Artisan cheeses, Humanely Raised Meats, Select Wines & Beers, and Gourmet Foods

Eden is a raw goat’s milk cheese that is made in the style of a French Pyrenees Tomme and then rubbed with a mixture of grapeseed oil, rosemary and basil. The Pyrenees Tomme style is a rustic farmhouse cheese usually covered in a natural rind and aged a minimum of 60 days. Although this is not one of our biggest sellers due to production limitations in our cheese plant, it is one of our family’s favorite cheeses. Goat cheese and herbs (especially rosemary) are stellar companions, and the Eden is no exception. The Eden is one of the very few cheeses in our portfolio that does not have a natural rind. Instead of the distinctive tan and brown rind of most of our aged cheeses, the Eden has a beautiful green exterior from the dried herbs and a bright white interior. Although our goats are out on grass 365 days a year, goats lack the ability to process beta carotene

The Eden falls into the semi-soft cheese category. Although most of the cheeses in this group are mild (think Havarti, Gouda, Colby, and Monterey Jack), it would be an incorrect assumption to think that these cheeses lack in flavor. The Eden has wonderful notes of grass, earth, herbs, and salt with a little tang on the finish. It can be enjoyed by a wide range of people since it is not overly strong, yet still maintains the goaty characteristics.

What makes this cheese so special?

The Eden is a limited production cheese. This year Jeremy will only make 8 batches with about 30 five to six pound wheels. We can only make the Eden when we have an excess of goat’s milk which is in the late Spring and early Summer. Most of our goat’s milk goes to the production of Fresh Chevre which also has the highest demand of all of our goat’s milk cheeses. Most artisan cheesemakers do not make aged goat’s milk cheeses due to the low yield and longer aging times. It is much more common to find fresh and soft-ripened varieties than a firm, aged cheese made with goat’s milk.

The Eden is also special because it is one of twenty raw milk domestic cheeses to be chosen to represent American raw milk cheeses in the 2007 Slow Food Consortium in Bra, Italy. This was a great honor, and we were ecstatic to have the opportunity to share some of our hard work with thousands of Slow Food supporters from all over the world.

Flavor Profile:

The Eden has some great late spring and early summer grassy, herbal flavors. I immediately taste the basil and rosemary. The goatiness of the cheese is really complimented by these herbal notes. I can taste the earthy and milky notes next. Lastly, the bite finishes with a slight tang.

Aroma and Appearance:

Because this cheese does not have a natural rind, the normal cave-like aroma is missing in the Eden. The smell is more herbal with a slight barnyard smell from the goat’s milk.

The appearance is a stark contrast between the dark green rind and milky white interior. Visually, the Eden would make a great Christmas gift. I wish we were able to make more of this delicious cheese!

Texture:

The Eden has a nice smooth, creamy texture. It is not as creamy as the Georgia Gouda, but traditionally, aged goat’s milk cheeses are much drier and crumblier than cow’s milk cheeses due to the lower fat content. Since the wheels of Eden are vacuum sealed immediately after rubbing the herb mixture on the exterior, the moisture is trapped inside the bag and the cheese stays very moist.

Wine Pairing Options:

This cheese just screams for a dry rosé in my opinion. A beautiful Bandol Rosé would really bring out the delicious herbal flavors of the cheese while the red fruit flavors and chalky minerality of the wine accentuates the intense floral character of both. A dry white wine such as a Sancerre or a Vouvray would be a delightful match as well. If you want to drink a red wine with the Eden, I would suggest a very light bodied red with very low tannins as it would be easy to overwhelm this cheese.

Food Pairing Option:

The Eden is probably best on a cheese plate. It stands up in prepared dishes such as the recipe listed below, but surprisingly it does not melt very well. I would recommend serving it on a platter with some membrillo or other fruit paste, some roasted nuts and crackers. You could use the Eden in many recipes that call for a pecorino–just shave it very thinly with a vegetable peeler.

