Cheese of the Month: Smoked Cheese
With the warm-weather days, what fits better than a cheese that'll hold up to our warm-weather picnics and outings? Smoked cheese.
Smoked cheese usually has a brown rind on it which we can eat. And the rind helps so that, even at room temperature, the cheese stays quite solid. Smoked cheese is usually mild, and traditionally made of Cheddar, but today it's also made of so many other cheeses, like Swiss, mozzarella and Gouda, or even a combination of Swiss and Cheddar. Provolone is a lightly smoked cheese that is very popular.
There are low-salt versions of smoked cheese, and they're great for snacking with wine and any of our usual cheese board favorites. They make a salad complete. And in the very same way, a few slices on a sandwich with lettuce and tomato, and the taste is like a BLT without the bacon -- it's great for those who aren't meat eaters.
Serve smoked cheese with sliced summer tomatoes and fresh basil, sprinkled with oil and vinegar, and get ready for raves! As with most cheese, smoked comes in a lot of brands, shapes and sizes, and is usually quite inexpensive as cheeses go. With cheese boards becoming a growing trend on all our restaurant menus, the rich nutty taste of smoked cheese adds a nice contrast.
For our picnics, smoked cheese is the one to choose for the way it holds up, although with all its taste, smoked cheese is an anytime...