Changing my Life through Cheese

Changing my life through cheese.  Is that what I’m doing?  Might be… things are definitely a lot more fun now that Cured has entered my life.  Who else entered my life?  A tender of a bar who has all kinds of spirits and beers and also likes cheese.  That means my last cheese dinner was an exceptionally fun tasting experience!

People who know my drinking style will tell you I’m a bourbon gal.  True, but once I discovered rye in New Orleans, it became my spirit of choice. So, my friend Matt and I started out the night with a special bottle of rye whiskey- High West Double Rye from Park City, Utah.  Just sippin’ it straight.  Such a nice surprise for me as he pulled the bottle out of his bag of goodies.

But, on to the cheese.  Coral Ferguson, co-owner of Cured, chose four cheeses for Matt and me, and Tyler, an esteemed foodie at Cured, helped me with the beverages.  I asked Coral for cheeses to eat in a progression for this particular evening.  She almost effortlessly handed me a Mt Tam, Fenacho, Red Leicester, and a Stilton.  Tyler suggested pairing it with a sparkling wine, so I picked up a bottle of Tiamo Prosecco.  Tyler and Coral suggested enjoying the Stilton with Port, so I asked Matt to bring some… I can’t always supply EVERYTHING.

But, libation-savvy Matt Lanning had an idea… some Haandbakk, a Norwegian ale aged in wine barrels from the Haand Bryggeriet Brewery in Norway.  Um… yeah, I had never heard of it either.  All I can say is wow, what a beer! The label describes it as an original Scandinavian brew made by farmers, aged in oak, and naturally sour.  I will describe it as fantastic, and say we were both a bit bummed when we finished the bottle, which happened before dinner because we followed the rye with some Stilton and Haandbakk.  Matt insisted on starting with the Stilton, number four in the four cheese progression.  But, we did save some for later.

We dove into the cheese in proper progression after the Stilton/Haandbakk pairing and started with Mt Tam from The Cowgirl Creamery in San Francisco.  Liz Thorpe describes this triple-creme aged, soft-ripened style cheese in The Cheese Chronicles as a “perfectly balanced swath of salt, cream and butter.”  It is perfectly wonderful in every way and when it’s at room temperature, it’s kind of addictive.

From Mt. Tam we moved on to Fenacho, from Tumalo Farms in Bend, OR.  This cheese is really unique because it has Fenugreek seeds, which are commonly used in pickles and curries.  Fenacho is a semi-hard cheese with a slightly sweet, nutty flavor.  This was a really different cheese from what I’m used to, but I enjoyed it and would definitely buy it again.

Our third taste was some Red Leicester, which, as you can probably guess from the name, comes from England. Red Leicester is a beautiful, bright orange cheese, colored with annatto.  It is firm and dry and might replace cheddar in my fridge from now on. There’s a sweetness to this cheese that draws you back… bite after bite after bite…

Matt and I went full-circle this particular evening, ending where we had started- with Stilton. The trusty Murray’s Handbook refers to Stilton as the best known blue cheese in the world.  It is protected under EU legislation, which means it can only be produced in certain counties in England with a particular milk and formed in a cylindrical shape, etc.  The Murray’s Handbook describes Stilton as “an impeccable marriage of heavy, moist paste, sparkling minerality, balanced salt, and roasted nuttiness.”  It then goes on to say ” serve with tawny port and that’s that. There are no other options.”  Stilton and port are without a doubt a fine pairing, but, with all due respect to my trusted guide book for this exploration of cheese, I’ll have to say there is another option.  How about that Haandbakk?

A Trifecta of Cheeses

So, it’s official. Cheese dinner nights are my new favorite nights and I sincerely hope to entertain a number of my friends over the course of the next few months (until forever…?) with unique cheeses I purchase at Cured in Boulder.

My buddy Joe came over to be “spoiled” with my cheese, bread, wine, and seasonal veggie dinner. I bought some beautiful golden beets, carrots, and heirloom tomatoes from Ollin Farms and got the beets wrapped up in foil and roasting in the oven at 400 degrees well before Joe showed up. I chopped the carrots into bite sized chunks and roasted them with a sliced onion drizzled in olive oil, salt, and pepper. While the root veggies roasted, Joe picked up my flip video camera.  Here’s how the night got started…

I bought three cheeses at Cured: Fleur Vert (in the front), a French goat cheese covered in herbs de provence and red peppercorns; Délice (middle), a tripple cream cow’s milk cheese; and La Tur (in the back), an Italian cheese with a “trifecta” of milks: cow, goat, and sheep.

These three cheeses were nothing short of fantastic and I’m almost tempted to recreate this entire experience for all of my friends.  But, that would really halt my exploration, now wouldn’t it?

As I look through The Murray’s Handbook and The Cheese Chronicles, it is becoming more and more clear to me just how many cheeses there are.  Neither of the cheese-filled books talk about Fleur Vert. It is a goat cheese covered in herbs de provence and red peppercorns, and it’s not technically a chevre, but can be thought of as a slightly aged chevre (apparently chevre is a fresh cheese, not aged). It is spreadable, especially on warm bread, and the herbs and pepper combination is savory on top of the sweet, white goat cheese.  This also went especially well with the roasted beets.

The Murray’s Handbook eloquently refers to Délice as” a tiny treat of pale buttercup” that is “rich and luscious, with the texture of whipped butter.”  It is.  It is.  We spread this on the warm baguette and practically giggled like school kids at this experience.  This is an amazing cheese with a mild flavor, like a European butter, and it is addictive.

The third cheese, La Tur, is also featured in The Murray’s Handbook.  It says, “three milks and two textures merge into one cheese’s best approximation of ice cream.”  Joe and I refered to this as the trifecta cheese- a power-house cheese made of three milks.  It’s a must-try.

I bought a bottle of Pinot Gris from Elk Cove Vineyards in Willamette Valley, Oregon.  As usual, this Oregon wine did not disappoint.  It was crisp, just sweet enough, and refreshingly cut through the fat from all this cheese.  And, Joe and I always appreciate that first sip… “once it hits the lips…”

Overall, it was a fantastic night.  We had roasted golden beets marinated in Persian Lime Olive Oil and Peach Balsamic from EVOO Marketplace, roasted carrots and onions with cumin, fresh heirloom tomatoes that didn’t need even a pinch of salt, toasted bread, and cheese.  By the time the second bottle of wine was opened, I started sautéing some local pears in butter.  But… we devoured those before I even thought to snap a photo.

Cheese, Bread, and Wine Tasting #1

After my catharsis, I decided to put a positive spin on my lonely cheese, bread, and wine dinners.  I’m now going to plan on cheese, bread, and wine, and explore some new flavors, textures, and regions of wines and cheeses.  Why not?

So, with my Murray’s Cheese Handbook and The Cheese Chronicles as my reference books, I’m embarking on a new adventure.

The first three cheeses that I bought (from Whole Foods) are pictured below:

Beehive Seahive in the foreground- a cow milk cheese sweetened with honey.  This was really good.  I kept slicing it and snacking and snacking.  It’s smooth, just barely sweet, and quite enjoyable.

Romao in the middle- a raw sheep milk cheese that’s rubbed with olive oil and rosemary. Again- yum.  There’s just enough rosemary flavor for you to taste the herb without it smacking you in the face the way rosemary can from time to time.

And Taleggio in the back- a cow milk cheese that, according to the Murray’s handbook, is a cheese that “despite pungent, nearly offensive aromas” actually has a “gentle, buttery, mild” flavor.  I couldn’t agree more.  This cheese was a little scary at first with its moldy, stinky stink.  But it is smooth.