2nd Annual American Cheese Month Charity Event

Thanks to Feast magazine, I was thrilled to hear about the 2^nd Annual American Cheese Month Charity Event that took place last Friday, hosted by Parker’s Table in Richmond Heights. First, I was happy that I had only missed one year and second, this gave me a chance to try out a new wine and cheese store, in addition to eating a lot of cheese at one time!

To help celebrate, American Cheese Month, eight artisinal cheeses were creatively paired with charcuterie from Salume Beddu as well as red and white wine. The event was presented and produced by CheezSorce, a cheese-making consulting company.

It was very hard not to take a lot of cheese at once, I did make my way around the floor a couple of times to make sure I got a good taste of each of the eight cheeses. I was very biased since my favorite local cheese makers were on the list for the evening.

The first stop was Baetje Farms and Veronica Baetje was handing out samples of their Bloomsdale cheese herself. She told me that she hopes to place some of her fruit blend cheeses in Dierbergs very soon.

Another favorite, Green Dirt Farm, was the second stop and they are located near the Kansas City area. Sarah Hoffman was also handing out samples but I spoke to one of her assistants for a while about the dinners they host at the farm. They will bring in a different chef each month to cook the meal, usually consisting of cheese and goat courses. The dinners were so successful that they sold out every single one! (I think that would make a fun road trip weekend.) Anyway, Green Dirt Farm served their Woolly Rind but my favorite is their Bossa…a gooey and VERY stinky cheese.

Another cheese with a strong flavor was the Prairie Breeze Cheddar, made by Milton Creamery from Milton, Iowa. This was the best cheddar of the night and the sharpest cheese.

There were also a couple of mozzarella cheeses and a blue, but my favorite cheese goes to Jasper Hill Creamery from Greensboro, Vermont. They had a creamy and gooey cow’s milk cheese that almost required a fork to eat, with a hint of barnyard flavor to it. Just like Epoisses, the best cheeses are messy!

Here is the full list:

1. Baetje Farms, Bloomsdale, Goat’s Milk, Bloomsdale, MO
2. Green Dirt Farm, Wooly Rind, Sheep’s Milk, Westin, MO
3. Chapel Hill Creamery, Fresh Mozzarella, Cow’s Milk, Chapel Hill, NC
4. Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, Flagship Reserve, Cow’s Milk, Seattle, WA
5. Avalanche Cheese, Bandaged Goat Cheddar, Goat’s Milk, Basalt, CO
6. Milton Creamery, Prairie Breeze Cheddar, Cow’s Milk, Milton, IA
7. Jasper Hill Creamery, Harbison, Cow’s Milk, Greensboro, VT
8. Valley Shepard Creamery, Crema de Blue, Jersey Cow and Sheep's Milk, Long Valley, NJ

Resources:

Parker’s Table = http://parkerstable.com/

Feast Magazine = http://www.feaststl.com/feast-events/article_b0dfb304-d829-11e1-a7e0-001a4bcf6878.html

Salume Beddu = http://salumebeddu.com/

CheezSorce = http://cheezsorce.com/

Baetje Farms = http://baetjefarms.com/

Green Dirt Farm = http://www.greendirtfarm.com/

Milton Creamery = http://www.miltoncreamery.com/

Jasper Hill Creamery = http://jasperhillfarm.com/

American Cheese Month 2011

October is American Cheese Month…no…we’re not celebrating those plastic slices but rather cheese that is made in the States, and Angela Ortmann, STLwinegirl, along with the Wine and Cheese Place, helped us celebrate properly.

We got to taste six completely different cheeses from all over the country. Starting out west with my all-time favorite cheese, Midnight Moon comes from Cypress Grove in California, although it’s actually made in Europe. Midnight Moon is an aged goat cheese and is a lot more firm than the typical goat cheese. With a sharp finish, this cheese pairs well with a large spectrum of wines.

My second place favorites are a tie between the smooth and creamy, Von Trapp Oma out of Vermont, and Milton Creamery’s Prairie Breeze, an aged cheddar-like cheese from southeast Iowa. Of course I’d recommend the Oma with a white and the Praire Breeze with a mild red to balance out the flavors accordingly.

The last two cheeses, Dry Jack from New York State and Rogue River Blue out of Oregon, were my least favorites, which is just as well since both really went better with the heavier red wines.

We were encouraged to pair each of the cheeses with all of the wines, but unfortunately we really would have needed a lot more cheese to appropriately taste each of them. Like I said before, Midnight Moon was the best to pair with all of the wines even though I am very biased in saying that.

Last but not least, we got to try two different Baetje goat cheeses, both paired with a sparkling wine. Baetje Farms is located in the Ste. Genevieve and you can find their products at farmer’s markets around the St. Louis area. The Cranberry Orange was a little too tart but the Chocolate Raspberry had just the right amount of sweetness so as not to overpower the bubbles.

Resources:

The Wine and Cheese Place = http://www.wineandcheeseplace.com/

STLwinegirl = http://www.stlwinegirl.com/

Midnight Moon = http://www.cypressgrovechevre.com/cheeses/creamline/midnight-moon.html

Baetje Farms = http://baetjefarms.com/