Storage Tips:

The best way to store the Eden is to wrap the cheese in wax paper and then surround it with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap will ensure that no moisture is lost and the wax paper will keep the cheese from taking on the plastic flavors of the wrap. We have noticed that the longer a cheese is wrapped in saran wrap, the more it will taste like plastic. The best place to store your cheese is in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator as it has the highest humidity. Because there are no mold inhibitors or preservatives in the cheese, you will start to see some mold growth after a week or so. Please just cut off all mold and enjoy!

Featured Recipe:

Recipe Adapted from www.epicurious.com as featured in the August 2006 episode of Bon Appétit magazine

Grilled Peaches with Eden and Prosciutto
Yield: Makes 4 (first-course) servings

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 firm but ripe large peaches, halved, pitted
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 very thin slices pecorino cheese (each about 2×2 inches, shaved with vegetable peeler from large wedge)
4 thin slices prosciutto, halved lengthwise

Spray grill rack with nonstick spray; prepare barbecue (high heat). Brush peach halves with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill peaches until lightly charred, about 2 minutes per side. Place on large plate, skin side down; top each with cheese slice and drape with prosciutto. Serve immediately.

Cyprus

Cyprus is a raw cow’s milk cheese that is mixed with basil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and black olives. This cheese is mild but not uninteresting. It can be used in a large variety of applications from salads, pastas, and sandwiches.

Like the Thomasville Tomme, Cyprus fits into the semi-soft category of cheeses. To create the semi-soft texture, Jeremy will leave the curds larger to retain more moisture. The biggest difference in the procedure between the Tomme and the Cyprus (with the exception of adding the flavoring ingredients) is that after the curds are cut, Jeremy “cooks” or heats the curds up to about 100 degrees. This is help the cheese absorb the salt and other flavors as well as give it a little bit firmer texture. The cheese is only pressed for a very short time to keep the texture elastic and springy yet firm. After the cheeses have been salted with sea salt, we place them in plastic bags and vacuum seal it to inhibit mold growth. Because this is a raw milk cheese, it must be aged for a minimum of 60 days before consumption.

What makes this cheese special?

The Cyprus is special because we only make three flavored cheeses–the others being Eden and Heat. We typically like the more pure flavors of traditional, handmade cheeses, but the quality of the ingredients really sets this particular cheese apart from other flavored, factory-made cheeses. For those of you that have been enjoying our cheeses for many years, you might remember the Mediterranean Feta. My mom made this cheese even before Jeremy and I moved back to the farm. We made three different varieties of feta: pesto, mediterranean, and pepper. Customers just loved this cheese so much that we decided to keep making it, but change the style a little bit. We wanted something a little more creamy and meltable than the feta style. So, in 2007, we changed the procedure and in 2008, we changed the name.

One thing that is unique about the Cyprus is the use of part-skim milk. The Green Hill, double cream cow’s milk similar to a brie, is our most popular cheese. With the growing demand for this higher-fat cheese, we needed to find uses for part-skim milk. The Cyprus is a great option because whatever flavor and richness is lost in lower fat, it is compensated by robust flavors of garlic, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and black olives. Because these flavors are often found in Mediterranean cooking, we wanted to name the cheese after a place in that area of the world.
Jeremy only makes this cheese about once a month. He is able to get about a 12% yield–meaning that for every 100 pounds of milk, he will get about 12 pounds of cheese. From 350 gallons, he makes about 40 six pound wheels of cheese and 3 forty pound blocks.

Flavor Profile:

The first flavor that jumps out at me is the garlic. We order our spices from Frontier Natural Products Co-op in Iowa. The basil adds a great earthy, herbal flavor. The sun-dried tomatoes add a savory and sweet component, whereas the Taggiasca black olives from Italy have a briney and sweet flavor. These olives are the only non-lye cured black olives we could find. In all the other cheeses that we have had in past cheese of the month clubs, the milky, creamy, earthy flavor of the milk was spotlighted. In this particular cheese, the flavors mask the grassy, tangy flavor of the milk. Instead, the body of the cheese is a vehicle for these great Mediterranean flavors.

