Everona's Piedmont: Thank a Border Collie.

It doesn't take much more than a quick glimpse at teetering wedge piles in a cheese case to reveal that the artisan cheese market is now very rich. It's thriving, to put it mildly. And when there are new artisan cheeses released every month and you're an obsessante who visits the websites of said new creameries and are easily taken with pictures of their beautiful creations and cute animals, sometimes you forget about the glories of the tried and true.

But it only takes a taste to remember.

With one bite, Everona's Piedmont is a wheel that clarifies why it's an American classic worthy of being sought out.

Former owner Everona Patricia Elliot was a forebearer of the American artisan cheese scene that we have today. As with many other creamery owners, Elliot started her sheep's milk creamery not just because she wanted to make delicious cheese, but because she was enamored with animals. Border Collies, that is.

A breeder and advocate of Border Collies, Elliot got her first sheep so her dogs could have something to play with. Tennis balls and chew toys only go so far. Then she decided her sheep needed to earn their keep. Beginning of story.

Elliot traveled to Greece to learn about cheese making in the early nineties. This is pretty rare for cheesemakers in the United States- most head to the Pyrenees to learn about Basque styles or Tuscany to learn the ways of pecorino. It was still rare to milk sheep in the U.S. for cheese too.

Elliot came back, took courses, and started coagulating curds.

My favorite of Everona's cheeses is Piedmont pictured above. I say this with certainty because besides an even more limited edition cheese she made called "Earthquake," it's the only one I've had to opportunity to try. Those southerners know a good thing when they've got it - they work their way through their small batches of dairy deliciousness very well on their own. It's rare much of this makes it to California.

Piedmont is semi-soft, a little crumbly, lightly tangy, sweetly funky, and citrusy. Many sheep's milk cheeses are reported to have a "nutty" flavor. Not so much here. This is a type of high acidity washed-rind cheese that you'd serve on its own or with a bit of sugar, like bourbon preserved cherries or wildflower honey. Or melt it. This, potatoes, cream, and a glass of Pinot would make one hell of a night.

It's a beautiful cheese and we're lucky that it has inspired so many artisan cheesemakers.

Since I started writing this post, Everona's owner, Patricia Elliot passed away. Her influence on the cheese world has been tremendous. I hope you've had experience with Everona's beauties.

A Few of my Favorite Goat Cheese Things

I'm not one to turn down anything with goat cheese, anytime. On a boat, with a goat, in the rain, in a train, in the dark, in the summer, in the winter, whenever, wherever, is just fine with me. But hands down, spring is my favorite season for goat cheese.

Spring is when goat milk tastes its brightest. The goats are off jumping around in the green, green hills, eating the delciousness that is spring vegetation, and the mamas are possibly, perhaps, just naturally a little more glowy after watching their adorable young prance about (we're going with the happy dairy animals producing good milk theme here). For a little more info about milk seasonality, here's an article I wrote for Edible East Bay a few years ago, called Tasting the Seasons in Cheeses. I wish I could claim coming up with that title.

With that in mind, this post is a little devotional to spring goat cheese, with pictures of a few of my preferred goat cheese pairers. Some link to recipes. The "recipe" given at the end of the post uses fresh chèvre, but I'm down with any old kind of goat cheese. Keeping in mind that the cheese will taste of the season when the milk is procured with pastured animals, explore.

Chevre and salmon on rye "recipe" (header photo)

Thinly slice rye bread, pumpernickel, or rustic whole wheat and lightly toast. Let cool. Spread thickly with fresh chèvre (go local if you want to taste those green hills near you). Top with smoked salmon or lox, then cucumber rounds. Garnish with fresh chervil. If going big, consider drizzling with creme fraiche. Serve with an unoaked white wine like Sauvignon Blanc, Verdejo, or a Savoie white.

"Extreme" Cheese & the Wines that Love Them.

