This is an excellent 8 minute video of one of my curd nerd heroes, Max McCalman. He is a wealth of knowledge and a passionate advocate of all things cheese. At the end of this clip, you get to see him in action preparing a beautiful cheese plate. A master at work!
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Chevre-Tastic Finally, I myself with my own two hands made actual edible cheese that I was proud to serve. This time around, my friends won’t be guilted into trying it with grimacing smiles as they choke down rubbery mozzarella...I think I’ve found my cheesemaking calling...chevre. I taught a class on cheese making at work so I thought I’d try again and bring it in provided it was edible. Of course it wasn't until afterwards that I thought of serving my customers a product that I made myself and not in a registered facility (gasp!), approved by our store (double gasp!) blah, blah, blah big box store liabilities...I did it anyway. I was fully prepared to have the cheese fail, which in some weird cosmic way, I think had something to do with the fact that it actually turned out...I had ordered some chevre cultures from www.cheesemaking.com, and they had been chillin’ (literally) in my freezer for a few months. No really, it makes sense...in sub-freezing temperatures the starter cultures, which are helpful bacteria, can’t do their bacteria thing of multiplying and multiplying. The cultures lie dormant until taken out and warmed to room temperature. Then the cultures are added to the milk so it can ferment, create lactic acid, release whey, and become the wonderful stuff that we call cheese. I decided to use whole goat’s milk from LaClare Farm up in Malone, Wisconsin (I don’t know where that is either). I had to double check that their product was pasteurized below 180 F because otherwise so many cultures are destroyed in the high temperature pasteurization process that you cannot use the milk for cheese making. And this is why I love the cheese business...in my process to double check the pasteurization temperature, I looked at LaClare's website and didn't find the answer to my very specific question, so I used the email from the website, emailed, and then in about an hour I got a reply, “we pasteurize at 163.” No run around, no auto-generated “thank you for your question, someone will contact you shortly,” just plain and simple: my answer and nothing more...no sales pitches or offers for coupons...So thank you Linda in the office for your prompt, pertinent reply. So here's how you make chèvre, it's a lot of hurry up and wait. I felt like a true cheesemaker because I had to drag myself out of bed at 6 am (used to 9 am) to cut my curd and start draining out the whey. It felt like a rite of passage... First thing, heat the milk to 86F, then add the cultures. Then let it sit for twelve hours...yes twelve hours! It sat out in room temperature for this length of time, which made me think...um, is this safe?? Getting my cheese certification and working in a grocery store for 9 years makes you think about all kinds of food safety issues and what can occur in food. However, I thought to myself that the beneficial bacteria must fight and win out against the potentially harmful bacteria, and if you have good milk, you won't have a problem in the first place. So, cheese-making was finally a success. I can't wait to make it again and add some fresh herbs, and maybe some with chopped dried cherries. The yield was better than I expected...1 gallon of milk made just under a pound of cheese. This was plenty for our house to get our fill and to give away to friends too.
