They call these grilling cheeses but it's not grilling as on a
barbeque - I don't think that would work at all.

Halloumi - the first one we encountered, wonderful flavor, grills well.

Kasserri - recommended as a substitute for Halloumi. We didn't like
it - fell apart in the fry pan.

And now the latest we've found, something called Yanni Grilling Cheese.
Ingredients are listed as pasteurized, grade A milk, non-animal kosher
rennet, and salt. In the local WF, which is where we bought it, it
costs $4/lb less than halloumi, and both my wife and I like the flavor
better - it's less salty although still salty enough, and it's
positively sweet tasting when grilled. (Of course, $4/lb less than WF
price for halloumi might just be another store's regular price for
halloumi but that's another conversation...)

Uses for grilled cheese - I'm aware of two so far. By far, our most
popular use is in salads, e.g., last night I had a salad as my main
course and it included this Yanni cheese. I made a warm dressing by
using the oil I'd fried the cheese in as the oil for my salad dressing,
poured it straight from the frying pan, then adding a bit of red wine
vinegar. The rest of the salad: mostly iceberg lettuce, which I prefer
to every other kind, I'm afraid, unfashionable as iceberg lettuce seems
to be. I used the same frying pan, after the cheese was fried, to
reheat some leftover caramelized onions and a diced up a few slices of
deli black forest ham in there as well. My wife has oven-roasted a
cookie sheet of asparagus, small tomatoes, and mushroom, so some of
those went into the salad, too. And a few other fresh veggies, e.g.,
some sliced red and yellow peppers and a few sliced/diced scallions.
Just delicious!

The second use I'm aware of for fry-able cheese is as a meat
substitute - people take a hamburger-sized piece and make it the main
thing in a sandwich. I've had - it's good.

-S-

On 4/13/14, 8:40 AM, Steve Freides wrote:

> Halloumi - the first one we encountered, wonderful flavor, grills well.
>
> Kasserri - recommended as a substitute for Halloumi. We didn't like
> it - fell apart in the fry pan.

We've had saganaki many times, most recently yesterday at lunch at the
sponge docks in Tarpon Springs, FL. It's made there at various Greek
restaurants with either kefalograviera or kasseri cheeses, most often
the latter. The cheeses are sold in food shops there as "frying cheese."

My guess would be that it's your cooking method. Specifically, they
*always* fry the cheese in very hot cast iron, turning it only once.
That way the outside crisps very quickly, and the piece of cheese never
loses its shape. It remains firmly in one piece. After being flambeed
with Metaxa and doused with lemon juice, you can cut the cheese with a
knife and lift a portion with some bending, but no runniness or breaking
apart.

Opa!

-- Larry

One other thought: Did you dredge the cheese in flour before frying?
That also helps it hold its shape.

-- Larry

"Steve Freides" > wrote in message
...
> They call these grilling cheeses but it's not grilling as on a barbeque -
> I don't think that would work at all.
>
> Halloumi - the first one we encountered, wonderful flavor, grills well.
>
> Kasserri - recommended as a substitute for Halloumi. We didn't like it -
> fell apart in the fry pan.
>
> And now the latest we've found, something called Yanni Grilling Cheese.
> Ingredients are listed as pasteurized, grade A milk, non-animal kosher
> rennet, and salt. In the local WF, which is where we bought it, it costs
> $4/lb less than halloumi, and both my wife and I like the flavor better -
> it's less salty although still salty enough, and it's positively sweet
> tasting when grilled. (Of course, $4/lb less than WF price for halloumi
> might just be another store's regular price for halloumi but that's
> another conversation...)
>
> Uses for grilled cheese - I'm aware of two so far. By far, our most
> popular use is in salads, e.g., last night I had a salad as my main course
> and it included this Yanni cheese. I made a warm dressing by using the
> oil I'd fried the cheese in as the oil for my salad dressing, poured it
> straight from the frying pan, then adding a bit of red wine vinegar. The
> rest of the salad: mostly iceberg lettuce, which I prefer to every other
> kind, I'm afraid, unfashionable as iceberg lettuce seems to be. I used
> the same frying pan, after the cheese was fried, to reheat some leftover
> caramelized onions and a diced up a few slices of deli black forest ham in
> there as well. My wife has oven-roasted a cookie sheet of asparagus,
> small tomatoes, and mushroom, so some of those went into the salad, too.
> And a few other fresh veggies, e.g., some sliced red and yellow peppers
> and a few sliced/diced scallions. Just delicious!
>
> The second use I'm aware of for fry-able cheese is as a meat substitute -
> people take a hamburger-sized piece and make it the main thing in a
> sandwich. I've had - it's good.

I wonder when they call it 'grilling' cheese, they mean it in the same sense
we use it (aka broiled)

When I make cheese on toast, I first make toast and then put the cheese on
top and put it under the grill (broiler)


--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

Ophelia wrote:
>
> When I make cheese on toast, I first make toast and then put the cheese on
> top and put it under the grill (broiler)

Oh yeah. That's one of my favorites.
We've always called that "wrinkled cheese."
Toasted white bread with sharp cheddar cheese on top then under the
broiler until it wrinkled and turned brown/almost blackened. Love it!

G.

