Foods, their selection and preparation

Uncooked cheese is best served at room temperature, and so should stand outside the refrigerator for a short time before serving. Principles of Cookery. Heat affects the protein in cheese in much the same way as it does the protein in eggs: when overcooked the protein becomes tough and rubbery. Overcooking may result from too high a cooking temperature or too long a cooking time. Overcooking gives cheese a bad tex¬ ture and may decrease the ease of digestion. In cooking cheese, two points are impor¬ tant: one is to avoid overcooking; the other is to make its form less compact by combining it with other foods. When made into cooked dishes, the texture may be modi¬ fied by the distribution of starches or other foods not coagulated by heat among the cheese particles. In such dishes there is less danger of overcooking the cheese. These are easier to prepare with a satisfactory texture than dishes of cheese alone, cheese diluted [133] only with a liquid, or cheese and egg combi¬ nations without starch. The addition of air in egg white gives to cheese-egg combinations a spongy texture which increases their ease of digestion. A plastic or semihard cheese blends more readily in mixtures than a hard cheese. The latter should be grated or shredded for com¬ bining. Well-ripened Cheddar blends more readily than that which is underripened. Process cheese combines very easily with other ingredients, due to its increased mois¬ ture content. Only slicing or chopping is necessary before blending it in a sauce. Cheese Dishes. Typical dishes are these: (1) macaroni or spaghetti and cheese, (2) Welsh rabbits, and (3) cheese omelets and souffles. Macaroni and cheese. If grated cheese is added to the macaroni (or spaghetti) immedi¬ ately before serving, any danger of over¬ cooking the cheese is avoided. Or the cheese and macaroni or spaghetti may be served in separate dishes and combined at the time of serving, in the proportions that suit the individual taste. Another way of preparing macaroni and cheese is to melt the cheese in a medium cream sauce (p. 63), using equal measures of cream sauce and shredded or chopped cheese. From half as much to equal meas- Macaroni and Cheese • Macaroni baked with cheese makes a good main dish f ' ures of sauce and cooked macaroni are used. Alternate layers of the macaroni and sauce are arranged in a baking dish and this com¬ bination is heated through and browned on top in a moderate oven. Welsh rabbit. Welsh rabbit is made by thickening a liquid with the cheese. The liquid is usually milk, evaporated milk, or cream, although beer is sometimes used for special flavor. The thickening may be done with the cheese alone, or with flour or egg, or a combination of flour and egg, by using a cream sauce, a custard, or a combination custard base. When cheese is the only thickening, basic proportions are approximately four times as much cheese, by measure, as liquid. Place 1 cup grated cheese or sliced process cheese in a double boiler. Add J cup milk or other liquid and stir, heating slowly, until the cheese is melted and the mixture blended. Salt, cayenne, paprika, mustard, Worcester¬ shire, and other seasonings are added as de¬ sired. A Welsh rabbit is usually served over toast or crackers.