The Cheese Lover's Cookbook & Guide: Over 100 Recipes, with Instructions on How to Buy, Store, and Serve All Your Favorite Cheeses

by Paula Lambert

Overview

Paula Lambert is a godsend to cheese lovers everywhere. She so yearned for delicious cheese that she built her own factory, the Mozzarella Company, in Dallas, Texas. The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide is her indispensable resource on buying, storing, cooking, and serving cheese, and even making your own cheese at home. In more than 150 recipes, Lambert presents a down-to-earth approach to cooking with many varieties, whether it's Gruyère, Camembert, or just tried-and-true Cheddar. Learn to put the cheeses you love into every meal, from appetizers like a Savory Herbed Cheesecake to such desserts as an Orange-Ricotta Almond Tart.
With so many wonderful cheeses available, it can be difficult to choose among them. To help navigate this abundance of riches, The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide contains descriptions of a hundred cheeses by taste, texture, country of origin, and type of milk used to make them, as well as suggestions on selecting cheeses and putting together a cheese course when entertaining.
Reflecting various influences -- Southern, Mexican, Southwestern, and Italian -- The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide is at once international and familiar, and always full of flavor. Because Lambert is a cheesemaker, she is not afraid to experiment in the kitchen, and she shares her delicious results. From the bold and unusual Artichoke, Spinach, and Goat Cheese Spring Rolls to the delicious and traditional Fettuccine ai Quattro Formaggi, cheese is the main focus in each of these artfully creative recipes. She also includes recipes for courageous and unintimidated cooks to make their own Crème Fraîche, Fresh Cream Cheese, Cottage Cheese, Mascarpone, Ricotta, Queso Blanco, and Aged Tomme at home.
For home chefs and anyone interested in learning more about the delicious world of cheese, The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide is ideal. Every cheese lover will be thrilled with the mouth-watering results.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780743213288
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	01/09/2001
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Paula Lambert founded the Mozzarella Company in Dallas in 1982, and has been creating and producing award-winning artisanal and specialty cheeses for restaurants and gourmet outlets all over America ever since. She teaches cooking classes across the country as well as in France, and is the author of The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide. She lives in Dallas, Texas.

Read an Excerpt

Cannoli Filled with Pistachio Ricotta

While they are now available all over Italy, cannoli are traditionally a Sicilian dessert in which ricotta is mixed with candied fruits, nuts, or chocolate to fill crispy pastry shells. Cannoli shells are easy to make yourself, but they can also be found in Italian grocery stores or gourmet shops, in both regular and mini sizes.

Because Sicily is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, over the ages many different people colonized it. You'll find Greek, Arab, Roman, and even Norman influences. So while toasted pistachio nuts and dried cranberries may not be a traditional cannoli filling, they still have a Sicilian feel. Not to mention an Italian color scheme — green, white, and red.

If you are game, you can easily make cannoli shells using egg roll wrappers. The hard part will be finding something to use as a mold. I use aluminum tubing that was cut to the proper length at a hardware store, but some specialty gourmet shops do carry cannoli molds.

Makes 8 large or 12 mini cannoli
Serves 4 to 6

1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries, chopped
2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur
8 ounces ricotta, homemade (page 70) or store-bought, well drained (1 cup)
1/4 cup sugar
2 ounces (1/4 cup) mascarpone, homemade (page 73) or store-bought, cold
1/4 cup toasted pistachio nuts, chopped
8 large or 12 mini cannoli shells, homemade (recipe follows) or store-bought
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Soak the dried cranberries in the amaretto in a small bowl for 30 minutes.

Combine the ricotta and sugar in a small bowl and whip until smooth. Add the mascarpone and stir to incorporate. Be careful not to overmix, or the mascarpone might separate. Fold in the pistachios and dried cranberries with their soaking liquid.

Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe the mixture into the cannoli shells. If you don't have a pastry bag, put the filling into a plastic bag, snip off one corner, and squeeze the filling out into the pastry shells. (Do this close to serving time so the shells won't lose their crispness.) Refrigerate until serving time.

To serve, dust with confectioners' sugar, using a sieve. Serve chilled.

Canolli Shells

12 egg roll wrappers
1 cup vegetable oil

Cut the egg roll wrappers into circles 4 inches in diameter. Roll the wrappers around molds or pieces of aluminum tubing that are 1 inch in diameter and 4 1/2 to 5 inches in length. Moisten the overlapped flap of dough with water to seal each wrapper.

Heat the oil in a large skillet until hot but not smoking, about 350°F. Add the shells, still on the tubing, and fry, turning with tongs as necessary, until golden brown and crispy on all sides. Remove immediately, using tongs, and stand the tubing on end on paper towels to drain. When cool, slip the cannoli shells off the tubing.

Variation

Cassata

Serves 8

Rather than using the cannoli shells, slice a 2-pound pound cake, about 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches, into 3 horizontal layers. Place the cake layers on a flat surface. Drizzle each layer with amaretto liqueur. Spread the ricotta filling on all the layers and reassemble the cake. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. To serve, garnish the top of the cake with the dried cranberries and toasted pistachios pressed down into the ricotta. Cut the cake into 1-inch slices. Serve chilled.

Copyright © 2000 by Paula Lambert

Table of Contents

Contents

Why My Book Is Like It Is

The Story of the Mozzarella Company

Introduction

What Is Cheese?

The New Popularity of Cheese

A Little Cheese History

How Cheese Is Made

Cheese and Nutrition

Nutrients in Cheese

Fats in Cheese

Lactose Intolerance

The World of Cheese:

Cheese Types and Characteristics

Buying Cheese

What to Look For When You're Buying Cheese

How Much Cheese to Buy

How Many Different Cheeses to Buy

Storing Cheese

Cooking with Cheese: Troubleshooting

Serving Cheese

How to Cut Cheese

How to Display Cheeses on a Tray

Arranging Cheeses for Serving

Serving Temperature for Cheese

Accompaniments for Cheese

Garnishes for Cheese

Breads and Crackers for Serving Cheese

Cheese Serving Utensils

Making Cheese at Home

Basic Recipes

Appetizers

Salads

Soups

Pasta and Grains

Brunch

Lunch

Vegetables

Fish, Poultry, and Meat

Breads

Desserts

The Cheese Course

Pairing Wine and Cheese

Cheese Tables

Glossary

Bibliography

Sources

Acknowledgments

Index

What People are Saying About This

Jacques Pepin

There is always something new to learn about cheese, and this is the book to read. Enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and fun, The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide will change, improve, and add variety to your kitchen repertoire.