Jeanne Carpenter Hidden Springs Creamery, Uncategorized

Driftless Cheese Reigns Supreme on Avocado Toast

avocadtoastweb

If you think you’ve had every imaginable version of avocado toast, think again. Sheep milk cheese is the secret ingredient you didn’t even know you’ve been missing.

When Wisconsin Cheesemaker Brenda Jensen once again swept the entire fresh sheep milk cheese category at the World Championship Cheese Contest with her fresh Driftless  cheeses, I had one thought: I bet it would make an amazing avocado toast.

That’s because six months ago, my husband and I purchased a coffeehouse and added an artisan cheese case. We revamped the menu using local foods and Wisconsin artisan cheese (shocking, I know).

On May 1, we launched a newly-tweaked menu with our own Firefly Avocado Toast featuring two slices of Madison Sourdough bread, avocado and a healthy dose of Driftless cheese. Simple, yet delicious. In less than a month, it’s proven so popular that Brenda has twice had to make special “emergency cheese” deliveries to our place, bringing 5-pound tubs of Driftless cheese with her.

Since launching Hidden Springs Creamery, near Westby 12 years ago, Brenda has earned more than 80 awards for her original sheep milk and mixed-milk cheeses. Driftless is a perennial winner. Deliciously simple and crafted from fresh sheep’s milk, it is wonderfully light, creamy and spreadable. It is also available in array of flavors, including Cranberry, Honey Lavender, and Sundried Tomato, each of which took first, second and third place at the World Championship Cheese Contest in March.

“To have my cheeses consistently earn awards in the same realm as some of the greatest cheeses and most famous cheesemakers in the world is an honor,” Jensen says. “We are especially grateful to everyone for supporting our signature Driftless cheese – a cheese we simply made up 12 years ago – and today are lucky enough to have featured in specialty shops across the nation.”

The fact is that luck doesn’t have much to do with Jensen’s success. The truth is that while Wisconsin is home to many an amazing cheesemaker, Brenda Jensen is simply one of the best. For 12 years, she and her husband, Dean, have dedicated themselves to growing their farm and improving the genetics and milk quality of their sheep. They reap the rewards from that hard work with award-winning cheese. I can’t think of a better cheese to celebrate with a good avocado toast.

cheeseunderground carr valley, Chris Roelli, emmi roth usa, grand cru surchoix, Hidden Springs Creamery, hook's cheese, Landmark Creamery, roth cheese, tallgrass reserve, world championship cheese contest

Wisconsin Cheeses that Wow Right Now

Original artwork by Debra Ziss for the 2016 Roth Cheese Calendar hanging
in my kitchen.

Wisconsin cheese mania reached an all-time high this week, as Emmi Roth’s Grand Cru Surchoix captured the top spot at the World Championship Cheese Contest Wednesday night in front of a sold out, wall-to-wall packed home crowd at the Monona Terrace in Madison.

The winning cheese is a washed rind, extra aged Gruyere-style, with bold nutty notes. It’s made in Monroe, the county seat of Green County, commonly known as the defacto cheese capital of America’s Dairyland. With 13 cheese factories, 200 cheesemakers, 31,000 cows and 37,000 people, the area is a dairy paradise of cows, green grass, milk and cheese. So it is only fitting the region now produces the best cheese in the world: Grand Cru Surchoix.

Most every retailer in Madison is now sold out of Surchoix, but fear not, more is promised to arrive next week. Until then, let’s take a look at a few cheeses that are REALLY good right now. The quality of local artisan and farmstead cheeses ebbs and flows with the seasons, but here are a handful that are wowing me today:

1. Tallgrass Reserve, Landmark Creamery, Albany. Cheesemaker Anna Landmark has hit her stride with this cow’s milk original recipe. With its natural white moldy rind, the cheese sports a bandaged cheddar texture, yet creamy with a heckuva tang and cavey finish. The current wheels coming from Landmark Creamery are the best wheels I’ve ever tasted. Buy this cheese right now.

