It has 3 cheeses? Must be good.

I think Publix Apron's Simple Meals are just fantastic.  They are typically quick and easy to prepare, are reasonably healthy, and always seem to taste great (and if you're hungry when you go shopping, as I usually am, a sample in-store can make all the difference).  A recent sample was their sausage and rice stuffed portabella mushrooms. I tried it, thought it was tasty, picked up the recipe card and was happy to see it called for not just one or two, but three different cheeses.  I used a shredded Italian cheese blend (in place of only mozzarella), low-fat cream cheese and blue cheese crumbles (instead of Gorgonzola), and they turned out rather well.  I think a vegetarian option of substituting spinach for the sausage would be equally good and make it even healthier.  We'll definitely be having them again!

Mafiaoza's Part 4: the finale

The next cheese was Taleggio, which is classified as a hard Italian cheese.  It is protected by the PDO, which designates that the surface must be imprinted with the four-leafed brand of the Corsorzio Tutela Taleggio, and that, when sold, it must be wrapped in a certain type of paper carrying the brand name.  Both are proofs of the quality and origin.  Taleggio is made from both pasteurized and raw cow's milk in the Italian regions of Lombardia, Piedmont and Veneto.  It is aged 25-40 days in caves (or rooms in which factors such as temperature and humidity are controlled to mimic those in a natural cave) and comes in large squares.  This was one of my favorites from Mafiaoza's platter.  It was soft, almost like a firm Brie, and was better the more it warmed to room temperature.  It tasted very rich and creamy and was incredibly smooth.

We also sampled Gouda, a Dutch cheese which is made all over the Netherlands and accounts for 60% of the country's total cheese production.  It's a hard cow's milk cheese that is aged anywhere between 4 weeks and 3 years, but to qualify as "aged Gouda" must be aged at least 18 months.  Young Gouda has a yellow rind, while aged has a black waxed rind, and the cheese itself becomes more yellow with age.  What separates Gouda from other cheeses is that once the curd is cut, a process of washing the curd is used to dilute the whey and remove lactose from the curds.  The Gouda we had was really good with a firm texture and sharp taste.

The last cheese was Gorgonzola, an Italian blue cheese from cow's milk, highly regulated and protected by the PDO and produced in the regions of Lombardia and Piedmont.  It may have been the first blue cheese, the result of a happy accident.  The legend is that a young boy, distracted by love, accidentally left a bundle of curds hanging overnight in the cellar.  The next morning, he attempted to hide his mistake by adding those curds to the morning's fresh batch.  However, several weeks later, the cheese had a mold though the center.  Today is it made at around 40 dairies and factories in either the traditional "two day curd" method, or the "one day curd" method in which the blue mold is added to the milk.  The single day method creates more blue coloring but less flavor.  Four weeks into the aging process, which totals 3-6 months, the cheese is pierced to encourage the mold to spread throughout the drum.  Prior to Mafiaoza's, I only recall having Gorgonzola in other things, such as salads.  Sampling it by itself revealed a very strong, pungent, salty and spicy cheese.  I decided that I definitely prefer blue cheeses in dishes and not alone.

Mafiaoza's was quite dark, but since it quickly became evident that there was no way we could finish everything that night, I decided to take a picture the next day at home.  These were the "leftovers."

clockwise from 9:00-Stilton with Blueberries, Taleggio, Parmesan, Gouda, Drunken Goat, Asiago, (center) Gorgonzola

it doesn't always need to be fancy

The Laughing Cow® wedges are a delicious way for me to meet my daily cheese quota. An added benefit is that the light wedges have only 35 calories each, so with a few crackers, I've got a 100 calorie snack (which consequently keeps me on track for an altogether different daily quota). I prefer the Swiss, but they also make a Light Blue Cheese, which is quite good. It is interesting in that one typically expects blue cheese to have a crumbly texture, and these wedges are smooth and creamy with no marbling.