This Wednesday I wore my cowboy boots to teach. I may have even worn a little green eye shadow and en extra ring. When teaching a class titled "Extreme Cheeses and the Wines that Love Them," one has to step it up a notch.

I've been teaching at the Cheese School of San Francisco now for over three or four years, and I've taught some of my favorite classes there, from Springtime Cheese and Rosés  to Southern Cheese and Spirits. This last class was one of my tops taught. The focus: The weird, the odd, the unusual cheeses, unique wines to pair, and the stories behind them.

What makes a cheese odd, you ask?

Good question. We didn't limit it. And we didn't judge. If a cheese was delicious after being patted down with flavors as oddly harmonious as espresso grounds and lavender, we weren't going to raise an eyebrow. If a cheese couldn't decide between being a cheddar or a blue, we were't going to try to make them. Hell, if a cheese wanted to wear that swan dress that Bjork did to the Oscars one year, or even decide they wanted to be in an open relationship, we wouldn't judge either. Just as long as they showed up to class tasty and ready to charm.

Our requirements for an "extreme" cheese was that a cheese was novel and delicious- it was made in an interesting style, had an unusual taste, or was made with unfamiliar milks or a mix of milks. But because we also wanted to include awesome or rare wines, we made an exception or two. We included Comté not because it's odd (it's special and unique, but not odd, per se), but because it makes one of the weirdest wines in the world (which happens to be one of my favorite) from the Jura taste amazing. The pairing is transformative, delicious, and odd as heck.

Here's the list. Hope you enjoy our picks! They're listed in clockwise order, starting at 11 o'clock with the golden Comté. Cheeses with a * have write-ups in my book.

1. Comté

Provenance: Jura/Franche-Comté, France Type: Raw cow’s milk

2. Pecorino Foglie di Noce - sheep milk pecorino wrapped with walnut leaf as it ages (leaves only available twice a year and the cheese was in very limited, seasonal supply until just recently).

Provenance: Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Type: Pasteurized sheep's milk

Both paired with 2008 Domaine Macle Côtes du Jura (Jura, France), made mainly in the oxidative style typical of vin jaune from  Savagnin and Chardonnay, in the Chateau Chalone appellation. Tasting Comté and Macle together years ago was a transformative pairing for me. May have or may not consumed a half a pound of cheese first time I tried this.

3. Dunbarton Blue, Roelli Cheese Co- Cheddar/Blue Hybrid *

Provenance: Shullsburg, Wisconsin Type: Pasteurized cow's milk

4. Barely Buzzed, Beehive Cheese Company, rind of espresso grounds and lavender. *

Provenance: Uintah, Utah Type: Pasteurized cow’s milk

Both paired with 2009 Gricos Aglianico del Vulture (Basilicata, Italy), Aglianico grown on soils from the Vulture volcano. 

5. Hubbardston Blue, Westfield Farm - the first goat, soft ripened blue cheese in the U.S. *

Provenance: Hubbardston, Massachusetts Type: Pasteurized goat’s milk

6. Torta de Trujillo - washed rind sheep's milk made with thistle rennet. To eat, slice off the top of the torta and scoop.

Provenance: Extremadura, Spain Type: Raw sheep’s milk

7. The Bomb, Bohemian Creamery - a lovely blend of milks on this bumpy, natural-rinded cheese that's been washed with a Russian River Brewery's sour beer, Consecration.

Provenance: Sebastopol, California Type: Pasteurized sheep and goat’s milk

All three paired with 2009 Clos Lapeyre Jurançon La Magendia (Jurançon, France), made with 100% Gros Manseng.

8. Casatica di Bufala- Buffalo milk normally belongs in the south. The Gritti brothers sold their family's Alpine cows to focus entirely on buffalo.

Provenance: Lombardia, Italy Type: Pasteurized water buffulo’s milk

9. Kunik, Nettle Meadow Farm - one of the only mixed-milk triple cremes in the world. *

Provenance: Thurman, New York Type: Pasteurized goat’s milk & cow’s cream

Both served with 2010 Château de Ripaille Vin de Savoie Ripaille (Savoie, France) - see third photo above.

