A simple message, but one dear to my heart. I would have preferred if it had said “Keep Calm, Make Cheese”!
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Keep Calm Eat Cheese
Vintage Farmhouse Cheddar
Farmhouse Cheddar is a really simple hard cheese to make. The recipe that I use can be found at my farmhouse cheddar post that includes a video tutorial.
Anyway, I had this round of Vintage Farmhouse Cheddar hiding in the back of the cheese fridge, which I made under a year ago.
It was made on 16th September 2011, so technically it is 11 months old, which I class as Vintage for a cheddar. Some may categorise it as Sharp. It looked like there was a slight seepage at some stage, however I found the wax intact so it must have come from a cheese stored above it as some stage of its maturation. There was no excess whey present under the wax when I removed it, however the surface was just touch dry.
As with all Farmhouse Cheddar, it was semi-moist, and slightly crumbly. Easy to cut, with a mild yellowing of the cheese.
The taste was outstanding. Sharp like a true vintage cheddar, with the peppercorns adding to its boldness.
Normally I do not leave my cheddar this long to mature, but as I made two rounds with the same batch of milk, it was easy to leave one mature for longer.
All in all, a fantastic cheese that improves with aging. I will certainly be making a double batch of this one in the near future so I can eat one at the three-month stage, and leave the other to acquire vintage status!
Drunken Cow Update
It has been 17 days since I made my first Drunken Cow cheese, and I have been turning it every day.
Two days ago, it had shrunk so much that it cracked, top and bottom, so as this cheese has to mature for a full three months, I had no choice but to wax it.
Here is the top. You will notice that the wine penetrated about 5 mm (1/4″) into the rind of the cheese, and deep into the holes that I pierced.
This is the bottom. There is minimal mould build up, and it was easily washed off with a brine solution.
You can see how much it has shrunk by comparing the Drunken cow, now a deep purple after being cleaned prior to waxing, to a Caerphilly that I made on Saturday night. The Drunken cow has lost about a quarter of its volume.
So here is the waxed cheese, all sealed and ready to continue its maturity at around 11C (51F). We will crack it open on 3rd November 2012.
By the way, this cheese still smells divine. It has a deep, sweet red wine aroma. Both Kim and I cannot wait to sample it.
[Cross posted on The Greening of Gavin]
