A couple weeks ago, I held a now-annual cheese party for all of my fromage-o-phile buddies. This party consisted mostly of cheese boards where I served up big hunks, worthy of being stars all on their own, save for a fresh piece of baguette to eat it with. There was one cheese that I wanted to serve that just couldn’t be eaten on its own: Fresh C’est Bon Chevre. This creamy, tart and delicious chevre is amongst my favourite of all the cheeses that we sell at Taste of Cheese and La Ferme Black River. I eat it often – on toast with honey, on a salad, in pasta sauce – anywhere you could think of! I definitely wanted to share this great cheese with my friends, I just needed to figure out how to do so. I also was looking for a more imaginative way than just spreadin’ it on a cracker!!

I thought back the various trade shows that we have participated in over the years and remembered the little pastry shells that we have used to serve up soft cheeses to all of the people walking by. These little shells are the perfect vehicle to serve any kind of spoonable cheese on, as they are thin, have a great crunch, and don’t have an overwhelming flavour. I decided to make little C’est Bon Chevre Tarts 3 ways, by using 3 different accompaniments underneath the scoop of Chevre. The three that I chose to use for this party were: Heritage Onion Confit with Maple Syrup & White Wine; Heritage Onion Confit with Shiraz & Spicy Bell Peppers; and a Salted Caramel Sauce fresh out of my bag from Paris!

With the help of my sous-chef (AKA my sister), I spooned some of the sauce into the shell, topped it of with a little dollop of chevre, and voila! There you had it! I plated them on some of the metal trays that hide in my kitchen cupboards and served them up to my hungry guests. They were a hit! The Chevre and Onion Confit with Maple Syrup combo was perfect for those who were trying to really taste the chevre without it being overwhelmed by anything else. The onion gave the bite-sized appie a more interesting texture, an almost semi-solid to sit between the crunchy shell and the smooth chevre. The combo of chevre and onion confit with shiraz and spicy bell peppers was the perfect mix of sweet and spicy. The last combination, Chevre and Salted Caramel Sauce was like a tiny, decadent dessert! The chevre and the caramel were both thick, smooth, and creamy. The tartness of the chevre and the sweetness of the caramel combined perfectly together with the crunchy shell for a bite-sized dessert.

Overall, my plan to make something that looked and tasted great, with minimal effort worked out great!!
Here is my recipe:

Find any cup-shaed little pastry shell. The ones I used we buy wholesale. Let me know if you want to know more about these.
Source out your favourite jams, spreads, sauces, confits etc.
Buy a tub of C’est Bon Chevre.
Do lots of taste testing of all possible chevre/sauce combos.
Place a dollop of sauce and then chevre into each shell, as close to serving time as possible to ensure the shells do not get cruchy.
Serve to your guests who will soon be praising your chefly accomplishments!
Don’t tell anyone how easy it was to make them! You have to keep some secrets to yourself.

Until next time, Au Revoir!!

I forgot to take a picture of the cheese before I ate it all!! This is the label!

One of Ontario’s finest cheese makers has developed a new winner! Upper Canada Cheese has released a limited edition cheese called Cottage Gold!! I had the pleasure of tasting this cheese and can’t wait to tell you all about it.

The Upper Canada Cheese Company is located in Jordan Station, Ontario and they are best known for providing us with the esteemed cheese, Niagara Gold. Upper Canada Cheese prides itself on creating cheeses from the milk of the herd of Guernsey cows that they maintain on their farm. Their herd is one of very few Guernsey herds in Canada. The Comfort family does all that they can to create cheese of the highest quality for all of us to enjoy.They create cheese using traditional methods and no mechanical intervention. All of their cheeses are hand-made, hand wrapped and hand salted.

