One of the nicest things about farm markets is all the people I meet. Of course one of the worse things can also sometimes be the people you meet, fortunately that doesn't usually happen. This year we were fortunate to join the Capital City Farmers Market in August as a sub for Mt. Mansfield Creamery.
We were pleasantly surprised when we learned that there was a spot for us at the winter market! It was great to arrive today for our first winter market and find that we are situated close to our summer market neighbors, Gaylord Farm, and right in between the delicious Butterfly Bakery and who else but Mt. Mansfield Creamery.
It was great to be situated right next to another cheesemaker and have the opportunity to chat a little in between customers. I also got a chance to meet another local cheesemaker who is also vending at the winter market, Molly from Sage Farm.
All in all a great day.
Showing posts with label feta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feta. Show all posts
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Flocculating
I'm actually writing today from along side my cheese vat. I finished packing our weekly order for Farmer's To You and find myself just hanging out waiting for my milk to flocculate so figured I'd take the opportunity to write. If you are in the Boston area you should check out Farmers To You, a great way to get some real Vermont products straight from the farm!
There are actually other similar services in many areas and it is a great way to find wonderful foods, often from farmers in your local area. Near us we also have the St. Johnsbury Food Alliance which tried their hands at an online market this fall for St.Johnsbury area folks. The Central Vermont Food Hub, focusing on bringing their customers food from producers in Washington County, VT. And recently a friend of the farm became involved in yet another local food/farm to the people type service for folks in the Charlotte/Shelburne area - yourfarmstand.com. As a food producer it's great, and allows us to extend our reach to the consumer with relatively low overhead.
So back to my milk (which by now has flocculated) - working with goat milk today, making Feta. Feta is actually a good cheese for the home cheese maker to start out with. The basic process is simple and there are several tutorials on YouTube even! Actually, what isn't there a tutorial for on YouTube? Our Feta is made from our own recipe but as the process really isn't that different across the board, we think our secret really has more to do with our milk. Time to cut the curd!
There are actually other similar services in many areas and it is a great way to find wonderful foods, often from farmers in your local area. Near us we also have the St. Johnsbury Food Alliance which tried their hands at an online market this fall for St.Johnsbury area folks. The Central Vermont Food Hub, focusing on bringing their customers food from producers in Washington County, VT. And recently a friend of the farm became involved in yet another local food/farm to the people type service for folks in the Charlotte/Shelburne area - yourfarmstand.com. As a food producer it's great, and allows us to extend our reach to the consumer with relatively low overhead.
So back to my milk (which by now has flocculated) - working with goat milk today, making Feta. Feta is actually a good cheese for the home cheese maker to start out with. The basic process is simple and there are several tutorials on YouTube even! Actually, what isn't there a tutorial for on YouTube? Our Feta is made from our own recipe but as the process really isn't that different across the board, we think our secret really has more to do with our milk. Time to cut the curd!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Tis The Season
Wreath - check. Lights - check. Bows -check. We are officially decorated for the holidays! Next up, stocking the farm store. Post flood we've managed to make preserves, harvest honey, make some lucious goat milk soaps, make some cool goat notecards, and of course work on increasing the variety of cheeses well be offering. I'll also be making truffles and goat milk fudge later this week to bring to market this weekend and also feature in the farm store. Of course we will also have special dog cookies made from chèvre as well!
Yesterday we took samples of two of our developing cheeses. The first is a Spanish style cheese from pasteurized goat milk. We opted to go with a pasteurized milk vs raw milk as our goal is to sell the cheese when it is young. Although I have to say that I recently tried a piece of the same type of cheese from Spain that was a bit older and YUUUUMMMM! Our version is looking lovely. With its earthy blue-grey rind it resembles the surface of a rock, but once I pulled a plug from the center of the cheese a beautiful, creamy white center was revealed which melted in my mouth, full of flavor. I can't wait to see what it is like in another couple weeks.
The second cheese represents our first attempt at a goat milk blue cheese. Blues are tough, but in my opinion, when they are good they are among the best. When they aren't good thought they can be horrible, really horrible. I've been told that its just not possible to make a good blue cheese with goat milk. But after tasting a Italian Goat Gorgonzola, I respectfully disagree. So, a few months and a fair amount of research later I've come up with a modified recipe for a blue that I hope will lead us somewhere. Also on the table for future development is a goat/cow blue, in the style of a Spanish Valdeon (a traditional aged Spanish cheese, wrapped in sycamore maple or chestnut leaves), but wrapping our version in a more Vermont leaf: sugar maple. This will be a project farther down the road as it isn't exactly the right season for fresh maple sugar leaves, and I'd like to gain a little more hands on experience with making blues first.
While our all goat blue is months away from being available, if all goes well our newest Spanish style aged cheese will be available before Christmas.
Yesterday we took samples of two of our developing cheeses. The first is a Spanish style cheese from pasteurized goat milk. We opted to go with a pasteurized milk vs raw milk as our goal is to sell the cheese when it is young. Although I have to say that I recently tried a piece of the same type of cheese from Spain that was a bit older and YUUUUMMMM! Our version is looking lovely. With its earthy blue-grey rind it resembles the surface of a rock, but once I pulled a plug from the center of the cheese a beautiful, creamy white center was revealed which melted in my mouth, full of flavor. I can't wait to see what it is like in another couple weeks.
The second cheese represents our first attempt at a goat milk blue cheese. Blues are tough, but in my opinion, when they are good they are among the best. When they aren't good thought they can be horrible, really horrible. I've been told that its just not possible to make a good blue cheese with goat milk. But after tasting a Italian Goat Gorgonzola, I respectfully disagree. So, a few months and a fair amount of research later I've come up with a modified recipe for a blue that I hope will lead us somewhere. Also on the table for future development is a goat/cow blue, in the style of a Spanish Valdeon (a traditional aged Spanish cheese, wrapped in sycamore maple or chestnut leaves), but wrapping our version in a more Vermont leaf: sugar maple. This will be a project farther down the road as it isn't exactly the right season for fresh maple sugar leaves, and I'd like to gain a little more hands on experience with making blues first.
While our all goat blue is months away from being available, if all goes well our newest Spanish style aged cheese will be available before Christmas.
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