LESSON LVIII
CHEESE (B)
FOOD VALUE AND USE OF CHEESE.—Cheese is concentrated food, i.e. it contains much nourishment in small bulk. One pound of cheese contains as much protein as two pounds of eggs or one and one half pounds of meat, and as much fat as three pounds of eggs and one pound of beef. In addition to protein and fat, cheese contains ash and vitamines (see Division Seven).
Cottage Cheese is a particularly good food. Since it is less expensive than most foods rich in protein, it should be used to a greater extent than it is at the present time. Most tasty salads and meat substitute dishes may be prepared from cottage cheese.
Cheese was formerly considered somewhat difficult of digestion, but investigations (see Farmers' Bulletin 487, The Digestion of Cheese, p. 15.) show that cheese differs but little from meat in ease of digestion. Cheese, like protein foods in general, if cooked at all, should be heated at low or moderate temperature.
It is well to cook cheese in combination with other food materials. The use of cheese at the close of a dinner, when sufficient food has already been eaten, is not advisable.
CARE OF CHEESE.—Molds grow rapidly upon cheese, especially if it is placed in a warm place and the air is excluded from it (see Why Foods Spoil). For this reason, cheese should never be placed in a tightly covered dish or jar. It may be placed in a dish or jar and covered with a cloth. To keep cheese that has been cut from drying, wrap it in paraffin paper, then in a slightly dampened cloth, and then in paper. It should not, however, be kept in the damp cloth too long; molds will grow upon it.
MACARONI AND CHEESE
1 cupful macaroni 1 1/2 cupfuls medium White Sauce 2 cupfuls buttered crumbs 3/4 cupful grated cheese
Break macaroni into one-inch pieces. Cook in a large quantity of boiling, salted water, in the same manner as Boiled Rice. When tender, pour into a colander, and run cold water through it. Make the sauce, using half milk and half "macaroni water" for the liquid; then add the cheese and macaroni to it. Pour into a buttered baking-dish. Cover with the buttered crumbs and bake at 450 degrees F. for 20 minutes or until brown.
Rice or noodles, cooked in the same way, may be substituted for macaroni.