Jazz Up Your Holiday Recipes With Karoun Cheese

We use to live in a large city and really enjoyed the unlimited restaurant options so readily available to us. My mom, sister and I had a favorite Greek restaurant that we frequented very regularly. The delicious appetizers and entrees, all loaded with flavorful Mediterranean cheeses are something I now long for. We are learning to prepare at home a lot of the dishes we loved so much. Santa came early this year when a box loaded up with Karoun Cheeses arrived at our door. I honestly don’t think I have ever seen my mother so excited over a delivery before.

Karoun Dairies, founded in 1990, has grown from a small company manufacturing hand braided String Cheese for local mom-and-pop stores, to producing a wide variety of all natural Mediterranean specialty cheeses and cultured dairy products with nationwide distribution. Karoun’s dairy products are free of thickeners, stabilizers and fillers and made strictly with fresh rBST growth hormone free Real California Milk.   

The last few weeks have been a lot of fun as we have incorporated Karoun’s cheese into many of our recipes and even tried out some new ones. Here is a list of all the wonderful cheeses we received:

• Yanni Grilling Cheese & Yanni Grilling Cheese with Jalapeno

• Karoun Mediterranean Feta Basket Cheeses:  Kalamata Olives & Thyme, Green Olives, Bell Pepper & Thyme, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Authentic Creamy Feta

• Karoun Hand Braided Sting Cheeses: Olive Oil & Herbs, Original Flavor, with Caraway Seeds, and Natural Hickory Smoked

• Karoun Mediterranean Yogurts: Whole Milk, Low-Fat , and Non-Fat

• Karoun Mediterranean Style Kefir Cheese Labne: Whole Milk and Lite

Yes, I know, that’s a whole lot of cheese but we have a large family! One thing I have learned from trying these products is that “all cheese is NOT created equal”. Karoun cheeses are far superior to what we are used to when it comes to freshness and flavor. You may laugh at this, but the first thing we sampled was the Labne which is a spreadable, all natural yogurt cheese, with live probiotic cultures. It looked a lot like sour cream, so I thought why not try using this to make our onion dip? We go through a lot of chips and onion dip in our house. It was amazing! It is now hard to eat chips and dip made with sour cream. The Labne is so creamy and has a nice tanginess to it. I wish that we had some more to dollop into our butternut squash soup on Thanksgiving!

I absolutely love Feta cheese, and Karoun Feta is no exception. It is totally creamy and delicious. I especially liked the Black Kalamata Olives & Thyme feta. They come in cute little baskets that easily break apart and crumble into bite sized pieces. We used the last of our basil from the garden and made some fresh pesto and whole wheat pasta, sprinkled with Sun-dried Tomato Feta. Yum! I could eat that meal 5 nights a week. Some awesome Greek salads were also enjoyed with our Karoun Feta cheeses.     

I think that I most delighted over the Karoun Hand-Braided String Cheeses. The first one I opened was the Olive Oil and Herbs flavored cheese. I just cut it into pieces and we literally stood at the kitchen counter devouring this cheese until it was gone. I really like how they are hand braided and each one of them has its own unique shape.  The Original flavor was cubed up and mixed into a baked pasta dish, along with some Penne, Ricotta cheese, Italian Sausage and red sauce. It was delicious and even baked I could taste the freshness of the cheese. The Caraway and Hickory Smoked cheeses were both really wonderful and made a great addition to a party tray, along with summer sausage and pepperoni.

Karoun’s Mediterranean Yogurts are delicious. I like knowing that they are made with Grade A dairy, are all-natural and contain probiotic cultures. This Greek yogurt is very creamy and delicious. I tried one of Karoun’s recipes for Mediterranean Yogurt Dip using ¾ cups yogurt, 2 tbsp. chopped mint, 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 1 tbsp. minced garlic, and salt & pepper to taste. What a simple and delightful dip this was and it was perfect with our pita chips, although I am sure it would be equally as good with fresh veggies.

I was most intrigued by the Yanni Grilling Cheese. Normally cheese turns into a hard, burnt mess when it hits the griddle. This is so not the case with Yanni cheese. You actually place the cheese directly on the grill pan or skillet and cook until it forms a golden crust. It’s a deliciously fun twist on a grilled cheese sandwich! We grilled up some slices to serve on top of our salad one evening and it was such a nice addition.   

Karoun Cheeses are so yummy that you just have to try them. Karoun Cheese is available at retailers nationwide. Visit the Karoun Cheese web site to find a store near you.

Disclosure: About A Mom received products in exchange for our honest opinion. All thoughts are 100% our own.