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Cheese at Flight Jacket Night Takes Off

3 American Cheeses
3 American Cheeses

We went to the National Air and Space Museum for the annual Flight Jacket Night. Richard C. Kirkland, pilot, author and artist was the speaker. He flew 103 combat missions in P-38 and P-47 fighters with the famed “Flying Knight” squadron in the southwest Pacific during World War II. He and his wife had nine children — and of course now have multiple grandkids and great grandkids.

We are members of the Air & Space Society, and the staff, including Elizabeth, Rachel and Christina did an excellent job of the program and the reception beforehand. The food and drinks were excellent, and the setting couldn’t have been better — right in the middle of the new exhibit,  Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight.

Highlight for us: the cheese. All surprisingly delicious – not like the cubes you get at many receptions:

1. (Alpine) Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese. Artisanal American cheeses reminiscent of French Gruyere style cheeses. It was awarded Best of Show at the 2010 American Cheese Society conference, an accolade it won in 2001 and 2005 as well. Pleasant Ridge Reserve was named U.S. Champion at the 2003 U.S Championship cheese contest. It’s the only cheese ever to win both national competitions. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is made from the non-pasteurized milk of a single herd of Wisconsin cows fed & managed using natural, “old world” practices. Dodgeville, WI, Uplands Dairy.

2.  Cheddar with Carmelized Onions. MODESTO, CALIFORNIA Fiscalini Farms. This cheese has a firm, crumbly straw colored flesh; a nutty, slightly smoky, earthy taste; and a more round finish than most aged cheddars. It looks like it might have been Bandage Wrapped Cheddar, but it was hard to tell at the reception. It hand-turned daily for the first two months of its life, and it is aged for 18 months. We skipped the onions, but they say it is delicious with many types of fruit and even red / white wines.

3. Amablu® “St. Pete’s Select” blue cheese with a fig chutney. Cave aged a minimum of 100+ days in Faribault, MN at the Faribault Dairy Company. Our first cheese aged in genuine sandstone caves; Hand-made from unpasteurized cows milk from local farmers.

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Veteran’s Day Cheeses

Veteran's Day Cheese
Veteran's Day Cheese

We both worked on Veteran’s Day, but we did take an evening break to celebrate with cheese. We went to the Chevy Chase Magruders — I sure miss having one right at Cleveland Park. And the deli there closes at 7:00, so our cheese options were limited to the case.

french rambol fume. Smoked, so BBQ Boy particularly liked. Had a recipe on the site for using it in Mac & Cheese. (Cow’s Milk, Semi-Soft). Forest Fume, formerly known as Smoked Rambol, is a processed Gruyere style cheese that is slowly cured over natural hickory. It’s rich, yet delicate flavor and creamy smooth texture are benchmarks for exquisite fondue cheese.

French raw milk Morbier (vegetarian ash). The ash is curious to me — gives the cheese an arty look, but since ash is well-known as an insect repellent, it’s a bit odd.

Stagnolia Blu (italian for blue foil) was from Trader Joes. It keep pretty well in a glass jar in the fridge.

Sidebar: Fun french cheese map at Ile de France Cheese.  You can see where the cheese is made, see recipes and more.

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international evening

Amadeus: A new cow’s milk cheese from Austria.  Like gouda, very nice.  A white wax rind.  Named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Cheshire: England’s oldest cheese, listed in the Doomsday Book (dated 1085).  Very crumbly; it isn’t spreadable, so use a spoon.

Blue Cashel: developed in 1984, it is Ireland’s original artisinal blue, and is the creation of Jane and Louis Grubb, a husband and wife team.  Steve Jenkins says “To my mind, what Cashel Blue most resembles is the world’s finest Gorgonzola.  I’m rarely out of it.”  We thought it was very good.

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Ripple Cheeses It Up in Cleveland Park

Ripple cheese plate
Pretty as a cheese pic

What a pleasant summer surprise — when the rest of CP goes on vacation for the month of August, Ripple, 3417 Connecticut Ave NW  (formerly Aroma) goes all out. We met W there after the Shakespeare Theatre Free for All “Twelfth Night at 11:30 p.m. on a Friday night, and everything else was still closed. Ripple’s bar, with good wines (many by the glass, some at $6)  is bright but cozy.  Manager Danny Fisher, who comes from Cork and Cork Market, is there to guide you from drinks to cheese and dessert. The cheesemonger, Julia, served up a beautiful plate of cheese and charcuterie.  All the cheese is from Cowgirl Creamery (no cheese cave since they are so close to the source) Danny helped us choose the right cheese and the right wines:

  • Everona Piedmont – one of our local Virginia favs
  • Fiore Sardo – a pecorino from Italy that always works
  • Burrata – a soft, creamy mozzarella-like cheese from Puglia Italy that was as good as advertised
  • Jean D’Also Bleu D’Auvergne – a soft, french buttery blue that was a perfect ending to them all.
  • One the side La Quercia Americano, a proscuitto-like ham from Iowa. (the only American version I’ve ever liked).