Stay cheesy out there, friends! -5 F... Yes, that is the high for today in Chicago...blimey. The wind chill feels like -30 F, the kind of cold that freezes your nose hairs...so what to do? Eat of course! It’s been a while since I've posted...unfruitful job interviews, combating baby fever, an apartment search, and a new shelter cat have all added up to a lack of sleep and sadly negligence on my posts. I was called out on it (in a loving way, of course) from one of my dearest customers, so I’m back in action. Considering I’m facing these stressful life situations (my very much white people problems) I’m requiring some good ol’ fashion comfort food, so why not blog about it? In my job interview, I was asked what my favorite meal was...I said grilled cheese and tomato soup. So here we go… I will be honest, I like my grilled cheese basic. For all the hoity toity-ness that I sell on a daily basis, and my suggestive selling techniques and cooking tips, I myself am pretty plain Jane. For grilled cheese, I usually have just one cheese...Havarti or Gouda being my first choice due to their high fat content, buttery texture, and melt-ability. However, this was before I made my first sandwich with a quadruple cheese line-up, thanks to a dare from my sis. And now, I can never go back! "The Mod Quad Grilled Cheese" Serves 2 Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 5 minutes Ingredients: 4 slices sourdough bread (day old is best) 3 tbsp butter, room temperature 2 ounces havarti 2 ounces cheddar, 1-2 year old 2 ounces Merlot Bellavitano (can substitute with any other parmesan/aged gouda) 2 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano, grated Penzeys Sandwich Sprinkle to taste It starts with the bread...the Cowgirls of Cowgirl Creamery suggest day old bread because the crust will brown better in the pan. For the butter, I used salted Kerrygold because I had it in the house, but if I had my druthers, I would use Nordic Creamery cultured butter (terrible website, amazing product) You can get it shipped to your house...it's like 4 bucks! Sidebar: watch an awesome video about a guy who is dedicated to the art of bread and butter here And now for the cheeses...from left to right, I chose Havarti, 20 Month Cheddar, Merlot Bellavitano, and the mighty Parmigiano Reggiano. Play around with your cheese picks...All 4 of these cheeses are made with cow's milk. Parmigiano Reggiano is for the outside of the bread, so this should be standard, but the remaining three cheeses can be swapped out. The idea behind the cheese selections is to have a young cheese for creaminess and an aged cheese for sharpness and then whatever else you want to add. Other flavorful cheese options: Manchego (nutty, earthy) Taleggio (yeasty, buttery) Gruyere (nutty, fruity, mushroomy) Smoked Mozzarella (meaty, smoky) I shredded the havarti, Bellavitano, and cheddar together Grated the Parmigiano Reggiano For sandwich assembly, butter the sourdough on one side, then sprinkle with a few generous shakes with Sandwich Sprinkle, and then load on the parm. Make sure to press into the grated cheese with your hand or spatula so it sticks to the butter thoroughly No need to add more butter to the bottom of your pan...just use a non-stick pan, make sure to heat it for a good 5 minutes before using and use at medium-low heat. Put the butter/parm side of the bread down onto the bottom of the pan, and then sprinkle with half the shredded cheese mixture. Only one sammie is shown, but you can go two at a time, making sure to leave enough room in your pan so you can flip easily... Place the other piece of bread on top, press a little weight down with a spatula and wait...the key is to only flip the sammie once...so drink a sip of wine and let it be...then check it for the desired browning, and when it's ready flip her over... Brown on the other side, and voila! Make sure to let it cool down slightly, then cut if doing so. Serve it with tomato soup! The reason this is such a perfect pair is because the acidity from the tomatoes cut through the cream of the cheeses. And of course, it's perfect viscosity for dunking too... Enjoy this recipe and eat up...stay cheesy (and warm) out there!!
This past summer I tried my hand at making cheese with moderate success. Ok, let’s be honest here...it was edible...but edible milky flavored rubber band that disintegrated into mush at first bite (see August). This past month, I attempted to age an existing cheese (affinage is the French term). The decision to make cheese in a stuffy apartment kitchen in August and to age a cheese in a 34 F degree walk-in cooler during November, was not the most rational move I’ve made. Ah, hindsight... I was very excited when around Thanksgiving we ran a promo on a few of Capriole Farm's goat cheeses. These cheeses are soft bloomy rind cheeses that visibly age in a few weeks time. I love an almost overripe bloomy cheese that, once you cut into it, starts oozing onto the plate forming a small pool around the body of the cheese, so I wanted to babysit and age one myself... We got in a batch of Piper’s Pyramids: six darling pyramid shaped cheeses delivered in a wooden box: And a case of Wabash Cannonballs