Yesterday I cut into the Edam and was startled at how many holes there were:

I just looked up some information on the Flora Danica bacteria culture that I used and indeed it produces a fair amount of carbon dioxide.  Flora Danica (literally flower of Denmark) is commonly used in Danish cheeses such as Havarti, Gouda and Edam.

Tasting notes:

• There is some tartness from the bacterial culture.  It is not the same as the tartness of cheddar.  It seems to be tart but also carry a hint of butter to the flavor.
• Aside from the slight tartness, the flavor is quite mild.
• The cheese is a little firmer than I expected but produces nice clean slices when I cut it.  I seem to have gotten past my problem with producing cheese that is too crumbly.

This milk for this cheese was from All-Natur_L farm near Alvarado and Cleburne.  I will probably concentrate my efforts on raw milk from here on out.  The quality and flavor of raw milk is remarkable and that is a quality I want in the home made cheeses I produce.

I still have a cheddar from All-Natur_L milk aging.  I will wait a couple more weeks before cutting that one.

Tomorrow I plan to buy several gallons of raw milk for more cheeses.  A friend has asked me to make him some Gouda and I want to make an Emmenthaler.  I guess I’ll have to make both!

Another Paddy post I’m afraid:

The CheeseWife™ was trying to get his attention so the picture would show his gorgeous baby blues, so she held a stick up for him to sniff.

I will prepare a brief cheese post next but am short on time today.

I had planned to cut the Gruyere from the Lucky Layla Farms milk after 60 days of aging but I really needed to know how the texture of my work was progressing.   It has only been about 30 days since I made it.  Yesterday afternoon as I was about to prepare a cheese, fruit and crackers snack I thought about the Gruyere and decided that for scientific purposes I needed the information.  I took a couple of pictures with my iPhone before and after cutting.

Before:

After:

Tasting notes:

• The texture is smooth but pleasantly firm.   Many of my prior cheeses were too crumbly. This one may still have had a little too much rennet, but it is getting really close to the right amount.
• The aroma is not as intense as a good aged Gruyere, but there is a nice nuttiness.  None of the rich mushroom scent of the aged Gruyere is present though.
• This cheese does melt slightly when warmed where my prior attempts remained more solid.
• There are a few small holes in the cheese that seem to indicate that I should press the cheese harder.  Aside from the small holes, the milled cheese curds did knit together well.  There are no signs of seams where the milled curds came together.

This is certainly my best cheese effort so far.  The CheeseWife™ has declared it her favorite and several of my coworkers have also acclaimed as it their favorite.  One coworker wants to make a Mac and Cheese dish with it, so I will bring some for that.  I also plan to give some to my mechanic because my car needs a bit of work.   I think we will send some over to the CheeseWife™‘s editor as a belated birthday gift.

I’m thinking I need to make French Onion Soup tonight with this on top.

I will not take all credit on this cheese.  The milk I used was incredible.  Lavon Farms (AKA Lucky Layla Farm) can be really proud of their milk.

Yesterday afternoon the CheeseWife™ and I trekked into Dallas to check out Scardello Cheese on Oak Lawn near Lemmon Avenue. I had in mind a cheese plate, with a few different selections of cheeses that I had never had before.  Scardello’s was unlike another cheese shop in two ways: no bazouki music and they actually had cheese.  Lots and lots of glorious cheese!

Scardello’s has cheese, wine, sandwiches, books, chocolate, olive oil and much more.  The CheeseWife™ was really hungry so we ordered a Mountaineer sandwich, a cheese plate and a bottle of wine.   For the cheese plate you can select the cheeses yourself or ask the friendly and knowledgeable staff to select something.  There is a $5 set up fee for the plate, which includes some bread, fruit and nuts and then you pay for the cheeses by weight.

I was blown away that they had Persille de Tignes which I had been searching for for quite awhile.  I also selected a Brazos Valley Gouda, a Tête de Moin and a Caerphilly. Here’s an iPhoto of the plate:

(left to right: Gouda, Tête de Moin, Caerphilly and the Persille de Tignes).

To the upper left is part of the salad on the plate with the Mountaineer sandwich.  Also we enjoyed a bottle of 2007 Peltier Station Viognier.  The wine was an excellent companion to the cheeses, fruity but dry.  If you squint hard you may be able to see some dark-colored figs on the plate with the dried apricots and fresh roasted almonds.

Proprietor Rich Rogers stopped at our table an chatted with us about the cheese, the wine and the upcoming American Cheese Society meeting in Montreal in August.   Rich described an ACS meeting as a life-changing event.  I have got to go to this one!

My niece dropped by the shop on her way to work and enjoyed a little of the cheese with us. She works too hard and long (medical profession) so it was a rare delight to get to see her.

On the way out I purchased some more of the Persille de Tignes which has shot to near the top of the list of my favorite cheeses.  Maybe all the way to the top! It is a blue cheese with subtle, earthy notes and an almost dry, crumbly texture.   In no way am I diminishing how great the other three cheeses we had were.   Someday I will have to get a Girolle to enjoy the Tête de Moin to its ultimate expression.  We also need to tour Brazos Valley Cheese near Waco some time.  I think the Caerphilly was the CheeseWife™‘s favorite of the cheeses.

If you are in or near Dallas, get thee to Scardello’s and do so often!  You won’t regret it!

Paddy MacKannick sez:

SUV can haz nu transmishin?