Once more, I find myself digging through my really old recipes to see if there isn’t something that my Mother or Grandmother used to make.  There in my box of scribbled recipes, I found one very simple recipe that will be a little different.  Here it is if you’d like to try it, too.

Egg Dish (Even the name is simple.)

• 1 package croutons, cheddar cheese flavored preferred, but any flavored crouton is good
• 8 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• salt and pepper
• shredded cheddar cheese

Grease a 9×13 baking pan.  Lay croutons in.  Beat up the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, and pepper, then pour over the croutons in pan.  Top with shredded cheddar cheese.  Bake in moderate oven, 350 degrees, until firm, check in 20 minutes with knife inserted in middle.  It should come out dry.  You might want to add some crisp, crumbled bacon, some onions, some mushrooms, or even fried sausage pieces.

Pretty simple, but pretty good, too.  I like that you can add other stuff to it, even use up some leftovers.  Does anyone have another recipe that uses a lot of eggs?  I’d love to see how you would cook up a big batch of eggs for your family.

Well, I got as far as buying the canned green chilies and the Monterey Jack cheese, but couldn’t identify the rest of the ingredients, except eggs.  That didn’t stop me, though, because I had a supply of green chilies that I was bound and determined to use.  So, here is the result of my experiment and I must say it came out very close to the potluck version.

Green Chilies ‘n’ Jack Bake

• 3 pounds Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
• 3 cans green chilies, chopped
• 6 eggs
• 1 can evaporated milk

In a 9×13 pan, lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, form layers, first cheese, chilies, cheese, chilies, until they’re used up.  Beat together the eggs and evaporated milk and pour over the layers in the pan.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 to 45 minutes.  This makes a heaping pan full, so you’ll have enough left to make a second smaller square 8×8 pan.  Let it cool for a minute before cutting to be sure the eggs set up.

Like I said, this is a big batch, quite suitable for a potluck, or a big family meal.  You could cut it back, it’s just that I didn’t want to use a partial can of evaporated milk, so I kept adding more and more cheese and chilies.

What have you made with green chilies?  I’d love to see your recipes!

Gruyere cheese is actually a kind of Swiss cheese, but I prefer the more flavorful Gruyere to the Swiss cheese that most of us know.  As a matter of fact, if you have a casserole dish you make that calls for Swiss cheese, try replacing it with Gruyere and you’ll see what I mean.  You’ll probably change all your Swiss cheese recipes to Gruyere!

One of my favorite recipes in which I use Gruyere cheese is a classic French Onion Soup.  I just make a regular recipe for the soup, but then cube up some Guyere cheese, put it in the bottom of oven-proof soup bowls, pour the soup on top, cover and put in the oven on low heat, about 300 degrees, for 1/2 hour or so.  Then, take the bowls out, put a slice of rye bread on top and cover with some grated Gruyere cheese, return to the oven until the cheese just melts on top of the bread.  That is one exquisite bowl of soup!

If you’ve cooked with Gruyere cheese and have a favorite recipe that you’d like to share, I’d love to read it!  Or, if you have recipes that use Swiss cheese, maybe you’d be willing to switch to Gruyere cheese and let me know how your recipe turns out.  Either way, I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

My husband had an event at his work place and there was a lot of left-over food, including some blocks of cheese that hadn’t even been opened.  We both love Pepper Jack cheese, so as they were dividing up the food to send home with everyone, he offered to take the Pepper Jack off their hands.  Good for him!  So, now we have a big hunk of Pepper Jack cheese in our refrigerator.

Pepper Jack cheese is really just Monteray Jack cheese with a kick.  It has a very unique flavor.  How can I describe it… it’s HOT!  When you snack on it you have to be prepared.  So, I can’t imagine what you could cook with Pepper Jack cheese that could stand up to the flavor of the cheese.  I’m guessing Mexican food would be the best bet, maybe a quesidilla.

Does anyone have an idea where I could best use my stash of Pepper Jack cheese?  A six pack of beer later, and my husband and I are still looking at a huge hunk of cheese.  Help!

