Cabot, white, seriously sharp or Hunter's.

I buy Balderson Cheddar. My favourite is their Five Year Aged Cheddar. But I also buy their two and three year aged.

I use Parmigiano-Reggiano in my potato au gratin.

Ann

http://www.tillamook.com/products/Cheese/Special-Reserve-Extra-Sharp-Cheddar-2.html

http://www.tillamook.com/products/Cheese/Vintage-White-Extra-Sharp-Cheddar-8.html

Sorry, I'm no good at links. These are the two I buy routinely. Easy to find and decently priced. And tasty.

Otherwise I buy an English cheddar like this:

http://www.fordfarm.com/stock_coastal_cheddar-2_.aspx

Tillamook is wonderful if you can get it....I use Maytag Dairy white cheddar or the yellow extra aged cheddar...or Cabot aged cheddar....white or yellow.
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: white cheddar

Ann, do you have a particular potatoes au gratin recipe that you like? The one I found only calls for cheddar.

Thanks for the suggestions. Guess I should be aiming higher than store brand cheddar.

Cabot's seriously sharp of Vermont extra sharp (black label) are tasty, readily available in our local grocery stores and not too expensive.

My SIL owns a gourmet grocery frequented by wealthy summer tourists. She buys giant wheels of the black label Cabot and they sell it like crazy. Of course, she hand wraps the cheese chunks in paper, seals them with a fancy label and wraps them in twine. I'm sure that makes the cheese taste better too :)

I use Cabot Private Stock as my go-to cheddar but, like Ann, I use Parmigiano-Reggiano in my potato au gratin.

Tillamook is excellent but rarely available on the east coast. I've only found it once in Mystic. That's the cheddar of my childhood though.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Cabot Private Stock

Tillamook is everywhere here but it is made in Oregon which isn't very far away.

Eileen

Normally Cabot or Tillamook extra sharp. The ones that are milder upset my stomach more, and so the sharper the better. I sometimes buy Irish or English cheddar, but not on a regular basis.

For Potatoes Au Gratin, I use half cheddar and half Jarlsberg. Maybe I should try Parmesan for something different.

Lars

Tillamook cheddar/jack

Cabot Seriously Sharp here, too!

seagrass

I think the recipe just calls for Cheddar
Because they expect you to use what you like best.

Personally, I like both Tillamook and Cabot,
(the sharper the better, IMHO)
But they are very rarely available here.

Walmart carries a brand called Crystal Farms
It's very good and reasonably priced.
(Cheaper than Kraft,)
It's what I use the most.
I find both Walmart and HEB store brands
To be about as appetizing as old candle wax.

New York Extra Sharp White Cheddar
Is very good, too.

Rusty

Pam, here is the basic outline for my potato gratin.
One of my favourite sides to

Potato Gratin
=============
I don't usually follow a recipe when making a Potato Gratin. Use the following as a guideline and adjust everything to your own taste.

For a rich dish, use butter and whipping cream.

3 to 5 Russett Potatoes (or more depending on number of servings required)

1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon fresh thyme (optional)
Butter

Heavy Cream (or milk if you want a less rich version)

Parmesan cheese

Gruyere cheese as well as cheddars and blue cheeses can be added for a different taste all together.

Salt and pepper
. Rub cut garlic clove over the surface of a gratin or casserole dish.
Butter.

Slice potatoes and place in pot and add enough cream/milk to almost
cover. Add the garlic clove, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil
and simmer for a few minutes, stirring often so the potatoes do not
stick. When the potatoes have released some of their starch and
thickend the liquid,remove the garlic clove, add 1 to 2 tablespoons
butter and some grated parmesan cheese. Pour into prepared casserole
dish, dot with butter and sprinkle with some more parmesan cheese.

Bake in a 375�F oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Another way to make a potato Gratin is to saute some thinnly sliced
onions in olive oil or butter until golden, add some thyme, and some
chicken broth. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
Pour into a buttered casserole dish sprinkle with some parmesan cheese
and bake until cooked.

I also like Cabot Seriously Sharp--but will buy other good brands of extra sharp.

For a cheese sauce, I find you get the most depth of flavor by mixing cheeses. Adding a little bit of imported Parmeggiano Reggiano along with your cheddar often spikes up the flavor so you can use less cheddar. Also, a few tablespoons of blue cheese crumbles adds a nice note, as well. Generally, I try to use at least 3-4 different cheeses when making mac and cheese, potatoes au gratin, or welsh Rarebit.

