My favorite recipes
Due to the recent family reunion, we asked JT to courier Cougar Gold from WSU. She brought one can of regular, and one of specially aged Cougar Gold. TT really liked the aged version. When it got back here, we tried it, but weren’t able to do a side-by-side comparison of the regular vs. the aged. Anyway, it was very good.
J&J brought us specially aged (3-year) Cougar Gold cheese, but security slowed them down when they carried on at the Spokane airport. They made it through, but it did take extra time.
My sheep cheese that I made at Valley Shepherd finally arrived! We all (at, wt, ms, na, a?) thought it was very good. It was not as firm as some of the other wheels, and a bit more earthy than the others.
May All your Days be Gouda. We knew it was Dairy Month – but Ken sent us this great card. Thanks, Ken.
“Morbier” means “small market town” in French. Morbier (full name Morbier du Livradois) is a mild-tasting cheese with a white pine ash layer in the middle of it. The cheese has a golden-brown rind. Inside, it is pale yellow, and semi-firm yet creamy and supple. It is made from unpasteurized cow’s milk. The milk is heated, then curdled. Traditionally, Morbier Cheese was made from leftover curd that wasn’t wanted for other cheeses or uses. The curd was put into a mould, then ash put over it to stop it from drying out and forming a rind until the next day, when there would be more leftover curd, enough to finish filling up the mould. Today, small producers will make the bottom layer from the evening’s milk, then the top layer from the next morning’s milk. It is then salted and pressed by law, it has to be aged a minimum of 45 days. Many, though, age it for two months. After this initial aging, it is then washed with brine, then aged another two months. Brought at local Brookville. It’s softish, and I was afraid a bit stinky at first — but it is actually pretty mild. They don’t know how cheesemakers learned to start adding the ash.
Valley Shepherd Creamery – Watch the Video. America’s Heartland PBS episode 415 Dec 10, 2008. New Jersey is home to a different kind of farming operation. The Valley Shepherd Creamery makes a wide variety of cheeses from sheep’s milk. (6:12 minutes)
If you are passing through the Philidalphia area and need food, don’t hesitate to stop in at Pottstown Limerick, KPTW. The Fairway’s Pub & Grill (610-495-7626) is a few hundred yards up the road from the FBO, but don’t let the name fool you. Yes, it is a ‘pub & grill’, but Marty, the chef, makes up daily specials depending on what he was able to buy at the farmer’s market that morning.
We had crab cakes, which is one of Marty’s own special recipies. They were great! In fact, we had a nice conversation with him. He gave us his cell phone number, and said to call the next time we were flying in and he would prepare something special for us.
This guy owns a bar & grill, is the chef at the place, which is across the street from an airport (outside of the SFRA). What a dream job!.
AT & MS started out at the Chinatown Farmer’s Market, but walked past the convention center to Historic Morrison Clark Inn (1015 L St. NW). From the NBC4 Blog: Enjoy the hotel’s happy hour by relaxing on the veranda, sipping Big Easy-themed cocktails, and snacking on southern specialties. 5:30-7:30 p.m.; $8 cocktails. After a Mint Julep and a Steel Magnolia, Wendell made his way over with Cheese from Whole Foods at Tenley. Wendell ordered a basket of bread, and we tried to discretely sample the cheese. It was a sheep night, and all was good. The staff were all so nice, but MS idea: A blog on how to best get served at local restaurants / bars — Do you wait at the table? Look for the host? Belly up to the bar?
Pastore (14.99 a lb). Raw sheep milk: Pastore Sini is a semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese with a firm texture and a nutty finish. Pastore is covered in a brown wax, which is indicative of the tradition to preserve cheese by rubbing mud on its exterior. This cheese has been produced by Sini Fulvi for more than twenty years in the Village of Nepi, Province in Lazio, Italy. 4 Stars WWT.
Fiore Sardo: Raw Sheep milk: Siore Sardo is banded by a hard, black, natural rind. This semi-hard cheese is sharp and savory and the slightest shavings of it brings simple, olive oil-dressed pasta alive.
Persille Du Malzieu (from Hever Mons). Origin: Lozère, France. Raw sheep’s milk, the other Roquefort, months spent in the caves of Peyrades produces a salty edge, wild mushroom flavor.
Tariffs set to be levied on a range of EU products including Roquefort and bone-in ham are being dropped. “It’s a great thing,” said Liz Thorpe of New York specialty shop Murray’s Cheese, which — fearing a tariff increase — had ordered 300 extra pounds of Roquefort. Most of her stash sold as customers learned the venerable French blue might be priced off store shelves, Ms. Thorpe said.
From T5: Never mind the bacon, always bring home the cheese