Yours in Cheese

prolix21: finished dropout (by prolix.21) making a bike Dan is...

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:10:17 -0500

finished dropout (by prolix.21)

making a bike

Dan is taking two weeks off of his job to learn how to build bikes. From scratch. FROM. SCRATCH. I am crazy proud of him and just so, so impressed by his talent and dedication to learning everything there is about his deal — bikes.

If you’re into people taking what they have and investing it in their passions, you should probably follow him too. He’s pretty great.

Second Blog Syndrome. It’s a thing. I swore it wouldn’t happen here and yet, here we...

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:27:00 -0500

Second Blog Syndrome. It’s a thing. I swore it wouldn’t happen here and yet, here we are. Intermittent posts of no consequence, serving only as a reminder that this site exists.

So. Here’s why that’s happening.

I quit my job. No, not the awesome one. The other one. I dove head-first into a full-time schedule at Pastoral, which is as great as you might think. And more exhausting than you might think. After 13 years of sitting at a desk, being on your feet for 10 hours a day is no easy feat. Every day I’m better at my job. I’m more knowledgeable, more skilled, and hobble home less and less. It’s progress. I’ll take it.

I’m flying to NYC tomorrow to attend a three day class put on by Murray’s. I haven’t been to NYC in 3 or 4 years. Being back there plus three days of cheese learning, a fantastic hostess, and the chance to meet my Fairy Cheesemother in person, and you probably understand now why I’m writing this instead of packing or sleeping.

As I get into the rhythm of this new life I will find more time to post. This isn’t supposed to be about just cheese, but about my journey to learn everything I can about cheese. I need to do a better job of that. I will do a better job of that.

Thanks for standing by while I work out the kinks. You’re awesome. I love you. And you look great in that shirt.

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

Three cheese and shaved asparagus pizza

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:19:04 -0500

objectionsalad:

Longtime readers will know that I’ve been practicing my pizza for a long time. Tonight, inspired by Smitten Kitchen, I unexpectedly made my best one yet: three cheese, shaved aspargus, and spring onion (that’s green onions to you USAians).

As before, I’m still using the Cook’s Illustrated NY pizza dough, although I’ve moved on to using Italian 00 pasta flour instead of bread flour now. I find this gives me a more pliable dough that’s easier to stretch and shape. I’m remarkably bad at getting the dough to anything vaguely approaching circular so that’s a good thing in my book.

I made this more-or-less according to the Smitten Kitchen method. I dotted the bare pizza crust with goat’s cheese…

…and mozzarella…

…and Parmigiano-Reggiano:

I deliberately chose to chop, rather than grate, the first two cheeses. I prefer my pizzas to have a less homogenous texture than that provided by an even pillow of grated cheese. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

Next, I took my asparagus. Using a swivel peeler, I shaved each stalk down into ribbons — leaving the woody bit at the bottom of the stalk as a handle. I tossed these ribbons with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a pinch or two of red pepper flakes. I sprinkled these over the pizza…

…and baked at a really high temperature on a preheated pizza stone for 12-15 minutes or so.

When it came out, I sprinkled with finely sliced spring (green) onions…

…and there it is!

It’s pizza, so the quantities don’t matter very much, but for the record I used:

one-half the dough in the recipe I linked to above (so, 235 g of flour); stretched out to a 12” (almost) round

about 40 g goat’s cheese, crumbled

about 60 g mozzarella, cubed

about 20 g Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated

about 200 g asparagus — 8 or so stalks, shaved

two spring (green) onions, finely sliced

I was utterly unprepared for how delicious this was. Truth be told, I made it mostly because I had asparagus to use up. I thought it would be decent but I wasn’t expecting it to be so delightful. Plus, it tastes like Spring from beginning to end, and here in Wales we’re currently basking in sunshine after a week of solid rain. That probably helped my mood as I bit into it, too.

I served this with… Well, I’d love to confess we ate it with a side salad or something healthy like that. But in fact, I served it with another pizza! Specifically, Iberian ham and Portobello mushroom:

This was also good, although less good than the asparagus (sorry, noble Iberian pigs!)

For the tomato sauce, I tried a new recipe from Serious Eats; it came out better than the one I’ve used previously. I cut the sugar to half a teaspoon and added a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. I like the extra depth of flavour the vinegar gives it. I found two UK tins of tomatoes (400 g each) made enough sauce for four 12” pizzas.

I was particularly pleased with how the crust turned out today:

Bon appetit!

(Thanks, as ever, to my long-suffering wife Danielle for pictures and help. —Rich)

Hot damn. I’m definitely giving this a go. We have some great fresh chevre and fresh mozzarella in right now.

Yours in hot melty cheese,

LInds

wisconsincheese: A pairing for the daily grind, inspired by...

