May is the month where we celebrate Mother’s Day, Spring flowers, and start preparing for family vacations. The three cheeses for this month are a perfect cheeses for all three occasions. The search for this month’s cheeses was also an eye opener in how innovative cheese makers are truly leading the way for the farming industry on so many environmental, animal conscious, and earth friendly practices. You will have to check out their websites for all the amazing cheese geek details. Anyway, this month we are excited to bring you Cascadian Creamery’s Sleeping Beauty (who could pass up a cheese with this name for Mother’s Day?), Quicke’s Elderflower Cheddar, and Kaserei Stofel Blumenkase.
Cascadian Creamery Sleeping Beauty – This unpasteurized organic cheese is smooth and buttery with a supple sharpness. Named after a signature landmark of the Cascade Range - the legendary "Beauty" that came between the mighty Pahto (Mt. Adams) and Wy'East (Mt. Hood) peaks. Like its namesake, this alluring cheese can move mountains. Cascadia Creamery from Trout Lake, Washington, is a fourth-generation family farm who uses certified organic cow's milk to make an array of artisan cheeses that age in a special aging room, built inside a lava tube cave. This natural formed volcanic cave has the perfect temperature and humidity for ripening cheese. Their cheeses are the product of heritage jersey cows and the minerally rich soil, and snow-capped Cascade Mountains where they live, are ideal for promoting healthy pasture growth for their milking girls to graze on. Cascadian Creamery goes way beyond organic practices. Check out our fun fact for information on how, not all milk is created equally!
Quicke’s Elderflower Cheddar - Quicke’s, one of Britain’s most renowned cheese makers, is known for traditional hands-on methods, but their latest forage into clothbound cheddars takes this to a new level. Inspired by the blooms of elderflower on the Quicke’s farm, this cheese is infused with meticulously hand-picked elderflower. This cheese is smooth, buttery, distinctly herbal. This floral creation is an earthy cheddar that’s pairs perfect with our Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc. Quicke’s established in 1540, in Devon, England, has a long rich history in creating amazing clothbound cheeses. Their philosophy strongly devotes to practices that respect their animals, the land they farm, the people who currently farm it as well as preserving it for those who will continue to do so in the future. They have a simple ethos that shapes their life on their home farm… “Farm like you’re going to live forever”. Mary Quicke and John Quicke are the 14th generation farmers that continue the long family heritage of making cheese. All of their cheeses are made by hand, slowly matured for a deeply satisfying flavor and celebrates the deep connection that has grown between the Quicke Family and the land they have nurtured for almost 500 years.
Käserei Stofel Blumenkäse – Last year for May’s Cheese Club we introduced Alps Blossom and it is still a customer favorite but Blumenkäse takes it on a crazy twist.This is a German Alpine cheese covered with wildflowers and hay grass from the meadows of Switzerland. Its floral beauty isn’t just pretty on the outside it is packed with flavors of French onion soup and sweet carrots, including; winter savory, dill, garlic, caraway, lovage, marjoram, mint, leek, chive, parsley, juniper berries, onion, marigolds, cornflower, roses, and strawberry leaves. This cheese pairs amazing with our Pratsch Zweigelt. Kaserei Stofel was founded in the town of Unterwasser Switzerland by Thomas Stadelmann’s father in 1983. Thomas now runs the family business and has taken it to a whole new level of cheese making. His innovative organic milk products and cheese creations have reached all parts of the world and have been awarded hundreds of times. Using cow, sheep, and goat milk from around fifteen selected Obertoggenburg farmers his products are made to traditional recipes and refined with a lot of specialist knowledge, intuition and experimental creativity. One bite of Blumenkase and you understand what they mean by innovative cheesemaking.
Fun Cheese Fact
The A2 Milk Difference… Not all raw milk is created equal. Different types of cows produce different proteins, including A1 and A2 beta-casein proteins.[1] Of these two types, A2 milk has been shown to be the healthiest. How was this discovered? In the 1990s, a New Zealand-based scientist began to research why more and more people were having adverse reactions to ordinary milk.[2] He found that the A1 protein seemed to cause people to experience digestive issues (bloating and IBS), nausea, mucus build up and general discomfort. Ultimately, the research showed that during the digestion process, the A1 milk released an amino acid called BCM-7 that was shown to cause numerous health problems. The A2 milk, on the other hand, was not found to release BCM-7 and caused none of these symptoms.
Recipe of the Month: Quicke’s Elderflower Cheddar Hot Buns
Is there anything that signifies Spring more than the sweet citrus smell of toasted hot cross buns? Quicke’s love this Spring classic, so much so, they brought us this savoury version that makes a perfect Spring picnic or backyard snacker to enjoy with our desert sunsets. Enjoy these beauties with your favorite herb enfused olive oil and a medium to full bodied red wine.
INGREDIENTS
3 cups bread flour
3 x packets of fast-action dried yeast
2 cups warm whole milk
2/3 cup grated Quicke's Elderflower Cheddar
5 tbsp grated parmesan (or vegetarian alternative)
Method
In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, yeast and 2 tsp salt together. Make a well in the center and slowly pour in the milk. Mix with a spoon, then with your hands, work into a soft dough. Out of the bowl, knead for 10 mins. Put back in the bowl, lightly cover with oiled cling film and leave in somewhere warm until the dough has doubled in size (approx. 30 mins).
Lightly flour a work surface and tip the dough on to it. Knead in most of the grated Quicke's Elderflower Cheddar cheese (leaving some to scatter on top) until evenly distributed throughout the dough. Dust a large, flat baking sheet with flour. Shape the dough into 12 round buns and arrange on the sheet with a 1 inch gap between each. Loosely cover with another sheet of lightly oiled cling film and leave to prove until they have nearly doubled in size again.
Heat oven to 325 F. Scatter with the remaining Quicke's cheddar Paremesan and bake for 20-25 mins until golden.
If you don't devour them all straight away, these can be frozen to help them keep for longer. To reheat from frozen, warm in a low oven before serving.