Aussie cheese makers making headway into market

Aussie cheese makers making headway into market
Oakland Tribune

I ARRIVED at Gabrielle Kervella's biodynamic goat dairy in the hills of Gidgegannup, Western Australia, a bit frazzled. My nervousness had less to do with the fact that I had managed to drive on the "wrong" side of the road on the way there, but more to do with meeting the woman known as the "Australian doyenne of goat cheese."

Although she's a self-taught cheese maker, Kervella credits Sonoma's Laura Chenel as instrumental in her education and inspiration. Sheproduces a line of fresh and aged cheeses, including a lush fromage blanc, the tangy, clean, lightly aged, mold-ripened Affine, and cabecou, a traditional-style chevre that she marinates in olive oil and herbs to an exquisite creaminess.

Kervella and her partner Alan Cockman raise their 200 head of free-range goats themselves. Last year, the couple completed work on a new cheesemaking facility, which now includes a classroom for visiting chefs and cheese classes.

She is responsible for kick-starting Australia's fledgling chevre industry in the past decade, as well as advancing the country's burgeoning reputation as a producer of quality farmstead and artisanal cheeses and dairy products.

That reputation is also due to the purity of Australia's environmental conditions and livestock production methods, the indigenous flora that nourish the animals, and the skill, passion and talent of the cheese makers themselves. The results are spectacular cheeses, some of which are now available in some Bay Area stores.

One of the greatest challenges faced by Australia's cheesemakers are the country's rigid quarantine and production laws that prohibit production and importation of raw milk dairy products, unless they are made from cooked curd and meet strict parameters in terms of maturation and moisture content.

"The best Australian cheesemakers have traveled and trained overseas, and know what they're trying to make," says Will Studd, a television presenter, author, and Australia's only master of cheese. "They've got their eyes wide open but despite some of the cleanest cow's milk in the world -- (cows are) pasture fed year-round and (receive) no growth promotants -- they are unable to compete with counterparts overseas."

Producing cheeses in the age-old European tradition of using unpasteurized milk yields more complex flavors. "Tasting raw milk cheese for the first time is like watching color TV after years of black and white," says Studd.

Nick Haddow, from Bruny Island Cheese Co. in Tasmania, has been hailed as one of Australia's brightest new cheesemakers. The producer of aged cow's milk cheeses says the raw milk issue is a stumbling block, but it won't prevent the boutique Australian cheese industry from having a future.

"I strongly feel that I have the two ingredients common to many of the farms I've worked on or visited in France and Italy: excellent quality milk, and traditional methodology. As far as raw milk cheese production goes, I'm an advocate of it in part because it will respect the work put into raising healthy animals that produce healthy milk."

Julie and Sandy Cameron of Meredith Dairy raise their sheep and goats in the lush pastures of Victoria outside of Melbourne, where, says cheesemaker Julie, "the milk is made into cheese within half an hour of the animals walking in the paddock." The different grasses the animals forage on results in seasonal variations in the dairy's handcrafted cheeses. Lieberman sells their ultra-creamy, rich, mixed- milk marinated feta, as well as their natural rind, creamy, Southern French Auvergne/Languedoc-style goat's blue to Bay Area retailers.

Kervella is proud of all the growth she is witnessing in Australia's artisanal cheese industry. "I feel so humbled, having been part of Australia's developing food scene, and to see it evolve the way it has. The consumers and chefs are so supportive, and good to the producers -- it makes my heart sing to see all of this."

-Meredith Dairy Marinated Feta can be found at Bay Area Whole Foods, Andronico's, and Dean & Deluca in St. Helena, which also carries the Meredith Goat's Blue. Look for Bruny Island Cheeses and Kervella Biodynamic Goat Cheeses at Bay Area specialty food and cheese shops soon. For more information and mail order on any of the above cheeses, go to www.34-degrees.com, or call (303) 861-4818. Readmore »»

Cheddar Chili Cheesecake

Cheddar Chili Cheesecake
Bon Appetit

Serves: 12 Servings

Ingredients:

** 1 1/2 tb Butter (for pan)
** 1/4 c Fine breadcrumbs, toasted
** 1/4 c Finely grated ched. cheese
** 6 oz Thinly sliced ham
** 1 1/2 lb Cream cheese, room temp.
** 3/4 lb Sharp cheddar, grated
** 1 c Cottage cheese
** 3/4 c Chopped green onion
** 4 Eggs
** 3 tb Jalapeno pepper*
** 2 tb Milk
** 1 Garlic clove, halved

