Nothing Says Autumn Like Cheese & Apples:

A Cheese & Apple Pairing Guide

My favorite time of year is Fall. The temperature is cooler, the air is crisp, and of course, the trees here in the Northeast put forth a display of brilliance that is breathtaking. I love putting on a cozy sweater and enjoying the outdoors. The farmer's markets are still chock full of produce, and the seasonal selections inspire me to head back into the kitchen to take advantage. Winter squash and apples are piled high, and though they are available year-round, there is no substitute for a locally grown, in-season apple.
Apples also happen to be the perfect match for cheese. I know I'm stating the obvious when I say cheese goes with apples. The salty, earthy, and nutty characteristics in particular cheeses are just perfect next to the tart, sweet, and crisp fruit. Besides the traditional combination of cheddar and apples, there are other styles of cheese that work well with apples.  Hard cheeses such as aged Gouda, washed rind cheeses like Oma, mountain cheeses like Comté, and even blue cheeses make terrific matches. Below are a few of my favorite cheese and apple pairings. These are just suggestions, of course; with all the different varieties of apples in the market and the thousands of cheeses available, the possibilities are endless.

1. Nancy’s Camembert is a creamy, bloomy rind cheese from the Hudson Valley. It is meltingly smooth and buttery with the texture of a triple-crème and an earthy bite.
It would go well with a sweet or tart apple but I like it with an Empire apple.

2. Pecorino Tartufo has a great truffle flavor and it doesn't overwhelm the goodness of the cheese. Rather, the ingredients blend together superbly, making for a beautiful balance between earthy truffle and nutty, sweet, almost caramelized aged sheep's milk.
I like it paired with a sweet apple such as a Honey crisp or Jonagold. The resulting marriage is slightly reminiscent of a caramel apple.

3. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is a firm, raw cow’s milk cheese from Wisconsin. It has a nutty, fruity almost sweet flavor similar to a French Alpine cheese called Beaufort. It is a match made in heaven with a Macoun.

4. Grayson from Meadow Creek Dairy in Virginia is a shop favorite. Made from pasture raised, raw cow’s milk Grayson has the perfect blend of buttery, bacony flavor and barnyard aroma. It pairs beautifully with a sweet apple like a Red Delicious

Dog Days and Cheese

This week has been a far cry from the mounds of snow we endured all winter.  I promised myself back then I wouldn't complain about the heat and humidity so instead of complaining I've decided to embrace the heat, turn off the stove and really enjoy all the seasonal produce available in the many farmer's markets. Paired with some of my favorite summertime cheeses it is a quick and simple way to enjoy a light dinner during a heatwave.
Summer for most people means firing up the grill, and eating seasonal local produce, for me it means both of those with cheese. Most of us aren't used to thinking of cheese as a seasonal food, but summer is the time when specific cheeses are made or are at their peak. Dairy animals are grazing on green, nutrient-rich grasses and foliage, and their diet comes through in the richness, flavor, and freshness of the cheese.  Summer is the natural season for fresh goat's milk and sheep's milk cheeses, such as feta, chevre and ricotta. Goats and sheep stop producing milk in winter when they are bred and preparing to give birth, (some cheese makers freeze the curds collected in summer, which is why we see goat cheese in stores year-round) so the best time to enjoy these fresh cheeses is when they are made from fresh summer milk. It's like waiting for the first tomatoes of the season! They are OK in Winter but spectacular in Summer. There are a few other cheeses, while not seasonally made, that seem right for the hot weather.  Fresh mozzarella or burrata (like mozzarella but with a creamy loose center) are cold, refreshing and the perfect foil for tomatoes and freshly cut basil. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a baguette and you have dinner without turning on the heat. 


Here is a list of my favorite Summer cheeses and what I like to do with them:


Feta- Good quality feta bears little resemblance to the stuff you find crumbled in containers at the supermarket.  Good imported Greek feta often is sold in blocks immersed in brine and  is tangy, slightly salty and both creamy and crumbly. 

Feta goes great on just about any salad that features classic summer ingredients such as tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions. Crumble feta over a summer fruit salad of cantaloupe, watermelon and blueberries.





Beltane Fresh Chevre- a locally made goat cheese that is smooth and creamy with a fresh lemony tang.


Spread it on flatbread studded with fruit or thin slices of baguette and serve with mixed olives. Use it to top a salad of arugula and roasted beets. Grill vegetables and crumble the fresh chevre over the top.

Narragansett Ricotta-this ricotta is made from whole cows’ milk and is lightly salted, moist, sweet and delicate on the tongue. The texture is slightly fluffy and sweet. 

 I like this for breakfast on top of fresh berries and drizzled with honey. Also try it as a first course on a piece of bread drizzled with olive oil and black pepper.

Burrata-Burrata means "buttered" in Italian which is appropriate because it is very rich. At first glance, burrata resembles a ball of mozzarella but when you cut it open the interior spills out, revealing soft, stringy curd and fresh cream. If you're a lover of mozzarella, ricotta, or really anything creamy, you should try it. 