Aroma and Appearance:

The Cyprus is vacuum sealed so there is not a rind on the outside. You immediately see the off-white, yellowish color of the cheese speckled with dark green basil, red tomatoes, and black olives. The aroma is slightly milky and definitely garlicky.

Texture:

The Cyprus has a pliable and slightly elastic texture. It is firm but still has a little springy or sponge-like feel when squeezed. It will be chewy and firm in your mouth, but as you chew, you will be able to see that it becomes creamy. The lingering flavors on your palate will be the garlic, basil and olives more so than the cheese.

Wine Pairing Options:

Italian red and white wines work so well with this cheese. I love a crisp Pinot Grigio with the Cyprus on a warm summer afternoon. This cheese is great when thinly sliced on top of a salad served with a white Italian wine such as a Garganega (this grape the main varietal in the wines labeled as Soave). On the other hand, this cheese is delicious with a red wine such as a Nero d’Avola or Sangiovese and some sliced, cured meats such as salami, prosciutto, and mortadella. I would stay away from big bodied Italian wines such as Barbera, Amarone, and Valpolicella because either the tannins will overwhelm the cheese or the sweetness of the wine will not be pleasant with the bitter and earthy flavors of the cheese.

Food Pairing Options:

This is a great cheese to serve on an Antipasti platter before a meal. We also love to use it in a cold pasta salad, on a salami sandwich, and grated over pasta. Because of the semi-soft texture, you can even melt this cheese in omelettes, quiches, and casseroles. Grate some over some roasted or grilled asparagus and drizzle with your favorite olive oil for a delicious side dish. You can serve this cheese on a cheese board with some mixed olives and thinly sliced meat such as prosciutto for a great hors d’oeuvres.

Storage Tips:

The best way to store the Cyprus is to wrap the cheese in wax paper and then surround it with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap will ensure that no moisture is lost and the wax paper will keep the cheese from taking on the plastic flavors of the wrap. We have noticed that the longer a cheese is wrapped in saran wrap, the more it will taste like plastic. The best place to store your cheese is in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator as it has the highest humidity. Because there are no mold inhibitors or preservatives in the cheese, you will start to see some mold growth after a week or so. Please just cut off all mold and enjoy!

Featured Recipe:

Recipe adapted from www.epicurious.com as featured in the January 2003 edition of Gourmet Magazine

Antipasto Salad
yield: Makes 8 servings
active time: 20 min
total time: 45 min
Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 45 min (includes cooling onion)

ingredients:
For vinaigrette
3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

For salad
2 cups water
3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium red onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
2 hearts of romaine (12 ounces total), torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 (8-oz) jar roasted red peppers, rinsed, drained, and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick strips
2 (6-oz) jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1 cup assorted brine-cured olives
1 cup drained bottled pepperoncini (5 ounces)
1/2 lb cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz Cyprus cut into 1/2 in cubes
4 oz salami such as Fra’mani Gentile salami cut into small cubes

preparation
Make vinaigrette:?Whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl until combined well.
Make salad:?Bring water, vinegar, sugar, and salt to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then add onion and simmer until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and cool.
Spread romaine on a large platter and scatter with parsley, peppers, artichokes, olives, pepperoncini, tomatoes, onion, cheese and salami. Whisk vinaigrette again and drizzle over salad.
Cooks’ notes:
• Vinaigrette can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
• Onion can be pickled 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Georgia Gouda

Georgia Gouda is a raw cow’s milk cheese that is inspired by a Dutch Gouda. Most of the gouda made in Holland is made with the milk from Holstein cows. Holsteins produce high volumes of milk but very low butterfat. The reason our Georgia Gouda tastes so different is because we use the milk from our Jerseys out on grass. The end result is a very buttery cheese that makes the BEST grilled cheese sandwich in the world.