Instructions:

*seeded and finely chopped Preheat oven to 325. Butter 9" springform pan.
Mix breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup cheddar. Sprinkle mixture into pan, turning to
coat. Refrigerate. Dice about half of ham; reserve remaining slices. Mix
diced ham with remaining ingredients in blender or processor until smooth.
Pour slightly more than half of filling into prepared pan. Top with
reserved ham slices in even layer. Cover with remaining filling. Set pan on
baking sheet. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Turn oven off and cool cheesecake about 1
hour with door ajar. Transfer cheesecake to rack. Remove sides of pan. Cool
to room temperature before serving. Readmore »»

Cheddar Cheese Sauce

Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Serves: 1 Servings

Ingredients:

** 1 cn Campbell's Condensed Cheddar
** Cheese Soup (10.75 oz)
** 1/3 c Milk

Instructions:

Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time: 5 minutes.

In 1 quart saucepan, combine soup and milk. Over low heat, heat
through, stirring often. Serve over broccoli, cauliflower, carrots,
baked potatoes, French fries or omelets. Makes 1 1/2 cups. Readmore »»

Catfish with cheese

Catfish with cheese
by William Berg

This is a very good recipe. Catfish with cheese has a luxury feel to it without being too expensive or to fat. This said, Catfish with cheese are not a suitable recipe if you are on a diet. This dish is suitable for everything from the Sunday diner with guest to the everyday family dinner. It is a rather easy dish to cock.

You will need the following ingredients to make Catfish with cheese:

* 8 fillets catfish ( 8 fillets equals about 4 ounce)
* 1 tablespoon milk
* 1 1/4 cups flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
* 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/4 cup melted margarine
* 1 egg
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon paprika


This recipe gives about 8 servings catfish with cheese.

Making this dish is as I said earlier easy. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C . Crack the eggs into a bowl and add the milk to the eggs. Beat the mixture. Take another bowl and mix the pepper, salt, paprika, parmesan and flour in the bowl and stir well. Once you done this it's time to pan the catfish. Dip the fish filets first in the egg milk mixture and then in the cheese panning. Make sure to cover the entire filet with cheese mixture.

Put the dipped fish on a baking dish and poor melted butter over it. Once you done this you are almost done. Put the baking dish in the oven for 15 minutes and start setting the table.

Enjoy Readmore »»

Blue Cheese Walnut Spread

Blue Cheese Walnut Spread
Recipe by: Elizabeth Powell

Serves: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

4 oz Blue cheese; softened
4 oz Cream cheese
2 tb Butter
2 tb Sherry
1/4 c English walnuts; chopped

Instructions:

Beat cheeses and butter together. Add sherry and walnuts.

Serving Ideas : Serve with assorted crackers and French bread. Readmore »»

Celery Stuffed with Blue Cheese

Celery Stuffed with Blue Cheese
by Cathy Luchetti

Serves: 12 Servings

Ingredients:

* 12 Outside ribs celery, trimmed
* -and cut into 3" lengths
* 1/2 c Part-skim ricotta
* 1/2 c Low-fat cottage cheese
* 2 oz Crumbled blue cheese
* ds Tabasco or other hot sauce

Instructions:

Prepare the celery and place in a bowl of ice and water. Cover and
refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a food processor, puree the ricotta and cottage cheese until smooth.
Transfer to a small bowl. Add the crumbled blue cheese mixture and a dash
of Tabasco; stir until blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

At serving time, drain the celery and pat dry with paper towels. Stuff each
rib of celery with a rounded teaspoonful of the blue cheese mixture and
arrange on a platter.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 44 calories; 2 grams total fat; 4 grams
protein; 2 grams carbohydrates; 7 milligrams cholesterol; 152 milligrams
sodium. Readmore »»

Cheese Balls (Baked)

Cheese Balls (Baked)

Serves: 18 Servings

Ingredients:

1 (4 oz) butter
3 c Plain flour
8 oz Cheddar cheese
8 oz Packaged dates
ds Salt
Pecan halves

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Grate cheese. Melt butter; mix cheese and
butter. Add flour and salt, mix well. Pinch off a little bit of dough. Put
one date half and one pecan half in center of pinched dough and wrap dough
around them, forming a ball. Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes. Readmore »»

Best Charlotte Pizza Restaurant?

