Had a fantastic time at the IRT end of season party. Sharing four types of cheese this year. The favorite all around was Valencay style goat cheese covered in a new ash blend that includes - onion, garlic, chipotle, cumin - yum!
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12/29/13: We've just visited the cheesery in Gibbston Valley NZ. They've become quite successful lately and have begun large scale production. Their cheeses are mild, but very yummy. Only 1 washed rind, and barely aged. Still, great to tap into some highly regarded regional cheese from the South Island. Tommy Reddicks & Kelly Wensing www.cheesedesert.com 
The cheese selection at Gibbston Valley Cheesery.
 It's been about 18 months since we started our cheese journey. In that time we've specialized on Reblechon, St.Marcellin, Valencay, and Chevre. In the last few monhs we introduced our first original creation, The GoJack! And, now, we have a new Farmstead Goat call "Albert". Albert was designed to be a treat for our friends (Albert & Efren) visiting from Colorado, and the recipe was hurriedly named Albert Cheese. So, the recipe wins the naming game!
Albert cheese is a goat's milk cheese, cooked at a medium heat, and pressed at a lower weight. The cheese is then brined and aged for 1-week to three months. The end result is mild and tangy, very easily paired with fruits and vegetables. Here's to Albert! Born August 30, 2013. Tommy Reddicks www.cheesedesert.com  Our Latest GoJack at the IRT Party in East Indy. Thanks to all of the wonderful folks from IRT who tried our cheeses and shared such positive feedback. It seems the latest GoJack was all the rave tonight as this Cow-Goat milk washed-rind blend was a very yummy appetizer for all.
The latest Manchego did not go unnoticed, and our Rebclechon, althought the smallest of the three on display this evening was a closet favorite of the hosts, Mike and Jeannie Dinius! Cheers to everyone. What a great event and an awesome season at IRT! For those who were interested in more, send us an email by clicking here. Tommy Reddicks www.cheesedesert.com  We found new heights in the family fridge with four St. Marcellin's, 3 Reblechons, our new GoJack, and our Chevre. Those St. Marcellin's are leading the charge, and there is no stopping their ability to make our fridge smell like a European Cheese Store.
I love it...but I'm on a bit of an Island with that thought! God bless stinky cheese!! Tommy Reddicks www.cheesedesert.com  So what happens when we go on vacation? Well, we need a cheese sitter. This past fall, as we flew out to visit Madeline in England, we needed our affinage sidekick Shawna to step in and help wash our Reblechons. With her help, we produced one of the best Reb's we've made to date.
Today we fly out for Florida as we test the waters on a Caribbean cruise (no - not Carnival!). Shawna again will be playing the role of cheese sitter; a job title that has garnered more than one, "Did I hear you say that correctly?" from our friends at work! She will be turning and caring for our latest 3lb wheel of Manchego. It's a simple duty, but the wheel will age unbalanced and over-mold if left alone. And when you spend three to six months of daily effort on one cheese, you really don't want it going to waste! Here's to you - Cheese Sitter! Your affinage rocks!!! Tommy Reddicks www.cheesedesert.com  We've named our half-cow, half-goat jack cheese, "Go Jack". The first run of this cheese was so wonderful that is has found its way into our regular rotation. And, in the winter months when goat's milk is harder to come by, this cheese allows us to use smaller amounts of goat and still produce a quality cheese.
This picture is about 9 hours int the process. It's just out of the press (8 pounds for 7 hours) and freshly salted. It'll sit at room temp for 24 hours and then head into the cave for daily turning. We'll share back in late March or early April when we taste this beauty. Tommy Reddicks www.cheesedesert.com  Yesterday, Kelly and I threw together a simple lunch. We had a boxed Potato Leek Soup, and three wedges of cheese: The Cheeses: Top left: Our Manchego Center: Marsh Jalapeño Jack Top Right: Our new Cow and Goat's Milk Jack - rubbed in Paprika This was our first taste of our new Jack. It was dynamite! We put this cheese together a few weeks back when we were low on Goat's milk and decided to mix with Cow's milk. The result was a cheese that had the squeaky mouth feel of a jack, but the sour chalkiness of a chèvre. We finished these cheese in olive oil and paprika and I can't wait to taste more!  Looking at the closeup, you can see the chalky center, and the impact of the rub. We will certainly be replicating this one in the future!
Tommy Reddicks www.cheesedesert.com  We decided to take our Reblechon recipe and adapt it to an 8" Tomme. The result is a very good looking round of cow's milk washed rind cheese. This particular rind ran a few days unwashed and grew an extra layer of mold, but I was stranded in Boston in Winter Storm Nemo and couldn't get home to keep it pristine. Still, the cheese recovered nicely in the days following and is now in the fridge finishing at 38 degrees.
We'll taste this Rebel in another few weeks. I'm expecting a bold taste, with a nice salted butter and cream finish. Tommy Reddicks www.cheesedesert.com  It's winter and goat milk yield is low, so we decided to make Jack Cheese from a 50/50 blend of goat and cow milk. We made a small batch to give it a whirl. The curds behaved well and seemed to turn into the little beans they were intended to, and seemed to begin to merge together when pushed so we went ahead and "pressed" on.  The final product (24 hours later) looks nice. This is a very simple cheese and perhaps one we'll continue to play with when quantities are suspect!
Tommy Reddicks www.cheesedesert.com |
AuthorsKelly Wensing and Tommy Reddicks. Archives
June 2014
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