LINKS: The Great British Cheese Festival

By Erica

Why are the British so much more awesome than us when it comes to cheese? It seems like we import all great cheese news from England. Here some more!



The Great British Cheese Festival of 2010 happened last week at Cardiff Castle. It involved lots of sampling, making and rolling. There's a nice slide show of the event over at The Guardian.

Maybe one day Madison will have an event as cool as this. Or maybe Kara and I could plan one....

LINKS: What will YOU do for National Cheeseburger Day?

By Erica

Tomorrow, September 18th, is National Cheeseburger Day! ...maybe. According to a website dedicated to holidays, there is no documented origin for this day, nor is it technically an official National holiday. But I don't care!


The cheeseburger was supposedly invented between 1924 and 1926 when a homeless man told chef Lionel Sternberger to put a slice of cheese on his burger. Sternberger then put "cheeseburger" on his menu, and the rest is history. According to a recent survey, 44% of Americans prefer American Cheese on their burgers, while 38% prefer Cheddar cheese.

Happy (unofficial) Cheeseburger Day!

TASTES: Edelweiss Swiss

Here's another C:AJ tasting from the vault. It's a swiss cheese that we did not like. To quote myself, "it tastes like dirt." I'll let you watch the vid (below) to find out the whole story.

This tasting also resulted in some of our finest cheese photography:



I hope you enjoy watching the tasting more than we enjoyed eating the cheese!

LINKS: The Most Expensive Cheese Sandwich

By Erica


At the Frome Cheese show in England, chef Martin Blunos (above) announced his latest creation: a cheese sandwich that costs £111! That's about $171.50 for us Americans. The large cost comes from the addition of white truffle cheddar cheese (although flecks of gold add a few unnecessary pounds, too). Cheese sandwiches are all the rage in England, apparently, and Blunos is applying to the Guiness Book of World Records to get his pricey sandwich officially on the books.

Here's a full list of the ingredients (with their prices):

Black tomato – £1.51
Balsamic vinegar – £2.25
Pea shoots – 60p
Red mustard frill – 55p
Red amaranth – 55p
Two fresh figs – 1.36p
Apple – 34p
Sourdough loaf – £5
Extra virgin olive oil – £1.60
Quail eggs – £1.53
Edible gold dust – £3.30
West Country vintage farmhouse cheddar blended with white truffle – £92

LINKS: British Cheese Awards

By Kara

It was judgment day for British cheesemongerers. The 17th annual British Cheese Awards - known, apparently, as "the 'Oscars' of the cheese world" - began today in Kingham, Oxfordshire. (Can you imagine a more aptly-name venue for this sort of event?)

According to The Cheese Web, "In 16 years the number of British cheesemakers has more than doubled and there are now over 600 unique British cheeses made from cow, goat, ewe and even buffalo milk."

Categories include "Best English (Patrick Rance Trophy)," "Best Welsh (Douglas Campbell Trophy)," "Best Scottish," and "Best Irish (Eugene Burns Trophy)" - the best Scotts are apparently anonymous. Personally, I'm interested to see the results for "Cheese Person of the Year" (is this the British equivalent of "Miss Congeniality"?), and to learn more about the difference between "Best Modern British Cheese" and "Best Traditional British Cheese."

Judging will continue on Friday, September 24th - "Trade Day" - where judges will turn their attention to cheese exports for the first time in the history of the awards. That is also the day that the winners in all categories will be revealed - so check back then!

RECIPES: Apple Pie with Cheese Crust

This weekend, C:AJ had a potluck to go to, and we decided to bring a pie. Not a regular pie, though-- a CHEESEY pie.

As we've talked about before on this blog, cheese and apple pie are a common pair. In fact, many restaurants in Wisconsin, including The Old Fashioned on the square in Madison, serve their apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese. The pie that we made got a bit more fancy than that and incorporated cheese into the crust.

For those of you who want to try this out, remember that when you're making a pie crust, try to handle the dough as little as possible and only add enough water to just keep the dough together. Also, using half shortening and half butter is important for the perfect combo of flakiness and deliciousness, so don't substitute! One last tip: you can roll the crust out between two pieces of wax/parchment paper, which is much less messy and easier than flouring the surface of a table.

Here's the recipe (directly from epicurious) and some pictures of the pie in progress!

INGREDIENTS
Crust
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 tablespoons chilled pure vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup (firmly packed) coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese
5 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Filling
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 6- to 7-ounce Jonathan, Jonagold, or Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced

INSTRUCTIONS
For crust:
Place flour, sugar, and salt in processor; blend 5 seconds. Add butter and shortening. Using on/off turns, blend until mixture resembles fine meal. Add cheese; mix in using 4 on/off turns. Transfer dry ingredients to large bowl. Sprinkle 5 tablespoons water over. Using fork, toss until moist clumps form, adding more water by tablespoonfuls if mixture is dry. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Shape each half into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
For filling:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix sugar and cornstarch in large bowl. Mix in apples, lemon juice, and salt.
Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter deep-dish glass pie dish; brush overhang with water. Transfer filling to dough-lined dish; dot with butter. Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Place dough atop filling. Press overhang of bottom and top dough pieces together to seal. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang under; crimp decoratively, forming high-standing rim. Cut several small slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.
Bake pie until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cover crust edge with foil. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pie until filling bubbles thickly in center, about 30 minutes. Cool pie on rack 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.