packaged in the same fashion, but ash covered and sphere shaped: Like any well-made cheese, these are good from the time they come in the door, but they had not yet reached that ooey-gooey, melty stage where a liquid layer forms between the rind and paste. The cause of this softening of bloomy rind cheese is the proteins breaking down, a process known as proteolysis. The proteins contribute to the firmness of the cheese, so when they break down the cheese gets softer. I slapped a sticker on a Piper’s Pyramid that read “11/25 do not sell, Esther is aging this!” and my affinage adventure began. I kept the cheese in the back where it could mature quietly and undisturbed. I didn't want to age it on the floor for fear of it selling before I could take it home. I quickly found out my passion for cheese does not automatically turn into success in the production arena. In the case of aging, I had zero know-how and it showed in the results of my experiment. A month later, my lactic pyramid looked and felt exactly the same. When I pressed on it, the cheese did not yield indicating that it was firmer than when it first came in. “What the hell?” I thought, “Where is my soft ooey-goey dream?” I told Jeff about my fail and it was only then that I figured out what went wrong, that hindsight thing again...My cooler was too cold (about 34 F) and not enough humidity for bloomy rind cheeses to age successfully. My cheese didn’t develop any sharper and more unctuous flavors and that magical proteolysis transformation did not occur. The firmer texture (probably due to moisture loss in the dryness of the cooler) was not the desired result. My cheese experiment was a flop...However, even with my affinage faux pas, the cheese tasted fine, just not the way I wanted it to. Like eating crunchy peanut butter when what I really wanted was the creamy kind... But happy ending...because oh my god! I bet you forgot about the Wabash Cannonballs! How could we?Well, they aged out nicely in the floor case (higher temperature usually around 38-40F and packaged in small perforated containers that kept in moisture but still allowed airflow. I bought the last one just in time for my New Year’s Eve gathering. It turned out exactly the way I wanted...all without me futzing with an already wonderful thing. All is right again...
Happy New Year! Stay cheesy out there. I feel like I’m starting up the civil war when I suggest a blue cheese to some folks. It seems to be the cheese that divides people the most. (can I get an amen cheese-mongers??) I don’t know what it is...the appearance or the taste, most likely both. I think blue mold on white mold is pretty cool...but it puts some people off. When the penicillium roqueforti or penicillium glaucum is listed on the cheese as an ingredient, people freak out. We had a customer at the counter ask if there were antibiotics in blue cheese. My co-worker explained that it was just a specific mold that helps to ripen the cheese and it is not antibiotics. The customer was quite argumentative, but then ended up stating, “Well, I’m allergic to mold anyway.” Hmmm, something is wrong if you are shopping in the cheese section and allergic to mold. You sound like you have no idea what you are talking about and that you need to read more books. On mold. And cheese. And how to act towards retail employees...which yes, I know it’s hard to wrap your head around, but we are people too… But I digress…. The surface of cheese is fascinating, both the inner paste and the rind. Rinds, not specifically to blues here, can be naturally mottled brown with flecks of white and yellow like the rustic tommes from France, vibrant orange and reddish hues as in the washed rind family (made originally in monasteries but now all over the secular world), and geotrichum’s wrinkled rinds that as customers say, “ looks like a brain.” This brain- like phenomenon is also known as toad’s skin, or in French “Peau De Crapaud” if you want to sound really up your own ass. I don’t even know how to pronounce that one... “Geo” can either be a good mold or not...in the case of many goat cheeses it’s desirable...think Vermont Creamery’s Bonne Bouche and Langa’s La Tur, but it can be a defect as well depending on the context. Blue is no exception in terms of beautiful surface. Their rinds can be thin, knobby, and golden brown as is the case with Stilton and Jasper Hill’s Bayley Hazen. Blues can be leaf wrapped, which is practiced in Spain with Valdeon and most notably Cabrales. The leaf wrapping is wonderful because it is semi-permeable, and contributes to the Spanish blues’ drier textures. The Spanish blues pair most excellently with honey or think the savory route and top a nice juicy rib-eye alongside a bold Monastrell wine (Juan Gil is an excellent choice). Also, many blues are wrapped with foil (think Roquefort, and lots of domestic choices such as my ultimate favorite Point Reyes Original Blue). But enough of all this rind talk, my favorite part of the blues is the paste. Naturally because it’s the part of the cheese you eat, but it also it is lovely to look at. I love finding little blue fuzzy secret caves...right in my cheese. Take a look at these blue beauties….