Best Charlotte Pizza Restaurant?
by Charlotte Critic

The search for the best pizza in Charlotte or even good pizza for that matter.

Seems whatever home town you are from you have stops that are the best in town, and one of the staples of every hometown diet is the best pizza in town. Once upon a time I had thought this was a phenomenon that every person that moves away from home suffers from, the fact that there is no local estalishments like those of home.

I now believe differently, and that Western New York has the best of 'most' any market.

When it comes to pizza, wings and gameday foods of similar affair like calzones and fried mushroms seem almost impossible t ofind anywhere in the south.

I cant drive 10 meters without seeing avertisment of NY style pizza being peddled, but how is that the case? its not.

Having lived throughout the south, and namely troughout Florida and North Carolina in Charlotte I have long sought after a pzza and wings of the taste of home, and continue to find fake represenations of just that.

Often the owners are once NY natives, and often NY natives who also owned pizz shops in NY as well, which seems a solid qualification, but time and time again the "overly thin" and bland attempts to try and be what is thought of as NY style is what we get.

I like pizza in every form and style, hard not to respect a good Chicago style deep dish pizza. But attempts to bring a taste of what s done right in NY to local patrons has been a repeated lacking affair.

I have Dreams of Pontillos Pizza in Rochester NY,and Chester Cab Pizza of New York, but continue to find sharper immitation of dominos and not much else in the south. Iam certain I am not looking right, or I hope that to be the case. I will not give up the very fun task of looking.

Whats the cure for this hopeless trying, and pretending to be?

Just make it with a soft foldable bread style dough, dont make it thin just for the sake of being thin, and win your customers with ingrdients and lare slices.

Add a bit of Frank's Red Hot and Blue cheese and celery on the side if you want a hint of NY style, and making t fe would ring true.

So whats the closest thing to home in Charlotte so far? DaVincs Pizza in Davis Lake is a very solid slice, and has the real homestyle ownership to make it tat way.

DaVincis owner is connected to Luca Pizza in Rochester New York which I frequented as a preteen. A place that offered up thick squares or thin triangles in the mall.

A bit pricey at DaVincis but the best Pizza in Charlotte thus far.

Get free Charlotte Coupons and Charlotte Restaurant Reviews at Charlottecritic.com. Readmore »»

Cheddar Cheese Pie

Cheddar Cheese Pie

Serves: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

*** 1 Unbaked 9-inch pastry shell;
*** chilled
*** 4 Eggs
*** 1 c Heavy cream
*** 1 c Milk
*** 1/2 ts Salt
*** 1/8 ts Tabasco sauce
*** 1 c Cheese cheddar; shredded

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450F. Prick pastry shell with fork; bake 10 minutes or
until lightly browned. Reduce oven temperature to 325F. In medium bowl beat
together eggs, cream, milk, salt and tabasco sauce. Sprinkle cheese evenly
over bottom of pastry shell. Pour in cream mixture. Bake 45 minutes Makes 6
servings.

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:

Prepare and bake pastry shell as directed above using
glass microwave-safe pie plate. In 1-quart microwave-save bowl beat eggs,
cream, milk, salt and tabasco sauce. Cook uncovered on high 1-1/2 to 2-1/2
minutes or until mixture is hot but has not begun to set. Sprinkle cheese
evenly over bottom of pastry shell. Pour in hot egg mixture. Place in oven
on inverted microwave-safe saucer. Cook uncovered on Medium (50% power) 8
minutes. Turn dish 1/2 turn. Continue to cook on Medium 7 to 10 minutes or
until egg mixture is just set in center. Let stand 15 minutes before
serving. Readmore »»

Cheese - Explore a New Taste

Cheese - Explore a New Taste
By Jerry Powell


Setting out to find a new cheese to add to your life is a great way to spend a weekend afternoon. There are some great spots in just about every city to explore new tastes. Once you find your new cheese, having it loose its flavor or dry out before you can share it with others is a sad moment. So let's talk about caring for the cheese.

As a rule, you shouldn't slice up your hunk of cheese before you are ready to use it. Unpasteurized cheese will begin to loose subtlety and aroma once it is sliced and more area is exposed to the oxygen in the air. So keep them in hunks as long as you can.