Traditionally, gouda falls into the semi-hard cheese category. This category can be explained by being not quite as malleable as a firm pillow, but neither are they hard like a handball. Most goudas fall in between which means you should be able to press them and feel some resistance, but not to the point where the cheese won’t budge. When my mom decided to make a gouda style cheese, she saw that it would be a great opportunity to show off our really rich, buttery milk. By pressing and washing the curds during the cheesemaking procedure, we are able to produce a very dense texture while not letting the curds get too acidic. The final product is aged about 60 days and has a semi-soft (very dense) texture and buttery, rich flavor.

I think that this cheese has a very mild and subtle flavor yet it maintains a great balance between protein, fat and salt. This helps the grassy, nutty, buttery, and sweet flavors to all shine. Although mellow in flavor, this cheese has proven to be loved by people of all ages.

What makes this cheese so special?

This cheese is special because you can really taste the unique qualities of our terroir or land. You can try 100 other goudas, but none of them taste quite like what we are making here in south Georgia.

Also, this is a limited production cheese. Jeremy only makes about one batch per month at this time. Each batch yields about 30 wheels weighing about 10-12 pounds each. You will not see this cheese in many other stores. We mainly want to offer it on the website and in our own retail shop at this time.

This cheese is also our best “melter.” We use it in a very wide range of applications such as casseroles, macaroni and cheese, quesadillas, nachos, paninis, and, of course, grilled cheese sandwiches.

Lastly, this cheese is usually children’s absolute favorite out of all of our products. I have yet to meet a kid whom normally likes cheese that doesn’t enjoy the Georgia Gouda. I think that our kids would eat it everyday if we let them.

Flavor Profile:

The Georgia Gouda has a slightly milky and nutty flavor at first. As you chew, the initial flavors mellow into buttery taste. You will also taste a hint of the earthiness or cave-like flavors from the natural rind. This is also a unique characteristic in our gouda because most others are either vacuum sealed or waxed to prevent mold growth.

Aroma and Appearance:

The Georgia Gouda has a light tan or brown rind on the exterior of the wheel. The interior paste of the cheese is bright golden yellow from the beta carotene in the grass from the pastures that the cows eat. The aroma is slightly cave-like from the natural rind, but the actual cheese smells earthy and slightly sweet.

Texture:

This cheese has a very soft and pliable texture. You can see how dense the curds are by squeezing or pressing the cheese–it has a sponge-like texture. It is very pliable and soft. The texture softens even more as you eat it providing a creamy, smooth mouthfeel while maintaining the body or density of the cheese.

Wine Pairing Options:

The Georgia Gouda has many wine pairing options. Because it is so well balanced, you can pair it with a Chenin Blanc or Vouvray from the Loire Valley of France to highlight the sweetness or pair it with a Pinot Blanc from Oregon to show off the grassy and nutty characteristics. It might be a little hard to pair a red wine with the Gouda because of the delicate and mellow flavor, but a fruit forward, low tannin wine could be a suitable match. Try a Californian or Oregonian Pinot Noir. My favorite pairing in the summer would be a dry rose with the Georgia Gouda. We’ve been enjoying the Elyse Rose from Napa Valley, California.

Food Pairing Option:

The opportunities are endless with this cheese. Try it on burgers, eggs, fondue, gratins and vegetable casseroles, grilled cheese, quesadillas, sandwiches, grilled vegetables and cheese courses. I like to serve fig spread, dates, roasted pecans or almonds, or fig almond cake with this cheese when we are entertaining.

Storage Tips:

The best way to store the Georgia Gouda is to wrap the cheese in wax paper and then surround it with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap will ensure that no moisture is lost and the wax paper will keep the cheese from taking on the plastic flavors of the wrap. We have noticed that the longer a cheese is wrapped in saran wrap, the more it will taste like plastic. The best place to store your cheese is in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator as it has the highest humidity. Because there are no mold inhibitors or preservatives in the cheese, you will start to see some mold growth after a week or so. Please just cut off all mold and enjoy!