So in conclusion, give cheese a chance...blue cheese that is. Embrace the slight medicinal twang and sharpness from the mold. Start with the mild varieties and work your way up to the more assertive selections. As a rule of thumb, the domestic varieties have a cleaner flavor profile, that is to say less “barnyardy” than the Euro versions.
And it’s not antibiotics...and blues won’t cure any infections, but they sure can make you feel a whole lot better. A little bit goes a long way and it is an acquired taste. A nice way to start out is pairing some blues. It's a lot of fun and mellows out the bite. Things that taste great with blue cheese: caramelized nuts and dried cherries are my favorite. No wait...honey and blue is my favorite...but what about blue with pears? Or divine with a hearty raisin walnut bread! The bottom line is that blues have a strong flavor profile that should be matched up with foods that have an equal intensity of flavor. Pair its sharp and salty notes with sweet and tart flavors. It is to die for with dessert wines! Some noteworthy milder blues: Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen (VT), Kerrygold Cashel Blue (Ireland), Ludwig Farms Vermillion Blue (IL) Graduate to the big boys: Carles roquefort (France), gorgonzola picante (Italy), Cabrales (Spain) American beauties: Point Reyes Original Blue (CA), Roelli Dunbarton Blue (WI), Rogue Creamery Rogue River Blue (OR), Old Chatham Ewe’s Blue (NY), Roth Buttermilk Blue (WI) Across the pond faves: Colston Basset Stilton (England), Bleu de Causses (France), and Fourme D’Ambert (France) Stay cheesy out there! Simple. No washed rinds, unpasteurized blues, or geotrichum molds. No cornichons or oil cured olives on the side. No liver pate...no...erudite selections. Just brie at 325 F in the oven for 20 minutes smeared with cherry jam...well, and a few extras...I couldn't resist. I work with cheese 40 hours a week...and around this time, even more than that. I love all the heavy hitters as all cheese-mongers would boast: Roquefort, Montgomery’s Cheddar, Rush Creek Reserve, Epoisses, aged Pecorino, overly ripe Piper’s Pyramid. On a different level than most, I appreciate a piece of dried out milk and how it embodies the rich history of people, place, and animals and the seasonal journey they take together. I love sniffing the rind for an ammoniated tinge, squinting my eyes to see if the mites are squirming on that Pave du Nord, and I love checking every single piece of cheese in the case when I close up the store...like tucking them in for the night. However, I brought Epoisses to Thanksgiving one year and my dad thought something died in the kitchen or that all of my five brothers simultaneously forgot about their piles of dirty laundry for the past six months. So now I bring brie to family parties. “Pedestrian” as one of my co-workers would say, but after all is said and done, I want to make my family happy and they are happy with brie. Not the mighty Pierre Robert or Brillat Savarin (Pierre is better), but warm ooey, gooey, pedestrian brie. And everyone couldn't be happier. Here’s my recipe of what I used for Thanksgiving this year… “Esther’s Brie” Serves: 10-12 Prep time: 15 minutes (can be made a day ahead) Cook time: 20 minutes Ingredients: 1 small round of brie (250 g, or approximately 10-12 ounces) cinnamon and sugar to taste (at least 2 tbsp) caramelized pecans 6-8 ounces, roughly chopped ½ apple, sliced (anything but red or golden delicious because really...have you ever had a good delicious apple?? why are they called that???) ½ jar of sour cherry spread (I used the Whole Foods version which is excellent, not too sweet) Directions:
That's it...easy peasy for your next holiday party! Stay cheesy my friends.