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:06:08 -0500

wisconsincheese:

A pairing for the daily grind, inspired by Cheese Cupid Cinema. (via Wisconsin Cheese Talk)

Raspberry Bellavitano is a great Wisconsin cheese. The rind is washed in a New Glarus raspberry beer. The resulting flavor is nuanced, soft berry notes that work with the cheese rather than overpowering it. A great snacking cheese. Yours in beer-washed cheese, Linds

A joke, courtesy of a coworker.

Sat, 05 May 2012 22:10:54 -0500

Q: What do you call a dry-aged ham that spends too much time at his fraternity?

A. Brosciutto.

Murray's Cheese: Murray's brings in Tia Keenan for new venture

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:26:35 -0500

Murray's Cheese: Murray's brings in Tia Keenan for new venture:

cheesenotes:

More information about Murray’s long-rumored (and now confirmed) Cheese-focused restaurant, and it’s very promising. Eater.com reports that Tia Keenan (on Twitter as @KaseKaiserina), formerly head cheese at Casellula, will be Director of Food Service and bringing her…

Hey guys? My Fairy Cheesemother is pretty rad.

The meaning of life.

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:20:58 -0500

2nd Annual Pastoral Artisan Producer Festival - Artisan Festival Guest List

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:56:00 -0500

2nd Annual Pastoral Artisan Producer Festival - Artisan Festival Guest List:

If you’re in the Chicagoland area next Saturday and don’t stop by the Chicago French Market for the 2nd Annual Pastoral Artisan Producer Festival then you are just crazy.

Here’s a list of the cheese producers. Don’t even get me started on the beer, wine, spirits, charcuterie and other producers.

Beecher’s Handmade Cheese (Washington)
Beehive Cheese Co. (Utah)
Capriole Farmstead Goat Cheese (Indiana)
Columbia Cheese (New York)
Cypress Grove Chevre (California)
Forever Cheese (Mediterranean)
Frisian Farms (Iowa)
Cellars at Jasper Hill (Vermont)
Holland’s Family Cheese (Wisconsin)
Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese (Kentucky)
LaClare Family Farm (Wisconsin)
Marcoot Jersey Creamery (Illinois)
Milton Creamery (Iowa)
Neal’s Yard Dairy (London)
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company (California)
Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery (Illinois)
Rogue Creamery (Oregon)
Sartori Cheese (Wisconsin)
Saxon Homestead Creamery (Wisconsin)
Seymour Dairy (Wisconsin)
Spring Brook Farm (Vermont)
Uplands Cheese Company (Wisconsin)
Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery (Vermont)
Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Co-Op (Wisconsin)
Zingerman’s Creamery (Michigan)

cheesenotes: Bent River Camembert, from the Alemar Cheese...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:56:31 -0500

cheesenotes:

Bent River Camembert, from the Alemar Cheese Company in Minnesota, is a cheese I’ve been on the prowl after for a while. I was curious to try this cheese after reading Janet Fletcher’s review in the San Francisco Chronicle, but the last time I went looking for it, Lucy’s Whey had already sold out and I couldn’t find it at any of the other cheese mongers in town. Lucy’s Whey recently tweeted that they had some, so I finally got my hands on a half wheel.

Keith Adams, the maker behind Bent River, came to cheese making after years in the bagel business and prior to that as a stockbroker in San Francisco. Although a relative newcomer, he’s obviously a quick study (you can read more about him here, from Minnesota Public Radio). This soft-ripened bloomy rind, inspired by the traditional Camembert de Normandie, is made from the milk of a local farm and a mix of Holstein, Normandy, Jersey, and Guernsey cows.

With a luxuriant, velvety paste, buttery and smooth, in flavor it is milky and barnyardy but in a very subtle way, reminiscent of damp hay after a rain, with herbacous and floral hints and a full, mushroomy body.

It took a while to get my hands on, but it was well worth the wait. Definitely a cheese to seek out.

Purchased at Lucy’s Whey.

Added to queue.

Great prices on Brooklyn Slate’s cheese slates on Fab.com...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:43:21 -0500

Great prices on Brooklyn Slate’s cheese slates on Fab.com right now.

would you reccomend buying quality cheese at the grocery store or at some special retailer?

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:28:00 -0500

There are two things you should look for when buying cheese. One, how knowledgeable is the staff? And two, how well is the cheese cared for? You’ll find that in most cases the answer to the first question predicts the answer to the second.

Knowledgeable staff will make sure you have a good experience, will point you in the right direction when making decisions or trying new things, and are a good indicator of how well the products are cared for.

Look for cheese that is kept in wheels. You want a retailer who will cut your cheese from the wheel rather than sell it pre-cut and individually wrapped and stored in a cooler for god-knows-how-long. Do you see water droplets in the plastic wrap? Is the date on the wrap is more than a few days old? Does the cheese has a hard plasticy sheen on it? These are all signs that the cheese hasn’t been cared for and will not be at its best.

Once a cheese is cut and exposed to the air it begins to lose moisture, and flavors and texture start to deteriorate from peak form. This is especially true in softer cheeses, whereas hard cheeses like parmesan and pecorino have low moisture content to begin with, thus a longer shelf-life.

