Geotrichum Love

The plate appropriately says Ooo!

Wrinkly, goaty, creamy, and slightly stinky. This is the kind of cheese I want to make, and think there isn't enough of being produced in this country. So thank you Alison Hooper of Vermont Butter & Cheese for making geotrichum beauties like Coupole (pictured), Bonne Bouche, Bijou and Cremont. Yum!

Early Girl meets Cheese

What does an obsessed queso-phile who works in the business of cheese do on their day off? They visit the company they work for's other cheese shop.

The day didn't start out with any plans to visit Cowgirl Creamery's Pt. Reyes Station cheese counter, but it all took a sudden turn while watering the garden that morning. I was drenching the tomatoes when I saw a plump, red globe hanging heavily from its vine. I cupped the ripe fruit and it effortlessly came off in my hand. Instantly my head flooded with visions of white - creamy, rich, milky, stretchy white. Burrata. The Italian gem (dumbfoundingly good, cream infused fresh mozzarella) is now being made stateside, and is great in any application mozzarella is (only much better, says I). While I was excited by my first of the season, fresh from the garden discovery, I was more excited by the cheese I would put with it.

Yes, I drove, on a whim, all the way to Pt. Reyes Station just for cheese.

 Looking across gorgeous Tomales Bay towards Inverness.

Don't mind the shoty photos - had to use a disposable because I left my camera at home. Thanks Fuji.

One of my favorite houses in Pt. Reyes.

Speeding the winding roads of West Marin in my pick-up, windows rolled down, hair still wet, and a Blue's mix on the stereo, I was on a food mission. When I first pulled into the quaint town that looks like the set of a Western film that hippies overtook, I headed straight to Toby's Feed Barn (where produce meets coffee meets yoga meets art studio meets animal feed) to down a double espresso. Fully caffeinated and the heady scent of horse manure filling my nose, I skipped the two blocks to Tomales Bay Foods, the renovated barn that houses Cowgirl's first cheese counter and cantina, and the original creamery (where Red Hawk is born daily).

Tomales Bay Foods

Again, WORST camera ever.

Red Hawk

After chatting the ears off a few employees, I realized I had become sidetracked. I looked around wildly but there was no burrata to be seen. "We're out", one of the mongers informed me. I suddenly sympathized with the disappointment and mild frustration I see in customers when we don't have what they're looking for. So I parted with a ball of fresh mozzarella from Belfiore Cheese Co., and to make up for the fact that I didn't get what I originally wanted, snagged a roast chicken from the cantina.

Back at home I sliced my one precious tomato, plucked some basil from the garden and moved the bird to a plate, then scooted outside to enjoy my mid-July picnic. The salad was simple and fresh, and the Cowgirl cantina makes some of the best eff-ing chicken I've ever had.

 Really, it looked yummier in person...

 

Back at home. Location for my picnic, Top Hat Cafe, i.e. my parents porch.

Even as the bees descended on me I smiled with pleasure at my meal, and had all but forgotten the burrata that started my adventure (or was it the tomato?..) Cheese will take you some interesting places.

Happiness, For Dinner

Bring Your Appetite, Bring Your Spoon

CONUNDRUM update!

 It's gooey, it's runny, it's delectable. It finally has a name. The "A.K.A" cheese I spoke of in my last post has officially hit the shelves at Cowgirl Creamery. Harbison, named after a spunky old lass the Kehler's grew up with, and who now runs the local Inn in Greensboro, is a dream come true.

Need I say more?

Oh wait...

You're welcome.

CONUNDRUM!

The hard working gents at Jasper Hill Farms have done it again... Introducing the newest addition to their cheese lineup, Conundrum! Aka soon to be named something else (this is the name for all their experimental cheeses), aka Mini-Winni-Mo, because it is a smaller hybrid of their bloomy rind Moses Sleeper, and their cult-status Winnimere. The marriage is a happy one.

Conundrum most resembles Winnimere. It has the spruce bark wrap and its top rind is meant to be trimmed back, revealing the unctuous, creamy paste (and then meant to be face planted into). But it is not a washed rind, so it lacks the orange-red brick color of Winni. Instead it is bloomy - all creamy white and fluffy like Moses.

The flavor meets somewhere in the middle too. Think Winnimere for wimps (wimps with great taste). The rich bacon, wood and smoke flavors are muted, but present, and the runny, gooey consistency is the same. It walks a touch on the side of salty, which works well with the meaty flavors. Overall, A+! Cheesemongers everywhere will either be cramming this down customers throats with enthusiasm, or hoarding it all to themselves. My guess is the latter. So keep a keen eye out in your local cheese shop for Conundrum, hopefully appearing in stores soon.

I think I smell another cult classic from Jasper.

Feelin' Blue, What to Do?...

Make pizza!

This baking/cooking hybrid always puts a smile on my face. It' fun, it's easy, and it's delicious. I find that the best ones come from mixing together ingredients already in my fridge (veggies on the verge can be saved when thrown on a pie) and also allows for experimenting with melting cheeses. For those that don't melt, I'm a big fan of shaving them on top once the pizza has come out of the oven. And using the freshest seasonal ingredients makes anything more delicious.

