The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide: Over 150 Recipes with Instructions on How to Buy, Store, and Serve All Your Favorite Cheeses (Hardcover)

You can have cheese as an appetizer, a soup, a salad, a main course, or even as a dessert. If you should have any doubt about my somewhat sweeping declaration, you need only open this book. It contains over a hundred and fifty eclectic, mouth watering, delicious recipes, where cheese is a prime ingredient.

I came upon this book at a school auction, coupled with a lovely cheese board. I placed a silent bid on the set, and to my surprise, I was the successful bidder. I took the items home, and being a bookaholic, began perusing this book.

To my surprise, I discovered it to be much more than a cookbook, as it gives the reader precise instructions on how to buy, store, and serve just about every conceivable variety of cheese. All this information is imparted in a conversational tone, making for easy reading.

The author tells the reader how her love of cheese motivated her to start her own cheese factory, the very successful "Mozzarella Company". She also starts the reader from scratch, telling one what cheese actually is. She also gives the reader a fascinating overview on the history of cheese, as well as a chapter on cheese and nutrition.

The author goes to great lengths to describe the various types of cheese, categorizing it by texture, flavor, and country of origin. She gives tips on buying and serving cheese, as well as tips on what to do with leftover cheese. She also gives suggestions on what wine to pair with certain cheeses. For those who are ambitious and so inclined, the author even has a chapter on making your own cheese at home.

While these extras are all well and good, the recipes alone are worth investing in the book. My own personal favorites are the "Bruschetta Topped with Goat Cheese and Tomatoes", "Green Salad with Apples and Goat Cheese", "Crustless Cheddar Quiche with Onion and Bacon Topping", "Uptown Get-Down Macaroni and Cheese", "Bell Peppers Stuffed with Rice, Ricotta, and Jarlsberg", and "Carrot-Ricotta Pudding".

Of course, the recipes I like are all fairly basic and easy to put together. There are also many, more ambitious and delicious sounding recipes for those with an affinity for cooking. They reflect a variety of diverse influences. Contemporary in feel, ranging from the gastronomically creative to the traditrional, they are international in scope. There is simply something for everyone. It is not just for cheese lovers only.

You can have cheese as an appetizer, a soup, a salad, a main course, or even as a dessert. If one should have any doubt about my somewhat sweeping declaration, one need only open this book. It contains over one hundred and fifty eclectic, mouth watering, delicious recipes, where cheese is a prime ingredient. It also contains many lovely photographs that are guaranteed to cause the reader to salivate and crave cheese.

The author tells the reader how her own love of cheese motivated her to start her own sheese factory. She gives the reader precise instructions on how to buy, store, and serve just about every conceivable variety of cheese and discusses its nutritional value. She also starts the reader from scratch, telling one what cheese actually is and gives the reader a fascinating overview of the history of cheese. All this information is imparted in a conversational tone, making for easy reading.

The author goes to great lengths to describe the various types of cheese, categorizing it by texture, flavor, and country of origin. She also gives suggestions on what wine to pair with a particular cheese. For those who are ambitious and so inclined, the author even has a chapter on making your own cheese at home.

While these extras are all well and good, the recipes alone are worth investing in the book. My own personal favorites are the "Bruschetta Topped with Goat Cheese and Tomatoes", "Green Salad with Apples and Goat Cheese", "Crustless Cheddar Quiche with Onion and Bacon Topping", "Uptown Get-Down Macaroni and Cheese", "Bell Peppers stuffed with Rice, Ricotta, and Jarlsberg", and "Carrot-Ricotta Pudding".

Of course, the recipes I like are all fairly basic and easy to put together. There are also many, more ambitious and delicious sounding recipes for those with an affinity for cooking. They reflect a variety of diverse influences. Contemporary in feel, ranging from the gastronomically creative to the traditional, they are international in scope. There is simply something for everyone. It is not just for cheese lovers only.