P.S. The pie was a hit!

LINKS: Old Cheese

"This is the story of a hundred-and-seventeen-year-old piece of cheese..."

This is the first line of a new short piece by Robert Sullivan called "Say Cheese" on the New Yorker Website. It's a mysterious tale of cheese, war, and grandparents.

Click here to check it out!

THOUGHTS: "Maybe we could wrap it in plastic"

By Kara

Last weekend, after a week spent rambling along and around the highways from Massachusetts and Wisconsin, I headed over to the Orton Park Festival to sit still for a moment and re-acclimate to life in the Midwest. It being 10:00am, I was just in time for the early musical act. I settled in with a magazine amongst a crowd of infants and elders.

Little did I know that - within 24 hours of my return to Madison - the ambient environment would rekindle my passion for this journey of ours.

The act was good - a husband and wife team performing showtunes, both classics and originals, with a combination of real musical talent and irrepressible gusto. Before long, I was neglecting my New Yorker, clapping when they asked me to, and genuinely enjoying myself. How charming, the Midwest, I thought - I had nearly forgotten.

And then they cinched it. "In this next number," the singer announced, "Mrs. Velveeta is yearning for the perfect cheese to feed her picky children."

And it just got better! I wish I had written down the lyrics. All I can recall is the chorus: "Maybe we could wrap it in plastic..."


I imagined this song taking place at a pivotal point for Mrs. Velveeta... For me, it was the perfect reminder of what a quirkily delightful city I live in. And, of course, of the power of cheese.

Onstage, the musicians call themselves The Rohnellaros (check out their Facebook page here!); in the rest of their lives, they are known as Andrew Rohn (composer) and Catherine "Cat" Capellaro (singer/writer). The song they performed was part of their "underground hit" musical, "American Cheese!" (They are better known for their "politico-musical comedy," "Walmartopia," which was produced at the New York Fringe Festival and off-Broadway.)

Links: Wisconsin wins again!

By Erica

Last weekend, the 2010 American Cheese Society competition was held in Seattle. Wisconsin, of course, took home more prizes than any other state! Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville won Best in Show (who knew cheese and dog shows used the same terminology?) with their Extra Aged Pleasant Ridge Reserve. This cheese is only made in the summer when the cows are grazing on grass, according to their website.



We'll have to try it soon!

LINKS: Denny's New Cheese Sandwich

By Erica

Last week, Denny's put a new item on its menu: The Fried Cheese Sandwich. NPR sent some investigators, including Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me's Peter Sagal (below) to try the new sandwich, which a grilled cheese with mozzarella sticks instead of plan cheese on the inside.



Their report has some great lines, including "All the layers, it's Inception in sandwich form. The mozzarella sticks are really just a dream the grilled cheese sandwich is having. It's a good dream," and "It's really like the grilled cheese sandwich is smuggling the mozzarella sticks into your stomach."

I've never said no to fried cheese, so I think that this is an EXCELLENT invention. Maybe the Wisconsin version will include fried cheese curds instead of mozzarella sticks!

We're back! With a bonus tasting from the archives...

By Kara and Erica

We just got back from cheesecation, and we're ready to eat. As we search for the perfect back-to-tasting cheese for our next review, we thought we'd share with you a video from the archives. Regular readers will know that this sort of several-month aging process merely serves to bring out the flavors in a good cheese... video... right?

Enjoy, and look back here for fresh posts this week!

We are on CHEESEcation

Apologies for the lack of post. Cheese: A Journey are on vacation. We will be back at then end of a month. Here's an amazing vintage cheese label to entertain you till then!

LINKS: "A Little Fermented Curd Would Do The Trick"

By Erica

Happy Friday! Here's the excellent Monty Python Cheese Shop sketch to get you through to the weekend. I don't know WHY we haven't posted this before....

LINKS: Cheese-Making in Our Future?

By Kara

Maybe I'm overconfident or gullible or just hungry... or maybe this is just a really encouraging (if less than beautiful) website. David B. Fankhauser, Ph.D. (!), is a professor of biology and chemistry at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College in Batavia, OH. He is also the author of an extensive website for beginning cheese-makers.

He knows how to break it down. Ingredients: milk, starter, rennet. Equipment: heavy stainless steel pot with lid, measuring cups, thermometer, whisk, cheese cloth, cheese press. He includes instructions about how to cheat with the starters and make DIY cheese presses, and - the best part - he's posted a full cheese-making syllabus, starting with yogurt and labneh and ending in homemade blue. Professor F. is frank, straightforward, and illustrates his lessons with very helpful photographs. Check out the first "lecture" (on yogurt) here.

...Do you think we can pull it off?

LINKS: A truckload of cheese

By Erica

It seems like most of our "links" posts are about cheese accidents in the news, and here's another!

Yesterday morning in Minnesota, a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his semi into a Ford Explorer. None of the passengers suffered any life threatening illnesses, so perhaps the most upsetting part of the crash was that the truck was carrying 17,500 pounds of cheese!

The Department of Transportation called garbage trucks to the scene to remove the massive amounts of cheese from the interstate (I-90, in case you were curious). It took five hours to clear away all that cheesey goodness.

Sources:
Worthington Daily Globe

TASTES: Parmesan - Pairing Appendix!

