Cheese | Cocineira - Food, Family and Friends - eat when you drink and drink when you eat!

Fresh Ricotta Cheese

Delicious, fresh Ricotta Cheese is extremely easy to make and taste much, much better than premade cheese. Fresh Ricotta is a wonderful treat; pile atop pasta with red sauce, stuff canneloni or serve with pistachios and a drizzle of vanilla syrup. Fresh Ricotta is mild and smooth and can be served in many of the same ways cottage cheese can be served. [...]

Fresh Tomato and Cheese Pie

The most wonderful time of year is when fresh tomatoes arrive in the garden but just a bit before that some pretty darn good ones arrive in the store. Tomatoes are wonderfully delicious, sweet and juicy and full of good for you stuff.

Extremely simple to prepare and a real treat is a fresh tomato pie. Flaky pastry filled with tomatoes and topped with cheese makes for a wonderful light lunch and is perfectly complimented by a salad of Spring greens. [...]

Macaroni and Cheese Redux

I made Macaroni and Cheese for lunch a couple of days ago. During Lent M&C is a nice meal for those who skip meat on Fridays. Tracy mentioned that I should blog about Macaroni and Cheese, I already did ~Here is a repost of Sometimes it’s Macaroni and Cheese.

Macaroni and Cheese is a perfect compliment to a wide variety of dishes – but I have to admit I like it all by itself. The other thing I have to admit is that, coming from a family of starch-mongers, I grew up eating macaroni and cheese with a slice of bread and butter. Ugh!

I make macaroni and cheese many different ways – some are baked, some are stove top, some creamier than others and all delicious. I will share in time. This is an easy, flavorful, stove top, traditional mac and cheese, oh so creamy and perfect with a slice of bread and butter.
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Cheddar Cheese Waffles with Eggs

Waffles need not be syrupy sweet and relegated to breakfast! Waffles can be many things such as my Chocolate Waffle Layer Cake or served piled with Fried Chicken, a Southern favorite. This Cheddar and Blue Cheese Waffle is a wonderful lunch treat served piled with diced Spring onions and creamy sour cream. Serve with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc and toast the decadence of waffles and cream for lunch!

When you work with this waffle think savory not sweet. Change it to your taste but add things like tomatoes, roasted peppers, red onions, slivers of ham or bacon, even medallions of pork or grilled chicken breast. This hearty waffle will support a light luncheon or a protein heavy main meal.
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Green Onion and Cheese Appetizer

I love easy recipes with a big payout! These Green Onion Appetizers are made using ready made crescent dough, cream cheese and green onions. A few ingredients, quickly mixed together, placed inside some buttery crust and baked until golden brown. A few minutes from refrigerator to oven and people love them! Long on flavor, short on effort and buttery, cheesy gooey always seems to satisfy! [...]

Fig Jam

Last Spring I visited a Trattoria in Santa Barbara and ordered the cheese plate. It was a wonderful little restaurant and deli with a full cheese case so I trusted the cheese plate would be adequate.

My lunch arrived with a selection of four cheeses, each Italian imports. The two I remember now are the Gorgonzola Dolcetto and the Asiago but truly the best part of the meal was the Fig Jam, also imported from Italy.

When I got home I got online and ordered some of the very delicious, Fig Jam for use on m cheese boards and it was a wonderful success. Everyone seemed to love the delicate fruitiness and sweetness with the sharp cheeses. Fig Jam is very expensive when I consider that I have a very prolific fig tree in my yard so I determined to make my very own preserves. I was a bit worried because I had never made Fig Jam and could not find a lot of documentation but I persevered and the the resulting Fig Jam is wonderfully delicious and perfectly set.
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Cheddar Cheese & Smokey Paprika Crackers

Cheddar Cheese & Paprika Crackers

One weekend we went on a drive that took us through Santa Margarita, and a stop at a country store. On the counter was an enormous block of cheddar cheese, right there in the room in front of God and the rest of us, perched on a wooden chopping block, covered in mold, and unrefrigerated; I about passed out when Grandma Billie asked the butcher for a half-pound slice of it to include in our lunch by the lake.

Grandma explained that mold was an important part of making cheese; that this cheese would have more flavor because it was at room temperature and covered in mold. I don’t know about all that, but the cheese was wonderful and I was “hooked on cheese”. [...]

Everything Crackers

Everything Cracker Closeup
Wonderful crackers are a must for entertaining or simply to use with a cheese board. There are lots of quality crackers on the market but I like to take a few extra minutes to make my own. Crackers are very easy to make and have a rustic, home-made look to them. Whenever I serve crackers I have created they are a hit and people are usually a bit surprised I made them. Not sure why, it’s easier than baking a cake!
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Sometimes it’s Macaroni and Cheese

Roasted Pepper & Green Onion Quiche

Roasted Pepper Quiche

When I was in my twenties a book came out entitled “Real Men don’t Eat Quiche”. The book, if I recall correctly, was on the best seller list for most of a year or so. The book was a satirical look at the masculine stereotypes.

Quiche-eaters were effeminates, according to the author, who lacked masculine [...]