Stuffed Brie

With the holidays right around the corner and festive get-togethers gearing up, it's nice to have a little something in your back pocket that is a crowd-pleaser and doesn't require much time to prepare. Bonus: It looks fancy too.

If you don't want to create a full on cheese board, go with this little guy:

Slice a mini wheel of brie open and insert jam and nuts. Garnish if you feel like it. That's all. 10 minutes max.

For this particular one, I used Isigny St. Mere Petit Bonhomme double cream brie (produced in Normandy, France by a co-op of 570 farmers). For additional flavor, raspberry chambord jam from The Boozy Jam Co and shaved almonds.

There are so many types of preserves available, so don't be shy to experiment. These are just a few of the combos I want to try soon:

- pumpkin butter and maple pecans
- peach jam and spicy nuts
- pepper jelly and bacon crumbles
- orange marmalade and sesame cashews
- caramelized onion and toasted pine nuts

Can you tell I'm in a savory mood? Leave a comment with ideas or past success stories.

Parmigiano Reggiano

Mention pasta, and nearly everyone will ask you to pass the parmesan. 

But the spelling matters!!  Parmesan is usually the domestic version, and always a knock-off. It can still do well in a recipe, but doesn't have the history or glory of Parmigiano Reggiano, which is a Protected Designation of Origin cheese. It can only be true parm if it is produced in one of five provinces of Italy: Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantua, and Bologna.

There are additional regulations as well, derived from 800 years of tradition. The cows are grass-fed, and the milk remains raw. Most notable is the practice of combining the partially skimmed evening milk with the whole morning milk. 

Each finished wheel weighs about 90 pounds, and the rind has the number of the producing farm embedded in it along with the words Parmigiano Reggiano along the circumference, and its date of birth. It will also have the seal of approval from the Consorzio, the officials that set the standards and oversee quality.

Widely regarded as the King of Cheeses, each wheel is aged at least 12 months. The cheese counter I work at offers a 24 month variety, and there are even 36 month wheels available. It becomes naturally lactose-free with aging, so nearly everyone should be able to enjoy.

Flavors range from sweet to nutty, grassy to fruity. Try nibbling on bits dipped in honey or shaved over a salad. Throw a rind in a pot of soup for a richer flavor.

Whichever way you choose, take a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship that Italy has contributed to the world of formaggio. And leave a comment on how you like to enjoy it!

Harbison

If you're looking for a memorable cheese that allows for great presentation, let me introduce you to Harbison.

It is a bloomy rind soft cheese that has been wrapped in local spruce bark. Because of its small format, the flavors that develop really have a chance to penetrate the entire wheel. Made from Ayrshire cow's milk in Vermont by Jasper Hills Farms, this is a savory, silky, earthy, oozy cheese that coats your whole mouth. Mmmm...

It is truly a decadent experience. Harbison is so soft that it is nearly a dip, and in fact, the recommended way to serve it is to slice off the top and spoon it out onto some rustic crackers or crusty bread. What I love about the story of this cheese is that the milk comes from a single herd and is then made and aged for 6-13 weeks on that very same farm. Talk about a taste of place!

Have you gotten a chance to try this before? What did you think?

What to Consider When Creating a Cheese Board

There are so many options at a cheese counter... Where do you begin? Will your cheeses overwhelm each other? Or even worse, be too similar and therefore unmemorable?

The key is this: Pick different milks: Cow, goat, sheep. Pick different textures: soft, semi-, hard. Even on the smallest cheese board you can manage to have variety.

Pairings can focus on bringing out the similarities or highlighting the contrasts. Whichever way you go, you want the intensity of each to be on a similar level. A big bold cheese needs a big bold buddy, while the delicate ones need a more nuanced friend. Let the cheese sit out for 30 minutes before guests arrive to let the flavors develop.

For determining portions, a good rule of thumb is that people will eat about 2 oz of each cheese as an hor's d'oeuvre, and 1-1.5 oz when other items are present.

The board I'm about to show you contains one pound of cheese, so I could expect it to serve about 8-10 people. It includes four cheeses that are basic enough to be party pleasers, yet have enough character to captivate:

Humboldt Fog

Humboldt Fog is an ash-ripened chevre produced by Cypress Grove. This cheese has a soft crumbly texture towards the center and a creamy oozy texture close to the rind. Best of both worlds. It is made from goat's milk and has a fresh tangy milky flavor with minimal 'barnyard' taste. The rind is edible. I chose to add Marcona almonds to my board for a contrasting texture.

 Lamb Chopper is a semi-firm gouda aged for 3 months and made from sheep's milk. It has a rich buttery taste and is also a great choice for melting. Cypress Grove is also responsible for this delicious beauty.

I threw some finochiona onto the board because it has aromatic qualities without being too heavy or bold.

Fresh apples and mandarins were also inlcuded because it's acidity will help cut through some of the fat and help cleanse the plate. Some people adore cornichons and olives for this purpose as well.