By Kara and Erica

In our tasting of Farmer John's Parmesan, we implied that the lingering nutty-meatiness of Parmesan just begs for a good pairing. This might have been correct in theory, but... well, just watch. It seems we need a little pairing practice.

TASTES: Parmesan

By Kara and Erica

This week, C:AJ is going back to basics with a standard cow's milk Parmesan. No crazy animals, no added spices, just a solid wedge of one of the world's most recognizable and beloved cheeses.

Background:

We purchased this Parmesan from the Farmer John's cheese stand at the East Side Farmers' Market. (Check out F.J.'s straightforward description of his Parmesan here.) We're pretty sure this Farmer John is located in Spring Green, WI (source: L'Etoile Restaurant) - if anyone else has more information about the operation, let us know! Otherwise, we'll check in with him again at the next market.

This cheese is technically a Parmesan-style cheese - "Parmesan" and "Parmigiano-Reggiano" being protected designations of origin reserved for cheeses made in or around Parma, Italy, at least when the cheese is sold within Europe. (Felix, we know you would insert a cheesy - haha - "Celestesan" joke here.) By definition, European Parmigiano-Reggiano is made between May and November, using a combination of today's whole "morning milk" and skimmed "evening milk" from the night before.

Parmesan is a cooked cheese, meaning that the milk is heated to temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the process (in this case, twice). In a unique twist on the basic cheese-making process, proto-Parmesan curds are broken up mechanically into rice-sized pieces after the first heating; after being reheated, the whey is drained and the curds are poured into round molds. After a few days of rest, the resulting cheese is soaked in a brine bath and allowed to age for at least 12-14 months in the U.S. (True Parmigianos are typically aged at least 2 years in Europe. If the cheese makes it to 3 years it is deemed "stravecchio" (extra old!), and a 4-year-old morsel earns the label "stravecchione" (super extra old!).) Parmesan-style cheese is typically aged in a very humid environment, and Farmer John - let's just assume that's the vendor's real name - told us that his Parmesan needs to be wiped dry every 3 days for the first year or so. Phew! For such a popular item, Parmesan is quite a picky little cheese...

Parmesan-style cheeses are known for being hard, dry, granular, salty, and nutty. They're often grated (quick tip: try grating your own! It's far superior to Kraft...), but true connoisseurs (at least the ones on Wikipedia) advocate strongly for Parmesan to be eaten as table cheese.

This makes us true connoisseurs.

The Taste:

This cheese is satisfying to slice: it's hard enough to make nicely shaped slices, but not so hard that your knife gets stuck halfway through. This Parmesan (like many dry, aged cheeses) has a flaky, slightly crystalline texture - toothsome when chewed (possibly due to the breaking up of the curds?). Kara is an official "toothsome" fan.

As soon as the slice hits the tongue, the salivary glands go crazy! (At least ours do.) We don't think this cheese was very sour at all... can savory flavors make one's mouth water? This Parmesan is salty and sweet, with a strong (and delicious) nutty/meaty flavor that really fills the mouth. The taste lingers for a while, just begging for a good pairing...

Sources:
- Wikipedia: "Parmigiano-Reggiano" - scroll down for some interesting Parmesan lore!

- Wisegeek.com: "What is Parmesan Cheese?"

- Cheese.com: "Parmesan (Parmigiano)"

- Epicurious Food Dictionary: "Parmesan Cheese"

LINKS: Best Cheese in Wisconsin, 2010

By Erica
The Wisconsin State Fair Butter and Cheese Contest was held last Friday with over 300 entries. The winner will be celebrated on August 5th at the Wisconsin State Fair's Blue Ribbon Cheese and Butter Auction.

From what I can tell, the winner's are not yet made public, but there's a list of "top entries" for each category on the Wisconsin Ag site. The cheeseries I recognize are Chalet Cheese Co-o (maker of the new Liederkrantz!) a top entry for both swiss and smeared ripe cheese, and The Crave Brothers (who made our cupcake cheese), which is top for open class- soft and spreadable cheese. Carr Valley, which supplies goat cheese for Madison Sourdough's cafe's, is at the top of sheep and mixed milk cheese.

Click here for the full list of top entries... whatever that means!

FACTS: Cheddar basics

By Erica

I like to think that I know a lot about cheese. We've been writing this blog for many months now, so I must have learned something. The other day, though, I was eating a fist sized chunk of cheddar cheese-- as I do--and I realized that I did not know what cheddar cheese was. I knew what it tasted like, but I did not know what made it that way. How embarrassing.

The essence of cheddar cheese comes from a process called, unsurprisingly, cheddaring. But before we get to that, a little history:

The first record of the existence of cheddar dates back to 1170 in England, although legend has it that the recipe was brought over from France by the Romans. It wasn't until 700 years later, though, that cheddar became the cheese that we know today.

Joseph Harding, "the father of cheddar cheese", or as I like to call him, the Gutenberg of Cheddar, standardized and sanitized the making of cheddar in the 1800s. He invented lots of equipment, including a machine that cut curds, that provided the cheese making processes with a defined structure.

(Side note: Wikipedia writes that "the 'Joseph Harding method' was the first modern system for cheddar production based upon scientific principles." I originally read that last phrase as "scientific method" and spent a while trying to figure out why cheese making would require an a priori hypothesis.)

