A CHEESY QUEST OF FINDING BEST BOX OF MAC AND CHEESE
Whatcha say, cheese? Writer Clifton Fadiman once called cheese “milk’s leap to immortality.” It may be everyone’s favorite dairy product. (Sorry, yogurt. Sorry, ice cream.)
While most of us enjoy eating it just as is, cheese also can stand the heat of the kitchen. As in that time when we really needed it to because it was the only food that our children would eat. Thank you, mac ’n’ cheese.
Today, some tips on how to get cooking with cheese.
• Save rinds from grating hard, aged cheeses such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, cave-aged Gouda and the like. Italian moms save such to put at the bottom of the bowls of their kids’ hot soups. By the time
Secondo finishes his broth, the rind has melted into the treat Mamma had in mind. Store them in the freezer. They’re close to everlasting. (The rinds; not the kids.)
• However, a family of cheeses doesn’t melt well and hence fits only into niche cooking (for example, used only cold or chilled, or in preparations such as lasagna where they’re needed precisely because they do not melt). Fresh mozzarella, ricotta, feta and cottage cheeses are like that. Don’t substitute these cheeses in a recipe calling for a melting cheese.
• That said, another family of cheeses — Greek haloumi or so-called Scandinavian “bread cheeses” — doesn’t melt at all but need to be heated on high flame and fried in order to be fully enjoyed.
• Chill any cheese before grating and cooking with it (just store it in the refrigerator all the time). Room-temperature Gruyère (and other grating cheeses like it) are difficult to hold steady against the grater, possibly contributing to injury to your hand. They also grate unevenly at room temp.
• A lot of people don’t eat the rinds of such cheeses as Brie or Camembert — which is too bad, because they’re eminently edible, good for you, and often very tasty. Under heat, though, these outer surfaces change in taste and could be considered a healthy and flavorful addition to the dish. (This applies especially to the firm outsides of many washed-rind Alpine cheeses such as Comté or Beaufort.)
• The best time to top a hot food with a grated cheese — the classic example would be to “Parm” the pasta — is the moment just before it’s served or eaten. Otherwise, if mixed in while preparing the food, it melts into the food and, as generations of dishwashing sponges have discovered, gloms onto the surfaces of the pot or plate. And the sponge.
• In general, it’s wisest not to add any cheese into very hot food while the recipe is being prepared. Virtually all cheeses will seize up and get stringy (or even fall apart) as their proteins and fat break down in the presence of high heat. “Slow and low” is the way to go, for example, adding grated cheese just a spoonful at a time to a bechamel sauce that’s at very low heat (or, better, off the heat) or when making a scratch mac ’n’ cheese on the stovetop before baking it off further.
• And don’t bake that mac at too high a temperature (anything over 375 degrees is iffy). Too high an oven heat also breaks down a cheese into strings or grainy particles. If the casserole or gratin needs a browned crust, use the broiler, if you have one, just as the recipe is finishing.
• If the cheese you’re using is to be the topping for an ovenbaked dish, add it during the final 10 minutes, rather then earlier — again, so the cheese won’t break down or filigree.
• Likewise, high microwave heat is dangerous to cheese. So fix a dish in the microwave using pulses or lower, longish power settings.
• Remember that grated cheeses of all kinds (hard aged; firm aged; moist) always increase in volume while being grated. They’re getting “inflated” with air. Measure by weight or volume, depending on the recipe, but don’t confuse the two.
• We also “cook cool,” so when assembling salads comprised of, say, pasta, rice or vegetables, consider chunks of cheese as an ingredient. Queso fresco’s good for that, as of course are the many crumbly blue cheeses and the fresh goat and sheep cheeses (such as chèvre or feta).
Frico Friulano (Friulian Cheese and Potato Crisp)
From eataly.com; makes 6 slices This form of frico (“fried” cheese) is in the shape of a small pancake, and crisp on the outside. Montasio is a creamy cow’s milk cheese from northeastern Italy’s Friuli region. You may substitute the same amount of a slightly aged Asiago or similar cheese. Ingredients ½ pound Montasio, grated
1 medium potato (½ pound), peeled
and grated
1 small onion, peeled and sliced 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Salt and freshly-ground black pepper,
to taste Directions
Pour the olive oil into the skillet; set over medium heat, and scatter in the sliced onion. Cook for a minute, and then scatter the potato in the pan. Toss and tumble the potatoes with the onion, and season with the salt and grinds of black pepper. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, tossing frequently, until the potatoes are lightly crisped and golden.
Add the Montasio. Combine with the potatoes and onion, until the cheese is well distributed. With the spatula, clean the sides of the skillet and smooth the vegetables and cheese into a neat pancake-like disk, filling the pan bottom.
Lower the heat and let the frico cook, undisturbed, as the cheese melts and crisps, until the bottom is very brown and nicely crusted, about 5 minutes. Shake the pan to loosen the disk, put a large plate on top and invert, dropping the frico onto the plate, then slide it back in the skillet, top side down. Cook until the second side is crisp and brown, about 5 minutes more.
Slide the frico onto a plate, slice into 6 wedges, and serve immediately.