Proof that goat kids lambs like jumping on beds too!

We never get sick of grilled cheese recipes, and Food & Style has stepped-it-up with this garlic confit and arugula grilled cheese.:

When garlic is gently poached in olive oil, it becomes sweet, with a subtle flavor. The cloves become so soft that you can spread them on your toast – or in this case, in your grilled cheese sandwich.

Pair the mellow garlic confit with zingy baby arugula and a nutty, pungent aged cheddar, gruyère or fontina, and every luscious bite is mouthwatering.

Serves 4
Active time: 25 min
8 thin slices rye country bread
1/4 cup olive oil from Garlic Confit
1/2 cup Garlic Confit cloves
2 large handfuls baby arugula (4 oz) (115g)
8 oz (230g) aged Cheddar, Gruyère, Fontina or Manchego – coarsely grated
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Max McCalman tackles the pregnancy and cheese question in his most recent blog at Artisanal:

We do not advise you to ignore your obstetrician of course, yet as I mentioned in a recent post: cheese is not taught in medical school. Obstetricians should certainly know a lot about nutrition, and I am certain that most of them do. My fear is that some of the diet guidelines recommended may be based on incomplete or imprecise science.

One of the pitfalls I encounter with the assumption that pregnant women should only eat pasteurized cheeses is that this gives a false sense of security, as though pasteurization is an absolute, that the cheese is squeaky clean so there should be no concern whatsoever.

I have been asked these questions hundreds of times so I wanted to get to the bottom of it. I also happen to be a parent.

Read more at the Artisanal blog

Culture has just settled in to a new office space in Somerville, MA, and we are looking for two interns to help us out with the daily workings of this ever-so-intricate magazine-making process. Please read the requirements below before submitting your info. Thank you!

We are seeking part time editorial interns for the Somerville (Massachusetts) Culture office.

Duties will include research, copywriting, blogging, article formatting and data entry for our website and magazine. Opportunities to accompany staff to events may arise as well.

Ideal candidates are college juniors and above with office/admin experience who are organized and able to follow specific instructions. Knowledge of fine food and artisan cheese is helpful, but not required.

10-15 hours per week, unpaid.

To apply, please email resume, cover letter, and writing sample* to Eilis Maynard, eilis@culturecheesemag.com

Good news! The graphic anti-cheese billboards on display in Albany have been replaced with positive billboards sponsored by The American Dairy Association and Dairy council, much to the relief of the locals:

"When we saw the sign with the naked buttock, it was just distasteful. It didn't have a clear message," said Maria Stamoulis, of the Schodack Diner.

The group that put up the billboards is targeting cheese because it's the number one source of saturated fat. They're also criticizing schools in Albany, saying they serve too much cheese to kids, adding to the nation's obesity crisis.

"This gives us an opportunity to say that cheese is a wonderful food and it should be a big part of the American diet," Matt Nelligan from the New York State Farm Bureau told Newschannel 13 a month ago.

According to a study published by Dr Elodie Briefer and Dr Alan McElligott, baby goats will adjust the sound of their calls to mimic those of their social group. It's just like human Texas babies developing a drawl, right? The BBC has the story:

"We found that genetically-related kids produced similar calls... but the calls of kids raised in the same social groups were also similar to each other, and became more similar as the kids grew older."

"This suggests that goat kids modify their calls according to their social surroundings, developing similar 'accents'."

Dr Briefer suggested that the social structure of the goats could be the motivator behind the convergence in calls.

"This could act as a 'group member badge' allowing them to identify members of the group, differentiate them from members of other groups, and increase group cohesion," she told BBC Nature.

You heard it here, goat cheese infused with fish oil. Is the goal to make an extra healthy cheese? We're not sure. Tell us what you think:

It may smell fishy, but a team of US scientists is working on creating a goat cheese made with fish oil, an underused but health-packed food.

In a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Food Science, goat cheese was shown to be a successful carrier of fish oil -- an underused ingredient because of its strong odor and aftertaste and a finicky food that tends to oxidize quickly.

Fish oil has more balanced proportions of omega-3 fatty acids compared to other sources like flax and algal oil, the researchers said.

Read more

Braiden Rex-Johnson at the Seattle Times gives us a snapshot of a cheesemaking class with Mary Karlin. Check out her new book, Artisan Cheese Making at Home: Techniques & Recipes for Mastering World-Class Cheeses:

"All of you are cheese heads or you wouldn't be here," Mary Karlin said as she welcomed us to her Beginning Cheese-Making Workshop at the Art Institute of Seattle last fall.

The assembled students, including local foodies such as Sur La Table founder Shirley Collins and vegetarians in search of a good protein source, could hardly wait to begin making simple, fresh cheeses.

"We have beautiful milk from here locally. We are lucky to have it," Karlin said as she cast an admiring gaze over jugs of ivory-colored liquid from Fresh Breeze Organic Dairy, Grace Harbor and Medosweet Farms.

The results are in for Saturday's Mac-n-Cheese Bowl in Colonie, New York. The overall winner, "Perfect Storm," is made with with lobster, crab, mascarpone, pecorino and aged provolone...in other words, be there next year!

Angelo's 677 Prime in Albany and Valente's Restaurant in Watervliet took home the top prizes Saturday during the third annual timesunion.com/Table Hopping Mac-n-Cheese Bowl to benefit the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

The event attracted more than 2,100 people and will generate at least $35,000 for the food bank, said its executive director, Mark Quandt.

Held at the Albany Marriott in Colonie, the Mac-n-Cheese Bowl featured 29 restaurants competing for judges' and people's-choice awards for different variations of macaroni and cheese, plus 10 home cooks whose recipes were tasted only by the judges.

Read more

Janet Fletcher has run into many repeating questions over her years of teaching cheese classes, and in an attempt to remedy these queries, she wrote this FAQ article for cheese lovers. Here's an excerpt:

Q: Why is raw-milk cheese illegal?

A: It isn't illegal. I eat raw-milk cheese all the time, and you probably do, too. If you sprinkle Parmigiano-Reggiano on your pasta or crumble Roquefort into a salad, you're eating raw-milk cheese.

Many American cheese producers make raw-milk wheels, too. The acclaimed Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Wisconsin and Fiscalini's Bandage-Wrapped Cheddar from Modesto come to mind.

Read the full article here