Now we come to what makes cheddar cheddar. Cheddaring is when after being heated, the curds are kneaded with salt before the whey is drained. After this, the cheese can be shaped and aged for any amount of time (longer = sharper). Harding said cheddar is supposed to be firm, mellow, and with a hint of hazelnut. It is also often orange, but this comes from added coloring, usually from paprika oil and/or annatto, a natural red dye that comes from a scary tree pod (see picture below).



And there you have it. That's all I learned about cheddar.

...except for this fact that I couldn't fit in anywhere: For the 1964 World's Fair in New York, Wisconsin created a 34,951 pound hunk of cheddar cheese from the milk of 16,000 cows.

Sources:
-Just wikipedia. Sorry.

LINKS: Blue cheese-- but not on purpose!

By Erica


In Turin, Italy this past Monday, 70,000 balls of fresh mozzarella were confiscated by the police when the several merchants and consumers noticed that the cheese mysteriously turned blue after it was exposed to the air*. The Italian Agriculture Minister, Giancarlo Galan, called the development "disturbing" and ordered laboratory tests.

The manufacturer of the cheese is a German company called Milchwerke Jaeger. They insist that the bacteria is harmless and that it affected only about ten of the mozzarella balls that were exported to Italy. Apparently, the bacteria is commonly found in ground water and has been filtered out of Milchwerke Jaeger's system. There have been no illnesses reported.

If the bacteria is indeed harmless, maybe this is the beginning of a new trend-- blue mozzarella! It would make for an interesting pizza.

Sources:
-Walletpop.com
-NY daily news
-Winnipeg Free Press

*Snicker-worthy descriptor of the tainted balls avoided with much difficulty.

Happy Weekend!

Best hat ever?
(via Jezebel)

RECIPES: Cheesy baked pasta with tomatoes and mushrooms

By Erica

It's time for what you've all been waiting for-- another recipe from C:A J! I adapted this recipe from one I found on Epicurious.com. It was originally in Gourmet Magazine (R.I.P.) and called for Gorgonzola cheese along with the milder Fontina. My fridge, however, only contained some of Capri's Smokey Bear, a smoked muenster style cheese, and so I used that instead. Some of the measurements in what I typed up below are only approximate, so feel free to increase amounts of cheese, garlic, spices etc. to your liking.

This dressed up mac & cheese is great for when you're having company but don't have time to prepare the day of. I made the recipe up to the baking part (Step 6) the day before and refrigerated it over night. The next day, I just popped it in the oven for 25 minutes before serving. The crowd (Kara & C.) went wild!

INGREDIENTS:
1 onion, chopped into strips
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, chopped
1 clove garlic
Chili oil
2 tablespoons of butter
1 heaping tablespoon of flour
1 cup milk
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes
parsley
1 1/4 cup of smoked cheese (such as Capri's Smokey Bear)
1/2 pound of elbow pasta
Fresh grated parmesan cheese
Butter for garnish


INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Sautee 1 onion in chili oil until the onion begins to soften. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook till soft (about 10 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan. Add 1 heaping tablespoon of flour and make into a roux (low to medium heat), whisking constantly. Add one cup of milk and whisk until thick (about 3 minutes).

3. Add to mushrooms and onions. Add chopped tomato, parsley, and cheese. Mix until blended.

4. Cook pasta for 5 minutes (should still be slightly undercooked). Add to cheese mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Put in a buttered casserole dish. ** Can make to here a day ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temp before baking **

6. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and small butter chunks. Bake uncovered at 450 for 20-25 minutes or until top begins to brown.

NOTES:
-You can substitute olive oil for chili oil, but add chili pepper flakes when seasoning if you do this so that the spice is there. You can try using other types of cheeses, too.

-The picture above includes a light salad made with fresh lettuce, tomato, French Feta cheese (also from Capri), and homemade croutons. We dressed it with some fresh lemon juice and olive oil to taste. It made a perfect side dish.

TASTES: Feddost cheese

By Erica and Kara
We recently purchased a cheese from Nordic Creamery at the East Side Farmers' Market in Madison. Nordic Creamery makes goat and cow's milk cheeses, and they don't have a stand at Madison's Saturday market-- although the family-owned farm is located in Westby, Wisconsin, they cross the border into Illinois on the weekend to hock their goods at the Lincoln Park Farmers' Market in Chicago.

Background: We tried a Feddost cheese, which is a cow and goat milk cheese made with a "curd infusion" of cumin and cloves. Nordic Creamery says that Feddost is "a Norwegian flavor tradition with a sweet and spicy flavor."

Feddost won second place in the mixed milk category at the American Cheese Society competition in 2008.


The Taste: Feddost was a stretch for C:AJ - neither of us thought that we liked flavored cheeses, preferring instead flavors that arise from your basic milk, rennet, and bacteria. Feddost proved us (somewhat) wrong. We enjoyed how seamlessly the spices were incorporated into the cheese - the sweetness (clove) and savoriness (cumin) tasted and felt like they were organic to the creation of this cheese, rather than being added in at the last minute. (Perhaps this is the advantage to "curd infusions," which take place so early in the process.) Feddost has a pleasing texture: medium-soft and smooth, excellent for a hard cracker. Kara would suggest this as an interesting addition to an appetizer plate - funky, thoroughly approchable, yummy... at least for a few bites. Several pieces in (after the cameras stopped rolling), the flavor becomes a little tedious... It's a pretty simple flavor, albeit unusual. It wasn't our favorite cheese, by any means, but it's worth a taste. We'll be on the lookout for other "curd-infused" cheeses for comparison.

