5 Days of Cheese: Goat Cheese

It's, sniff, the last day of our "5 Days of Cheese" series. You might be cheesed out already but we sure aren't! Check out our tips and recipes for today's featured cheese: Goat Cheese!

• Origins: Has been around for thousands of years, debatably one of the first dairy products.


• Aging: Brined for several months.


• Texture: Can be soft and spreadable with no rind, or firmer with a rind.


• Fun fact: Goat milk is more similar to human milk than cow milk, and is served to young children who have a limited tolerance to cow milk. It is lower in fat and higher in vitamin A and postassium. Goat cheese is common in the Middle East, Africa, and Mediterranean countries because goats can survive in harsher conditions whereas cows cannot.


• Wine Pairing: Goat cheese goes best with a dry white from the Loire River Valley, like a Sancerre or Vouvray, or Gewurztraminer. Also pair it with champagne.


• Serving: Goat cheese is delicious crumbled into salads, spread over tartines, or stuffed into omelets. It is fairly versatile and can even be used in pasta dishes to add tangy flavor.

Goat Cheese Quick Dip

Baby Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad

Goat Cheese Fettucine

Miss a post? Catch up for the week:
Monday: Cheddar
Tuesday: Parmesan
Wednesday: Brie
Thursday: Blue Cheese
Friday: Goat Cheese (above)

Like our 5 Days of Cheese series? Then check out our 5 Days of Fruit and 5 Days of Veggies series too!

We are happy to have Nola Solomon on board as an intern for FunnySpoon.com. As a French-American, she offers unique culinary insight on how to enjoy your food and efficiently plan for a hectic schedule. Give her recipes and tips a try!

5 Days of Cheese: Blue Cheese

It's Day 4 of "5 Days of Cheese" and we're not cheesed-out yet! Today we're featuring the family of Blue Cheese. Check out our tips and recipes below!

• Origins: Blue cheese is actually a general classification referring to any cheese that has had the Penicillium cultures added, resulting in blueish spots or veins throughout. It can be made from cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk and can originate from any country. Unsurprisingly, it is believed blue cheese was created by accident.


• Aging: 3-4 months


• Texture: Soft and crumbly (with Roquefort being slightly harder)


• Cheeses in the family: Roquefort (France), Stilton (England), Gorgonzola (Italy)


• Fun fact: Oregonzola is a modern cheese modeled after the famed Italian Gorgonzola but produced in the state of Oregon.


• Wine pairing: Any sweet white, a strong red, or port wine


• Serving: Blue cheese is great by itself (just serve with wine and bread), mixed into salad dressings or thrown on top of a salad, or melted in certain dishes.

Blue Cheese and Onion Dip

Chez Papa Salad

Sweet Potato Chips and Dip

Miss a post? Catch up for the week:
Monday: Cheddar
Tuesday: Parmesan
Wednesday: Brie
Thursday: Blue Cheese (above)
Friday: Goat Cheese

Like our 5 Days of Cheese series? Then check out our 5 Days of Fruit and 5 Days of Veggies series too!

5 Days of Cheese: Brie

It's Day 3 of "5 Days of Cheese" and we're in heaven. Hope you're enjoying this as much as we are! Today's featured cheese is Brie.

• Origins: The province of Brie in France (now roughly the area called Seine-et-Marne). It is made from cow's milk.


• Aging: 4-5 weeks. It is not pasteurized in most of Europe but is required to be pasteurized in the US and Australia.


• Texture: Soft ripened. The rind can be eaten and helps contribute to the flavor.


• Similar cheese: Camembert (from the Normandy region of France)


• Fun fact: Salvador Dali's famous painting, "The Persistence of Memory" (more commonly referred to as "Melting Clocks"), was inspired by melting Camembert on a hot summer's day.


• Wine pairing: Cabernet or Burgundy


• Serving: While Brie can be used in heated dishes, it is best enjoyed in its full glorious round. Check out the recipes below or simply set out a round with some crackers at your next party. To help your guests avoid a social faux pas, guide them by slicing the first slice - cut a triangle from the middle outward, which will encourage partakers to follow the trend and cut their own wedges. And remember - the longer it sits out the more it stinks but the better it tastes and the creamier it gets!

