Day 1065 : Let's all give thanks to cheese!

When planning cheese selections these days, I feel it is most important to gear your choices to your host - are they a stinky cheese person? Do they adore blue cheeses? Only like firm crystallized tangy cheeses like a nice Parmesan? Or are they like my Mother, fans of cheeses made with goat's milk?

Since my Mother always does the cooking for Thanksgiving supper, I figure the obvious way to go is with a selection of goat cheeses. All American and all purchased at my go-to spot for American cheese -- Lucy's Whey.

Cheese #1 - Cremont, crafted by Vermont Creamery. Vermont Creamery is one of my absolute favorite American goat cheese producers. Their geotrichum rinded, aged goat's cheeses changed the landscape of American aged goat's cheeses. In every morsel of their cheeses, you feel like you are tasting a morsel of France and French cheesemaking. Good cheese making if you ask me!

So what's Cremont? 

A Double Cream mixed goat and cow's milk cheese with a hint of cream. This is the sort of cheese that just melts in your mouth -- decadent and sweet in all the right sort of ways. Perfect with a glass of Cremant de Bourgogne or if you are not feeling bubbles, a Riesling cuts right through that creaminess in the best of ways.

Cheese # 2 - Madeleine, crafted by Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie. Before getting to the cheese, just a quick little note about Sprout Creek Farm. It is an educational farm, offering year round and summertime programs teaching children about farming practices, cheesemaking, and living off the land. The ultimate in farm to table education.

So what's Madeleine?

A raw goat's milk cheese that is firm and dense with dainty milky and herbaceous notes. This is a crowd pleasing cheese - easily paired with a wide variety of foods, wines, cocktails, and even beers. You simply cannot go wrong with this cheese.

Cheese # 3 - Caguya Blue, crafted by Lively Run in Interlacken. 

Most blue cheeses are made with sheep or cow's milk, both of which are milks much higher in fat content with lead to the creamy, rich, roundness that one tends to find paired with the spicy piquance of a blue cheese. 

So what's the flavor profile of Cayuga Blue?

Dense and flaky but with a bright, milky, grassiness and a citrusy tangy finish. Enjoy with cranberry sauce and a glass of Pinot Noir.

Happy Thanksgiving one and all! 

Day 781 : Next stop on our Hudson Valley - Sprout Creek Farm

Sprout Creek Farm located in Poughkeepsie came to life in an interesting and unusual but truly fabulous manner. Their story starts in the mid 1980s when three Connecticut high school teachers decided that they were dissatisfied with the manner in which their students saw their future --whether this was a strict function of the educational system or more of the socio-economical climate, they were not sure. But they knew how they wanted to change it and that was by creating an educational and working farm to educate the future generations of America. In 2011, Sprout Creek Farm became a 501 c 3 incorporated not for profit corporation. Today Sprout Creek hosts weekend classes for children and adults along with an overnight and day summer camp program. Not only do you learn how to care for and milk goats and cows you also learn about vegetables, plants. But ultimately it is their goal to : "To teach both children and adults to love our fragile earth, to understand our connectedness to it, and thus to develop a passion for protecting its integrity."

Sprout Creek Farm primarily produces goat and cow's milk cheeses and since this is kidding season, we had the pleasure of seeing lots of little baby goats and young calves.

With the milk from their animals, Sprout Creek produces an extensive selection of cheeses. Each unique and stunning in their own way, you can have a tasting of some of their cheeses at the farm's retail market. 

Under each dome was a selection of cheeses with somewhat of the same theme -- whether it was goat's milk, cow's milk, washed rind, their cheesemaker's choice or aged and smoked cheeses. 

So what were my favorites?

Madeleine - This is their only raw goat's milk cheese and is aged for anywhere between five and nine months that is firm and slightly crumbly. Light and citrusy with herbaceous notes and crisp slightly nutty finish. Great as a snacking cheese, grated over salads, and melted into sandwiches. Elegant yet approachable.

The Cheesemaker's Choice Washed Rind Eden - This washed rind semi soft raw cow's milk cheese was just everything that you want in an ooey-gooey stinker. Washed in local Brooklyn beer and aged for three to five months, it is rustic and briny yet round and flavorful with a nice kick. Great with a nice IPA.

Overall a great visit to such an inspiring farm that really is trying to have an impact on their community not just by the same artisanal production cheeses they craft but in terms of their educational opportunities. I'll leave you with what the person who showed me around said about the farm and what it is about: 

"Animals. Plants. People."