What are your favorite "extreme" cheeses? What do you drink with them?

Spring = Babies, Babies, More babies, and Goat Festivals at the Ferry Plaza.

I've been feeling like something was missing from my life lately and I couldn't figure out what. Down time, sure, but there's never enough of that. Friends? Couldn't be, I have plenty of wonderful friends that I adore. A partner? Sure, but, dating is, well, dating, and well, enough said. After going through the list of commonly listed "missing things" and re-watching Pretty in Pink (they discuss what could happen if you miss your prom, and I was doing research on missing things), I figured it out.

It has been two years since I've been to a farm during spring time. This means that it's been two years since I snuggled with a baby goat or sheep.

Cow's are on a year-long breeding schedule, but normally goats and sheep give birth in spring time.

Know what that means?

BABY ANIMALS.

I don't want to knock any human babies out there, but I think that baby goats could be even cuter than baby people. I've seen pictures of myself as a child, and I agree.

So I wanted to send a little love today to all the baby animals out there. You are too damn cute. I love you.

If you happen to be around a farm that's having an open house, go. You won't regret it. Baby goats wag their tails. They also eat your belt ends but that's beside the point. And San Franciscan's - there is a goat festival this Saturday from 10am to 1pm at the Ferry Plaza. There will be baby goats to play with and pet. Please go if you can stand to die from cuteness.

And oh my gosh, Prodigal Farm in North Carolina needs volunteers to help feed the babies.

Hope you enjoy the pics of the babes! Most of them came from the farm themselves.

Have you played with a baby sheep or goat this year?

Loving Chicago- Chicago ♥’s Cheese Part II

In a world filled with a lifetime of fascinating places to visit, every city has its particular charms. Chicago is no exception. Though having diners whose menus can simultaneously boast foie gras with strawberry jam, bone barrow, french fries topped with mornay sauce and a fried egg, and Firestone Walker on tap would be enough for me (yup, one menu), there's much more to Chicago than rich and delicious food. Not that that wouldn't be enough.

Its beer and wine scene that rivals San Francisco's or New York's isn't bad either. That Lake Michigan and the Chicago River that frame the city's varied, beautiful turn of the century, art deco, and post modernist architecture? Also pretty. And despite its below-freezing winters, it's one of the most welcoming, warm cities around. I'm pretty sure strangers even stop to say hello to each other in the underground tunnels during a blizzard.

After just returning from book promo in Chicago for the first time, I can say that ... I loved it. I drank and ate here and there (and then there and there), saw some sites, and met some amazing people.

One of the biggest things I did while in town? I was on Good Day Chicago! My first television appearance ever. Live- did I mention that?

I flew in late Monday night, went to bed at 1am, woke up at 5am, and drank five cups of coffee before the end of the show. I was... a little nervous. And tired. The videographers and reporter quickly put me on ease though, assured me that my outfit was TV-ready (just take a quick look online to learn about all the things that apparently make you look horrible on HD- these things were all I seemed to have in my closet before leaving Oakland), and we proceeded to taste Wisconsin cheese, make a recipe from my book, and sip wine and beer inbetween downing five mugs of coffee.

Here's a link that shows my three segments (there are additional clips beneath the main video that shows all segs). I had so much fun (and subsequent naps)!

I was also on Down and Dirty Radio with Frank Fontana and his cute sidekick Alex. Frank Fontana's About Me page describes him as “The Straight Guy-With A Queer Eye” and host of HGTV’s top-rated DIY design show, Design on a Dime." He called the portion that I was on The Man Zone. We ate Dunbarton Blue and Limburger, drank wine (Alex downed three glasses), and they put me on the spot with questions that no dairy person should have to answer. I loved it. Here's the link- I start around the 30 min mark, if you perchance don't want to listen to the whole hour.