If you are a Canadian cheese lover, you have likely tasted Upper Canada’s most well-known cheese, Niagara Gold. Niagara Gold is an Oka style cheese, semi-soft with an orange tinted washed rind. The new release, Cottage Gold, is an updated version of its predecessor. Cottage Gold is also a hand-made, washed rind cheese, however, it is aged for a longer period of time (5 months). Cottage Gold is more like a cheddar, with a lower moisture content and more salt. From the outside, the Cottage Gold still looks very similar to the Niagara Gold – with an orange washed rind. Once the cheese is cut into, the visual differences are clear. This cheese has a darker coloured paste with a few more eyes (or holes!) spattered throughout. The aroma is a bit warmer and smells toastier and nuttier. There does not seem to be as much of the pungent aroma that I am used to finding on the Niagara Gold. With my first bite, it is clear Cottage and Niagara Gold are quite different from one another. The paste of Cottage Gold has more firmness to it, slightly like a cheddar as the official tasting notes suggest. The flavours are deeper and ring clear with notes of toast, nuts, salt and even a bit of butterscotch! The cheese smoothly melts, though it does so with a bit of resistance, which I expect to find in a firm cheese. Overall, I was VERY impressed with this new Upper Canada cheese. It did occur to me that the cheese reminded me of an aged gouda-style cheese, such as the Glengarry Lankaaster, as well as traditional cheddar. This was a delightful conclusion as gouda-style cheeses are amongst my favourite in the vast world of cheeses!

How to eat it:
Aside from eating a whole block on its own – which is what I did with my piece of Cottage Gold, there are lots of fitting places for Cottage Gold. Upper Canada Cheese suggests putting it on your burgers, crumbling it over a salad and using it to make Mac and Cheese. The last suggestion is one I intend to try – how did they know that Mac ‘n’ Cheese is my favourite food? I do want to emphasize that how I chose to taste Cottage Gold is not to be overlooked! This cheese will be a great addition to a cheese board, paired with jams, spreads, fresh baguette and local charcuterie. It will be even more perfect if you take that cheese board down to the dock at your cottage (or a friends!) and enjoy by the sparkling lake on a warm summer day!!

I hope they have Cottage Gold featured at the Great Canadian Cheese Festival this weekend in Picton, ON!

Here is Upper Canada Cheese’s website: www.uppercanadacheesecompany.com

Thanks for coming back to read the second part of my blog post about my trip to La Moutonniere. Lets continue with day #3!!

Lucille, Straining fresh Ricotta!

Day 3:
I awoke again, super-early to head over to the Fromagerie to make cheese with Lucille. Today we were going to be finishing off the Ricotta started the night before and making the Fromagerie staple, Bleu de la Moutonniere! When I arrived at the plant, Lucille was busy preparing the milk for cheese making and the vat of ricotta was being rapidly heated. Once the vat reached the desired temperature and bubbled about for a little while, it was time to scoop it out and strain it. It was amazing to see the snow-white curd floating atop the vat of excess whey and it came out smelling warm and salty. We scooped away until the whole vat was emptied and the large cloth bags Lucille held open were full as could be!

Cutting Curd for Bleu de la Moutonniere!

Next up was making Bleu de la Moutonniere. This process started similarly to the day before. We waited for the milk to coagulate and once it was done so, the curd was cut. Then came the first change in cheese making. Today, the curd was cut into small cubes as opposed to tiny, uneven spheres. Making blue cheese requires a few changes from the firm cheese we had produced the day before. The curd is cut into larger cubes, then aerated on a large tray and finally packed loosely into moulds, in order to provide spaces where mould growth would be promoted. Once the whole vat had been dissected, I was privy to a new experiment. A new machine  was being test driven to pipe out the curd cubes, air them out along a conveyor belt and the plop them into waiting moulds. The experiment was mostly successful, however, a few required tweaks made us revert back to the hand-scooped method.

Scooping Curd into Moulds

We hauled out the huge amount of curd onto a cloth-covered table and then scooped the curd into moulds. Once we were done and cleaned I was given the task of turning and salting cheese that was residing in the aging cave. I took a tablespoon of salt and rubbed it all over each of the cheeses ready for a flip over! Once that was complete, all that was left was cleaning up!