LINKS: Chicken Soup Cheese

By Kara

Breaking news from one of our cheese-advisors: Beechwood Cheese Co., based in Sheboygan County, WI, is currently selling chicken soup cheese.

"Uncle Charlie's Chicken Soup Cheese" is a variation on Monterey Jack, with a dash of chicken broth and a pinch of "celery blend." The cheese is currently going for $4.75/stick.

As far as I can tell, this is the only chicken soup cheese on the market...

... possibly for good reason? I'll refrain from passing judgment until I try a bite (sip?).

LINKS: Wisconsin is still #1!

By Erica


Wisconsin is still on top when it comes to cheese in the United States. The National Agriculture Statistics Service released new figures last week indicating that Wisconsin produced 2.65 billion pounds of cheese last year. This is more cheese than any other state.

We (after all these months living here, I think I can say "we" now) also made 477 million pounds of specialty cheese in 2009, a ten percent increase from the previous year. Looks like Cheese: A Journey is still in the right state!

Source: The Cap Times

Facts: Moose Cheese

By Kara

In Bjurholm, Sweden, about 8 hours north of Stockholm, live three female moose. They were domesticated as calves after being abandoned by their mother, and their names are Juna, Halga, and Gullan. Although I've never met them, they are currently my favorite moose in the world.

Why? Because Juna, Halga, and Gullan are cheesemakers! (Kudos also to the farmers behind the operation, Christer and Ulla Johansson. Check out the website for their farm, Elgens Hus, here - bring your Swedish dictionary.)

Moose only lactate 3-5 months out of the year, and these three ladies are the only cows milked at Elgens Hus. What's more, moose are notoriously finicky when it comes to being milked, and even small disturbances can cause temporary "dry-ups." A gentle and thorough milking can take up to 2 hours - at which point, the milker has only made about 1 gallon of progress toward the ultimate goal. This results in a very rare, and thus very expensive product: as of last summer, moose cheese from Elgens Hus was selling for about $420 per pound, and was only available in Sweden. Some claim that this is the most expensive cheese in the world, although other candidates (such as Serbian donkey's milk cheese) have also been proposed.

But it's not all hype: moose milk is high in butterfat, which would lead me to believe it could make a yummy (if gamey) cheese. Relative to cow's milk, moose milk is also higher in aluminum, iron, selenium, and zinc. In liquid form, it is served to Russian sanatorium residents in order to facilitate recovery from long-term illness. Who knows what it could do in the form of a cheddar?

Sources:

- TheStreet.com

- FreeRepublic.com

- Wikipedia.com: "Moose milk"

RECIPES: Frost your cupcakes with... cheese!?

By Kara and Erica

In simple terms, ganache is a frosting made of chocolate and dairy - usually cream or butter. We at C:AJ will never settle for the usual, at least not when it fails to include some sort of cheese. Luckily, we were pointed* towards the blog of a like-minded baker at the Cupcake Project, who recently published a recipe for chocolate-cheese ganache ("Chocolate Ganache with the Magic of Cheese"). Genius - or disgusting? We had to find out.

The verdict: genius. Creamy as can be, thick without being chewable, rich without precluding the possibility of seconds. Honestly, we couldn't taste the cheese... Dare us to try bleu next time?

See the end of the post for some pictures from our ganachings.

Here's the Cupcake Project's frosting recipe:

Cheesy Chocolate Ganache (Source: Cupcake Project):

Ingredients:

• 3 oz dark chocolate, loosely chopped (C:AJ used 1.5 oz baker's chocolate, 1.5 oz semisweet morsels)
• 2 oz soft cheese, cubed (C:AJ recommends "Les Freres" for a mild flavor
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 oz heavy whipping cream

(Note: C:AJ doubled this recipe to frost 6 cupcakes and 1 9" x 2" cake... we did not regret it.)

Recipe:

1. Melt the dark chocolate in a small saucepan on very low heat or in a double boiler (a double boiler reduces the risk of the chocolate burning). C:AJ would add that a fake double boiler - one small saucepan inside another, larger saucepan - does the trick.
2. Add the cheese and mix continuously until it is melted and integrated.
3. Mix in the sugar.
4. Remove from heat and quickly mix in the heavy whipping cream.
5. C:AJ suggests letting the ganache cool/settle for at least 15 minutes before frosting the cupcakes - sneaking a taste: totally permitted.

Frosting is obviously the most important part of any baked good, but just in case you're lacking something to frost, C:AJ recommends the following devil's food cake recipe for a base:

Devil's Food Cake (Source: David Lebovitz):

Ingredients:

• 9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• ½ cup strong coffee (or water)
• ½ cup whole or low-fat milk

Recipe:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter two 9" x 2" cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. (C:AJ went with 6 cupcakes and one 9" x 2" cake, and doubled the ganache recipe above.)
3. To make the cake layers, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.
4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.)
5. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.
6. Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

We recommend actually letting everything cool before starting to frost. Yes, the wait was excruciating (we had to leave the kitchen), but the frosting experience was so perfect... no crumbs, and not a bit of ganache went to waste.

Et voila! A brief visual documentation of our cheesy ganache experience:

Slices of Les Freres, a soft cow's milk cheese produced by Crave Brothers, purchased from the Willy St. Co-op.

