It's been a long wait!

Chris here from Wedge in the Round. Almost four months ago, I wrote the first review of a new cheese in development by Jasper Hill. Those of us around the country participating in the 2012 Birth of a Cheese study with Culture magazine were sent three differing samples of baby cheese. We can't say that our feedback influenced the recipe, as the cheese sent for round two were made in January.

Last week, those cheeses, about 7-8 months aged, arrived.

First impressions:

Sunday, August 26, 2012; 1:40 p.m. I’ve been thinking about Jasper Hill’s new cheese off and on ever since my two samples arrived on Friday around noon. They were eagerly anticipated both because of the delays-in-sending and because I hoped they’d arrive before I went out for the afternoon, so they wouldn’t have to sit on my porch in the 90-degree heat.They did but had to be deposited in the fridge till Saturday morning, when I followed the instructions on the emailed “Round 2” form and let them warm up to room temperature for a couple of hours.

It was nice to get an explanation of the numbering system this time around, and I also noticed the cheese now had a name--Alpha Tolman--printed in rather small letters between bars on the round blue stick-on tag.

 August 10, 2012

While in North Carolina with our friend Vinny for the 2012 “Festival of Cheese” at the American Cheese Society’s Conference and Competition, we visited 7 top-rated Barbecue eateries in the eastern part of the state, in and around Raleigh.

Below are the places we tried and our notes on each:

The Pit
328 West Davie St. at Harrington
Raleigh, NC 27601
http://www.thepit-raleigh.com/
(919) 890-4500
Our Rating: A+
Cooking Method: Whole hog, pit-cooked
Pulled pork was so flavorful without any sauce! Sauces: vinegar based and tomato molasses; Delicious NC stew called Brunswick Stew; Vinny loved the collard greens; Bacon and spinach bruschetta!
$11.99 pulled pork, $2.50 cup of Brunswick stew, $7.59 bacon bruschetta

 August 10, 2012

On Saturday, August 4th, we attended the “Festival of Cheese” at the 2012 American Cheese Society’s Conference and Competition held in Raleigh, NC. This year’s festival, which is open to the public who purchased a $55 ticket for the 2.5-hour event, featured more than 1,700 cheeses from throughout North America. Vendors also presented a wide array of gourmet foods, wine, and beer.

Having attended last year’s festival in Montreal, we knew what to expect: an overwhelming collection of cheese organized into more than 100 categories from Fresh Unripened Cheese made from cow’s milk to Washed Rind Cheese aged more than 90 days.

Our plan of attack was to sample as many of the blue ribbon winners as we could, but we always end up sampling even the non-winners in categories we most love.

Since our first tasting of the Jasper Hill Cheese, I have been busy with my photo shows and HOME cheese making.

There have been several styles of cheeses made from my kitchen.

I have been experiencing a slight temperature consistency problem with my min-fridge "cheese cave" over the past couple of years in my cheese making. My cave has been running a little too cold for the cheese affinage (aging), average 50 to 55 degrees. Different styles of cheeses may require a slight variation in temp for ageing, some as low as 40 - 45 degrees which works quite well in the mini fridge but 50 - 55 is more difficult to obtain.

It took us quite a while, but finally we were approaching the end of the wedges we received in the mail weeks ago. After the taste test was over we still had quite a bit left – we’ve been adding it to omelets, topping baked potatoes with it, and making some pretty tasty grilled cheese sandwiches. Recently, I came across a recipe for cheese soufflés. I admit I’ve never made a savory soufflé before, only dessert ones. The recipe made 2 individual-sized servings, perfect for us. After grating all our remaining Jasper Hill cheese I had exactly what the recipe called for, to the gram! I took that as a good omen.

My first-ever blog post. Given my life for the past year, it only makes sense that it’s about cheese (and I couldn’t be happier for it). I’m Bradley, and I’m still kind of new to the world of cheese. I had my first bite of real, actual cheese at Antonelli’s Cheese Shop in Austin, Texas. My girlfriend had dragged me there just a few days after its grand opening and I asked my cheesemonger, John Antonelli, for the stinkiest cheese he had in his case. He handed me a bite of Red Hawk. A little over a year later and I found myself working behind the counter as an official cheesemonger for Antonelli’s. And a little over a year after that first day I can say I have tasted literally hundreds of different cheeses, probably thousands of different wheels, and been to Wisconsin to meet some of the best cheesemakers in the business thanks to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

It's been a while since the last bits of my Jasper Hill sample were consumed. While I had good intentions to write about the final tasting, work and turkey hunting got in the way.

One of my coworkers, Nate, is a police officer with a passion for cheese. When I first learned that I was selected to test Jasper Hill's new cheese I promised Nate that I would bring some cheese to work for him to try. Police officers are never guaranteed a lunch break so finding time to get together at lunch to sample some cheese is special in itself. Having the opportunity to share a cheese in progress made our lunch break even better. Some of our previous lunch time cheese sampling have included Carr Valley's Mammoth Cheddar, Beer Kase and Limburger. When sampling Beer Kase and Limburger it helps to work third shift when there are less people around to offend.

I love shirred eggs. They are a reliable standby in my breakfast universe. When I am feeling too lazy to roll an omelet or even do some whisking, I turn to them. They cook quickly too; the only trouble I run into is remembering to take them out when the yolks are just right.

Our cheese from Jasper Hill made the perfect topping for eggs Sunday morning. Although this recipe is as basic as they get, you can add any pre-cooked meat or vegetable to the eggs for endless variety. But if you're feeling lazy like me, enjoy the simplicity and deliciousness of your favorite melting cheese solo. I also love using queso asedero on top and eating them with salsa and some corn tortillas on the side...did I mention shirred eggs make a great, light dinner!?

I'm Meg, one of the 20 new wedgeheads blogging about their experiences with the Birth of a Cheese 2012. The first thing I should tell you is that I got engaged to my now-husband over a wheel of robiola la rosso. The second thing I should tell you is that I'm the general manager & beverage director of a teeny restaurant in Somerville, MA called Journeyman.