Can I rescue dried out or moldy cheese?
There is no way to bring dried out cheese back to life, but you can still use the cheese in a sauce or grated into a baked dish, according to Michael Apperton, a cheesemonger at Fox & Obel in Chicago. Moldy cheese is a little less user-friendly, depending on the style of cheese and the color of the mold. If the mold is reddish or brownish, toss it, says Apperton. “It’s been contaminated with the kind of bacteria you don’t want to eat.” In general, mold that is green or grey is safe to eat, although most people cut it off as a matter of preference. Hard and semi-hard cheese like cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gruyere, and pecorino are dense enough so that mold doesn’t penetrate too deep into the cheese. Cut one inch around the moldy parts, but be careful not to cut through the mold, which could cross-contaminate other parts of the cheese. You can also trim the surface mold on cheeses made with mold, like Roquefort and other blue cheeses. Soft cheeses with high moisture content can be contaminated far below the surface of the cheese, so to be safe, you should toss moldy brie, goat cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and any presliced, crumbled, or shredded cheeses.
by Colleen Rush
1/31/08
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