Grossest step: stir cheese into melted chocolate.

Yeah, still gross. Looks a little like a turd, but bear with us. It's worth it.

Things starting to come together... Note the glossy sheen!

Delicious. And, might we add, beautiful.

*Thanks to J.M. for the tip!

LINKS: Nothing can stop the cheese rollers!

By Erica

Earlier this month, we posted about the annual Cheese-Rolling Festival in Gloucestershire, England. We noted that the festival had to be canceled this year because the large number of spectators (15,000 in 2009!) made the event unsafe. Last year 18 people were injured, 10 of whom were just watching.

That didn't stop the cheese rollers, though! This year, 300 people participated in the unofficial event on Cooper's Hill, at which the police provided no medical support in an effort to dissuade participants and spectators from attending.

Chris Anderson a 22-year-old from Brockworth, was the champion for the seventh year in a row, The Telegraph reports. Congrats!

Check out a video of this year's even posted by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/8714229.stm

TASTES: Parrano

By Kara and Erica

True to our word, we found some Parrano to taste! See our recent post on the background of "the Dutch cheese with an Italian accent" here.

Before we discuss the taste of Parrano, a quick note on this picture: this mostly-sepia tone image of Parrano in its (?) natural environment presently takes up 80% of the German Parrano homepage (similar images seem to cycle through the English, Dutch, French, German, and Spanish sites unpredictably). Other shots feature a cityscape and an overturned glass, and a long-exposure image of a wine glass tipping and a man struggling to catch it. Caution: Parrano appears to induce eerie happenings at the dinner table.

The Taste: Descriptions of Parrano as a hybrid of Parmesan and Gouda are ubiquitous, and accurate. We also detected a strong resemblance to Swiss cheese, both in flavor (nutty, sweet) and in texture (medium in firmness, holey). On first taste, we liked this pleasing flavor combination and the toothsome feeling of the cheese in the mouth. The cheese is very flavorful, without a hint of anything off-putting or overly complex - a definite crowd-pleaser. The major downside of Parrano is the rind: made of several layers of wax, it feels sticky and (understandably) waxy, and imparts a bland plastic flavor to the outer edges of the cheese. We're pretty positive in the first few minutes of tasting and talking (see the video below), but it should be noted that our opinion of Parrano started shifting as we became aware of the rind problem, and continued to decline after we stopped shooting and became aware of a sort of sweet, processed aftertaste. On the other hand, a second, informal tasting of Parrano by Kara - in the context of a turkey and lettuce sandwich - highlighted Parrano's strength as a sandwich cheese. We probably wouldn't serve it on a cheese plate, but Kara at least is curious to try it in an omelette or over a salad.

FACTS: Cheese for Vegans

By Erica


One consequence of living in a hippy town like Madison is that you start to question your life choices. Do I drive my car too much? How much trash do I produce per week? And, the hardest one for me, should I become a vegetarian? which inevitably becomes the much scarier, should I become a vegan?

I quickly realized that while vegetarianism could possibly exist in my future, I could never become a vegan. That would mean giving up cheese, which would mean giving up one of life's greatest pleasures. No way. Apparently, though, giving up cheese is a major hurdle for many wanna be vegans. Anthony Grani, Toronto-based filmmaker and vegan, even created a blog called "Vegan Cheese Reviews", dedicated to finding the tastiest non-dairy based "cheese".

Enter Daiya, a cheese substitute made mainly from Tapioca and water. Two Canadians, Greg Blake and Andre Kroecher, are the masterminds behind the food product (pictured above in a grilled cheese sandwich). Kroecher first started trying to make vegan cheese in 2005 by experimenting in his own kitchen. By 2007, with the help of Blake, he perfected the recipe and began looking to sell Daiya. It premiered at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California in the form of a dairy-free cheese pizza and was an instant success. Daiya is picking up steam and was named Product of the Year at the 2009 Veggie Awards.

Daiya is available in many stores around the U.S. (including at the Whole Foods in Madison). I'm intrigued enough to search it out, but don't count on me leading a cheese-less vegan life anytime soon!

Sources:
-Macleans article on Daiya
-Daiya website

LINKS: "Cheese" dealer caught!

By Erica

A former employee of New York's Department of Taxation and Finance was a drug dealer. Gerry McNamara was found to have sold cocaine and marijuana to at least five co-workers.

Why is this relevant to C: A J? The code word in the email exchanges between McNamara and his clients was "cheese."

One federal employee wrote to McNamara, "I don't have extra cheese on me that I would need but I would love some crackers. You let me know ... you know I'm good for it anyhow."

Don't worry, readers. When we say "cheese" on this blog, we really mean cheese.

FACTS: Parrano

By Kara

We've received a cheese tip from a source in Tennessee: try some Parrano! (Our source found it at Whole Foods.)

If nothing else, Parrano cheese is well marketed: a quick internet search reveals dozens of unique (and consistently positive) reviews and just as many mouth-watering pictures. Parrano may be the first cheese we've encountered that lays claim to its own domain name. (We'll leave it to our readers to find whatever is located at your favorite cheese's .com...) Hats off to the people at UnieKaas (the unique producers of Parrano cheese) for such an effective cheese-marketing campaign! (Also see their page on "The Good Life" for some general advice about friends, family, and well-being.)

