Cheese of the week: Sage Derby

Name: Sage Derby

Brand: none listed

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: UK

Price in Iowa: $13.57/pound

Milk: cow

Processing:

Texture: semi-firm

Color: pale yellow with green veining

Rind: Natural

Aroma:  mild dairy with herbal notes

Taste: luscious and complex herbal bouquet

Mouth feel: a nice semi-firm, chewy pate
 
Notes: I've had the Port Derby before, and that was nice with sweet and tart notes.  The Sage Derby immediately reminded me of the flavors from a nice roasted chicken or quail.  There were the quiet, meaty notes of the derby, but the sage blossomed in my mouth and just exploded with memories of herb-roasted bird.  I'm not sure what to pair this with.  I've seen recipes that use it with turkey or chicken sandwiches.

So, that's what I'll be having for lunch tomorrow...

Cheese of the week: Smokey Blue

Name: Smokey Blue

Brand: Rogue Creamery 

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Oregon

Price in Iowa: $21.67/pound

Milk: organic raw cow

Processing: Typical bleu processing, coupled to a 16-hour smoke over hazelnut shells.

Texture: semi-firm

Color: pale yellow with bleu veining

Rind: Natural

Aroma: Nutty, bleu, vanilla

Taste: Smokey, strong bleu, umami, nutty, beefy, sweet

Mouth feel: Smooth and silky
 
Notes:  There is a lot going on with this cheese.  I love bleu cheese.  The stinkier and stronger, the better.  But this bleu is something else.  I've had a few unusual blues (blue jacks and blue goudas and cheddar blues).   This is a transformed blue.  The smoking adds so many complicated flavors that every mouthful is different.  Try it.  You'll like it.

Cheese of the week: Barely Buzzed Espresso-Lavender Rubbed Cheddar

Name: Barely Buzzed Cheddar

Brand: Beehive Cheese Company

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin:  Utah

Price in Iowa: $19.78/pound

Milk: cow

Processing:  a nice cheddar rubbed with espresso and lavender in oil and salt

Texture: semi-firm

Color: straw yellow

Rind: Washed and natural

Aroma: mild dairy

Taste: mild dairy, tingly coffee notes, umami and floral notes deep in the background

Mouth feel: firm and chewy
 
Notes:  This is a very good example of what a clever cheesemaker can do to create a unique, artisan cheese.  I've had Beehive Cheese's Seahive Cheese, rubbed with honey and sea salt.  I actually avoided the Barely Buzzed last time I saw it because I didn't think I would like the taste.  So, here we are, about two months later, and I'm eating coffee-flavored cheese.

And it is delightful.

The coffee note are right there, in the foreground.  The cheese itself has the flavor and mouth-feel of a very young gouda, which has a sweet and nutty background flavor.  But the coffee notes blend with the gouda background to create a symphony of tastes.  I think that a nice cup of espresso or a dark chocolate would pair well with this cheese, but be careful of serving it with competing flavors.  Find something to accentuate the flavors already present in this amazing cheese.

Barely Buzzed White Cheddar Cheese - 6 oz 

Cheese of the week: Shankleesh

Name: Shankleesh

Brand: Ziyad

Place of Purchase: Pammel Grocery in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Lebanon (via Cicero, IL)

Price in Iowa: $2.59/pound

Milk: cow

Processing: skimmed cow milk yogurt (Laban) is mixed with acid, strained, rolled into balls, dried and allowed to age.   The balls are coated in thyme and pepper and stored in olive oil.

Texture: Semi-soft

Color: Green with red specks, pale white on the inside.

Rind: Natural coated with Thyme, pepper and salt.

Aroma: Very mild dairy

Taste: Tart, salty, tart.

Mouth feel: Crumbly and moist pate.
 
Notes: Shankleesh is typically served with a Middle Eastern breakfast called a meze.  This SOUR cheese is mixed with tomatoes and cucumbers, probably to cut the salty and sour taste.  I think that this cheese would work great in a salad, maybe in a pita with a LOT of veggies.  It might even go well mixed with eggs.  But I just popped one in my mouth and between the acid and the salt, I drank about 2-liters of water.

It's yummy.  It's strong.  Be careful.

Cheese of the week: Chaubier

Name: Chaubier Cheese

Brand: none listed

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: France

Price in Iowa: $13.57/pound

Milk: cow and goat

Processing: cooked, pressed and the rind is washed.

Texture: semi-firm

Color: straw yellow

Rind: Washed and natural

Aroma: strong dairy, woody, nutty, spiky (goaty)

Taste: warm umami, nutty, sharp dairy, piquant (goaty)

Mouth feel: Firm then yielding, rich, creamy
 
Notes:  This two-milk cheese is renowned for its strong, persistent, goat cheese flavor.  I've had several varieties of goat cheese over the past year, and the spiky piquant tang in this cheese is pretty intense.  In the foreground you have the nice, cozy nutty flavors of a good, aged cheese.  But then there is this BAM of something, which I assume is goat kick.  It's a good cheese, and supposedly great on sandwiches and melted over sausages.

Cheese of the week: Santa's Choice Gouda

Name: Santa's Choice

Brand: Beemster

Place of Purchase: HyVee Foods in Pella, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Holland

Price in Iowa: $12.59/pound

Milk: pasteurized cow milk 

Processing: Gouda processing with more than 18 months of aging

Texture: Semi-firm

Color: Caramel

Rind: Natural

Aroma: Very mild dairy

Taste: Warm, nutty, tart, woody

Mouth feel: A firm, creamy paste with some protein crystals
 
Notes: After I brought this home, discovered that it was just repackaged Beemster Classic gouda.  But, since I haven't had that yet, it wasn't that big a deal.  This cheese is Beemster's premier gouda, aged for at least 18 months, and renowned for it's flavor and consistency.  I found it funny that the Beemster US website was touting their low fat gouda line.  Guaranteed to be low fat and lactose-free.

FYI, all cheeses aged longer than 5 months are pretty much lactose-free.

This gouda was top-notch an good enough for a king.  Which is probably why Beemster is the official cheese of the Dutch royal family.

Libation of the week: Maine Root Sarsaparilla

Name: Maine Root Sarsaparilla 

Brand: Maine Root

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Co-op in Ames, IA

Country/Region of Origin: Portland, Maine

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in the bottle

Price in Iowa: $2.59

Description: a light, foamy root beer

Flavors: minty, woody, anise, and of course sarsaparilla  

Mouth-feel: Very light and foamy, probably the most delicate root beer I've had

Aroma: Sweet sarsaparilla  

Notes: Maine Root is a beverage company that stresses simple ingredients with a green outlook.  They have several beverages listed on their website, but the Co-op only had the Sarsaparilla, which is fine with me.  I grew up in Western New York, and the Northeast is famous for its old world soft drinks.  My son loves getting real birch beer when we go to visit my folks.  I've had a lot of sarsaparilla drinks in my day, and most of them have been too heavy or too sweet.  This beverage is not sticky or cloying.  It has a light, robust headiness and a clean, spicy flavor.  If you can find it, I highly suggest trying it.

Maine Root Sarsaparilla 12 OZ