2. Cesar’s Queso Oaxaca, Cesar’s Cheese, Random Lake. Cesar, his wife Heydi, and son, Cesar, Jr. swept the top three slots in the string cheese category at this week’s World Championship Cheese Contest. That means the top three string cheesemakers in the world come from ONE family in Wisconsin. This cheese has always been on my go-to list, but the winning batch – available now in stores – is extra stringy and extra salty, kind of like a big fat and delicious potato chip washed down with a glass of whole milk. Hang on, I’ve got to go eat another stick before I continue …

3. Roelli Haus Select, Roelli Cheese, Shullsburg. A newcomer to the retail arena, this bandaged cheddar captured first in its category at this week’s World Championship Cheese Contest, which means Master Cheesemaker Chris Roelli can add another award to his shelf: Global Gold Medalist Cheddar Maker. Roelli tastes each batch and releases it based on flavor, not age. That means some wheels might be eight months, and some wheels might be over a year old, but all hit an earthy, crumbly, cheddary note of a good bandaged cheddar. Right now, released batches of this cheese stack up (and I daresay win) against the great bandaged cheddars of the world. Because, yeah, it’s that good.

4. Hook’s Triple Play, Hook’s Cheese, Mineral Point. Made in 40-pound blocks, this tri-milk cheese boasts sheep, goat and cow flavor notes at different points on the tongue. Some batches I’ve tasted have been too young and not very complex, but the blocks out right now are perfect. Firm and tangy, the Hooks say the cheese is a flavor combination of a baby swiss, gouda and havarti. I say it’s a trifecta of amazingness. This is one American Original you don’t want to miss.

5. Farmstead Feta, Hidden Springs Creamery, Westby. In Greece, all feta is made with either sheep or goat’s milk, or a combination of the two. It is only in America, with our plethora of black and white dairy cows, that cow’s milk feta is commonplace. That’s why I cue my happy dance when I find Brenda Jensen’s sheep milk feta on store shelves. Extra aged with a pleasant bite, never bitter and perfect salt ratio, this is the feta our Greek friends are worried about in trade talks. Buy it now.

6. Carr Valley Cave Aged Marisa, Carr Valley Cheese, LaValle. With more than 60 different cheeses to choose from, Carr Valley can meet just about anyone’s cheese category needs. Spend your calories on this cheese – an extra aged sheep’s milk cheese with beautiful natural rind, aged on wooden boards in a cave environment. Think sweet, earthy and buttery all in one bite: Cave-Aged Marisa.

7. Donatello, Cedar Grove Cheese, Plain. This small-batch cheese just won second in its class at the World Contest, and for good reason. While most people will grab a Manchego for their token sheep milk cheese on an appetizer cheese board, at about nine months old, Donatello blows the average Manchego exported to the U.S. out of the water. Rich, complex and just starting to form tyrosine crystals, Donatello right now is very, very good. If you can find it, buy it.

cheeseunderground Brenda Jensen, cheese making, dairy sheep, dsana, Hidden Springs Creamery, sheep's milk cheese, symposium, Wisconsin cheese

Dairy Sheep Symposium Comes Back to Wisconsin

If you’re currently milking sheep, have ever thought about milking sheep, or just curious about why people milk sheep, then you should plan on attending the 21st Annual Dairy Sheep Association of North America (DSANA) Symposium in Madison, Wisconsin on Nov. 5-7.

This year marks the first year in six years that the symposium has been held in Wisconsin, considered by many to be the dairy sheep mecca of North America. Hundreds of folks will descend on Madison for the event, which also includes a pre-symposium sheep milk cheese-making course at the Center for Dairy Research at UW-Madison.