I have to poke a little fun at a cheese campaign that takes itself so seriously... But I also have to say that Parrano does sound delicious. It's a Dutch, Italian-style gouda, affectionately referred to as "The Dutch cheese that thinks its Italian" (Wikipedia.org), "Dutch cheese with an Italian accent!" (About.com), and "the unforgettable cheese with a distinctly Italian temperament" (Parrano.com). The flavor is described as nutty and sweet, similar to a mellow Parmesan. If you're wondering what the Dutch have brought to bare on this cheese, look to the texture: despite its Italian self-identity/accent/temperament, Parrano is solidly (or rather, smoothly and pliantly) Gouda in texture. It's a fairly young cheese, aged for 5 months, and it's good for shredding, slicing, or melting. In terms of taste, texture, and certainly versatility, Parrano seems to be close to cheese perfection.

A final fact, near and dear to C:AJ's heart: Parrano won "Best in Class, Gouda" at the 2006 World Cheese Championship in Madison. We will certainly be on the lookout for a taste!

LINKS: Rollin', rollin', rollin'

By Erica

Besides cheese, there's another (Madison) Wisconsin tradition that I love: festivals. Apparently, these two favorite pastimes of mine coexist in Gloucestershire, England.

In the Spring, the town gathers at Cooper's Hill for the annual Cheese-Rolling festival, which is exactly what you would imagine: a wheel of cheese is rolled down the steep hill, and the first person to catch the cheese and cross the finish line is the winner.



As popular as it is strange, the Cheese-Rolling festival had to be canceled this year because the organizers were concerned that the events growing number of spectators would be too much to handle. Maybe we'll start our own Cheese-Rolling festival here in Madison. Anyone know any good hills?



Original source: Time Magazine's Top Ten Quirky Local Festivals (Thanks, N.C.!)

TASTES: Rocastin Sheep Milk Brie

By Kara and Erica

A few months ago, we and a few other friends casually enjoyed a sheep milk Brie. Well, to the others it was casual. We, of course, knew we'd have to come back to contemplate it more seriously. Today's cheese is a French Rocastin Sheep Milk Brie from the Willy St. Co-op.

Background: Rocastin (also know as "Berger de Rocastin" and "Fromage de Brebis") is a French brie-style cheese, made with sheep's milk (hence the French references to shepherds and ewes). In general, Brie cheeses are distinguished by their soft and creamy texture and rich flavor - two cow's milk varieties are protected by the A.O.C. (Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun), and a wide array of Brie-style cheeses are available and extremely popular in the U.S. Brie cheese are often relatively young (4-5 weeks) and most easily recognized by their circular or wedge-like shape, their white, "bloomy" rind, and their oozingly creamy center.

There is very little information about Rocastin out there: most descriptions center on the "velvety rind," which is pretty typical for any Brie-style cheese. Rocastin is produced in the Rhone-Alps region of France. Immediately apparent differences between Rocastin and more common varieties of "Brie": sheep's milk and a triangular shape. (It's produced in a rectangular rather than a circular mold, leading us to wonder about the effects of corners on its taste...)

The Taste: Although we have a (possibly biased) soft spot for goat's milk cheese, this sheep brie is absolutely delicious. Like with goat's milk cheeses, though, it has grassy, earthy notes. We enjoyed this added complexity! In terms of texture, sheep milk brie is everything cow milk brie is, but to the extreme. The higher fat content in sheep's milk makes the cheese very rich and creamy. It's thick and sticks to the roof of your mouth (in a decadent--not disgusting--way).

If you love brie but are bored with the typical selections, try some sheep!

Sources:

Wikipedia: "Brie"

Cheeselibrary.com: "Fromage d'Affinois de Brebis"

LINKS: Eat cheese and be healthy

By Erica

A team of scientists in Finland, lead by Dr Fandi Ibrahim from the University of Turku, published a study in FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology that shows that probiotic cheese can help boost the immune system of elderly people. In the study, they fed people aged 72 to 103 either probiotic Gouda or a placebo cheese. They then took blood tests which revealed that those who ate the probiotic cheese had more activation of NK blood cells and increased phagocytic activity. These are both signs of a boosted immune system.

And so, if you are old and fear that your immune system is deteriorating, eat probiotic cheese!

LINKS: Cheese Wordles and Tagxedos

By Kara

Wordle.net is a website dedicated to transforming texts into images: it takes the count of each unique word in a given text (say, a cheese blog), and assigns visual "prominence" (size) to each word in the worlde based on these counts. Check out what we've been writing about on C:AJ:

Tagxedo.com is a Wordle spin-off, which offers more control over the visual display created.

Bottom line: so cool!! Also, we mostly talk about cheese. No false advertising on C:AJ.

LINKS: Cheese banned, boy cries

By Erica

A few days ago, a preschooler named Jack Ormisher was left in tears after a school official took his cheese sandwich away from him. Westfield Children's Centre, a school in Pemberton, England recently put together a list healthy eating options, and a cheese sandwich did not qualify as a healthy choice.

The parents withdrew Jack from the preschool and enrolled him elsewhere. Now that's good parenting!

LINKS: Cheese Dreams

By Kara

Yet another myth dispelled by rigorous modern science: contrary to popular (British) belief, cheese does not give you nightmares.

"For decades," according to the Daily Mail, "parents have warned their children not to have cheese before bedtime to prevent bad dreams."

