5 Cheeses to Stock Your Fridge With Right Now
You’re stuck at home. Now what? 5 Cheeses to Stock Your Fridge With
In these unusual times where many of us are in shelter-in-place zones, or only hitting shops when absolutely necessary, it can be hard to figure out what food to have on hand. Obvs, I’m all for cheese. Cheese is delicious and lasts a while. It’s a work-horse in the kitchen and is a great source of protein and nutrients (and if your grocery store meat aisle is anything like ones near me, the pickings are slim). And it’s an amazing source of comfort. Seriously, friends, let’s not forget how important comfort is when keeping our stress down and bodies happy.
All the cheeses I mentioned are easily substitutable because they’re styles. Sending hugs, and happy cheese thoughts to you and your friends and family.
Here are 5 cheeses to stock your fridge with now, and what to do with them.
Feta or Chèvre: The Salad Charmers
Cook 2-4 batches of barley, chick peas, lentils or beans. Stash in fridge. Make a simple vinaigrette to keep on hand (I like 1 part lemon juice to 3 parts olive oil, plus zest of 1 lemon). When ready to make a salad, mix your grains or beans with grated vegetables like carrots or a leafy green, a fresh herb of choice (I love dill or oregano), your dressing and feta, and you have a meal. Both feta and chèvre last 4eva. Here’s one of my favorite lentil and feta salad recipes. Substitute with abondon.
Alpine Wheels: The Melters
We all need a little melted cheese in our lives right now, right? Yes, and you can make lots of melty cheese dishes ahead of time, meaning you don’t have to cook every night. Mac and cheese freezes well. If you make pizza dough you can keep it in your fridge for 2-3 days and toss some cheese on it when you’re ready. Lasagna? Freezes too. Alpine style cheeses like Comté, Gruyere, Stepladder Creamery’s Bob Ross and Point Reyes Toma are amazing melters because they have low acidity and the pH melts just right. They also last forever.
Pressed & Aged: Umami Forever
Cheeses like Bellwether’s Pepato, Parmesan or Fiore Sardo are little umami machines. You can slice, grate, or sliver cheeses like these over pasta, broiled veg (it’s asparagus season), and grain salads when you want some extra, nutty, savory flavors, or a dash of saltiness without extra salt. Here’s an easy, flexible pasta and cheese recipe.
Cheddar & friends
If you’ve got the above 3, you’ve got the basics, but I like having these last two on hand too, or subbing any of the top ones out for 4 & 5.
High-acid British-style cheeses like Cheddar brighten up food. Add them to melted dishes (half Alpine style + half-cheddar makes for perfectly balanced mac n’ cheese or grilled cheese) for a bright boost, or sprinkle over foods whenever you think a dish could take a touch more lemon. They’re lively and love feeling included (FOMO alert).
Your favorite cheese
Oozy, gooey, stinky, whatever you’re feeling, get it. Food serves a social purpose and in times like this, keep whatever cheese makes you happy close. For reals. At top is Prix de Dianne, one I love from Lakin’s Gorge, a small cheesemaker in Maine that could use a little extra love right now.
* At the time of this post, we can still order from our amazing cheesemakers and cheese shops all over the country. Crossing my fingers this will hold because these people rock. Plus, cheesemakers are some of the most hygienic people in the country (seriously, 60-80% of a cheesemaker’s job is cleaning. Themselves, the floors, the tables, under the tables, the ceilings, the cheese vats, the cheese fourms…)