Software development, aviation, and cheese
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
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.
Cantalet
French cow
We got this new-to-us cheese at Brookville. There were Cherry Blossom fireworks on the waterfront, so we took the cheese up to the rooftop & we had a cheese tasting there. The cheese was good Cantalet ((kahn-TAHL-ay), French Cheddar). Supposedly it pairs wonderfully with reds from Merlot to Pinot Noir and whites from Sauvignon Blanc to Gewurztraminer — but we had Troegs Hop Back amber ale from Harrisburg PA.
We bought at Brookville again 7/17/10. Still like the earthy taste of this cow cheese — and great to have it in the neighborhood. We had some at breakfast; some at dinner for dessert. You don’t need much – very rich. No bread required – just right in our hand. Also called Cantal.
We were downtown to see an exhibit at the National Museum-Women In Arts and A Dream…but not Yours: Contemporary Art from Turkey was pretty amazing — art, politics, video (Canan Senol, Still from Exemplary, 2009, Video; 27:30 minutes) and even postcards. We stopped in Cowgirl Creamery on the way, and got these 3 cheeses — all excellent.:
The rest of the dinner created by WWT had a carrot theme (Chicken and Carrot Fricassee, Carrot Cranberry Salad, Bacony Carrots and Green Beans, Pickled Carrots, Carrot Pudding), but the cheese course was cheesy with side carrots. All from Whole Foods:
Cupid’s Choice Camembert, Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, Old Chatham New York. Tasty, and we couldn’t resist the heart-shape of this one. Pasteurized cow’s and sheep’s milk. Our sparkling our New Mexico Gruet was a good match for this.
Cypress Grove Lamb Chopper, Cypress Grove Chevre, California. We agreed: “This sheep milk cheese is buttery in color and flavor with a long, complex finish.”
Blue Castello. Denmark. “This brie-like blue cheese from Denmark is made by Tholstrup, the same company that makes Saga Blue at its factory in the United States. Blue Castello is richer than Saga Blue and is made only in Denmark. Castello is a distant derivative of Italian Gorgonzola but has a higher fat content and a milder flavor. It is a perfect blue for those who like a little blue flavor without being blown away.”
The complete menu included Chicken & Carrot Fricasse, Carrot Cranberry salad, and of course, the annual carrot pudding.
Fun addition for the party: The Cheese Tasting Party Kit: Everything You Need to Host Your Own Cheese-Tasting Party.
We bought this at the Burlington NC Barnes and Noble for $10, The Cheese Bible (Christian Teubner) 2009. It not only gives background on some European cheeses we’ve never tried before, but has some great recipes — so good that we even bought a 2nd book for a family member who is a great cook. The illustrations and paper are so nice that is almost an artbook on cheese, but the writing is well-d0ne and easy-to-understand.
Okay, we bought this for the look (like a wine label, I suppose), but would buy it again for the flavor. French Mimolette is a hard, brittle, bright-orange cheese with a very nutty flavor. Carrots are pretty popular in this house, so this has been dubbed our new Carrot Cheese. The Mimolette is spherical like an Edam but with a rough moon-like surface (from cheese mites) and a bright orange interior. It resembles a melon when cut open. The cheese originated in Holland and is made in a similar way to Edam.
Several months ago, a friend had a blue cheese at our house from Calvert Woodley that she just loved. However, we didn’t have the label. We thought it was a French cheese. When she returned to CW, that let her taste about 12 kinds. However, not one was right. However, on Friday, during the DC snowstorm, we got in before they closed, and the cheesemonger remembered us — she had decided it was a Danish blue cheese, Blue Castello.
The Danish Castello Blue is a triple-cream, blue-veined gourmet cheese with a washed-rind. It is also called Blue Castello. It’s fairly mild with a Brie-like texture.
When I was visiting in N.C. a few weeks ago, we had the M’s up for a cheese tasting. I think they liked it — they are now giving cheese as Christmas presents. We had Manchego, and some others. It was pretty good.
Saint Andre
milk: French cows
Manchego
milk: Spanish sheep
Asiago d’Allevio
milk: Italian cows
Stori Dimon
milk: Icelandic sheep
This was our first Icelandic cheese. It was good. AT bought it at Whole Foods in Silver Spring. It came in a cute, wooden box (which has already been recycled into a great gift container) . Another Triple Cream that goes down like butter.
See photos and read more about the Cougar holiday season: Some 40,000 packages of Cougar cheese are shipped between the months of October and December, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the creamery’s annual cheese sales. So if you want some for Christmas, order now. Cougar Gold, our favorite, has remained the number-one seller throughout the years, making up nearly 80 percent of their annual sales. For more information on Cougar cheese or to place an order, please visit http://www.wsu.edu/creamery