Well, not my parents. But - thank goodness! - the newest generation of English would-be cheese-lovers will also be spared that old wives' tale, thanks to a 2005 study by the British Cheese Board. According to their research, consuming small amounts of cheese in the evening is correlated with experiencing a restful night's sleep, marked by an absence of nightmares. Cheese may even afford dreamers some control over their nocturnal experiences: in the study, different kinds of cheeses were reliably associated with different sorts of dreams, including celebrity cameos (Cheddar), bouts of nostalgia (Red Leicester), forward-thinking fantasies (Lancashire), and bizarre phantasmagoria (Stilton). (Source: Dairy Reporter.)

I stumbled upon these findings through a post on Yahoo Answers (UK & Ireland), which offers some other entertaining insights on the topic of cheese.

And lest we chalk this all up to those crazy Brits and their especially nutty old wives: NPR picked up the story, too.

To our readers:

Now that we've been traveling down Cheese Highway for a while, we've decided to put down the map and get a little adventurous: we're going to cook with cheese. Maybe your mouth watered while reading our last post about Mac and Goat Cheese, and you have some other cheesey recipes that you'd like us to try out. Or maybe you've always wondered how to cook or bake with a particular kind of cheese and want to see us take a stab at it. We'd love your suggestions, whatever they are - and let it be known that we at C:AJ will not restrict ourselves to the old standbys! Throw us your wackiest, cheesiest challenges (cheese ice cream, anyone?), and we'll see what we can do.

To suggest a recipe for us to try, email us at cheeseajourney@gmail.com.

RECIPES: Baked Macaroni and (Goat!) Cheese

By Kara

I came home from the farmers' market last weekend with an enormous chunk of aged goatsmilk cheddar, a bag full of crumbly "Celestesan" (pungently goaty parmesan-style cheese), and an irresistible suggestion from an avid cheese-sampler: macaroni and goat cheese.

The result was incredible. The aroma of browning goat cheese filled the house as the dish baked in the oven, and lingered for hours after the bulk of the "six" servings was devoured. (Two suggestions, on a social note: (1) warm any sensitive roommates; (2) exercise caution when promising to share.) The shells almost literally melted in my mouth, save for the occasional nub of grated topping.

I highly recommend the double dose of goat for true cheese-adventurers. But for the less... goat-inclined, I can also imagine using a more standard cowsmilk cheddar for the sauce, and saving a sprinkling of goat cheese, or some other crumbly and pungent favorite, for the topping. My boyfriend and I ate it with a side of cherry tomatoes and asparagus sauteed in butter, garlic, and a dash of maple syrup.

Thanks to Felix for the idea of including some favorite cheese-recipes on the blog, to our customer for the idea of introducing goat cheese to comfort food, and to my mom for my old favorite mac and cheese recipe.

BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 ½ cups milk
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
8 ounces shredded cheese (about 2 cups, divided) - I recommend aged goatsmilk cheddar, with a quarter-cup of something especially flavorful for the topping!
8 ounces macaroni (about 1 ¾ cups), cooked 6 minutes and drained - Mom suggests elbows, but this time we went with medium shells

Before beginning: Heat oven, butter baking dish and grate cheese.

In a medium saucepan (seriously, not a small one), combine corn starch, salt, and pepper. Stir in milk until smooth. Add margarine or butter. Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium-high heat and boil one minute (this concoction will expand hugely!). Remove from heat. Reserve ¼ cup cheese for topping. Stir in remaining cheese until melted. Add pasta. Turn into greased 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with reserved cheese. Bake uncovered in 375° oven 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly (I like it to brown up on top). Makes 6 servings (theoretically).

LINKS: Wooo hoooo-- Blurry cheese

By Erica



I have found proof that cheese can change lives. Alex James, former drug addict and bassist of Blur, the band that brought us such jewels as Song No. 2, is now a cheese maker. Yes, he currently lives on a farm in a small village in England with cows and other lactating creatures.

Apparently, James has always loved cheese. In an interview he gave when he first delved into the world of curds and whey, he said, "The first time [Blur] went to Japan, they said, you have to say what you like, because the fans will want to give it to you. They'll find out what you like, and give it to you. And I could only think of cheese. I was 22 at the time, and really, really skint. So we arrived in Japan to this like regal state welcome, ha ha! And they all gave me cheese. They threw cheese at me!"*

In 2006, he, along with a more experienced cheesemaker by the name of Roger Crudge, made his first cheese, a soft cow's milk cheese named Geronimo after his son.

His journey "from music to cheese" is documented in the online video series "The Cheese Diaries". If you skip to the 4:15 mark of episode one, you can see James' version of our tasting videos as he bites into a goat cheese by the name of "Little Wallop" (pictured below). I hate to say it, but I think we've got him & his cheese partner Juliet Harbutt (hamming it up in the picture above) beat. Except for, perhaps, the part where he says of the cheese, "It's got a bite, though... a bit of a wallop," causing dear Julie to belt out one of the most amazing cackles ever caught on tape. Seriously, go to the 5 minute mark to experience this fantastic moment.



James has come a long way since 2006, and in the summer of 2009 was contracted to be Prince Charles' cheese supplier and then given a morning radio program. James seems to have figured it all out, and he has some words of wisdom for all of us:

"I think as you get older, you kind of know what you like-- And I like cheese."**

*The Guardian

**Current.com