Part II: How to Make Your Raclette Party a Smashing SuccessQuite simple really... 1. Invite interesting people 2. See to it those interesting people like cheese and gluten and highly acidic pickles 3. Play Jenga (optional) "The earliest recipe about fondue was written in a cookbook in 1699. I believe that if leaders of countries since 1699 would have sat around and shared a great fondue discussing their differences, it would have all been worked out by now." -Chef Robin White www.chefrobinwhite.com Raclette is more mainstream than I thought...I did a quick search for raclette grill online and both Wal-Mart and Target have grills available (online...don't know about in the stores). I used a raclette grill made by Boska of Holland that ran about $40 (on the left). It’s Esther-proof, so it’s a sturdy product. The first time I used it, it fell on the floor from about 4 feet and it survived unscathed… For you drooling pleasure, check out this massive raclette grill...it’s a steal at $220! For some perspective, that chunk of cheese is about 5 pounds. Part I: The history...Everyone knows fondue. If you've never been to a fondue party yourself, or have not sat at home and made some in a crock pot with the vacuum packed ready-to-eat version, your parents probably have an old fondue pot from the 1970's (in marigold yellow of course) sitting in their attic or basement somewhere. Traditional fondue requires the two classic Swiss cheeses gruyere and emmentaler. Appenzeller occasionally makes an appearance in the ooey-gooey deliciousness that is fondue as well. Fondue is a family and friend affair. I think about Megan Draper in Mad Men as she prepares fondue for her fancy friends in her posh apartment. I, however, do not have the wardrobe, apartment, or time that Megan does, so I don’t have fondue parties, I serve raclette. Raclette is fondue for the rest of us...it’s the same concept as fondue, but you don’t have to assemble or stir anything. For a non-cooker like me, it’s perfect. All you need besides the cheese itself is some different foods to drizzle on (baguette, potatoes, pearl onions, cornichons), and either a raclette grill or even just an oven and cookie sheet. Add some friends, and you have an instant party! Perhaps you desire to dress up Mad Men fashion for the occasion. That silver pantsuit that Megan wears is pretty impressive. Raclette gets its name from the French verb “to scrape,” which refers to the action taken when preparing the dish. See action shot provided... Simply grab a hunk of cheese and scrape off ribbons. Pretty cool. It is produced and enjoyed in both France and Switzerland and there are American versions popping up on the scene now too. In fact, the French-Swiss difference has a special place in my cheese-centric heart. Early in my mongering days, I decided to try French raclette next to Swiss raclette behind the counter one afternoon. It was the first time that the nuances in cheese really came alive for me. I could actually taste the fruitiness of the French version and the nutty, slightly stinkyness of the Swiss. My, how two interpretations of the same cheese could be so different! It was an eye-opening experience that I will never forget. There dozens of raclettes out there made in several different places just like any other type of cheese, such as cheddar. Versions include unpasteurized, pasteurized, high-end, entry level, or any combination of those elements. I just had my first American version of raclette by Spring Brook Farm called Reading Raclette. Emmi also makes new flavored raclettes including garlic, black pepper corn, and tomato basil. I’ve heard the best raclette comes from the canton of Valais in Switzerland, and in fact this is the one that I compared to the French version so long ago.
I’ve read that you should “stay away from cold beverages while eating raclette, as the cheese congeals in the stomach.” I guess I’ll drink my beer room temperature...In her book Cheese and Beer, Janet Fletcher suggests a Belgian strong golden ale such as Duvel, or a dubbel ale to pair with raclette. Some examples of great dubbels include Allagash’s Dubbel (Maine), Ommegang’s Abbey Ale (New York), or I would love to try it with North Coast’s Brother Thelonius (California). When I think of what I would drink personally, I would pair it with a porter. I like porters because they are dark like stouts, without being nearly as heavy. A must try is Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald. This is the best porter I've ever tasted! All these are American beers, but the German classic Ayinger Adventinus would be a winner in my book too. Oh yeah, and wine...Try a light to medium bodied red with soft tannins like an Oregon or Russian River pinot noir or a chardonnay with good minerality and acidity. French Chardonnay would be a great choice. My sister Anne Marie is from Michigan and we both took a breather from reality to spend the weekend on the beach of Lake Michigan at a family cottage. She’s a hard workin’ mama of two girls and she deserves some cheese love! Such an occasion demanded not just any cheese, but well thought out selections that needed serious pairing attention. To shake things up I decided to go the beer and cheese route this time around. Tip: far more economical to buy 6 different bottles of fancy beer than to buy 6 different bottles of fancy wine. Cost of my mixer sixer: $18. Cost of mixer sixer of wine: add a zero on the end, and for 2 gals, there would have been a lot gone to waste...maybe. The Line-Up! As pictured, we also had a pear and ginger chutney, eucalyptus honey, prosciutto, and plenty of granny smith apples and red bartlett pears. The pears were so perfectly juicy that the flesh was translucent and nearly melting. My sister did indeed reply, “pears are sexy!”........She is not wrong.
