Cheese Made The Old Way

Americans have always consumed a lot of cheese: on cheeseburgers, in grilled cheese sandwiches, in macaroni and cheese and tuna melts, on pasta and pizza and in salad. Recently, they are discovering cheese as a gourmet item. Michael Lomonaco, head chef at New York's Windows On The World restaurant, joined CBS News This Morning to share his favorite American cheeses and to offer tips on what to serve with them.

American cheese makers are now joining their European counterparts as producers of some of the finest gourmet selections, the so-called "artisanal" cheeses. These are made by hand from a single milk source and aged with patience to ensure their quality. The end result is intense flavor.

In the past, the finest restaurants would serve only European cheeses. Now, domestic cheeses are being offered as well. While the trend can be compared to the crazes for gourmet coffee and home brewed beer, these are not elitist items, they're affordable American food.

Lomonaco's selections:

Serve with: Peaches, nectarines and thin ginger cookies

Fun Facts: Maytag Blue Cheese is made on the Maytag farm in Newton, Iowa, owned by the same family that makes Maytag appliances. Each wheel is handmade from milk produced by cows on the farm. It is aged for six months, twice as long as most commercially produced American blue cheese, in cellars carved into the side of a hill on the farm. Made since 1941, Maytag blue has established itself as the American blue cheese.

Serve with: Dried fruits and nuts like figs, apricots, walnuts, hazlenuts and almonds

Fun facts: The Aurricchio family started their cheese company in Naples, Italy in 1877. In 1979, the family decided it would make sense to produce their cheese in the United States. It is now considered to be an American culinary treasure.

Serve with: Sliced sausage, cornichones (small pickles)

Fun facts: They've been making it the same way since 1890, in small batches with a long aging process to guarantee flavor.

Serve with: Apples and walnuts

Fun facts: Crowley Colby is made by hand at one of America's oldest cheese making facilities. The founder made his first cheese in 1882 and his recipe has remained unchanged since. Crowley melts beautfully in cooking, making it the perfect primary ingredient for good old macaroni and cheese.

Serve with: Assorted olives and balsamic vinegar

Fun Facts: In 1931, the Vella family decided to make Jack, a cheese already famous in northern California. But they took it a step further, aging some of it to appeal to the influx of Italian immigrants there. The result was Dry Jack, a round-sided flat-bottomed wheel. It's eaten alone or grated over pasta, soups, salads, or stews.

Serve with: Seasonal berries like strawberries, cherries and apricots.

Fun facts: Franklin Peluso and his ancestors have been turning out Peluso's Teleme for more than 80 years. Based on a Cretan goat cheese, Teleme's originators emigrated to northern California and eventually produced a cheese resembling one from the old country.

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