Fruit and Almond Topped Brie

Fruit and Cheese Bites

Melted Brie and Pesto Appetizer

Miss a post? Catch up for the week:
Monday: Cheddar
Tuesday: Parmesan
Wednesday: Brie (above)
Thursday: Blue Cheese
Friday: Goat Cheese

Like our 5 Days of Cheese series? Then check out our 5 Days of Fruit and 5 Days of Veggies series too!

5 Days of Cheese: Parmesan

It's Day 2 of our "5 Days of Cheese" series and today we're featuring Parmigiano-Reggiano, or Parmesan as we usually call it. Check out our tips and recipes below!

• Origins: Created in the Middle Ages, it is named after the producing areas in Emilia-Romagna and Lombardia. Under Italian law only cheese produced in these two provinces can be labeled Parmigiano-Reggiano. Parmigiano is named after the Parma, and Reggiano comes from the Italian adjective for Reggio Emilia.


• Aging: Considered to be at its best between 24-30 months, but can be as young as 6 months and as old as 6 years.


• Texture: Hard granular cheese, cooked but not pressed. Made from raw cow's milk.


• Fun fact: Boccaccio praised parmesan in the Decameron where he refers to "a mountain, all of grated Parmesan cheese." Parmesan is made from the milk of cows that have only been fed grass and hay.


• Wine pairing: Parmesan goes well with mostly anything. Try pairing it with a fuller red like a Cabernet Sauvignon or dry white like a Chardonnay.


• Serving: Most commonly grated over pasta, soup, and risotto, or eaten in chunks paired with balsamic vinegar. It is a key ingredient in pesto. Parmesan crust can be added to soups for additional flavor or gnawed on until soft.

Parmesan Crips

Risotto Microwavo

Spicy Parmesan Chicken

Miss a post? Catch up for the week:
Monday: Cheddar
Tuesday: Parmesan (above)
Wednesday: Brie
Thursday: Blue Cheese
Friday: Goat Cheese

Like our 5 Days of Cheese series? Then check out our 5 Days of Fruit and 5 Days of Veggies series too!

We are happy to have Nola Solomon on board as an intern for FunnySpoon.com. As a French-American, she offers unique culinary insight on how to enjoy your food and efficiently plan for a hectic schedule. Give her recipes and tips a try!

5 Days of Cheese: Cheddar

If you're a fan of cheese, and if you've been following our "5 Days of ..." series, you're gonna love this week's theme: 5 Days of Cheese! It hardly seems fair to restrict such fabulousness to only five days, but we'll do the best we can to cover some tips, fun facts, and recipes throughout the week. Today we're kicking off the week with cheddar.

• Origins: The village of Cheddar in Somerset, England. It has been made since at least 1170. It possibly derived from Cantal cheese, from France, and you can detect similarities in the flavors even today. It is made from cow's milk.


• Aging: 3 months to 5 years, depending on the variety. In general, the longer cheddar ages, the sharper it tastes.


• Texture: Semi-hard to hard


• Similar cheeses: Cantal, Red Leicester, Colby


• Fun fact: Normally cheddar is white or pale yellow, but many cheesemakers color the cheese to the orange hue that is familiar to most cheddar-lovers. It is done now because that's what most people prefer, but the reason they started in the first place is unclear.


• Wine pairing: A strong red like a Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah, or a white like Sauvignon Blanc.


• Serving: Cheddar melts easily and is great in Mexican food, soups, or any other dish that uses melted cheese. It's also great cold, such as on sandwiches or served with crackers and apples.

Striped Cheese Triangles

Cheesy Potato (& Beer!) Soup

Bacon Cheeseburger Quesadillas

Miss a post? Catch up for the week:
Monday: Cheddar (above)
Tuesday: Parmesan
Wednesday: Brie
Thursday: Blue Cheese
Friday: Goat Cheese

Like our 5 Days of Cheese series? Then check out our 5 Days of Fruit and 5 Days of Veggies series too!