Author: cheeseunderground

Chefs and cheesemakers have a lot in common, says Dream Dance Chef Jason Gorman. They both work magic with food.

Chef Jason runs Dream Dance restaurant, located inside the Potawatami Casino near Milwaukee. His motto: “Go ahead, use the wrong fork. It’s your call.” Completely devoid of frou-frouism, Chef Jason started the evening by telling the 30 attendees that there are three things that make a good chef. The first: good ingredients – which was the reason he was at Carr Valley that night. As Jason – a native of Chicago – became more acquainted with Wisconsin cheeses during the course of his career, he says the varieties at Carr Valley immediately began to stand out because of their quality and originality.

Each of the three steaks we enjoyed were each seasoned with a different salt. The first steak, a grass fed beef tenderloin from Australia, was served with Maldon Sea Salt, from Essex, England, and Carr Valley Apple Smoked Cheddar. The dish was garnished with was a Saba balsamic syrup, resulting in a sweet finish. The theme of this dish was “sweet and smoky,” with the smokiness coming from the cheese.

As good as the grass-fed steak was, the next dish was even better. A choice New York strip steak, it was served with Carr Valley Goat Feta, tomatoes, black olives, lemon olive oil and red clay salt, harvested from volcanic clay in Hawaii. The lemon really came through strongly, but the Goat Feta provided a nice balance.

As Chef Jason says, “Up to the time I get them, these cows have had a better life than me.”

As if the steak wasn’t amazing enough, the kicker was the seasoning. Finished with Himalayan Sea Salt, a block of sea salt over 250,000 years old, this fabulous dish

was perfectly balanced with Sid’s Black Sheep Truffle cheese. Inspired by the truffled cheese of Italy, Sid created this award-winning sheep milk cheese, which is washed in truffle oil and aged more than six months. It sports a sweet unique earthy flavor and took first place at the 2006 American Cheese Society Competition.

Brace yourselves, cheese geeks. Pleasant Ridge Reserve – possibly the most famous only child farmstead cheese in America – is about to gain a baby brother.

The brainchild behind this new masterpiece is cheesemaker Andy Hatch at Uplands Cheese. Similar to Vacherin Mont d’Or, a soft, rich cow’s milk cheese made in the Jura region of Switzerland and France, Andy’s new cheese will be sold in little round boxes and will be designed to be consumed out of the box, perhaps warmed, and served with a spoon.

Vacherin Mont d’Or is traditionally made from cow’s milk in the fall and winter months, and Andy’s cheese will follow suit, thereby fitting well into Uplands’ schedule, as Pleasant Ridge Reserve is made only in the spring, summer and fall, when cows are eating fresh grass. It will do just fine on winter milk, Andy says, as the style depends not so much on grassy milk notes, but more on the cheesemaker’s ability to put a particular touch on this fragile cheese.

So far, Andy has made several batches of this new raw milk cheese, and is working to age it to the magical date of 60 days – the time needed to sell a raw milk cheese in the United States. A high-fat cheese, it is rich and creamy and held together by a band of spruce tree bark.

Only about 3/4 of a pound in weight, these little wheels will be worth their weight in gold. I tried a version that was three weeks old. It was evident that this cheese is going to be very good, but it will be a challenge to get it to 60 days and still be in good shape to ship and sell. Then again, if anyone can do it, it’s Andy Hatch.

The only problem remaining is its name. Pleasant Ridge Reserve was named after the ridge in which the farm sits – Pleasant Ridge. So it would be logical to name the new cheese after another nearby landmark. Andy says the headwaters to Rush Creek lay on the Uplands farm property, but he thinks Rush Creek sounds like a $4 bottle of wine.

I suggested changing it to Rushing Creek or Rushing Waters and was met with a blank stare and: “Um, right, but it’s called Rush Creek.” So obviously, the name of the cheese will need to be authentic and resonate with Andy, Mike & Carol Gingrich, and the region in which they live. If you’ve got any good ideas, I’m sure they’d be all ears.