Cave-aged Emmentaler. This is the iconic Swiss cheese style most people will think of. The semi-firm raw cow's milk cheese is prepared by hand, then aged in a natural sandstone cave for up to 9 months, which imparts an earthy mineral flavor. The unpasteurized milk always adds a little something extra, too. You can thank the Emmi and Kaltbach companies for collaborating on this one. Also a great melting cheese, it would be killer over french onion soup or in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Piave Vecchio. This particular slice is produced by Lattebusche, and comes from Italy. It is a hard cow's milk cheese aged for 9-12 months. Often thought of as parmigiano-reggiano's younger cousin, Piave bursts with a tropical fruity aroma. I chose dried apricots to highlight those sweet flavors and to balance the saltiness. Besides snacking, you can shave it over a salad or pasta.




Aaaaand...here's the finished product! It makes it easy for guests if you have already cut everything into nibble-worthy pieces. For the soft ones, include a knife.

Have you brought a cheese board to a gathering recently? What did you include?

Building Platters

I assembled some platters for a catering order recently, built around a Spanish theme. We had marcona almonds, honey roasted pecans, grapes, dates, membrillo (quince paste), a medallion of Caprichio de Cabra, cubes of Mahon, and some slivers of both Drunken Goat and Campo de Montalban.

Those last two are extra special to me. Here's what I like about them:

Drunken goat has been one of my favorites from day one. It is a semi-firm goat cheese with an edible wine-soaked rind. The rind has fruity tones with a slightly bitter aftertaste, and the cheese itself is mild and smooth. So far, most of my experience with goat has been through fresh and soft cheeses. I really like having this texture available to recommend.

Campo de Montalban is another special cheese that I sneak bites of taste for quality control whenever possible. It is a firm mixed milk cheese made in the style of Manchego (it was officially considered a Manchego until 1985), so it has a very similar density and mouthfeel. This one is aged for 100 days. However because it is made with cow, goat, and sheep milk combined it has a unique flavor that is buttery, nutty, and slightly tangy.

What other themes would you be interested in building a platter around? What are your go-to party appetizers?

Intro to Cheese Flavors

Remember when you were in grade school and were first learning about taste buds and how to sense sweet, salty, sour, bitter? There are so many more possibilities with cheeses, and the flavors and scents most commonly noticed could be broken down even more specifically. There's also a range of how strongly each flavor demands your attention. For example, does that earthy taste you noticed remind you more of minerals or a musty book or the forest after a heavy rainstorm? Here's a little flavor wheel I put together:

Keep in mind that for maximum flavor development you should let the cheese sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before enjoying it. Make sure to also take a deep sniff before eating to fully involve your senses.

Let me know what you've tried recently and if you noticed any of these flavors, or more!

It's all Swiss to Me!!!

The other day a customer asked what combination of cheeses I would recommend for making fondue. While there are a few different types of Swiss cheese with the iconic holes, there are many more alpine styles. I sent him on his way with Gruyere and Emmentaler because that's what we had...but it made me start to wonder why not Jarlsberg? It looks pretty similar, although it's from Norway. And I've also seen Grand Cru in prepackaged kits (although that's the French version). Swiss cheeses seem to have a mild taste, so aren't they just interchangeable? How do you choose what proportions of each to mix? My guess was that the difference has to do with fat content, melting point, and the way the flavors and textures change under heat. I've never actually made fondue before (though I've enjoyed eating it), but I know wine is involved so maybe that also influences which you might choose?

The story of fondue is this: it originated as a peasant dish that was eaten during the winter. It was warm, hearty, and most importantly required only a few ingredients that didn't even have to be fresh. What more could you ask for when there's six feet of snow outside, and a town nowhere in sight? In my family we call that an improvised 'bottom of the fridge' meal. It was for survival, not exactly meant as the crowd-pleasing appetizer that it often is now.

Because the herds grazed on wild fresh grasses in the summer, and the geography of the Alps has so much variation, the taste of place really comes through. The unique herbs, flowers, and grasses found on a particular mountain-side make each wheel of cheese taste different.

Here is an infographic about which countries produce which alpine cheeses:

I'll get into how various cheeses melt in a future post. What else are you curious about?

A (Very) Brief History on Coloring Cheeses

A customer recently asked me what my favorite yellow cheese was. Yellow. Ummm, excuse me...???

She didn't even mention hard vs. soft or sharp vs. creamy. I get that there are many nuances to the way a cheese tastes and that not everyone can quite put their finger on what qualities they desire. But seriously, 'yellow' doesn't even reliably narrow it down. In this case, the color does not indicate taste. Milk is white (or at most has a golden tint), and aging doesn't change it all that much. Any time you see a bright yellow or orange cheese in the grocery store it is because coloring has been added, but there is no consistent guideline about which styles get the treatment.

So her question was utterly frustrating. I had to convince myself that she must be making some snazzy color coordinated party platter just to keep from smacking my forehead against the counter. Yes, that must be it...

And now, because you know not to ask such a silly thing but may still be wondering why and how people began coloring cheeses, here are some interesting tidbits:

- Certain cows, when grazing during summer on lush grasses high in beta-carotene may have a more golden tint to their milk. Its a sign of an excellent diet (as well as high butterfat content), and hence quality. In winter, when cows are fed grain and hay the milk is always white.