Day 4:
On day 4 I worked on the farm with Al. There isn’t too much new information to report about the day other than that I got a bit more proficient at milking sheep! During my stay on the farm, I was waiting to see lambs birthed by any of the very pregnant sheep in the barn. Each morning and night we would check out the pen of ready-to-pop sheep and each time I was disappointed to find that no lambs had arrived. On day 4, I took to observing one sheep that seemed to be showing the signs of labour which Al told me to look out for, such as getting up to turn around, finding an isolated spot and not chewing on hay like the other sheep. Unfortunately the sheep didn’t appease me by popping out a lamb, and so I went to sleep knowing that I would be leaving the next morning and it would be my last chance to see a lamb being birthed.

Mama Sheep and Baby Lamb!

Day 5:
I awoke to the sun, bright and early and went down to the barn. To my excitement, Al let me know that the sheep I had been watching the day earlier really was about to give birth. He went over to the sheep to assist it along and before I knew it, a little lamb (which was admittedly kinda gross looking) had fallen out of the sheep – literally it fell out! Al took a look at the sheep and informed me another lamb was on the way. As Al went back to work, I stayed to watch and saw the sheep give birth to the second lamb all on its own!!! And so I felt my trip was complete.I had made 3 types of cheese, milked sheep, seen a sheep give birth.. what else could I ask for! And so, after saying Au Revoir I headed out on the road to drive the 7 hours home, ready to tell the story of my life on a farm to anyone who would listen!

Thanks to Al and Lucille for graciously hosting me and for really letting me get my hands dirty!

Here is the story, in a few installments, of my adventure!!!

A BIT ABOUT LA MOUTONNIERE:
La Moutonniere is a fantastic Quebec Fromagerie that produces a number of sheep’s milk cheeses, all in their recently-built, state-of-the-art cheese-making plant! Owned and operated by Lucille Giroux and Alastair MacKenzie, this fromagerie is an intimate operation with lots of heart and great cheese. MacKenzie runs the farming operation while Giroux, oversees the cheesemaking. MacKenzie takes great care of their flock of sheep, ensuring production of milk of the highest quality. This rich, creamy white milk is then turned into award-winning cheese by Giroux and her cheese-making team! Check out their website: www.lamoutonniere.com

DAY 1:
I got in my car at about 10am on last Monday morning, drove to a near-by drugstore and stocked up on on-sale Easter chocolate, which would provide sustenance on my 7 hour drive to Victoriaville, QC. By dusk I had reached the town where Alastair Mackenzie, a co-owner of La Moutonniere, lives. Al had invited me to come spend time at the farm and fromagerie and would prove to be a fantastic host! We departed for the farm in Ste-Helene-de-Chester, and I followed behind Al’s car, the worry of losing him growing stronger as my cell phone signal grew weaker. Al, who hails from New Zealand, showed me into the cottage that sits on the farm property. I dropped my stuff and went to be introduced to the other residents of the farm: the sheep!

DAY 2:
My alarm went off at the unseemly time of 5:50am. I dragged myself out of my sleeping bag as fast as I could and dressed myself in my “farm clothes” and went out to meet Al in the barn. I started to size up my new sheepy acquaintances, and fed them some hay. Next up was feeding little baby lambs milk out of baby bottles. Though animals aren’t always my favourite, the small lambs were pretty cute!! Once the animals were fed, it was milking time. I was introduced to Al’s farm assistant, Joannie, and they showed me the ropes. This morning would be different than the rest. We were going to be testing the milk and grading their bodies and udders for quality. The sheep started to line up on the sides of the milking station and I touched my FIRST udders ever! It was very cool to watch the milking process and I started to help out in no time! The only uncool part? When one of my new friends peed on my hand – I was both grossed out and proud that I didn’t scream out loud! When all the sheep had been tested and milked, I went to take a shower. After lunch, we drove over to the cheese-making plant where I met Lucille, the jovial head cheesemaker at Moutonniere.