Find out from your cheese vendor, or from searching the Internet, what conditions were used to mature your new found cheese. Storing your cheese in the same conditions is often the best way to keep it flavorful. For hard, semi-hard and semi-soft cheeses the normal storing temperature is about 8-13 C (about 46 degrees Fahrenheit) for example. Cheese stored in the refrigerator should be removed about an hour and a half before serving, letting the cheese warm up allows the flavor and aroma to develop.

Keeping your cheese wrapped in waxed paper is much better than a plastic wrap or plastic container. Waxed paper, inside a loose-fitting storing bag will not lose humidity and will maintain air circulation. Plastic will often condense air and trap moisture. One exception to this would be blue cheese. Mould spores from blue cheese spread quickly and easily. If they stayed on the cheese that would be fine, but they don't, and quickly spread to anything close to them. Cheeses contain living organisms that must not be cut off from air, yet it is important not to let a cheese dry out.

Most cheese are like sponges for other strong smelling odors, so you don't want to store cheese next to the garlic dip, or anything that might damage the cheese's flavors.

So what cheese should we be looking for? Really it depends a great deal on what we might be serving with the cheese. If wine is on the list, then that may make it a bit easier to narrow down a good new cheese to bring home.

The rule of thumb for finding cheese to serve with wine is: the whiter and fresher the cheese the crisper and fruitier the wine. White wines normally go better with more cheeses than reds wines do, but a dry fresh red wine goes very well with soft cheeses, especially goat milk types. Light fruity red wines are often the best matches for other cheeses, but the heavier reds are a hard match with cheese. Sweet wines a great with the cheeses that have a high acidity, the contrast in tastes is often very enjoyable. Dry champagnes a great choice with bloomy white rinds.

The matching of cheese and wine is such an old culinary tradition that when you are first starting out on the matching exploration of these two, try combinations which include cheese and wine from the same geographical regions. There are probably good reasons they make the cheese and wine they do.

Personal enjoyment is the last and final line of judgment. So enjoy yourself and have a great time exploring new tastes. Readmore »»

Blue Cheese Omnivorous

Blue Cheese Omnivorous

by Bryan Applegate

Ingredients

Romaine Lettuce (head $1.29) 1 pound of steak ($10 per pound) 1 box of colorful pasta ($1.03 Blue's Clues because my inner child sways me at times.) 1 red pepper ($2.62) Blue Cheese dressing ($2.43) ½ pound block of blue cheese ($3.79 optional ingredient)

*Save money everywhere but in buying the meat. Cheap meat is too tough for this.

Wash and shred lettuce. Put it in the refrigerator so that it remains cold and crispy at serving time.

Then, cook pasta until tender but not downright floppy. We want the pasta to be somewhat cooler, so in this instance, it's okay to rinse it off with cool water a little bit so it no longer steams.

Meanwhile, cut steak into slices and sear with salt and pepper. Do this in a shallow pan and a tablespoon of oil in the pan. As the meat cooks, toss it around a bit. When it starts sticking to the pan, you're done in thirty seconds.

As the steak finishes, wash and half the red pepper. Faux roast a half on an electric range or carefully roast a half on a gas stove so that the outside is dark and toasty. While the pepper can still keep its shape, remove it carefully from the heat and slice lengthwise. It's a lovely and tasty garnish with dramatic flair during cooking!

Assembly for presentation:

Toss the lettuce and cooled pasta together evenly. Now add enough dressing to coat the pasta and lettuce in a toss. Put this tossed mix as a bed on a plate or in a bowl. With clean fingers, crumble some of the wedge of blue cheese. Now place the steak strips on top in no particular pattern. Lightly drizzle with blue cheese dressing (diners can add more to taste). Finally, garnish the top with the most aesthetic strips of red pepper providing remaining slices for your companion.

What you have is a colorful and healthy salad for the human omnivore. Most every need of nutrition is encompassed in this attractive dish that goes well with red wine, water, or even cola for the kiddies. Readmore »»

Cheddar

The most widely purchased and eaten cheese in the world. Cheddar cheeses were originally made in England, however today they are manufactured in many countries all over the world. Fully cured Cheddar is a hard, natural cheese. It is shaped like a drum, 15 inches in diameter, with natural rind bound in cloth. Normally, the color of Cheddar ranges from white to pale yellow. Some Cheddars, however, have a color added, giving the cheese a yellow-orange color. Cheddar is always made from cow's milk and has a slightly crumbly texture if properly cured.