My favorite way to eat burrata is with fresh tomatoes, drizzled with good olive oil and sprinkled with basil.  It is also great with a slice of grilled bread or even with fresh figs like in this recipe from Michael Chiarella: Figs & Burrata Cheese

How To Build A Cheese Platter

You're having a party and want to put out a cheese platter. Where to start? Here's a quick guide to guarantee there's something for everyone and plenty to eat.

The key to a great cheese platter is to focus on serving a variety of textures, flavors and accompaniments. In general we count on about 1 ounce per person, per cheese, assuming a selection of 3-5 cheeses. I rarely serve more than 5 cheeses because it becomes overwhelming to the palate. Always serve cheese at room temperature so remove them from the refrigerator at least an hour before serving.

I usually begin with a light, lemony goat cheese, such as Coupole from Vermont Creamery, or a La Tur which is a mixed milk cheese from Italy made from cow, goat and sheep's milk. Next I would pick a rich cow's milk triple cream cheese like Brillat Savarin from France or a Champlain Triple from Champlain Creamery in Vermont. Then on to a firm, sheep’s-milk cheese, such as Manchego or Pecorino Tartufo, studded with black truffles. These types are always crowd pleasers.

An Alpine-style, should come next. I like Comte or the American counterpart,Ascutney Mountain, which has an onion-like flavor. A more adventurous selection would be the brine-washed Eden from Sprout Creek Farm in upstate New York. It has a slight pungency but a pleasing creamy texture. The final cheese should be a blue cheese. Choose a classic blue like Stilton, but also consider an American cheese like Bayley Hazen Blue. Made by Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont, it has a nice buttermilk flavor and a hint of Vermont minerality in the finish.

To accompany a wide range of cheeses, fresh fruit is a natural. Grapes are a classic but also consider sliced apples or pears. Fresh figs, when in season, add something special. Preserves or chutney also work well. The sweetness from the preserves complement the saltiness of cheese. Nuts, such as caramelized walnuts, are a good accompaniment because they add an additional texture to the platter. Stay away from salted nuts because they tend to make everything seem too salty.

Finally, the big question, bread or crackers? I say, why not both? A great baguette provides a nice neutral canvas for the cheese and also a nice chewy texture. Breads studded with fruit and nuts complement tangy cheeses like goat and blue. When it comes to crackers I like to offer something plain like an olive oil cracker, as well as something with a little sweetness like Daelia's Biscuits for Cheese. This ensures there is something for everyone.

A Cheese Road Trip to The Cellars at Jasper Hill

Last week I finally got a chance to get out of the shop, jump in my car and take a ride up to Vermont for a tour of the Cellars at Jasper Hill. Chris was catering a party so he stayed behind to cook and hold down the fort.  Ever since my dream of opening a cheese shop became a reality I have been dying to take a tour and see first hand what could be called the engine of the artisan cheese movement in the Northeast. Tours aren't available to the public so my new life as a proprietor and cheesemonger got me a golden ticket courtesy of the Vermont Cheese Council, of which we are memebers.

  

I arrived at Jasper Hill on Friday morning met my group and began the tour. In order to maintain strict hygiene and food safety protocol we changed our shoes and put on white coats and hair caps. The Cellars is a 22,000 square foot underground cheese aging facility that they've opened up to other small Vermont cheesemakers that can't afford (or aren't interested in) building and maintaining a cheese cave and setting up an operation to handle wholesale selling and distribution. Basically they provide a place for cheesemakers to send their young cheeses to be ripened and marketed by an expert staff.

  

Our tour took us into four different caves each with a different style of cheese aging in it. Each cave provides the ideal temperature and humidity for the style of cheese. It was quite a sight and so fascinating to see all the work and skill that goes into aging cheese. Our tour ended with lunch outside on the farm and a chance to taste a new cheese called Harbester (sp?) that hasn't been released yet and is currently aging in the Cellars.  I can't wait for its release and I will let you all know the minute it hits Fairfield!  In the meantime we have a bunch of delicious cheeses from The Cellars arriving just in time for the weekend 

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar aging in the cave

Cabot to the ceiling

Bayley Hazen Blue

Clarence patting down the Moses Sleeper

Constant Bliss

New Cheese! Harbester (sp?)

our group in the humidity

Trying the new cheese

What we do...

Cheesemonger -noun someone who sells cheese

That of course is the simple definition of what we do.  We sell cheese; but really our job is more complex than that. We act as the liaison between the producer and you the consumer, we tend to the cheese until its sold, and we advise and educate you so you can make the best choice possible.  A true cheesemonger is passionate about cheese and should be able to recommend which cheeses pair well with which foods and wines. They always know which cheese is at its peak and in season.  A good cheesemonger is knowledgeable and approachable and should always offer a taste. In other words, a good cheesemonger will forge a relationship with you, will learn your preferences and will happily share their passion. It is essentially an old fashioned way of shopping for food, but in a world of super sized box stores and impersonal grocery chains it can be a refreshing.    We've been honing our skills these last two years and we've been  invited to participate in the Cheesemonger Invitational in NYC!  40 cheesemongers from around the country and Australia will compete for the title against the backdrop of the biggest cheese party you've ever seen. If anyone is interested tickets are available just click on the links below. http://www.cheesemongerinvitational.com/