That afternoon, I would get my first taste of cheese-making! I slipped into a white cotton uniform, big rubber boots, a hairnet and a plastic apron and joined Lucille and her assistant Martina in the cheese room. The room is clean and sterile, full of huge stainless steel vats, tables and contraptions. Lucille started to empty the pasteurized milk from the huge pasteurizing machine into the large, open vat in the middle of the room. I watched intently at she mixed up the rennet that would be added to the vat to help the milk to coagulate. I was shocked as to how little rennet was added to the large vat, which held dozens and dozens of litres of milk! We set a stopwatch and within an hour the liquid milk had become a gelatinous mass. The large vat of curd was cut into tiny pieces using mechanical and hand-held wires and then came the fun part. That afternoon we were making one of their famous cheeses, Fleur des Monts, and the curd needed to be transferred into the many waiting cylindrical moulds. The whey was strained out into other large vats, where it would later be turned into Ricotta, and we cut up the curds into big blocks and packed it into the moulds. It was hard work!! The moulds were then covered with a lid, tied up and put into a compression machine. I was fascinated by the squeaky little curds, and I couldn’t wait until they became whole cheeses! Next on the agenda was beginning the ricotta-making process. Lucille added salt and vinegar to the whey and left it to settle overnight. I was told that by the next morning, after the mixture was heated that ricotta would emerge out of the cloudy liquid. I couldn’t wait!

After all of the curds were used up, it was time to clean. The most important lesson that I learned that day was that cheesemaking seems to be about 35 percent making cheese, and 65 percent cleaning up!!! We cleaned, and scrubbed and sprayed stuff down for what seemed like hours. Finally, when all was spotless, we closed up shop for the night.

Phew!!! what a day! I headed back to the cottage on the farm and relaxed for the rest of the night so I would be ready to make Ricotta and Bleu de la Moutonniere the next day!

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT!

Georgs, the (cheese)head of the Festival!

On Monday I had the pleasure of attending a media event for the upcoming Great Canadian Cheese Festival! I was very excited to be invited to Chef Jamie Kennedy’s Gilead Cafe to mix and mingle with other cheese-lovers of the area!! The event turned out to be a great collection of short speeches by people involved in both the Cheese Festival, such as Georgs (the big cheese of the festival, seen in the picture!), and renowned cheese educators such as Julia Rogers.

The small restaurant was full of people who loved cheese, and we had a chance to nibble on winners of the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix while sipping
Harwood Estate wine and Mill Street Beer! The main munchie event was when Georgs spoke about the Cooks and Curds cheese gala which will be taking place on the Saturday night of the festival. The Gala will feature a selection of FANTASTIC Canadian chefs who will be cooking tasting dishes using Canadia cheeses. One of the chefs taking part is Chef Jamie Kennedy – which is why we were at Gilead Cafe – to get a sneak peek of what to expect from the chef at the Festival. Out of the kitchen came white bowls filled with one of my favourite foods – POUTINE!! It was a bowl heaping with thin, crispy frites, braised oxtail, Black River Cheddar and thick gravy. It was a great way to end the event. If Chef Kennedy’s dish was a good indication of what is to come, I should definitely arrive at the Cooks and Curds Gala wearing elastic waistband pants!

Chef Jamie Kennedy's Poutine

Thanks again to the organizers of the Festval for the invitation to this event and I can’t wait until Picton in a few weeks!

In less than an hour I depart on a week-long journey to learn how to make cheese! I will be driving to Ste-Helene de Chester, QC to spend a few days hanging out with Alastair MacKenzie and his team, working on the farm and learning to make cheese! Today I’ll travel about 8 hours to the small town where Alastair has graciously invited me to come and be put to work for the week.

I can’t wait to report back with pictures and stories all about it!

Have a fantastic Monday and check back for my tales of the farm!

- Stacey

Cheese is a food that deserves all the respect in the world! One of the ways to truly appreciate your amazing cheese is to serve it up at room temperature. The way that we perceive and enjoy food is often greatly affected by the temperature that we eat it at. Think about how much more scrumptious your apple pie would be warmed up! Or maybe you enjoy a crisp granny apple chilled, right from the fridge – like I do! In those cases, temperature can certainly affect your experience, and this idea proves truthful more clearly in cheese than in any other food that I can think of!

