Home made cottage cheese is another thing we can make from real milk. I make it sometimes after I have made butter. I skim what cream is left on top of the buttermilk and pour the remainder into a crock. I let it sit in a warm place for about 2-days or until the milk has clabbered. I am talking about raw milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized. Raw milk contains all the necessary bacteria needed to make the milk clabber.

At the end of 2-days the whey should have separated from the curd. The whey is the watery part of the milk. The curd is the solid part. Then I cut through the curd with a knife and pour the curds and whey into a kettle. I slowly heat it up over a very low heat until the curds have firmed up a little. Next I pour the mixture into a cheesecloth sack and hang it over a large bowl to drain.

When all the liquid has drained from the curd I transfer the curds from the cheesecloth to a bowl and chill it well in the refrigerator. Once it is chilled I mix a little salt and fresh cream into it. This cottage cheese will keep in the refrigerator for about 5-days. It generally does not last that long because we eat it up pretty fast.

One way I like it is to mix a little chives or finely chopped onion into it and put it over a baked potato. Yummy, and no preservatives!!

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If you are a true blue cheese-lover through and through, then just saying ‘brie’ would excite your taste buds. Perhaps you would even salivate. Brie cheese, with its rich history to back it up and a truly impeccable taste that matches meat, vegetables, fruits or sauces, deserves more than a minute of attention.

According to some legends, Emperor Charlemagne of France had his first bite of the creamy cheese and instantly fell in love with it. Who wouldn’t, anyway? Brie cheese tastes fruity and is also soft and creamy. Perhaps your interest towards this type of cheese would be doubled if you would learn that Charlemagne’s dying wish was to have a ‘last bite’ of his favorite brie! But all of that was way back in the eighth century and until now, the cheese’s popularity has not waned.

In addition to the famous Charlemagne legend, a certain Frenchman named Talleyrand suggested a worldwide competition where judges would decide which cheese was the best. Naturally, brie cheese ran away with the title: “King of All Cheeses”.

The ‘original’ French Brie is manufactured in Seine-et-Marne in Paris. It got its name from La Brie which is one of the provinces of Northern France. Modern day French, call it, well…French Brie.

And no one could contest the way brie has withstood the test of time because it still is the number one cheese in France (with about 400+ different types all over the country).

It is actually illegal to import this type of cheese in the United States because milk products that are used for cheese processes should be aged 60 days, at least. So for those who could not afford to go to Paris and buy the ‘real thing’, they can buy from those who manufacture this cheese locally.

French Brie is made of cow’s milk (unpasteurized). Its commercial counterparts, on the other hand, are made of whole or skim milk (pasteurized). True Brie is a mixture of the following flavors: hazelnut, herbs and fruits. It is not cooked. It is only heated to just below 37 degrees Celsius during the stage of renneting. After heating, it is placed in mold and sprinkled with dry salt.

The process of maturation, which is about four weeks (or more), takes place in a cellar. These cellars are specially built for the purpose of creating brie cheese. These cellars should maintain a certain temperature to ensure that the fragile cheese is not destroyed. Since this is so, brie cheese manufacturers are not assured that maturation would really take place. Much risk is involved in this type of business.
The ‘real Brie’ naturally develops molds around its exterior while the commercial ones have to be sprayed with spores (artificial ones) around the edges to develop the same result. The moldy exterior is actually edible and should be served together with whatever food goes with the cheese or when it is served, alone, as an appetizer.

Now let’s get down to the most interesting part: eating Brie. The best way to consume brie is to have it at room temperature. As an appetizer, brie cheese is delectable and very versatile. It is usually paired with crackers, fruits, nuts and even breads.

There are so many ways of cooking and presenting brie. And the best wines to go with this mouth-watering cheese? ‘Cote-du-Rhone’ (a type of red wine), Chardonnay, Beaujolais Nouveau, Burgundy or Bordeaux (still red) and, of course, champagne. The keywords are: any sparkling wine.

