Two brothers embark on a winning path

For adults, memories of youth often conjure a beloved summer place—a park, camp, or swimming hole where most of the good times occurred. For Mateo and Andy Kehler, brothers with deep family roots in Ver- mont, childhood summers unfolded at the state’s scenic Caspian Lake in Greensboro, on a section of shore known as Winnimere.

“My family has been summering at Winnimere since the early 1900s,” says Mateo. But in the late 1990s, with dot com fortunes driving up property values in the area, the brothers began to worry. “We were looking at being priced out of the happy place of our childhood.”

Determined to own their own piece of this vacation paradise, the brothers bought a derelict dairy farm near the lake a decade ago. Five years later, they had released the first cheeses from Jasper Hill Farm and soon devised one they christened “Winnimere.”

These savory little cheese pastries derive from the Burgundy region of France, and are reminiscent of popovers, with a nice crust on the outside, but a soft, buttery, and cavernous center. These are typically made with Gruyère cheese, but here we substitute one of our favorite American cheeses - Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Mike Gingrich of Uplands Cheese Company in Wisconsin.

Makes 2 crusts

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter (8 ounces), cut into small cubes
1 pinch baking powder
6 to 10 tablespoons ice water

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and work it in with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, gently it in with your hands. Add only as much as you need to make a smooth ball of dough.

Divide the dough in half, wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Matthew Jennings, La Laiterie at Farmstead, Providence, Rhode Island

This is an incredibly versatile recipe. It uses one of our favorite quick dough methods, and the result is a flaky pastry crust better than Grandma's. In a pinch, you can use frozen pie dough. At La Laiterie, we find the continual challenge is to use fewer ingredients and have more of an effect. This recipe is no exception. It seems as if leeks, bacon, and Appenzeller are meant to be best friends. The heady, herbaceous and slightly pastured flavor of the cheese makes this tartlet a show-stopper. As seasons change, alter the ingredients accordingly. In summer, try ripe tomatoes, blanched asparagus, and chopped chives with fresh goat cheese. Experiment!

Matthew Jennings, La Laiterie at Farmstead, Providence, Rhode Island

Now, that just sounds like New England, doesn't it? This makes a great appetizer, as the flavor combination of the mushrooms, cheddar, and pumpkin seed oil mingle on your palette. For best results, have a generously poured glass of Pinot Noir to wash this down!

Matthew Jennings, La Laiterie at Farmstead, Providence, Rhode Island
This is our iconic mac 'n' cheese from La Laiterie at Farmstead. It has the requisite oozy, gooey, cheesy characteristics, but it is elevated by the use of a great sharp Cheddar, earthy and sweet Gruyëre, creamy, piquant ripe Brie, and some good penne pasta. Bake with the crusty breadcrumb top, and heaven awaits.

Serves 6

1 1/2 cups coarsely grated Gruyëre cheese
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated very sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)
1 1/2 cups diced rindless ripe Brie (cut from 1-pound wedge)
5 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon (scant) nutmeg
1 quart whole milk
1 3/4 cups fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread
1 pound penne pasta

By Lassa Skinner

Cheese is the quintessential party food – ready-to-serve, crowd-pleasing, good-looking, an affordable. Those are reasons enough to serve this dairy wonder, but there's also the entertainment factor. Specialty cheeses–especially artisanal and venerable old-world varieties–tell a story and invite an experience. You just don't get that with a bowl of chips and salsa.

French "grower Champagnes" and small-batch sparkling wines are worthy of your best cheese

It started when Artisanal Cheese Center moved in down the street from our Manhattan offices. Instead of getting cake for an office birthday, my boss ran over to the cheese mecca for a single perfect …poisses. Common wine advice for …poisses calls for something like chardonnay, but the occasion was a good excuse for bubbles. As it turns out, stinky cheese and Champagne beats cake, hands down.

American barley wines pair perfectly with stateside cheeses
By Andy Jenkins

Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to disparage the longstanding relationship that cheese and wine have enjoyed over the past gazillion years. That's a lot of history. I'm not going to suggest that beer and cheese are far more natural and effective companions, when compared to wine and cheese. No, no-I'm not saying that here. That discussion may have to wait for Culture's second issue.

For now I'd just like to point out that the parallels between domestic craft beer and the continued emergence of American artisan cheese are quite staggering. Both exemplify the creative spirit of the American culinary scene. Both are proof of Americans' ability to take the best of traditional European farmstead products and make them their own.

Porcelain Cheese Buttons
People who don’t cut cheese for a living might appreciate a bit of slicing support. These whimsical cow, sheep, and goat buttons provide stability thanks to small underside spikes, allowing them to sink easily into cheese rinds, stabilizing your grip. Even if you don’t need them for cutting, use the various forms to denote the type of milk used in making a particular cheese. They might look a bit menacing—but then again, we are eating their milk, aren’t we?