While temperature of food tends to vary from one to another due to personal taste, it is generally accepted by most notable cheese sources that room temp is the way to go for cheese. When eating well-made, gourmet or artisanal cheese, the difference in experience between a fridge-cold and a room temp cheese can be mind boggling! When you take cheese out of the fridge, it is generally at about 1-2 degrees Celsius. When a cheese is this chilly the flavours are often muted and although you can choose to eat it this way, you’ll have to put in a lot more work (if you can call eatin’ cheese work!) to grasp the flavours, aromas and textural qualities of the cheese – and you may Never get to taste it the way that you were intended to by the cheese makers. Like in the case of a good red wine, leaving your cheese out to adjust to room temperature allows for intense, complex flavours to emerge and for aromas to become more pronounced. Don’t sell your cheese short – let it get to room temp (from about 15-20 deg. Celsius) to really eat it at its best!

Check out my review of the fine French cheese, Chaource, eaten at 2 time intervals: 5 minutes out of the fridge and 1 hour and 45 minutes out of the fridge. Its right here! Just scroll down!

CHEESE TEMPERATURE COMPARISON
Chaource: Cow’s Milk, France, Double cream with bloomy rind. Perfect with Champagne!

Chaource: Out of the Fridge for 5 Minutes

CHAOURCE: 5 Minutes out of the fridge
Appearance: The cheese looks firm and matte. No shine and no wobble. No melting at any edges.
Aromas: The aroma of the cheese is faint and muted. I can smell a bit of cream, a bit of mushroomy, earthiness. It is hard to make out the smell unless the cheese is within about 2 inches of my nose.
Texture: Very firm for a soft, little cheese. The paste can be snapped when bent. The pieces do not melt in my mouth – they require lots of chewing. Spreading on a cracker is near impossible. The paste is literally like almost hardened glue that builds up in Elmers bottles left open.
Flavour: The flavours that I expect to find in this cheese are not easily apparent. The buttery, creamy and mushroomy flavours I expect to come along with a Chaource do not stand out at all. All are faintly there. The rind is a huge contrast to the paste – it is mushroomy, earthy and a bit bitter. It overpowers the rest of the cheese to the point that I may as well just be eating rind!
Final Thoughts: My first and foremost thought was that the cheese “tasted cold”

Chaource: out of the fridge for 1 hour and 40 minutes

CHAOURCE: 1 Hour & 45 Minutes out of the fridge
Appearance: The cheese is glistening. It is drooping from the top of the rind. The cheese is still a little cool to the touch.
Aromas: The mushroomy, earthy, milky aromas are now clear and defined. Creamy and Buttery now emerge as clear aromas. I can now make out the smell of the cheese from up to 4-5 inches of my nose.
Texture: Overall, the cheese is softer. The paste has become more elastic, stretchier. I can lightly press a knife into the paste and it almost entirely reforms. The paste in the mouth is much smoother and easily spreads over the tongue. The paste feels rich and a bit oily on the lips.
Flavour: The flavours that I had previously been searching for – buttery, creamy, mushroomy and rich are now in full force. The tastes are clear and complex. I took note that the rind now tastes much earthier, and spicier. Overall, the flavours are much more pronounced and they leave a lingering after taste that hangs around until your next sip of wine/water!
Final Thoughts: I wish I had some champagne to pair with this amazing, rich cheese!

The next time you get a new cheese, try a comparison like this one to understand the difference between cold and a bit-warm cheese… and comment to let me know how it goes!!

Good Afternoon Cheese Lovers! I hope that you are all having a cheesy day! I’m hanging around the office, snacking on a yummy cheese called Comfort Cream.

Comfort Cream is produced by Upper Canada Cheese Company (Hereby refered to in this post as U.C.C.C.), which is located in Jordan Station, in the Niagara Region of Ontario. Upper Canada Cheese is well known for its famous, washed-rind cheese, Niagara Gold.

Comfort Cream is a white, bloomy rind cheese that has a smooth, creamy golden-coloured paste. The aroma is light and mushroomy and the flavours are rich and buttery, with notes of truffles. The cheese is ultra-smooth over the palate and leaves a long, lingering tangy flavour at the finish. The soft white rind is salted by hand and the cheese is carefully hand-wrapped.

Comfort Cream is produced from the milk of Guernsey Cows that have a milk production which is lower in volume than many other breeds, however, it is higher in protein and various vitamins. The U.C.C.C. ensures that their herd feeds only on specially grown grains from right on their farm. Their cheeses are made using traditional timing procedures, and so it is produced as soon as possible after the cows are milked.