Let the fun begin… I took a chance on pairing a goat cheese with a sour beer...sours can be seriously intense teetering on the edge of tasting vomit-like. However, the classy Duchesse is extremely well balanced for a sour; it tastes as if you crossed a Belgian tripel and a white wine. I thought the acidity would pair well with a goat cheese, but it could have easily been a situation in which one overpowered the other. I was rewarded for my risk-taking however, and the pair was oh-so sexy. The sour, acidity of the beer was tamed by the creaminess of the goat cheese, but not lost. Sweet, caramelly notes popped in the beer when paired with the tangy Bloomsdale. Awesome! Jasper Hill Cabot Clothbound Cheddar...they say to pair aged cheddars with IPA’s, so I tried it. I remember the last time I drank a Victory Hop Devil and I thought it would pair nicely with cheese because it is not a West Coast style IPA (i.e. bitter bomb), it is more complex and full bodied with some citrus notes and a touch of malty sweetness. This pair did not reach sexy status sadly. Cabot Clothbound is a good stand-by, but I always want there to be more “must” (like the classic Montgomery’s from Somerset England) than there is. I believe this is due in part because it is a pasteurized cheese so complexity is lost with all those good microbes. The Hop Devil overpowered the cheddar, but when we tried it with Magic Hat Jinx…...fireworks. We did find that the Hop Devil and prosciutto play well together because the flavor intensities were a match. The bitterness of the beer and the smoky sweet of the prosciutto were a good fit. Herve Mons Tommes des Berger with Leffe Brune...holy sexy-pair, batman. This pair had it all...This cheese is a washed rind, semi-firm that is made by blending goat and sheep’s milk. The sheep’s milk flavor’s of bouillon and umami are prevalent. The cheese is salty, creamy, beefy, and tangy all at the same time. Pair all of that with a Belgian’s caramel sweet, roasty, and spicy beer and you’re mouth literally can’t handle it! I felt like Bill Murray in the dinner scene of What About Bob when he is just happily grunting away eating all of Faye Marvin’s delicious food. “Faye this is so scrumptious!” When tasting the cheese by itself, the gamey sheep flavors win out, but when eaten with the Brune those tangy goat flavors move toward center stage. It’s amazing how the same cheese can taste so different depending on context. Lastly, we had the Igor Gorgonzola Picante. Creamy yet piquant, though not overly salty as can happen with blues easily. Anne Marie gave a hefty smear of gorgonzola on a cracker, popped on a juicy pear slice and it was decadent. Sadly, none of our beers came together with the blue, but we loved it with all those sweet accouterments: the apples, those sexy pears, the honey, the chutney. I learned from the Bloomsdale experiment and next time I’ll take a risk and try this one with Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, or perhaps an ice wine or Sauternes. The classic pair of blue cheese and dessert wine is an intensely sweet and savory experience that is just perfect...and some things are not meant to be messed with. It's like trying to make a great PB and J with grape jam instead of strawberry. You just don't do it! Esther’s Closing Thoughts: Take a risk with your pairings...as they say, no guts no glory! Be sure to write your notes in a book so you can keep track of all your tasty experiments. Stay cheesy out there! I have plenty...Capriole’s Piper’s Pyramid at Christmas with Jeff, the first time I tried raclette (summer, oddly enough), the disastrous attempt to elevate my family’s palate with bringing the mighty stinker Berthaut Epoisses to Thanksgiving (really!), and the first time I tried Bent River Camembert, which just so happened to be with my dear sister, with whom I created more cheesy memories with this past weekend.
What is your favorite cheesey memory? |
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