Hard Cheese - a food tip

[patinagle]

If you're like me you love pasta, and you love fresh grated Romano or Parmesan cheese sprinkled over it. Trouble is, the fresh cheese can be a pain - grating, cleaning up the grater, getting out and putting away everything.

For a while I bought pre-grated cheese at Costco. Convenient, but it wasn't as nice as fresh-grated, and once I found a bit of mold in the container even though the freshness date hadn't passed. Also, it's expensive.

Instead, I decided to try grating my own. I bought a big chunk of Romano (my favorite) at Costco for about half what the container of pre-grated cheese cost (and it weighed more). Brought it home and used my food processor to grate the whole thing, then put the grated cheese in a container in the fridge. I use it as needed. It stays fresh until I've used it up, and tastes grate! (er, great)

I do the same thing with big bricks of sharp cheddar cheese. That way I always have grated cheddar for making cheesy macs, enchiladas, or grilled cheese sandwiches. (Yes--grated cheddar for grilled cheese. And spread the melted butter on the bread, not in the pan. Learned that from America's Test Kitchen.)

There you go! Enjoy!

Comments

[moon-happy.livejournal.com]

Bob does this, as well. We always have Parmesan and Romano at the ready; can't live without it. One gets spoiled after a year or so; then the stuff in the green can is disdained!

[patinagle.livejournal.com]

Green can = ick!

[patinagle.livejournal.com]

Though my dad used it to make a stupendous pun one time. He's a particle physicist, and worked at the Meson Facility in Los Alamos. Brought a green can to the dinner table once - he'd taped over the label and written "Pi-meson" on it.

[stevengould.livejournal.com]

America's Test Kitchen--is that the one at the Gourmet site? If so, they're dangerous. Watching them make fettuccine has made me want a pasta machine.

[patinagle.livejournal.com]

It's these guys: http://www.americastestkitchen.com/

They have a TV show. Chris watches it all the time. They give a lot of good tips.