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"Who cut the cheese?" Outraged Missourians ask
Tightening its belt, the state of Missouri recently cut cheese from the list of products supplied to low income youth through the USDA's WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) food-assistance program. After objections from program directors and the Missouri Dairy Association, the state is scrambling to reverse their controversial decision.
"I think common sense came into play here in that cheese is such a versatile product that can be used to make a lot of things taste better or palatable, especially for the younger generation," said Dave Drennan, executive director of the Missouri Dairy Association.
"Unfortunately, we're losing a lot of them as milk drinkers, so cheese is the only option to get dairy in their diet."
Five Chevres for National Goat Cheese Month
Wondering how to celebrate August, the National Goat Cheese Month? Well, Madame Fromage. has five suggestions for your chevre-loving cheese plate.
Officially, August is National Goat Cheese Month, but let’s agree: we’re past campaigning for goat cheese acceptance. Back in the 1970s, when the first goat-cheese pioneers were emerging from their milking barns in coveralls, Americans found chèvre exotic. Today, you can find chèvre in scones, sandwiches, and soups—there’s even a new goat cheese and cherry ice cream on the market, from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, which I’m happy to say Di Bruno Bros. now carries.
Make Wisconsin Travel Plans Using this Cheesy B&B Map
Anyone making plans to visit Wisconsin should have a look at the Wisconsin Artisan Cheese Trail/Bed & Breakfast map first. Created by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and the Wisconsin Bed & Breakfast Association, this map can help you find a place to stay that's conveniently located...near cheesemakers!
Wisconsin leads the nation in production of artisan and farmstead cheeses, thanks to the work of master cheesemakers around the state. Nearly 90% of Wisconsin's total milk supply is used to create our award-winning cheeses. Carve out a culinary tour based around these small-batch cheese delights. The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's map will guide you on your cheese quest
Caramont Farm Has Eyes for a New Cheese Vat
Caramont Farm, in Charlottesville, VA makes goat cheese from the milk of their 60+ goats. They're looking to upgrade their equipment, and are hoping to raise money via kickstarter to buy a new cheese vat:
Our farm business started as so many do: with a dream and some sweat. Founder Gail Hobbs-Page along with her husband, Daniel, set out to build a dairy farm at their home with only a few goats and a few acres in the red clay hills of Southern Albemarle County in Virginia. Over five years have passed and business is thriving. We have added two talented cheesemakers to our staff, grown a successful farm intern program, expanded our herd of happy goats to over 60, and customers all through the region and the East Coast are loving our products.
With all these blessings, we find ourselves needing to expand!
Homemade Beer Ice Cream
It was only a matter of time before beer made its way into ice cream, and we're intrigued by this new recipe, which uses Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo. Let us know what you think:
It all started because I decided to throw my husband a beer-themed birthday party: pilsner-braised ribs, bitter greens with an IPA dressing, coffee stout brownies. I’d just seen a recipe for Guinness Ice Cream, and since Scott loves ice cream, it seemed like the perfect birthday topper for the brownies. Never one to make a recipe for the first time on game day, I gave it a test run. Good thing I did; to say it was a letdown is an understatement. Bitter, flat flavored, and too hard and icy. It just didn’t translate from pint glass to ice cream pint. But I wasn’t about to throw the idea down the drain. The potential for beer ice cream seemed huge. I just needed a new beer. And a new recipe.
Irish Farmstead Cheese is Turning Heads
The Wall Street Journal is on to the greatness of Irish Farmstead Cheeses (hint, so are we....ahem! Fall issue!) and Sheridan's Cheesemongers in Dublin gets a great write-up in this piece. The general message: get thee to Ireland.
All of Ireland's cheese-lined roads lead to County Cork, in the southwest of the country, but the place to start is in the heart of Dublin, at Sheridans Cheesemongers, the capital's best-known cheese outlet. The small shop will surround you with the best of the season, from Kilree, a new washed-rind goat cheese, which won best-in-show at the 2011 British Cheese Awards, to classics like Gubbeen, the most approachable of Cork's now classic washed-rind varieties.
Mascarpone Pasta with Smoked Sausage and Broccoli
These ingredients are a bit unexpected together, but when pictures look this delicious, we throw judgement out the window. Besides, this girl sounds like she knows what she's talking about.
Mascarpone cheese is a soft, sweet Italian cream cheese. It is most often used in dessert-type applications, but what a lot of people don’t realize is that, when mixed with some lemon juice, zest, and a lot of fresh black pepper, it makes an incredible cream sauce for pasta.
To make this even better – as if it isn’t good enough already – this is a no-cook sauce at its finest. It really doesn’t get any quicker or easier than this. I was able to pull this whole meal together in about 30 minutes, and that’s only because I had to stop and photograph everything. If you’re a normal person without the compulsion to post everything you make on the Internets, we’re talking 20 minutes. Done.
Search for Healthy Cheese a Fool's Errand?
The search for a modified, "healthy" cheese with low fat and low salt is underway, but Abra Pappa of Nutritious America thinks food scientists should spare their energy. Pappa argues that foods scientifically altered for "healthier" content don't always work as intended - see, margarine - and that our problem lies not with cheese, but our out-of-whack food culture.
n a world of endless food “science” it isn’t terribly surprising that even the mighty cheese is subject to investigation, processing, and testing in an attempt to create a cheese-like-food-product that scientists will deem “healthier” by reducing sodium and fat. In this never ending quest to make all food “diet worthy” and eternal dieters “happy” there is no food spared from their turn in the science wheel. Yet, each time we’ve attempted to replace a natural, whole food with a processed version of the food the results of “health” have not exactly worked out.
Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart Recipe
Martha Rose Shulman from the New York Times brings us this tasty recipe for a tomato goat cheese tart with a savory twist: a spread of mustard over its dough before baking.
The tomato tarts and quiches I’ve been eating in Provence are delightful. Spreading mustard on the crust before you top it with tomatoes is a new idea that makes perfect sense to me, as mustard is such a perfect condiment for tomatoes.
Cheese-Baked Egg-Stuffed Tomatoes
How's this for a hearty tomato recipe: fat, juicy tomatoes stuffed with cheese and egg, baked, and served atop a hunk of pita bread. If you want to get in on the action, read on for this meaty vegetarian recipe from the Washington Post.