Oh, and another tip that both lightens the calorie count AND beefs up the flavor--I use half milk, half chicken stock for the liquid

Yup! Tillamook. But being an Oregon girl, it's easy for me to find and "local".
However, they have NOT jumped on the reduced fat bandwagon so I also use Cabot 75% reduced fat White Cheddar. For a low fat cheese, it is really, really good! It melts, it doesn't taste like plastic and is fairly reasonable.

For just "whatever" cheese, I usually end up with a Kroger/Fred Meyer brand and buy it on sale. DH uses it liberally on nachos and in cheese dips.

Deanna

Thans for all the good info. I am not sure I have seen Tillamook here, although maybe it's in the specialty shops. My store has Cabot, so I will go with that. I'll also follow the suggestion of using two or maybe more cheeses. My mom is coming for dinner and she does not like recipes that have two much "stuff" in it. Stuff means seasonings or extras such as onions.

Ann, thanks for the recipe. I'll try that when Mom is not here.

Rusty, I like the way your posts always look like poems.

P.S. I had a hard time signing back into GW. Hope the gremlins have not returned.

Balderson's makes some seriously great cheese. I haven't seen Cabot's in Canada, but I was able to buy Tillamook cheddar when we were on Hawaii this December. Costco had two pound packages for around $8; I can't believe how cheap cheese is in the States.

Balderson is an excellent cheddar and my favourite , only because I can't find an aged Vermont or Quebec cheddar to save my life.

My DH, who considers himself the cheese epicurean in the house, actually prefer Presidents Choice 5 years to Balderson's 5 year...

I also like Black Diamond Cheddar, which I believe is made in Canada. Hard to come by here, but when I run across it I pay the bucks. It's crumbly for a cheddar, best at room temp and with a glass of jammy red wine.

seagrass

I also like Cabot cheddar, but my favorite currently for, well, nearly everything, is Dubliner. It's Makayla's favorite too, she likes it just to snack on.

It's sharp like cheddar but has that parmesan flavor too, and a bit of swiss. It melts nicely and is strong enough to stand up to potatoes. Makayla wants it in her Mac and Cheese too.

Annie

I love Tillamook cheddar for cooking. I also will use Cabot sharp, which we can often find at a grocery outlet store.

I'm not loyal to anyone brand, but it has to be NY sharp cheddar!

I guess I'm lucky, as both Cabot and Tillamook are available here. We go through cheese fast, so I buy the big chunks, and neither are available in the extra sharp in the large sizes. I believe it's President's Choice that I buy in black wrapping. It's an extra sharp New York white cheddar, and it's very good. I used to be able to get Tillamook's pepper jack, but the only store here that carried it quit, which made me sad. I rarely use all cheddar in recipes because I find Cheddar too greasy.

Sally

Aged cheddar is less oily, which is why I like it.

E

Well, my cheap side won out in the end. I found some Cabot's and had it in my cart but right next to it was Great Lakes NY Sharp Cheddar on sale, so I got that instead. At least they were both in the fancy cheese section, so I hope it's good. $3.79 for 3/4 pound.

Great Lakes is my DH's favorite. Extra Sharp. you'll be fine with it!

I like Cabot as well, along with other Vermont and NY white cheddars. For a treat, try Dubliner: it is downright addictive.

If you want to really splurge, try a Double Gloucester. Too pricey for routine consumption, though.

Cabot Black label is my favorite. Now I am going to try the Dubliner which is available at Costco too based on Annie1992 recommendation.Sounds delish. Happy Easter everybody!!

june

Dubliner is good. I've also purchased Ford Farm Coastal Cheddar at Costo. Also very tasty.

Eileen

New York cheddar, in particular Cuba Extra Sharp.

Cabots is more widely distributed though and is good.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Cuba Cheddar Cheese

Just had a chunk of Dubliner. It's made by Kerrygold. Reasonably priced for something of that quality: it was about $6 a pound.

I don't know how well it melts. The texture is a little different than standard cheddar--a little more granular than regular cheddar.

For regular use, we use Cabot Seriously sharp. I love Dubliner for eating out of hand, and Grafton Cheddar is also fantastic. Another fun cheese to try is the Cougar Gold from Washington State U. Very tasty!

Here is a link that might be useful: Cougar Gold Cheese

Cougar Gold is wonderful. They don't ship in warm months, though.

Eileen

I love, love, Cougar Gold too, Eileen! But it's definitely not my everyday cheese, unfortunately.

My potatoes au gratin (or potatoes ugh rotten, as one of my kids said when they were little)were fine. I think a sharper cheese might have been better. I forgot that I was going to add some parmesan, which might have helped. Still they were very good and I will have some more tonight with ham bits mixed in.

Last night I ate so much I had a stomachache during the night. Took two Tums and all was well. I usually have a cast iron stomach.