If what Uplands cheesemaker Andy Hatch says is true — that half of the secret to making Pleasant Ridge Reserve is simply getting out of the way of the milk and letting its unique properties and flavor profile shine through — then I’d say the other half to the secret of this near-perfect cheese is Andy Hatch himself.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve – arguably the most famous farmstead cheese to come out of America in the 2000s (it captured twin Best of Show awards at the American Cheese Society in 2001 & 2005, and was named the U.S. Championship Cheese in 2003), is a true Wisconsin Original.

Created by Mike Gingrich and the team at the Center for Dairy Research, Pleasant Ridge Reserve is a seasonal Beaufort-style cheese, made only from the milk of cows when they are grazing on fresh grass. Today, Pleasant Ridge Reserve is crafted primarily by cheesemaker Andy Hatch, who joined the Uplands team in 2007, and who with Mike Gingrich (who has by all means, earned the right to slow down a bit), continues to craft the one and only Wisconsin artisan cheese that can be found at nearly every specialty cheese shop and on five-star menus across the country.

While I’ve been a fan of Pleasant Ridge Reserve since I came onto the cheese scene in 2003, I’ve never had the opportunity to actually help craft it until today. My friend Maggie Fitzsimmons
and I talked Andy into letting us crash his 19th day of the season’s cheese make. We arrived just in time to watch him put in the rennet, and then waited for the milk to heat until it was ready to cut.

Then we learned about the process for healing/heating/stirring for creating the perfect curd that makes Pleasant Ridge Reserve. While we were waiting on this process, Andy gave us a tour of the four aging caves, and we got to meet Eric, Maria and Bob – the folks at Uplands who age PRR to perfection. We tasted several ages of this perfect cheese – everything from a sweet 7-month old wheel made last fall, to a nutty, complex 12-month wheel made a year ago, to a 2-year aged wheel that boasted a meaty, earthy flavor.

You can find different ages of PRR at different shops around the country – every cheesemonger prefers a different age. But it’s not just all about age – every batch matures at its own pace, and some batches peak before others. One wheel from each batch is plugged six to eight times to determine the perfect time to ship.

Just as we were starting to learn about a new cheese Andy is working on (more about that later in the week), it was time to head back to the make room. After a bit more heating/stirring, we pumped the curds & whey to the press table, which is actually an old cheddaring table for Kraft, cut in half and customized to fit Uplands’ needs.

Maggie and I were in charge of keeping the curd away from the whey drainage slots, until enough whey was drained to ready the curd mass for pressing. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is pressed under its own whey, one of the steps that makes this Alpine cheese special.

After a period of pressing, it was time to lift the lid and cut the mass – a process Andy and Maria have down to a science. The vat was cut into 72 squares – one square for each cheese form. Andy showed us the proper method for placing the curd squares into each form, using a metaphor that I really can’t repeat here (it was quite effective however), and then we wrapped the cheese cloth around each block, put on the lids, and placed the forms on the press.

Afterward, Andy said it was time to clean and graciously let Maggie & I off the hook, so we could go outside and take a much-needed breather. As if we hadn’t already taken up enough of Andy’s time, he then offered us a tour of the farm.

Mike & Carol Gingrich own the operation as a partnership with Dan & Jean Patenaude. They farm 300 acres, all of which are split into rotational grazing paddocks for their 150 dairy cows. The herd is a unique blend of nine different breeds, resulting in a regular rainbow of bovines. Quiet, friendly and healthy, the Uplands cows are happy cows, producing milk that results in happy cheese. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is definitely a happy cheese, and it’s about to get a sibling – but more on that later this week.

New stats released this week by the USDA reveal specialty cheese production is up 9 percent in Wisconsin, with 92 of the 126 cheese plants in the state now making at least one type of specialty cheese.

Ever passed through a farmstead dairy drive thru to pick up your week’s supply of fresh milk, plus an ice cream cone for the ride home?

