CRAVING MORE CHEESE

After my exploration of the variety of cheeses at Fairway Market it may have been a coincidence receiving an email from a company named Sugar Brook. Cheese Spreads was the topic with cheese coming from Wisconsin. I was kinda wondering about domestic cheeses. Although I know that there are farms all over this country I wasn't sure of which companies were into cheese production aside from Cabot Creamery.

There are dairy farms with farmstead cheese, where the cheese is actually prepared on the premises. Artisanal cheese is cheese that has been hand-crafted in small batches according to time-honored techniques, recipes, and traditions.

Sugar Brook's thing is to purchase various Wisconsin cheese and create spreads, cheese balls and cheese logs. Kelly Logseth is behind the recipes as well as her brand known asKelly's Kitchen.

The spreads that I sampled with the Sugar Brook brand were: CheddaBlu, CheddaDew, and CheddarBrew. CheddaBlu spread is a combo of Cheddar and Bleu Cheese which was perfect on crackers as well as in a roast beef sandwich. Excellent little kick from the Blue. CheddaDew. There is this sweet piquante fruit called Pepperdew that is just a bit spicy. Mixed a bit in an omelet and used to top a hamburger. CheddaBrew, as you may guess is cheddar with a stout beer. I do get that hint of beer. Great on a soft pretzel.

Kelly's Kitchen posed a problem with putting the spreads on anything. For instance there is the Traditional Tapenade with Odyssey Feta and the Mediterranean Tapenade with Goat Cheese (which has some peppadew in it). I used them both as sides with chicken, steaks and salmon.

Garlic and Herb Gourmet Spread was not the usual. I could taste and feel the consistency of the cheese. Tasted it on a cracker and used it to top a steak.

Two dessert cheeses made there way here. One was a Cranberry Almond Dessert Spread and the other was a Chocolate Cheese Fudge. Just give me the spoon and didn't need a lot to fulfill my sweet after meal crave.

A second company called Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese produces soft cheeses. Fresh mozzarella balls in a marinade. Not only was the mozzarella tasty but the marinade made it to a few salads and a pasta dish.

Their Farmer's Rope is a string cheese type using some part skim milk mozzarella. Great for a snack. I'm going to try it on pizza, making the crust from flour and beer as well as preparing my own tomato based sauce.

Then there is the mascarpone made from sweet cream. I baked a few cookies using flour, butter, sugar and almond extract. While they were cooling a combined Kelly's Chocolate Fudge with some mascarpone and used it to top the cookies. OMG!!!

Lastly is their European style cheese called Les Freres, an American original cheese with a robust, earthy flavor that is washed, which means the the rind is in a brine and edible. It's a soft spreadable cheese that is perfect with fruit.