If the cheese is too young, the texture is smooth. Cheddar gets a sharper taste the longer it matures. It is generally matured between 9 and 24 months. The important thing in purchasing Cheddar, is to consider the age of the cheese. Milk is heated to 86 degrees F and inoculated with a lactic starter culture. After an hour rennet is added. When the curd is firm, it is ground down to marble-sized bits which are heated to 100 degrees F. The whey is discarded and it is sliced into slabs.

The curd is pressed overnight and stands for 4 days in a cool atmosphere. Unlike other well known cheeses, Cheddar's name is not protected so it has been used and abused by many producers around the world.

Country: England

Milk: cow milk

Texture: semi-hard

Fat content: 48 % Readmore »»

Brick cheese

Brick cheese

1 gallon milk
1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
1/4 rennet tablet or 1/2 teaspoon
liquid rennet
Salt

Mix the buttermilk with the milk and warm to 86 [degrees] F. Set two hours to ripen. Dissolve or add the rennet into 1/2 cup cool water. Stir into the milk for one minute, then cover and allow to coagulate for 45 seconds.

The curd is ready to cut when a whey-filled depression is left after it is touched by a finger. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Cover and allow the curds to set for 30 minutes. After setting, place the pot into a sink of hot water and slowly bring the temperature to 102 [degrees] F. Hold at 102 [degrees] F for 30 minutes.

Stir the curds every five minutes to prevent matting. They will look like scrambled eggs at this point. They should hold their shape and will require more cooking if they don't.

Remove curds from sink and allow to set for one hour, stirring every 10 minutes. Line a colander with cheesecloth. Lift the curds out of the whey and place in the cheesecloth. Rinse with warm water and let drain for 25 minutes. Work in a teaspoon of salt if desired.

Make a folded band out of a clean dish towel and pin it together. While leaving the curds in the cheesecloth, place them inside the band. Using two small bricks, press between two boards for 12 hours. Remove the cheesecloth and put the cheese on a rack to air dry.

Turn once in awhile to allow drying until all surfaces are dry to the touch. Salt the outside surfaces of the cheese to help draw out moisture. Turn daily and lightly salt again if needed. The cheese may dry quickly and not need much salting. When dry, wax may be applied to seal and age the cheese.

Store cheese at 50 [degrees] to 60 [degrees] F in a dry place, turning every other day or so. This keeps the moisture evenly distributed inside the cheese. Aging can last from one to six months depending on how strong you like your cheese. Readmore »»

Caraway-Cheese Crisps

Caraway-Cheese Crisps

Serves: 30 Servings

Ingredients:

*** 1 c Butter or margarine;
*** -softened
*** 2 c Sharp cheddar cheese;
*** -shredded
*** 2 c All-purpose flour
*** 1 ts Ground red pepper
*** 1/4 ts Salt
*** 1 c Pecans; finely Chopped
*** 2 ts Caraway seed

Instructions:

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer; gradually add cheese,
beating well. Combine flour, red pepper and salt; gradually add to cheese
mixture, mixing after each addition. Add pecans and caraway seeds, mixing
until thoroughly blended. Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls. Place on
ungreased baking sheets; flatten each dough ball with a fork dipped in
flour. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned
around edges. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.
Yield; about 5 dozen.

NOTES : Caraway-Cheese Crisps may be frozen up to three months in an
airtight container. Thaw at room temperature just before serving. Readmore »»

Bean and Cheese Taco

Bean and Cheese Taco

Serves: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

15 oz Canned chili hot beans -- No
Fat added -- drained
1/2 ts Garlic -- minced
4 Corn tortillas -- 6"
8 oz FF Fancy Pizza Cheese, HC --
Shredded
1/4 c Fresh cilantro -- chopped
1/4 c Green onions -- sliced
Shredded lettuce
Chopped tomato
Light or FF Sour Cream
Salsa

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, mash beans and stir in garlic. For
each taco, spread about 1/2 c bean mixture on half of each tortilla. Top
with 1/2 c. cheese, 1 tb. each cilantro and green onion. Fold tortilla over
filling. Place folded tortillas in 8" square baking dish sprayed with
non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until
tortillas begin to brown and filling is hot. Serve with shredded lettuce,
tomato, FF sour cream and salsa to add at the table as desired. 4 Servings,
each (without garnishes) = 286 calores, 28 g protein, 39 g. carbohydrate, 2
g fat, 12 mg cholesterol, 426 mg sodium Readmore »»