Easy Cheesy Cooking Tips A few ideas to make the most of your cheese.

 

 

Warm, ooey-gooey melted cheese: it's hard to beat it. But stringy, hard cheese is one of the worst tastes in the world. How do you make sure that the dishes you prepare with cheese are ooey-gooey and not stringy and hard? We've got a few ideas.

 

 

 

• Chill cheese to make grating and shredding easier. Chill hard cheeses in the freezer for 30 minutes and soft cheeses for 15 to 20 minutes, or until firm to the touch. If you want to crumble hard cheese, freeze it longer. Cheese will keep in the freezer, tightly wrapped, for two to three months.
• Measure cheese for cooking by weight for best result in recipes. Generally, four ounces of cheese equals one cup shredded or grated. When your recipe calls for two cups of grated cheese, an 8-ounce chunk of cheese will be just the right amount.
• To cook or reheat dishes with cheese in the microwave, use a lower power settings and stir and rotate frequently.
• To soften cheese in the microwave, remove wrapper, place on a microwave-safe plate, and heat on low to medium power. An 8-ounce piece of hard cheese will take about 30 seconds to come to room temperature.
• Speed up cooking time by using grated or shredded cheese in your recipes.
• High heat and extended cooking time tend to make cheese stringy and tough. When melting and blending cheese into a recipe, use a low temperature for a short period of time - just enough to get the job done.
• If you want a melted cheese topping for a casserole or other recipe, remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle with cheese. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes to gently melt the cheese.