My pizza tonight had baked asparagus and prosciutto drizzled with olive oil. Just before it was done I pulled it from the oven and covered with lemon peel and Bellwether Farm's creme fraiche that I added green garlic and just a squeeze of lemon to. After about 90 more seconds in the oven I took it out for the last time, let it sit for a minute, then sprinkled shaved Fiore Sardo over the top.

My cute, lopsided pie.

 

I love, love, LOVE Fiore Sardo! This cheese can work with almost anything; from pastas and pizzas, to a great companion of cured meats, to salads, to my morning buttered toast. A Sardinian Pecorino (sheep's milk) that's meaty and savory while still subtle, I can't disagree with the islanders for referring to it as "the flower of Sardinia". If there was such a thing as cheese high school, Fiore would win "Most Well Rounded" in the annual.

I don't particularly like to use the word "lovely" when referring to most things, especially those that are edible. It sounds too precious, too delicate, and sometimes even like a cop-out. But I'll have to bite my tongue this time (which I literally did while devouring my creation) because that was exactly what it was. The flavors were bright yet mellow and sung well together. The crust was crunchy, the asparagus crisp, the prosciutto fatty and salty, all dressed in a light garlicy creaminess with a citrus snap. Washed down with a tall can of PBR, my night is looking up.

Pizza's I've made in the past were equally successful, though slightly overdone. This one was underdone by no means, but I would have liked it a touch crisper (I've yet to perfect the timing). Here's a photo from one pizza night not too long ago when I went a little crazy and made three different concoctions. All were delicious and super easy to make. 

Clockwise from top:
Sliced potato with red mustard greens, green garlic and yummy, runny egg. Hot coppa with Fontina and fire roasted tomatoes, garnished with fresh oregano. And last but not least, trumpet mushrooms with home-made gremolata, and Fiore Sardo.

Rind and Reason

Twig Farm Goat Tomme

Everyone has phobias. Fear of the dark. Heights. Arachnophobia. Fear of pickles even (I saw it on the Maury Show once). While some are more serious than others, I think it's safe to assume that the majority of people have rind phobia. Rind qualifies as the outside of cheese, i.e. not the paste, or the yummy stuff everyone wants to eat. It can look a lot of ways, can be formed from a lot of different stuff, and can have a ton of things done to it. The truth is most rinds are edible, save a wax coated Gouda or the strips of cloth on a bandage wrapped cheddar. And lucky for the phobic there are even rind-less cheeses.

It breaks my heart when I hand out samples of Mt. Tam (Cowgirl Creamery's bloomy-rind triple cream) to customers and watch them squish the gooey insides out into their mouth and discard the white, fuzzy casing. To me they just tossed out the best part - a rind that lends a mildly fungal hint to a cheese that otherwise tastes and feels like a pat of room temperature butter in your mouth. And I thought that soft cheese rinds were more approachable? Perhaps it's the often chewy, bitter rinds you find on store bought brie that scares people away. I must have a disapproving look on my face because the offenders often follow with "I can't eat the skin, can I?"

So when people do ask if the rind is edible before they pop a sample in their mouth, this is my advice to them – First, taste the paste. Second, taste the paste with some rind. If the rind enhances the experience of the cheese, Great! If not, don’t eat it. I find that the negative affects often happen with harder, aged cheeses, while I'm fairly certain all (correct me if I’m wrong?) soft ripened cheeses have edible rinds, and greatly improve or at least make more interest out of the inside.

Like I mentioned, most aged cheese has a natural rind, and can border on rugged (think Mimolette) which isn't very appetizing. So I sought out a couple of aged wheels with natural rinds that were dusty and thinner, hoping they would be examples I could point to when working with the rind-phobic. I brought home two: First is Appalachian, a raw cow’s milk cheese hailing from Virginia's Meadow Creek Dairy. Appalachian is visually striking, standing out against round after round of cheese, being that it is a short, wide, powdery white, gray and beige square. When the semi-firm cheese is cut, it reveals a vivid buttercup yellow paste. The second is Goat Tomme from Twig Farm in Vermont. The approximately two pound unpasteurized drum has a rustic, grayish-white, craggy rind, with a bone white interior (give away of goat’s milk). It’s a dwarf among giants. Here's what I found -

Appalachian is a mild cheese with a lot going on. Its got a great fatty texture, and while it's mild and buttery, there are also prominent notes of grasses, wild herbs and flowers. I've even tasted wheels that had a slight anise spice to them (not this one though). The rind is super tasty! Earthy and mildly musty, it complements the high notes in the paste quite well. Awesome on its own, still I can't wait to melt this cheese on a burger.

Goat Tomme from Twig Farm in Vermont is firm and chalky, yet moist. It has tang that is matched by minerality with a slight berry sweetness. The rind lends a powdery-velvet texture to the cool, moist paste, and also a slight cellar taste. This would be a great cheese to incorporate into a cheese plate to add rustic appearance - and delicate, mellow flavors

Both cheeses were winners in the edible rind category, and there are many more, delicious options out there. 'Cause when it comes down to it, rind is just cheese. So go eat some and tell your friends!