I love this cheese! It is similar to a Camembert, and the qualities of this cheese makes me wonder how it would stand up to being baked like a brie. The Upper Canada Cheese Company aims to produce cheese of the highest quality, and I think that it definitely shows. The Comfort Cream is a luscious, rich cheese experience! Now I just need to convince myself out of eating the second big hunk left on my plate!

http://www.x929.ca/shows/newsboy/wp-content/uploads/cheesehead.jpg

Today is not just any old Monday, it’s the Monday after SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!! And today, cheese-topped Green Bay Packer’s fans celebrate in their famed team’s victory. (Want to know more about why Packer’s Fans wear cheese hats? CLICK HERE to find out!)  Although I’m not a serious football fan by anyone’s definition, I do make a point of watching the Super Bowl. This year I spent it with just a few friends and lots of good food! Most people associate Chicken Wings, Pizza and beer with The Big Game, and while we certainly had our share of Super-Food (Yummy homemade Chili!) we also chowed down on my most favourite cheese!

As my Chili dinner was being lovingly prepared for me by my cooking-inclined friends, I felt it was only right to show up with some goodies of my own. So to my super bowl soiree I brought Chocolate Chunk Cookies and a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (the best – direct from Yitz’) and a big, creamy hunk of Brillat aux Truffes! The Brillat was one of the biggest hits at my “Week after New Years Cheese Party” and my friends were only too happy to try it again. Though it might be considered to be too “foreign” or “fancy” for typical football food, it turned out to be just the right amount of rich and creamy for our tastes.

The Brillat with Truffles is a Brillat Savarin cut in half lengthwise and a layer of truffle is added in to the middle and then the top-half is replaced and the cheese continues to age. The result is a decadent, savoury, creamy rich triple-cream cheese that never fails to excite me, even when I’ve eaten a whole lot of it over a short period of time! The truffles provide an earthy, natural texture that makes this cheese the King of all Brillats/Triple-cream cheeses (at least in my opinion!). Spread onto a piece of fresh Ace Bakery Baguette, there really is nothing better!

Goodbye for now to the perfect cheese!

I’m very sad to report that the cheese I ate last night was cut from our very last wheel of Brillat aux Truffes that we had in our warehouse. As it is mostly a seasonal cheese, it is unlikely that we will see the likes of this fantastic cheese until next year’s holiday season… which is only good for the size of my stomach, and nothing else! For now I’ll have to pick another favourite to last me through to November 2011! So until then, Brillat with Truffles, I bid you adieu.

Did you eat any cheese on Super Bowl Sunday??

I can’t even believe it is December 21st! 3 days ’til Christmas, 2 days till the last day of my Cheese box deliveries! The reason I haven’t written in ages is that I’ve been up to my elbows in Brillat, Valencay, Cru de clocher, Trappe Echourgnac and Cabra Pimenton… oh my! The past two weeks mark the busiest and most festive time of the year at Taste of Cheese. Between Taster boxes and Chanukah and Gourmet baskets and Christmas, not much time is left over for blog writing! Nevertheless, I have happily returned to my post as fledging cheese-queen and now I have lots of stories and reviews of new cheeses.

This weekend, in my first couple days of down-time, 2 of my best friends and I had a little wine and cheese party, just because! At our little soiree-pour-trois, I produced some Brillat Aux Truffes, Cendrillon and my personal favourite cheese, maybe of all time, Picobello. Picobello is crumbly, crunchy and crystalline like Parm and rich like Gouda. It takes a moment to register on your buds but the caramel taste of the cheese becomes overwhelmingly AMAZING! If you haven’t tried it, stop reading this blog, and go out and get some! I swear it will be worth your while. I went on to sneak chunks of it over the weekend and even gave it a try on a fresh multi grain bagel, and in no situation did Picobello disappoint. I’m only sad that my chunk is in my fridge at home and not here at work, where I am.

Well, now that I’ve raved about my fave I’m ready to head back out into the wild (or warehouse, if we’re being truthful) and pack up cheese boxes for some unexpecting recipients!

The Big Cheese, Signing off!