On Sun, 13 Apr 2014 08:40:01 -0400, "Steve Freides" >
wrote:

> They call these grilling cheeses but it's not grilling as on a
> barbeque - I don't think that would work at all.
>
> Halloumi - the first one we encountered, wonderful flavor, grills well.
>
> Kasserri - recommended as a substitute for Halloumi. We didn't like
> it - fell apart in the fry pan.
>
> And now the latest we've found, something called Yanni Grilling Cheese.
> Ingredients are listed as pasteurized, grade A milk, non-animal kosher
> rennet, and salt. In the local WF, which is where we bought it, it
> costs $4/lb less than halloumi, and both my wife and I like the flavor
> better - it's less salty although still salty enough, and it's
> positively sweet tasting when grilled. (Of course, $4/lb less than WF
> price for halloumi might just be another store's regular price for
> halloumi but that's another conversation...)

Halloumi seems to be expensive everywhere... at least IMO.


--

Good Food.
Good Friends.
Good Memories.

pltrgyst wrote:
> On 4/13/14, 8:40 AM, Steve Freides wrote:
>
>> Halloumi - the first one we encountered, wonderful flavor, grills
>> well. Kasserri - recommended as a substitute for Halloumi. We didn't
>> like
>> it - fell apart in the fry pan.
>
> We've had saganaki many times, most recently yesterday at lunch at the
> sponge docks in Tarpon Springs, FL. It's made there at various Greek
> restaurants with either kefalograviera or kasseri cheeses, most often
> the latter. The cheeses are sold in food shops there as "frying
> cheese."
> My guess would be that it's your cooking method. Specifically, they
> *always* fry the cheese in very hot cast iron, turning it only once.
> That way the outside crisps very quickly, and the piece of cheese
> never loses its shape. It remains firmly in one piece. After being
> flambeed with Metaxa and doused with lemon juice, you can cut the
> cheese with a knife and lift a portion with some bending, but no
> runniness or breaking apart.
>
> Opa!
>
> -- Larry

Interesting points - I made it on a relatively low heat, and I didn't
flour it first. I did only turn them once, though.

-S-

sf wrote:
> On Sun, 13 Apr 2014 08:40:01 -0400, "Steve Freides" >
> wrote:
>
>> They call these grilling cheeses but it's not grilling as on a
>> barbeque - I don't think that would work at all.
>>
>> Halloumi - the first one we encountered, wonderful flavor, grills
>> well.
>>
>> Kasserri - recommended as a substitute for Halloumi. We didn't like
>> it - fell apart in the fry pan.
>>
>> And now the latest we've found, something called Yanni Grilling
>> Cheese. Ingredients are listed as pasteurized, grade A milk,
>> non-animal kosher rennet, and salt. In the local WF, which is
>> where we bought it, it costs $4/lb less than halloumi, and both my
>> wife and I like the flavor better - it's less salty although still
>> salty enough, and it's positively sweet tasting when grilled. (Of
>> course, $4/lb less than WF price for halloumi might just be another
>> store's regular price for halloumi but that's another
>> conversation...)
>
> Halloumi seems to be expensive everywhere... at least IMO.

Yes, that's why finding a tasty substitute for less money was so
pleasing.

-S-

On Sun, 13 Apr 2014 17:53:34 -0400, "Steve Freides" >
wrote:

> sf wrote:
> > On Sun, 13 Apr 2014 08:40:01 -0400, "Steve Freides" >
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> And now the latest we've found, something called Yanni Grilling
> >> Cheese. Ingredients are listed as pasteurized, grade A milk,
> >> non-animal kosher rennet, and salt. In the local WF, which is
> >> where we bought it, it costs $4/lb less than halloumi, and both my
> >> wife and I like the flavor better - it's less salty although still
> >> salty enough, and it's positively sweet tasting when grilled. (Of
> >> course, $4/lb less than WF price for halloumi might just be another
> >> store's regular price for halloumi but that's another
> >> conversation...)
> >
> > Halloumi seems to be expensive everywhere... at least IMO.
>
> Yes, that's why finding a tasty substitute for less money was so
> pleasing.
>
I saw a cheese from Wisconsin today that I should have made a note of
for you to try and didn't. Too bad, because I don't get to that store
very often.


--

Good Food.
Good Friends.
Good Memories.

On Mon, 14 Apr 2014 12:29:49 -0400, "Steve Freides" >
wrote:

> Well, news - Queso de Freir is nowhere to be found. I tried Fairways,
> which is big, NYC based, and carries all sorts of exotic things and then
> Corrado's, which carries more than everything and also caters to a more
> Hispanic population, and they said it's coming in on April 30 - the
> person on the phone said they thought, although they couldn't confirm,
> that it was considered seasonal and they only carried it in the summer.
>
> Zabar's says I could use queso fresco or queso blanco but, so far, I'm
> holding out for what you've suggested which, according to everything I
> read, is firmer.
>
> Probably what I ought to do is just go to a grocery store in a Dominican
> neighborhood in the city...
>
> The one store saying they'd have it in two weeks is as close as I've
> gotten.

I called the store I was in yesterday and asked for details... the
cheese I saw is called "bread cheese" and it's made by Carr Valley in
Wisconsin.
http://www.carrvalleycheese.com/arti...ad-cheese.html
Apparently it's the American version of a cheese from Finland called
Juustoleipa (or Leipajuusto). http://www.cheese.com/juustoleipa/

I've never eaten it, just passing on the information because the sign
said it was a good substitute for Halloumi.

PS: David Lebovitz suggests trying a Brazilian cheese called Minas
http://www.projectfoodie.com/cookboo...sto-sauce.html


--

Good Food.
Good Friends.
Good Memories.