Featured Recipe:

Recipe Adapted from www.epicurious.com as featured in the March 2005 episode of Bon Appétit magazine

Grilled Ham and Gouda Sandwiches with Frisée and Caramelized Onions
Yield: Makes 2 servings

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced

Unsalted butter, room temperature
4 1/3-inch-thick slices country white bread or sourdough bread
4 ounces thinly sliced smoked ham, divided
3 ounces Georgia Gouda cheese, thinly sliced, divided
2 large handfuls frisée, torn into bite-size pieces (about 1 cup), divided

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until onion is very tender and golden, stirring frequently, about 25 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. Cool slightly.
Butter 2 bread slices. Place bread, buttered side down, on platter. Divide onion, ham, cheese, and frisée between bread slices. Top each with another bread slice; butter top slices.
Heat another large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sandwiches and cook until bread is golden brown and cheese melts, pressing occasionally with spatula, about 4 minutes per side. Cut sandwiches in half diagonally and serve immediately.

Jonesy Tawny Port $15 750 ml

A sensational value wine made by respected Trevor Jones in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. This dessert wine is a blend averaging 46 years in age with a light to medium ruby color. Flavors of caramel, butterscotch, maple syrup, hazelnuts, raisins with a distinct earthiness on the palate. Aromas of roasted marshmallows and caramel on the nose with a nice, long finish. At this price point, it simply blows the competition away while offering plenty of pleasure. With the higher alcohol content (18%), you only need a little for a perfect pairing with our double cream cow’s milk cheese, Green Hill. Can keep up to a month if stored in your refrigerator. Number 70 on the Wine.com top 100 wines of 2007.

Green Hill $9 each

Green Hill is our pasteurized, soft-ripened, cow’s milk cheese. A Camembert-style, bloomy-rinded cheese, Green Hill is the shining star of the Sweet Grass Dairy line. We have received numerous awards for this cheese including two first place finishes at the American Cheese Society Annual Competitions in 2007 and 2008. Our success is rooted in our grass-based milk. Our artisan modes of production and use of double cream milk yield a thin rind with a rich, unctuous paste and a sweet, buttery flavor.

The Tasting Notes of the Pairing

This is the perfect answer to either offering a cheese course or dessert course at your next dinner party. The sweet and bold caramel flavors of the port will fulfill anyone that has to finish on a dessert note, and the creamy, buttery flavors of the Green Hill will satisfy anyone that loves a good cheese course. Neither one of these overpowers the other, but both allow the other to shine. The earthiness in the Jonesy is really accented by the grassy flavors in the Green Hill. As a food columnist in Chicago pointed out, this pairing is like snuggling up with your softest blanket in your favorite chair in front of a fire. It’s all about comfort!

Come to the Marketplace to taste our most popular cheese Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm.

Happy New Year! We are starting off this year with a resolution to write regular posts on our blog. This should not be hard as I love to talk (write) and spread the word about things that I am most passionate about–FOOD! This week I would like to brag a little bit about my newest obsession: Dreaming Cow Creamery Yogurt. Made by my brother and sister-in-law, Kyle and Janelle Wehner, in Pavo, this all natural product has no stabilizers, no additives, and is non-homogonized. My three sons and I just cannot get enough of the velvety texture and tangy, sweet flavor. We’ve been eating it with Hot Bread Kitchen’s Granola for breakfast and snack on a regular basis. Besides the flavor, the best part is that it is made with grass based milk from my parents’ dairy. Grass based dairy has also been shown to have higher levels of conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) as well as Vitamin A, Beta Carotene and Omega-3s.