You may live in an area where this isn’t an option, and that’s ok. Ultimately the selection, availability and convenience of the store will influence your decision.

If you’re only option is to purchase pre-wrapped cheese you are not without hope. You can help your cheese by wrapping it in waxed paper and storing it in the crisper drawer of your fridge. You won’t regain freshness or undo any aging, but it very well could lengthen it’s life a bit.

I hope this helps!

Yours in Cheese,

Lindsay

mimieats: Fried Cheese Curds from Sable Kitchen (Chicago,...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:07:15 -0500

mimieats:

Fried Cheese Curds from Sable Kitchen (Chicago, IL)

Richard, Danielle and I enjoyed these over cocktails when they were here in January. Sable’s Fried Cheese Curds are delicious and the presentation couldn’t be cuter. Teeny tiny fry basket, y’all!

Yours in Fried Cheese,
Linds

The best cheese I put in my mouth, week of 3/31 When you...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:34:00 -0500

The best cheese I put in my mouth, week of 3/31

When you consider how many elements must align for a cheese to just be good you would wonder how we get any good cheese at all. Pasture conditions, animal health, milk quality, aging conditions - everything has to be perfect to result in a quality cheese product.

Now imagine what has to happen for it to be exceptional.

The wheels of Dante we have in the case right now are ah.may.zing. I don’t know what those sheep got into six months ago, but I hope they find it again and often.

Dante is a seasonal sheep’s milk cheese made by the Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Cooperative. Member farms milk their pasture-fed sheep seasonally, February through September. Cedar Grove Cheese takes it from there, pasteurizing the milk and forming and aging the cheese to perfection.

My co-worker likes to say that Dante is the only cheese he’s successfully paired with coffee. Aged around 6 months, the texture is firm without being grainy or crumbly. The nuttiness comes across as roasted hazelnuts, the sweetness as almost-burnt caramel. Aged at least 6 months, the cheese is firm with a rich mouth-feel. The wheels we have now have just the smallest amount of blue mold running through it, giving it an extra bite that wasn’t present in the last wheel.

If I had to describe Dante in three words? Don Draper’s manchego. This cheese would be fantastic at a cocktail party. Manhattans and martinis, canapes and mini-quiches, Dante and olives. Sounds like heaven to me.

atothelice: Cheese shot at Beecher’s in Seattle. Their cheese...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:58:28 -0500

atothelice:

Cheese shot at Beecher’s in Seattle. Their cheese dishes are incredible!

I want to go to there.

sistacrumpet: The LAMBCAM is on! For the next 12 days, you can...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:04:58 -0500

sistacrumpet:

The LAMBCAM is on!

For the next 12 days, you can follow @causeyfarm on Twitter and then tune in to their LambCam to see live lambing.

Spring is just the best.

I just signed up for a 3 day cheese boot camp in May. I...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:20:00 -0500

I just signed up for a 3 day cheese boot camp in May. I can’t freaking wait.

(via Cheese classes and cheese events in NYC)

I measure success by the number of times people roll their eyes into the back of their heads.

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 20:20:00 -0500

I can’t think of a better KPI.

Also, when people say something like “I don’t like gouda,” or, “I don’t like blue cheese,” I immediately go into Barney Stinson CHALLENGE ACCEPTED mode. I will not let you walk out the door until you’ve tasted a cheese that meets the qualities you do like but in the type you think you don’t like.

Today, two blue cheese haters left with a combined total of .5 pounds of blue cheese.

Oh, and I got to taste 4-day old fresh goat cheese from a farm two hours away. It. Was. Ridiculous.

Love in Cheese,

Lindsay

PS: I can’t feel my feet right now and I still smell like cheese after sitting in the bath for 30 minutes but that’s ok I still love my job and everything about it.

foodjoy: Pure Luck Chèvre, Anaheim Chili Oh. Oh, my. You and...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:30:29 -0500

foodjoy:

Pure Luck Chèvre, Anaheim Chili

Oh. Oh, my. You and some honey and just get in my mouth already.

Grilled Cheese Donut

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:12:49 -0500

Grilled Cheese Donut:

cheesenotes:

Via SlyOyster, the Grilled Cheese Donut:

At the Tom + Chee cafes in Cincinnati, Ohio, grilled cheese donut sammys are on the menu. The grilled cheese has become something of a bohemian, fancy food item in the last few years, which is fine by us. However, there’s nothing quite like a grilled cheese with Wonder Bread and gooey orange American cheese, right? Swapping out the white bread for puffy, glazed donut deliciousness is either a stroke of genius or madness. Probably both.

Perhaps even more impressive than the existence of this sammy is that the menu items are so affordable at Tom + Chee. If this existed at a NYC restaurant it would probably sell for a lot more than $4. [via laughingsquid]

Wait what

How many years of cheese expertise do you need before you refer to cutting the cheese without giggling?

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:12:20 -0500

Hopefully I’ll never stop. At least on the inside.