When it comes to gourmet cheeses, many believe the way to best enjoy and display them is by artfully plating them atop a fancy cheese board.
No one is going to argue with you on that front—especially once you’ve learned how to build the perfect cheese plate. But at Old Europe Cheese, we also believe any fine, handcrafted cheese that makes your cheese plate sparkle can take your cooking to the next level.
Cooking with a really good wedge of artisan cheese can be a little tricky sometimes. From figuring out how nail the perfect melt to knowing how to avoid breaking, here are a few helpful tips for cooking with Reny Picot cheese:
1. Grating
Pop your Reny Picot cheese in the freezer 20 minutes before grating it to make shredding easier and cleaner. It’ll firm it up just enough to keep it together and prevent it from sticking. It’s also a grate idea to spray your box grater with nonstick spray before using it to ensure your cheese doesn’t stick and make grating so much cleaner.
2. Baking
When baking a casserole, lasagna, or any sort of dish you plan on filling with Reny Picot cheese, make sure you bake it in an oven no hotter than 375°F. Reny Picot cheese is delicate and anything hotter may cause the cheese to break. The oil will separate and start pooling on top, and the texture will be less than desirable.
3. Melting
To melt Reny Picot cheese into or onto a hot dish, such as a bowl of pasta or plate of vegetables, toss the cheese in just before serving or it will settle to the bottom and harden there. If you’re topping a burger with Reny Picot cheese, do so about two minutes before you remove the meat from the heat in order to assure proper meltage.
Perfect on a cheese board, melted into a frittata, shredded over pizza, baked into biscuits—there’s really no wrong way to go about eating Reny Picot cheese. If you need some inspiration, check out one of our favorite ways to cook with Reny Picot cheese in this original and indulgent Old Europe Cheese recipe:
If you have a favorite recipe or any cooking tips, please let us know! Contact us today to share with us or if you have any questions for us here at Old Europe Cheese. We’d love to hear from you!