For cooking, brie is best used as a topping for certain foods. If one is interested in knowing some recipes that use brie cheese, there are several of them that are offered on some websites. Examples of brie recipes that you could research are:

1. Baked Brie (with Amaretto)
2. Baked Potatoes with Brie
3. Spicy Roast Beef and Brie Panini
4. Rose-glazed Brie
5. Four Cheese Pate
6. Brie-stuffed Chicken Breasts
7. Savory Cheesecake
8. Walnut-glazed Brie
9. Upscale Cuban Panini Sandwiches
10. Black Olive Pate

Being able to know the history and the qualities that made Brie ‘King’ is as important as enjoying the meals this cheese improves. After all, you just don’t just crown something for no reason. Brie IS king and will remain so for many years more. We can bet on that!

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Would you believe that in France, alone, there are over 400 types of cheese that can be found? But when the word ‘cheese’ is mentioned and someone would ask what types of cheese he would be able to name, for sure, cottage cheese will be one of them.

Cottage cheese derived its name from ‘cottages’ where the cheeses are made, literally. It is prepared atop stoves homes found in the rural areas. People who originally manufactured the ‘real thing’ let nature take its course by leaving the milk to coagulate and turn sour.

Cottage cheese is a product of cheese curd but unlike most cheese, which is dehydrated and has color, this type of cheese retains its whey content because it is only drained, not pressed dry. The cottage cheese, unlike its relatives, does not undergo aging (maturation process) and it is also washed to give it its different taste—sweet and mildly flavored.

When cottage cheese is hard pressed, the end products are farmer cheese, hoop cheese, pot cheese or Queso blanco (blanco meaning ‘white’). In Sweden, cottage cheese is commonly called ‘Keso’.

A naturally manufactured cottage cheese is made from fresh milk, rennet and mesophilic starter culture (this would help grow ‘good bacteria’ which is needed in giving the cheese its flavor and aids in coagulation). It is very rare to find natural cottage cheese nowadays. Commercialization of this product has made it easier to make at a shorter period of time.

The commercially prepared cottage cheese, however, are made from curds that were prepared using skim milk or other milk products that are low in fat. This usually alters the original flavor of the cheese. So if one were used to the commercial cottage cheeses that flood the supermarkets, then they would be astonished to find out that these cheeses have deviated from the original ‘tanginess’ of the natural cheese.

If one is curious in tasting the genuine cottage cheese, the closest one could get to the flavor is the manufactured cottage cheese, which is low in fat, cultured and named Nancy’s. The Springfield Creamery over at Eugene, Ore, prepares this.

What nutrients can one get from eating cottage cheese? Again, as compared to all other cheeses, this type of cheese has low fat (5 grams where 3 grams are saturated fat), low carbohydrates (3 grams) and high in protein content (14 grams).

If you are aiming for a sculpted body that is full of muscles and well toned, then cottage cheese diet is the right diet for you. Most people overlook the low carbohydrate content of this cheese. But looking at it, this low-carb food, which is high in protein, feeds the body of its needed nutrients during a strict diet.

This cheese also has sodium (500 milligrams), 120 calories and 20 milligrams of cholesterol. These values are computed against a 113-gram serving.

Some very interesting trivia about cottage cheese:

1. President Nixon loved to eat it together with catsup or black pepper (or both).

2. To make 15 pounds of cottage cheese, one needs to use 100 pounds of milk.

If one is bored with eating cottage cheese alone, there are several ways that it can be served. One good way is to follow President Nixon’s recipe, which is to put a dash of pepper before plopping it into your mouth. Cottage cheese can be eaten like a ‘tapioca pudding’ (just add ½ teaspoon of vanilla flavor and a packet of artificial sweetener for every ½ cup of cottage cheese).

Cottage cheese is best eaten with fruits such as blueberry, strawberry, peaches, banana or pineapple. If one is concerned with the fructose content, however, a flavored drink mix could be used as a substitute for the fruits.

Speaking of ‘yumminess’, here are a few more of those recipes that use cottage cheese. You could research these recipes online:

1. Chocolate Mousse

2. Lemon Cherry Cheesecake Pie

3. Broccoli bread with Onion and Cottage Cheese

4. Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

5. All Day Macaroni and Cheese (Crockpot)

Cottage cheese is all good. When you’re aiming for good health, then this should be a part of your diet. It’s tasty and nutritious, so what is there to lose?

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