So, come into the Marketplace and taste their three flavors–Natural, Vanilla Agave, and Honey–to see which one you like the best.
$1.50 each
Week Pack: 5 for $7.00

Hope you have a wonderful week!
Jessica

The above quote, by Victorian economist and journalist Walter Bagehot, perhaps surmises the mentality of the British that led them to create Cheddar. Good things don’t come easy and that includes Cheddar. I only can imagine that the methods to make Cheddar were the ego-driven work of a nasty bet between a Frenchman and a Brit. Maybe the Frenchman taunted the Brit that he could not make a cheese to rival those of the Franks. Whatever the circumstances, the British rose to the challenge and created a cheese that is both ubiquitous and foreign to us Americans. Cheddar is certainly the most familiar of cheeses for Americans, but those orange shrink-wrapped blocks are so far removed from what the British call Cheddar. The real thing more closely resembles Parmigiano-Reggiano and in guidelines set forth by Neal’s Yard Dairy in England, there are requirements to what can be called “Cheddar.” Those requirements are that raw milk be used, traditional (veal) rennet is used to set the milk, the curd is hand-milled, and the cheeses are cloth-wrapped or “bandaged.” It also requires that Cheddar be made in Somerset County, but we’ll skip that one.
I had my first opportunity to make Cheddar last week when we realized we needed a batch of Clayburne (our Cheddar) for our Christmas boxes (when things need to age for several months, it’s hard not to think of the holidays months in advance). I had been threatened with this prospect since I began my apprenticeship a year ago. “Oh just wait until we make Clayburne…” Jeremy would say. Feliciano would shudder at it’s mention. Could it be that bad? Yes and no. Having made it now, I can see why we only make this once a year. In order for us to make Clayburne, we go through all the normal processes- culturing, renneting, cutting, stirring and where we would normally begin molding- we decided to extend the cheesemaking process for about two hours. First difference was that we drained all the whey out of the vat and pushed the curd up to the sides of the vat. After the acidity reached a certain point, we divided the curd into even slabs and began the cheddaring process. Cheddaring is the act of stacking the curd slabs onto each other so they continue to press whey out of the curd. Again we waited for the acidity to drop and once it hit its mark, we began to mill the curd. This is the crazy part and what distinguishes the good from the bad. There are machines that mill and make life easier, but they also make tasteless cheese. We choose to hand-mill, possibly because we don’t possess the milling machine, but more likely because we have some reverence for the way they did it in the olde days. Milling is basically taking the huge cheddared slabs and cutting them up into 3/4 inch cubes. After the curd is milled, it is salted and we get a delicious little snack of fresh cheese curds before we shovel the curd into bandaged molds. The bandages are there to keep the mold off the cheese. The process is finally wrapped up when we toss the finished molds onto the press for 72 hours! This is significant- most of our cheeses hang out on the press for a few hours max.

Speaking of wrapping things up. Tomorrow is my last day at the dairy. I’m moving to New York City to get a taste for the flip-side of the business, working for Saxelby Cheesemongers. Before I do that though, I’m headed off to the 25th American Cheese Society Conference where hopefully Sweet Grass will sweep up the competition. We have entered a bounty of cheeses to be judged and I’m confident we have some winners, for which I’ve played a part. Regardless of the outcome, I’ve taken great pleasure at the opportunity to have had this apprenticeship. Many people thought I was crazy to leave Chicago for Southern Georgia to make cheese and a great many more thought I wouldn’t be able to hack it. More than all the things I’ve learned about cheese and farming, the most important thing I’m taking away from this experience is that you can do anything if you want it badly enough. To quote another Brit, Winston Churchill once said “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Sweet Grass is a testament to this philosophy. We’ve had our share of our difficulties this year- here’s to hoping for a sweet finish in Chicago!