I pulled in on a Saturday afternoon, attempted to find a place to park on the gravel driveway between the line-up of cars going through the drive-thru, and another set of cars belonging

to customers who were inside shopping. The gal working the counter was amazingly keeping up with the traffic flow — selling bags of milk as fast as humanly possible out the drive-thru window, and making ice cream sundaes and cones for the customers standing inside.

A little background: Weber Dairy started in 1904 when Peter and Elizabeth Weber purchased the farm. It was later purchased by their son, John, who then sold it to his son, John, one of five children that delivered raw milk and cream door-to-door until he purchased in in 1951. In 1955, Weber’s Farm Store was established as a retail outlet, and customers brought their own milk containers until 1959, when the law changed and Weber’s began bottling milk in glass bottles. Shortly after, a drive-thru window was started for faster service, and ever since, about 90 percent of the store’s business has occurred through that window.

In 1973, the glass bottles were converted to plastic bags. Today, they’re available in 1/2 gallon pouches, bundled together so you can buy a gallon of milk at a time. The family produces, processes and retails their milk from their herd of 260 Holstein cattle, all in the same location, and even sells cheese from its sister cheese plant, Nasonville Dairy, a result of an addition to the business in 1995, when Ken, Kelvin and Kim Heiman purchased the enterprise. Ken’s wife, Joellen (Weber) Heiman, manages the store.

The business is renowned in the Marshfield area, with just about everyone you talk to buying their milk at the farm, most cruising through the drive-thru window six days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. After ordering a “small” ice cream cone that was the size of my arm from my wrist to my elbow, I drove into Marshfield to visit a new retail wine & cheese shop owned by Chuck McCauley. I had heard about the shop – called Market on Sixth – from a friend who gave it rave reviews, so wanted to stop by and check it out.

I had expected a little hole in the wall with a few bottles of wine and a dozen cheeses, so you can imagine my surprise when I walked in and was greeted with a vast expanse of hundreds of wines from around the world and an impressive cut-to-order cheese counter featuring 50 of the best Wisconsin artisan cheeses being made today.

Liz, the manager, must have taken notice of my dropped jaw, because she immediately came over and asked if I was new to the store. She gave me a great little tour, explaining with enthusiasm the different wine and cheese selections, and gave me a flyer with upcoming events. All I can say is – wow – what an awesome shop. If you live anywhere near the Marshfield area, it’s a must-see.

Market on Sixth is featuring Saturday wine tastings on May 15, June 19, July 17 and August 21 and hosting a few classes, open by registration only. I’d recommend the “Midsummer Wine & Cheese Festival” on August 7. Call 715-387-2000 for more info.

Three things I learned last week about the world of cheese: 1) the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know; 2) cheese pees; and 3) cheese can have nipples.

The man who made the very first fresh cheese curd I ever ate will be honored next week as a Life Member of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.

Happy day, cheese fans. In calendar news, I just realized that four years ago this month I started writing about Wisconsin cheese here on Cheese Underground. About 260 posts later, one might wonder if I’m in danger of running out of material.

Red Barn Family Farms Heritage Weis Cheddar: another one of my favorite people, Dr. Terry Homan, the veterinarian who started his own milk bottling company called Red Barn Family Farms, is now producing a great-tasting Cheddar. Called Heritage Weis, it’s a true cheddar that’s hand-milled and cloth-wrapped made by the folks at Springside Cheese Factory in Oconto Falls, Wis. It’s mostly available in Wisconsin — see a list of retail locations. Dr. Homan is the founder of the Red Barn Rules — a list of animal care rules that farmers supplying milk to Red Barn must follow. These rules go above and beyond the American Human Association certification, so you know the milk that goes into Heritage Weis is coming from happy cows.

The folks at the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board are getting ready to roll out their latest brainchild to sell more Wisconsin cheese, and it’s actually pretty cool. The Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Academy is a “microsite” – touting the tastiest and most sublime gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches ever to grace a plate.