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Monster Cheese?

© Donna Smith

If you walked up to the deli counter and ordered a pound of Monster Cheese, what do you think you'd get? A very small, yellow monster with orange skin and a zipper on its forehead? Okay, so that's not what you'd get. What you would get would be one of my all-time favorite cheeses called Muenster (MUHN-stuhr).

Muenster is a semi-soft cheese that originated in France. It has a smooth, yellowish interior and an orange rind that you can eat. Muenster is a very mellow tasting cheese, unless you buy the European Muenster, which has a very strong flavor. In the United States, Muenster is cured for about 6-8 weeks. Sometimes it's sold only after curing a week or two. In Europe, it is cured up to three months, which is why it has such a stronger taste.

Great cubed, sliced, or shredded, Muenster is a very versatile cheese. Cube it up and toss some in your favorite salad. Slice it and serve it with crackers, or in your favorite sandwich. It also melts very quickly, which makes it great for topping pizzas, toast, making nachos, or for grilled cheese sandwiches. The next time you make a roast beef sandwich, try putting a slice or two of Muenster on top.

Muenster will last for several weeks in the refrigerator. After opening the package, wrap the remaining cheese in plastic wrap to keep it from drying out. Store it in the cheese drawer of the refrigerator. If you want to grate Muenster, place it in the freezer for about 20 minutes or so. This will firm up the cheese and make it easier to grate.

Muenster is in the spotlight at I Love Cheese!. You can also find some great recipes here.

Enter your favorite recipe using cheese in the American Dairy Association's Gameday Greats Cheese Snacking Recipe Contest and you could win a trip for two to the Hula Bowl Maui All-Star Football Classic 2000, plus $500.00 in spending money!

Here's a fun recipe using this great cheese.

Green Monster Muenster Burgers

¼ cup dill pickle juice

½ of an envelope of onion soup mix

1 pound ground beef

15 round dill pickle slices

3 thick slices of Muenster cheese

Put onion soup mix in a bowl with the pickle juice. Mix well. Add the ground beef. With clean hands, mix well. Divide into six thin patties. Put 5 pickle slices on top of three of the patties, then top each with a slice of Muenster. Place another patty on top of each and mash edges to seal. Grill, fry, or broil patties until done, about 5 minutes on each side.