Twelve presentations by 16 animal scientists, dairy sheep producers, veterinarians, and sheep milk cheese makers and marketers will be held at the Pyle Center. A sampling of topics and presenters include:

  • Impacts on Non-GMO Labeling on Artisan Cheese Production, by Cathy Strange, Global Cheese Buyer, Whole Foods Market
  • Special Considerations for Small Ruminants, by Dr. Doug Reinemann, UW-Madison
  • Perspectives on Surviving and Growing in Dairy Sheep Production, by Bill Halligan, Bushnell, Nebraska; Dean and Brenda Jensen, Westby, Wisconsin; and Dave Galton, Locke, New York
  • A New Producer and Their New Cheesemaker – Challenges in Getting Started, by Sam and Abe Enloe, Enloe Brothers Farms, Rewey, Wisconsin, and Anna Landmark, Landmark Creamery, Albany, Wisconsin
  • Markets and Marketing of Sheep Milk Cheeses, Jeanne Carpenter, Specialty Cheese Buyer, Metcalfe’s Markets, Madison, Wisconsin (yep that’s me).

In addition, attendees are invited to an all-day tour on Saturday, Nov. 7 (also led by me -whoo-hoo!) to Cedar Grove Cheese in Plain, and to Hidden Springs Creamery in Westby, where participants will visit a modern dairy sheep farm and artisan cheese plant operated by Dean and Brenda Jensen. We’ll also enjoy a farm-to-table-lunch at The Rooted Spoon in Viroqua.

Be sure to click here for a complete program with registration information. I hope to see you there!

cheeseunderground artisan cheese, bohemian blue, Brenda Jensen, carr valley, Chris Roelli, Hidden Springs Creamery, Red Rock, Roelli Cheese, sid cook, Wisconsin cheese

Three Wisconsin Cheeses You Won’t Want to Recall from Office

With the recall elections finally behind us, it’s time to get back to what we Wisconsinites do best: eat cheese. Here are three Wisconsin cheeses sure to help you recover from recall fever.

Red, White & Blue
Three Wisconsin Artisan Cheeses to Celebrate This Summer

1. Red Rock, Roelli Cheese, Shullsburg, Wis.
This cheese is the Miss America of Wisconsin artisan cheeses – it’s got it all – brains and beauty. Heck, we bet it would even look good in an evening gown. Hand-crafted by Cheesemaker Chris Roelli at Roelli Cheese Haus in Shullsburg, Red Rock is the must-have cheese of 2012. Made with a double-dose of annatto giving it that deep red color, Red Rock is a creamy Cheddar with blue veins. Dubbed the little brother of Chris’ other signature cheese, Dunbarton Blue, Red Rock is perfect on a sandwich or as the stand-alone star on a cheese plate. roellicheese.com



2. Snow White Goat Cheddar, Carr Valley Cheese, LaValle, Wis.
Crowned as Best in Show by the American Cheese Society in 2008, this creamy white goat cheese crafted by Master Cheesemaker Sid Cook at Carr Valley is cave-aged for six months to achieve a deep, complex flavor. We hear the folks at Disney occasionally complain about Carr Valley’s use of their character’s name, but that’s just silly. We’d advise they partner with Carr Valley instead, and have Snow White start eating goat cheddar in every Disney classic. Win-win! carrvalleycheese.com


3. Bohemian Blue, Hidden Springs Creamery, Westby, Wis.
This cheese is the tale of what happens when two cheesemakers get together over a cup of coffee and ask: What if? A few years ago, Brenda Jensen of Hidden Springs Creamery, and Tony Hook of Hook’s Cheese, teamed up to save America from a potential cheese embargo. The result: Bohemian Blue, designed to compete with Roquefort, lest America and France ever decide to add that threatened 300% tariff on Roquefort, the world’s most famous French-made sheep’s milk blue. Bohemian Blue, a cave-aged, rindless blue made from sheep’s milk from Hidden Springs, and crafted by Hook’s Creamery, is an ode to Jensen’s Bohemian grandparents. Dry and crumbly, compared to drippy and wet Roqueforts, Bohemian Blue sports a sweet, slightly sour finish. Tres bien! hiddenspringscreamery.com