I felt very lucky to have both of these opportunities and meet so many fantastic people. Chicago welcomed me with style and I am thankful with all my heart.

Some places I visited that I loved:

City Winery: Chicago's wine program is run by Rachel - a woman who's as skilled in wine directing as she is an excellent educator. Filmed Good Day Chicago here at 7am, returned at 7pm to teach a wine and cheese pairing class with Rachel Driver Speckan. They also have top-notch musicians play here. Not a bad place to hang out.

Chopping Bloc - Daily classes and lovely instructors. The co-chef that helped with the class I taught was Carolyn Engleman. I'd highly recommend her classes. She knew her stuff, had wonderful energy, and was a natural teacher.

Provenance Food and Wine - A great selection in a tiny space. They back a lot of punch in this Lincoln Square spot.

Pastoral - I run into these people everywhere! After hearing about them for years, I was already excited to stop by, and after I was told to visit their shop by many of my friends, to say hi to many of their friends, visiting their French Market space was even more of a necessity. A wonderful selection, and some fun German cheeses that rarely make it to the U.S., too.

Jazz Mart - I met the owner, loved her, and got invited to her Friday movie night. Enough said. Their selection rival's any jazz-focused record shop in the country.

Au Cheval- See third sentence, first paragraph.

Girl and the Goat - I've never been really inspired to visit a restaurant of someone who's won a cooking show. This was another story. Delicious goat preparations, vegetables, fried chick pea fritters, and man, can they make a negroni.

Terzo Piano, The Modern Museum - A gorgeous cheese list, and a chef unafraid to take risks with it. See above photo.

And.... the Drake. Oh, Old Chicago, your'e so pretty.

Chicago ♥'s Cheese- My First Visit.

Next week I'm going to ...... (insert excited drumroll here)... Chicago!

I'm super excited for my first trip. Besides whispers of occasionally slightly less-than-hospitable weather from my California state-mates who have returned from a trip, I've heard nothing but amazing things about visiting this city.

The food, the culture, the architecture, and, the drinks. Or maybe I'm imagining the drinks- I'm thinking it's a bourbon city- one that serves the whiskey poured over big ice cubes in highball glasses.

Back to the trip. Because my trip is book-related, this means that I'm lucky enough to be visiting amazingly delicious centers of eating and drink. I'm honored to be invited to teach, cook, sign books, and talk about domestic cheese at the following places.

On Tuesday, April 2nd, 7pm, you'll find me at The City Winery for: "It's Not You, It's Brie" by Kirstin Jackson: Book signing, cheese and wine pairing," where I'll be pairing five wines with five Wisconsin cheeses from my book (keeping the dairy regional) and discussing the pairings with the house sommelier.

Wednesday, April 3rd, I've got two things going on -lucky girl. First, I'll be stopping by Provenance Food & Wine in Lincoln Square, from 4-5:30 p.m to have a pre-cooking sip of wine and sign books.

An hour and a half later, you'll find me around the block at The Chopping Block Cooking School, 7-9:30pm. Here I'll be cooking two recipes from my book- Marieke Gouda toffee and Caramelized Onion-Mustard Seed Marmalade- and two more original cheese recipes for the class. It'll be like a dinner party, post happy hour (my favorite kind of dinner party), but you wont have to do anything.

Thursday,  April 4, 6-10pm, I'm heading to Fete Chicago. This is a pop-up market celebrating Chicago's food and design featuring over 40 regional artisans. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to taste all under one roof what the city's up to- have a feeling I've a lot to taste through. It's gotten some fabulous press and I'll be there sampling cheese from Wisconsin.

If you're in town, please stop by! I'd love to meet you.

And, because this is my first time, things I want to do when not eating cheese & booking it up:

1. Eat deep dish. I am aware that there is also cheese in this. I like this idea.

2. Mortadella Smear- Purple Pig.

3. Check out the amazing turn of the century architecture.

4. Go to Pastoral!

5. Check out some of these cocktails.

6. Eat Mexican food- I hear Chicago cooks some of the best Mexican cuisine north of the border, outside of California. Happy to test.