- Apparently, back in the 17th century some English farmers wanted to pass off their products as higher quality. They would skim off the cream (where the color is prevalent) to sell separately, and color the remaining milk, thus expanding their profits. I imagine they could have also colored some winter milk so the resulting cheese would appear to be from grass-fed cows.

- The practice originated in fraud, yet the tradition of coloring cheeses has persisted in commercial facilities to maintain visual consistency.

- Today annatto is responsible for the yellow/orange color we see in many cheeses, with cheddars being the most recognizable. It is derived from the seeds of the achiote plant. The amount required to color cheese does not add any flavor.

What Is So Special About Cheese?

When I hear a phrase like ‘mature cultured cheese’ I can’t help but envision a personified wedge of brie sitting at a Paris cafe sipping a glass of wine and commenting on the writings of Rousseau. That’s what comes to mind, but that’s not at all what I’m going for.

When it comes to cheese cultures, we’re talking about the bacteria that gives each cheese its own distinct character. Kind of like how San Francisco sourdough is unique because of the specific conditions of that place. Or how you can start off with a bunch of hops and get so many flavors of beer based on how it ferments. Cheese is also a living breathing thing, and so much more than just ‘mix this with that and let it sit for so long’.

There are specific strains of bacteria that are present in brie, or blue, or cheddar styles. There are also specific cheeses, such as Manchego, that can only be made in a certain region under certain conditions...much like how true Champagne comes only from France.

So what makes this all exciting is the variety of flavors and textures that can be experienced when you dive into the world of artisan cheese. There are many up and coming American creameries that are experimenting with a variety of factors and producing some really delicious and memorable snacks. It’s like art for your mouth.

If you want to get the 101 on how to identify the basic categories of cheeses, read my mini-guide to the 5 types of cheeses here.

The Basic Types of Cheeses

When you are at the cheese counter, use these cues to get an idea of what to expect from a specific cheese. Pretend you’re on safari and see how many you can identify. There are 5 basic categories:

Fresh Cheese

These are very very young cheeses that have not had time to age, and so they are very soft with a milky taste. Examples are: ricotta, cottage cheese, fresh mozzarella, and chevre. Most often they are used in recipes or as salad toppings.

Soft Ripened Cheese

These have a white bloomy-rind and creamy texture due to the mold on their surface. The mold breaks down the proteins from the outside in, so it is possible for the center to be somewhat more firm than the paste at the edges. Brie is a well-known example of a soft ripened cheese. The rind is edible, but it's all a matter of personal preference as it can have a stronger taste.

Washed Rind Cheese

At some point in the aging process the cheese was dipped in a salt brine or some kind of alcoholic beverage. This contributed to a unique mix of bacteria on the surface, which results in a somewhat ‘stinky’ cheese that usually has an orange rind. They can range in texture from soft to hard. Don’t be deceived by a strong aroma...they don’t always taste like the smell, so be a little adventurous.

Natural Rind Cheese

These are semi-hard or hard cheeses that have been aged long enough that the outer layer basically dries out. Sometimes they are cloth-bound. Because of moisture loss, they often have a more concentrated flavor and can even have a build up of tasty little crystals. Parmigiano-Reggiano is an example.

Blue Cheese

The penicillium bacteria creates the blue veins running through this cheese and gives it its pungent taste. While the cheese will almost always be soft, the texture can still vary from creamy to crumbly. A few you may have heard of are gorgonzola and stilton. Cambozola is an interesting cheese that is actually a soft ripened blue cheese...it is a good intro if you are just starting to explore the category.

These are a few of the broadest categories that can act as a jumping off point in discovering what you like in a cheese.

Which ones have you tried, and what are you interested in next?

Cheese Carving at The American Cheese Society's Annual National Conference

I’ve been getting paid to work with food for about 5 years now, but have enjoyed playing with it for much longer. In July 2017 I had the opportunity to do both at a cheese carving competition in Denver during the American Cheese Society’s Annual National Conference.

The thought of carving cheese tickled me and I embraced such a whimsical experience, but nerves started to build as I only had 10 days to come up with a concept as well as figure out how to actually execute it. I’d never carved anything before, let alone cheese!!! What if I cut off too much?? What if my dimensions were skewed? What if it’s too top-heavy and the connection points break?? Aaaghhhh…..

I decided to go with a 2D bas-relief concept of a picture frame in which the scenery spills out into the foreground. Since the theme of the event was “Cheese with Altitude”, it seemed fitting to draw inspiration from the wide open spaces of Colorado. Yeah, mountains are pretty to look at and all that, but open spaces and the water provided from the snowpack really tie into what dairy animals need to have a great quality of life. What all of us need, really. I wanted my concept to segway into those kind of conversations rather than just being something pretty to look at.

The finished product, on its way to the people's choice award at the Festival of Cheeses.

All in all, it was a great experience. I had 5 hours to carve with the assistance and moral support of my co-worker Blake, self-proclaimed “hype man”. Always reliable for building enthusiasm, he drew in the local news reporters and told our story with gusto...and then some. Here’s an article about the cheese carving event.

In the midst of competition.