in the case. I also used to buy packaged balls of it at Price Chopper. Kathy used to make pizza with slices of mozzarella covering the entire crust, loose or thinly sliced Italian sausage next, sliced mushrooms, then the sauce after it came out of the oven. Just like O'Scuinizzo's. With the crappy ingredients we have available here, we seldom even bother to make home made pizza anymore. Does Price Chopper still offer the mozzarella and tomato salad in the deli case?

[dave]

The only mozzarella I've seen down here looks and tastes like the stuff they glue down floor tiles with.

[Clipper]

Exactly Dave. It certainly doesn't taste like the real thing. I don't think I have ever tasted tile cement though. Even the shredded mozzarella from Sargento is not very good and most Sargento cheeses are of acceptable quality and flavor. I buy their provolone slices and Swiss slices quite often.