7. Wear enough layers. I hear it's not 68 degrees everywhere.

8. Walk (around, a bit around) Lake Michigan.

Should I add anything?

California Artisan Cheese Fest & Penny Royal Boont Corners

Okay I know not all of you live in California. Knowing that you may not be experiencing the crazy spring weather we are (I swear it normally rains more than 50% of the time from now until April), and that not all of you will be able to head on over to Petaluma two weekends from now for the California Artisan Cheese Fest. I'm going to tell you about one of my favorite new cheese producers that will be at the festival. Not to say na na na na na nah, though. I'm telling you so even if you can't make it to Northern California's dairy country March 22nd-24th to taste all the deliciousness, you'll be able to take a little piece of the party home from Penny Royal's website. Think of it as a distant goodie bag.

Then, I'll tell you about an event I'm co-teaching at the festival in case you are in the area. 

First, I'll like you meet one of my favorite new California producers, Penny Royal. That beauty in the photo up there is their Boont Corners. It's a semi-firm cheese made with the raw milk from goats that run around on Navarro Winery's property. Lucky, lucky goats. It's still in small production, so If you can't find it near you, order some on up. The cheese is made from the milk of the goats who help make the wine. How do they help make the wine? By nibbling on the weeds in the vineyards and by providing fertilizer for the grapes. Considering they also provide milk for this amazing cheese, I'd say these guys earn their keep.

The cheese paste is off-white, and the rind has a light paper coating that keeps the center smooth and soft. Biting into Boont Corners reveals flavors of sweet fresh milk, a light lactic-acid/creme-fraiche like tang, fresh grass, and a hint of caramel. That's the 2-month in the photo, anyhow. Add some more herbal flavors to the 4-month, and a lot more pepper to the 6-month, and you've got the flavor profiles just about covered.

Sarah Cahn Bennett is the owner and works a fair amount in the winery too, and Erika Scharfen is the cheesemaker and herd co-owner of this tiny farm in Boonville, Anderson Valley. They make soft, semi-firm, and uber aged cheeses, and all that I've tried have been excellent. So far this season only their aged ones are ready to go, but they should have some softies ready for sampling soon.

All right. If you do happen to be in the area, I and two friends will be teaching at the California Artisan Cheese Festival Saturday, March 23rd. Normally I talk about enjoying cheese in its raw form. But on Saturday, we'll be talking about how to cook it. The session is from 1:30 to 3:30, and I'd love to see you there!

" On-line to On-plate: Bloggers Cook with Cheese Presenters: Kirstin Jackson, author of It’s Not You, It’s Brie: Unwrapping America’s Unique Culture of Cheese, and Stephanie Stiavetti and Garret McCord, co-authors of Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese

In an approachable, hands-on tasting session, these three cheese writers, cookbook authors, and bloggers will break down the basics of cooking with cheese so you’ll leave not only with titillated tastebuds, but equipped to take your own favorite artisan cheese to the next level in your home kitchen. They’ll divulge what they learned as trained cooks and recipe developers about cooking with this sometimes fussy product, and talk about how to consider and identify cheese’s flavors and textures to pair them with foods that make them shine. You’ll be guided through tasting three cheeses in their fresh form with pairings, and two of them in cooked dishes that utilize the session’s teachings."

And apologies for not keeping up with posting as often as I'd like, dear readers. These past two weeks had me hosting events, teaching classes meeting project deadlines, and driving from Oakland to Sonoma and Napa alone four times! Not complaining- oh my oh my, how beautiful the wine country's mustard is this time of year! Just know I've been writing less only because I've been so busy, and well, a girls gotta fund her ad-free blog writing somehow. I'm thinking of you, dear readers, the cheese, and will be announcing more events here soon (I'll be in Chicago for the first time the first week of April!).