Like I said, normally I like to use the fresh grated style in my casseroles like Eggplant Parmesan.  The “sprinkle cheese” variety is good for topping spaghetti noodles, and my family actually prefers that to fresh grated on spaghetti.  What happens is that we end up with quite a supply of the containers of the sprinkle variety and don’t really eat spaghetti that often. 

I do have one other use for the sprinkle variety, and that is in a coating.  Because it has a rather dry texture, it works well and doesn’t seem to get melty… it just flavors.  I mix about half Parmesan cheese (the container stuff, not fresh grated) with half cornmeal for a coating for chicken pieces.  This makes a wonderfully cheesy oven-baked chicken dish. 

You could do the old “dry wet dry” coating, too.  Lay out cornmeal in one pan, egg and milk mixture in another, and Parmesan cheese in a third pan.  Dip your chicken pieces one by one first in the cornmeal, then egg/milk mixture, and finally in the Parmesan cheese.  Then put on a baking sheet and oven bake at about 400 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the size and type of chicken pieces, or until done.  This turns out nice and crispy and juicy, too.

Other than using Parmesan cheese as a coating, has anyone tried cooking with the sprinkle variety?  I’d love to hear from you!

Ricotta cheese isn’t quite a cheese.  It’s really a cheese by-product made from the whey from provolone, mozzarella, and other cheeses.  It’s mild, sweet taste makes it the perfect pairing for a lot of foods. 

This is one cheese that has apparently been under-rated!  Instead of trying to chug glasses of milk every day, I could get almost all my calcium for the day with just one cup of ricotta cheese.  And, it’s naturally low in fat!  All good things, indeed.

One thing to keep in mind is that Ricotta cheese is somewhat delicate.  Watch the expiration date closely, and after you open it, use it within a week.  It can be frozen, though, for about six months.  Defrost it in the refrigerator, not on the counter, and never in the microwave. 

So, what happens if I see a good sale on Ricotta cheese?  Should I buy a couple containers and hope I can use it in time?  I don’t want two or three trays of lasagna in my refrigerator and freezer, so what else can I make with Ricotta cheese?  How about something as simple as a nice twice-baked potato?  Cheesecake seems like a natural to me, considering how mild and sweet Ricotta cheese is.  Anyone have a good recipe?

I’m sure anxious to see your reply!

I would like to use up the cheese in a dish to bring to our Holiday meal so we can share it and make it disappear quickly, without there being yet another vegetable dish on the table.  I have this really incredible Cheese and Wine Spread which I’ll make.  It looks pretty and tastes wonderful.  I like it because it’s not another Cheese Ball covered in nuts.  You may want to give this a try even if you don’t have a pile of cheese to get rid of. 

Here’s how I make my Cheese ‘n Wine Spread: 

In a glass bowl, blend together with a fork 1/2 cup softened (NOT melted) butter, 3 cups of assorted shredded cheese (cut it up if it’s too coarse), 3 tablespoons of a heavy bodied wine, and a dash of cayenne pepper.  Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly, sort of mashing it until it looks spreadable and all the colors are mixed.  Spoon into a pretty glass serving bowl or container, cover the container tightly and store in refrigerator until time to serve.  Put out on table with small cheese knife or spreader along with some crackers or small bread pieces.  A pretty little piece of parsley is nice as a garnish when served.

I like those nice, new shredded cheese blends you can find now.  And now that we’ve got a mountain of them, I would like to do something creative with these delicious cheeses. 

If you have any tried-and-true uses for LOTS of cheese, I’d love to hear them! 

What I’m wondering about is if Provolone cheese is a cheese that you’d want to use in casseroles.  I use a lot of Cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, and Parmesan cheese, but haven’t tried Provolone cheese in my casseroles as yet.  One recipe my daughter made quite a bit when she lived in Oregon, was Grilled Portebello Mushroom Burgers, served on a nice bun like a burger with all the trimmings.  Her cheese of choice was Provolone because of the smoky aroma, which mimics the smell of a burger on the grill.  Clever!  I’ve also talked to some friends who prefer Provolone over Swiss cheese on Reuben Sandwiches, because of the smoky flavor and how it stands up to the corned beef and sauerkraut in the Reuben. 

What do you think?  Is there a whole new world of Provolone cheese to explore?  What am I missing?