Ripple’s homemade crackers are good, but ask for some of the good bread – doesn’t distract from the cheese.

 

3/24/13vUpdate 2012 on cheeses we would have liked to try there or somewhere else: Neva, Sheep Cheese from Spain; Cherry Grove Toma, Cow from Lawrenceville, NJ; La Peral, Cow and Sheep Cheese from Asturisa, Spain.

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Perseid Meteor Shower Cheese Night

Perseids Cheese Night

It was cloudy in DC, so we had to have cheese instead of meteors.

W stopped at Calvert Woodley for a loaf a bread and three cheeses.

Brie Belletoile from France. Soft. Tangy. Very spreadable. Regular cheese plate addition for us.

I bought Giant grocery store cheese because of the bright green rind. New York’s artisans cheese. Bergenost, described as an artisan cheese made in Corfu, New York by Yanceys Fancy Cheese. The cheese is a buttery triple cream Norwegian style cheese, made with imported cultures, and won the 1999 Gold Medal in the New York State Fair Cheese Competition. Good. Aged, so semi-soft.

From Wisconsin: an asiago. Tastes like cheddar. Cow.

Maytag Blue. Pretty blue; well-veined. Not spectacular, but decent. On sale this week. We’ve had out, but I don’t think at home.

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Happy Hour at Cleveland Park Bardeos

Cheese in CP

We stopped at Bardeos on the way to the National Zoo on Friday night. They have specials on their wine and beer, though it’s still not a inexpensive happy hour spot (7 Days a Week, from 5pm-7pm All wine is discounted) . But it’s a pretty bar, and the bartender couldn’t be nicer. Even though it is the most expensive way to get cheese, we couldn’t resist the cheese plate. We ordered PECORINO FORMAGGIO DI FOSSA / Italy & CONSTANT BLISS / Vermont.  It came with a big basket of bread and homemade crackers with fennel. (The crackers were great on their own, but took away from the flavor of the cheese).

And the National Zoo is open until 8:00 p.m. — the buildings aren’t open, but it’s a pretty place to walk — and there aren’t many people in the evening.

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Specially Made Cheese Box is Perfect

Cheese Box in Fridge Exact Fit

I’d seen expensive cheese boxes in stores, but not only were they too pricey — but too big. So W made we one to exactly fit the fridge in my shelf. It works great; keeps it fresh while letting it breathe. It looks like a square hat box for my cheese. I wrap them in wax paper inside the box. I use a glass container with a tight fitting lid for the blue.

Cheese Box out of fridge
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Come to Cheeses


The 2010 cheese event at the National Geographic was called ‘Come to Cheeses’. The speakers were Steve Jenkins, Www Xxx, and Yyy Zzz. Steve gave a nice talk on each of the cheeses, and the other speakers extolled the virtues of their beer and wine.

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2010 Sheep and Wool Festival

There were a bazillion people trying to get in to the 2010 Sheep and Wool Festival in Howard County, Maryland. Some of our party spent 1.5 hours just trying to get into the event.

Everona Dairy was there, with (of course) Dr. Pat Elliott, the founder. We don’t usually get ‘cheese with stuff in it’, but in this case we made an exception. We purchased 3 cheeses to take down to NC this week:

Shenandoah
milk: Virginia sheep

Tomato Torta
milk: Virginia sheep

Beer Washed
milk: Virginia sheep

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Muffaletta and Stony Man

Everona Dairy had a booth at the Silver Spring farmer’s market – which goes to 1:00 each Saturday. We bought some dairy and some herbs to plant, and next visit we will think about the bison.

Muffaletta
milk: Virginia sheep
We usually don’t get ‘cheese with stuff in it’, this had bits of olive and ‘muffaletta’, whatever that is.

Stony Man
milk: Virginia sheep
Very nice, like Piedmont but aged more.

We also got some cow “yogurt cheese” — yogurt that has been drained from the Blue Ridge Dairy Company. They call it ” Greek-style Yo Lite made with skim milk.  Didn’t have extra whey that many Greek yogurts have on top, but has a much more tarty taste than FAGE.

Lunch: Thai Derm in Silver Spring. Missed coupon on their site since we didn’t plan on going. Disappointing: out of mango with sticky rice, but noodle dishes good.