A lot of food bloggers have posted in recent days, annoyed with an article that appeared in the New York Times by Kim Severson about recipe “deal breakers.” A deal breaker can be a technique, ingredient, or tool that can cause you such frustration that you give up all hope and order take-out Chinese instead. Severson cited obvious deal breakers from recipes that required “wild boar from hills surrounding Sante Fe,” “48 tender young grapevine leaves,” and “fillet and butterfly 12 4-inch anchovies.” But she also spoke with so-called cooks who won’t truss chickens, deep-fry- or char bell peppers. Come on, I can find any excuse to deep-fry. All I’m going to say is that a recipe is a guideline and can be manipulated to accommodate obscure ingredients, level of skill, and lack of proper equipment. EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF MAKING CHEESE! A recipe must be followed as written- the slightest deviation can yield a totally different product. This is why I spent 9 hours last Monday making haloumi.
It happened so innocently. “Wouldn’t it be great if we made haloumi?” I said to Jeremy, “it’s summer, time for grilling, we could sell it for Fourth of July.” “Sure, you can make haloumi if you want,” he responded with a look on his face that yelled SUCKER! I had no idea what I was getting into. The recipe seemed simple enough. I would first pasteurize, then culture, set with rennet, cut, stir, mold, press, press again, cut large blocks up into small 3 inch squares, reheat reserved whey to 180 degrees, cook squares in whey for 1 hour until they floated, pull cheese out of steaming hot whey bath and set out on draining table to cool for 20 minutes, then sprinkle with salt, and brine the following morning! Got all that? Everything was going great until I had to fish roughly 50 pounds of haloumi out of the extremely hot whey with a colander you might use for draining pasta. Obviously I am missing some proper equipment. What the recipe neglected to let me know is that I would need an electric pressure washer, an extremely caustic soap, and a hell of a lot of elbow grease to clean the tank after all was said and done. When I reheated the whey, albumin proteins coagulated making ricotta, which was a sweet bonus, but it also melted to the sides of the cheese vat. Jeremy walked in at this point to find me muttering all kinds of profanities under my breath as I wielded the pressure washer like some kind of vigilante cheesemaker. “If I ever suggest we make haloumi again, remind me of this moment,” I said. However, I had yet to taste my wares. A few days later I hauled my charcoal grill and some haloumi to the Lake Ella Farmer’s Market where I grilled up some skewers with delicious tomatoes from Turkey Hill Farm. Amazing!
So was making haloumi a deal breaker after all? No. I definately don’t want to make this all the time, but that’s probably why this tastes so good. All of the steps were necessary to yield the end product, which was delicious and worth all the sweat, cursing and extra scrubbing. Sometimes the deal breaker can actually be the deal maker!

Aaah! There is nothing like waking up early on Sunday morning and scraping mold off the rinds of blue cheese! But duty calls and this batch of Asher Blue is perfect at two months and it needs a little extra care to stay that way. Making a great blue cheese has been a goal of Jeremy and I’s since I got here and not to say it’s been difficult so much as confusing. For the longest time we had problems developing the characteristic blue veins. Some batches turned out and some grew other things inside where the holes were pierced. We’ve especially had a problem with a pesky surface mold, Geotrichum Candidum. It’s no suprise that it’s lurking in our cheese room, we utilize it for our bloomy rind cheese like Lumiere and Green Hill. But we certainly don’t want it in our Asher Blue for a simple reason. Geotrichum Candidum, like other surface molds has a short life and begins to break down after a month or two, depending on conditions in the environment such as temperature and humidity. Once G. Candidum starts to break down, the white bloomy rind turns orange and produces aromas of ammonia. Needless to say, not very appetizing and with this in mind, is why we eat cheeses like Brie and Camembert after a few weeks instead of a few months. To make a long story short, blue cheese requires a longer ripening time- usually 4 months, so to have something growing inside that is going to break down and produce acrid flavors before said product is ready is problematic. But as I said before, some batches turned out and some didn’t. There are other factors at stake! One is the cooler we store the cheeses in. We have multiple coolers, they are old refrigeration truck bodies we converted into “caves.” It struck me a while back that cheeses coming out of cooler #5 were more prone to having G. Canidum than cheeses from cooler #3. Mind you, the answer is a hunch because I have no way to actually prove this. Cooler #5 used to house our bloomy-rind cheeses and my guess is that it has inoculated itself into the environment. Cooler #3 has only housed big wheels, none of which utilize G. Candidum and thus Asher Blue is safe in this environment. It’s strange to think although the coolers are maybe 15 feet apart, they are two totally seperate environments with their own diverse mixture of molds, funghi and yeasts. If you are more curious about this subject, I recommend you rent The Cheese Nun, available through Netflix. Sister Noella Marcellino is a Geotrichum Candidum nut, having spent two years roaming France and studying the biodiveristy of the G. Canidum strain! The film culminates with a trip to the American Cheese Society’s Annual Competition, which is where we are headed in July. This particular batch of Asher Blue will be in tow, as will Titan and our heavy hitter, Green Hill. Here’s to hoping for a big win! And a last side note, if you are itching for another food blog, please check out http://anicca3.blogspot.com/. John Bowers is as passionate about BBQ as I am about cheese and I sent him some a while back, so check regularly to see what he comes up with! Also, be on the lookout for a post about the trials and triumphs of making Haloumi!

Sorry folks for dropping the ball on the washed-rind cheese. What can I say? Time flies when your making cheese. When I left ya’ll last time, I was heading off to Atlanta to dish up some cheese at the 16th annual High Museum Wine Auction. We were fortunate enough to pair our dishes (Gougeres, Roasted Beets with Fresh Chevre, and Toast and Fig Preserves with Green Hill) with wine from Garretson Wine Company in Paso Robles, CA. The wine maker, Mat Garretson, is a super nice guy and was very generous with his pours at the wine auction, so if you are looking for wine to pair with our cheeses- check out http://www.garretsonwines.com. Here’s a picture of our table…

It’s difficult returning to the dairy after hanging out at wine auctions and all, there’s always so much catching up to do and it’s hard returning to those early mornings! But there are always things to look forward to, like a blue showing the first signs of P. Roqueforti…

or young, eager, cheese makers-to-be…

or impromptu cheese tastings with the SGD crew…

and then of course there was our Spring Market Day on April 26th, which required weeks of preparation and of which there are no pictures because everyone is so busy running around trying to fill the demands for thousands of pounds of cheese!

So, you see, I’ve been busy, but I did not forget about TITAN- my washed-rind cheese. It turned out great, nice salt, buttery texture and putrid odour that could clear a room!

I’ve made another batch since the first post and I’ve tweaked the texture a bit so that the cheese oozes when you cut into it. Anyway, we shipped the first one off to Applewood Restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. For more info, check http://www.applewoodny.com/

Well, first and foremost, I nailed down the recipe for the washed-rind cheese and they took their first dip in a beer bath the other day…
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The choice to make a washed-rind cheese was an easy one. Having spent many a years living in Wisconsin, it was a state requirement that I love both cheese and beer! It was only natural that my love of these two things would lead me to unite them in casein bliss! I may be jumping ahead of the game here. Why, might you ask, am I washing cheese in beer? The primary culture of washed-rind cheeses is Brevibacterium linens or simply B. linens. It is an orange growth on the outside of cheeses such as Munster, Epoisses, and Livarot and it stinks! As far as cheese cultures go, B. linens is a prima donna and while the star of the washed-rind show, needs a supporting cast to really bring the house down (or make it stink). She needs a neutral PH to thrive and yeasts, which breakdown proteins and subsequently decrease acidity help her to shine. Yeasts are what Pavarotti was to Renata Scotto (a quintessential prima donna) in il Lombardi. Lombardy is ironically the home to Taleggio cheese. OK, if I haven’t lost you yet with the opera/cheese analogies, I’ll get back on track. Yeasts are not something we generally try to encourage in the cheese room, so the yeast needed for our stinky cheese must come from somewhere else. Beer, which the cheesemaker has an abundance of (at least this one does) is the natural choice. I chose Ayinger’s Celebrator because it is a bock beer. Bock in German, roughly translates to billy goat and I thought I’d really drive home the point that this is a goat cheese. Bock beer’s are typically dark with lots of sweet malt, chocolate and dark bread. How these beers became named after billy goats is a mystery to me, but I plan to name this cheese TITAN after our beloved billy goat whose own stench gives washed-rind cheeses a run for their money
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