Hey everybody!  I decided to bring a bunch of blue cheeses today, making for a very special, Fungal Cheese Tuesday.

First off, we’ll start with the one non-blue cheese that I brought in, Kerrygold’s Red Leicester.  I’ve tried other Red Leicesters and been a bit on the unimpressed side.  It is like a super mild cheddar, and I figured that if Kerrygold makes it, then it must be "best of breed".  Sure enough, Kerrygold’s is like a super mild cheddar, too.  So there you have it.  Kind of boring as far as cheeses go.

Next we have Castello’s Sage, a Blue Brie.  This cheese is so creamy that it hurts, with just a hint of earthy blueness.  It is a remarkable flavor combination that got a ton of compliments.

The other Castello cheese for the day, Castello’s Traditional Danish Blue is intensely strong.  It will punch you right in the taste buds and you will like it!  It is absolutely amazing, and my favorite by far.

Lastly I brought Clawson’s Blue Stilton.  The funk is strong with this cheese.  The aftertaste was a bit off putting for a lot of people, but I really love this cheese as well.  @Satipera should try this one on his porridge sometime!

Stay Cheesy!

Howdy, folks!  Another week with no pictures, so you’ll have to use your imagination.  I do it all the time!  Like the time I tore Saturn apart with just the power of my mind and then put it back together again so that no one would know.  Or when I started a successful stint as a skull farmer and cornered the market in shrunken heads.  On to the cheese…

This was more of a "Simple Cheese Tuesday" than a Stinky one.  We started off with Red Apple Cheese’s Kosher Extra Sharp Cheddar.  I must admit to bing a bit confuzzled about what the difference between kosher and non-kosher cheese could possibly be, but the good people at Kosher Quest were able to fill me in.  Basically, the rennet used must either be vegetable based or from a kosher animal ritually slaughtered under rabbinical supervision, and it has to be made under rabbinical supervision as well.  Apparently there is an ancient injunction about eating cheeses made by gentiles.  As far as this particular cheese is concerned, it is a fairly mild cheddar in flavor, but does have a bit of a bite at the end.  Definitely worth it, especially since I learned something interesting in the process!

Next is BelGioioso Asiago.  If you need a basic, nothing fancy, but still solidly good asiago, this is the one to get.  A great hard, salty cheese with just the right amount of saltiness to give it a wonderful aftertaste.  A good cheese, and today’s favorite by a large margin.

Lastly is Great Midwest Habanero Jack  This one has been here before, and just last month at that.  Shame on me!  Anyway, with as tasty as this cheese is, I hope that I can be forgiven for bringing it in after a mere six week hiatus.  Just a touch of heat unless you get a seed.  In which case, keep the milk handy!

Stay Cheesy!

Hello everybody!  No picture again this week, and fairly terse descriptions to boot, since this week has been a blur…and it’s only Tuesday.

First off, we have the ever popular Applewood Smoked Gruyère from Red Apple Cheeses  This is a favorite around here and is actually the reason that I started bringing in cheese every Tuesday.  The smokiness is not overpowering, and the taste of the cheese is divine.  Beautiful as always.

Next we have Kerrygold’s Dubliner, another standard that everyone enjoys here.  Like a slightly sweet, aged cheddar, Dubliner is a great cheese for snacking on, and I’m sure that it would absolutely liven up a burger or mac & cheese.  I need more data on that, however.  To the lab!

Lastly is BelGioioso’s Crumbly Gorgonzola.  This one was raved over by the folks that don’t really like blue cheeses.  It is incredibly creamy, but the pungent bite of a typical Gorgonzola was replaced by a mild "meh".  If it had not been called Goggonzola then I may have not been so disappointed by it.  It is a very nice tasting cheese, but Gorgonzola it is not.

Stay Cheesy!

@Cheese Forum+

Sorry for the lack of pictures again, but today was just plain stupid.  On the bright side, Pastor Barb brought in the cheese for the day and it was 2/3s wonderful!

We’ll start off with the blandest, weakest, least memorable cheese I’ve ever encountered, Bond-Ost.  This is a brined or pickled cheese that is aged for about 6 weeks, and it is about the blah-est thing ever.  It has a texture akin to Velveeta and a flavor that is like Velveeta turned down to a whisper.  Not my favorite.

The next two cheeses were phenomenal, however!

Old Amsterdam Aged Gouda is an exquisite aged cheese.  Salty, crunchy, and nutty, it is gouda at its finest made better with the addition of time.  A damn fine cheese, and one that got a lot of compliments.

My favorite of the day was Blaser’s Antonella Garden Vegetable and Sweet Basil.  I would have devoured the whole brick if there hadn’t been other people present.  The base cheese is a simple one in flavor and probably would not have stood out on its own.  The addition of the tomatoes, chives, and onions and the crusting with fresh basil just sends it into the realm of greatness.  The herbaceous flavors just meld so perfectly that it reminded me of a wonderful spaghetti sauce with parmesan cheese on top.  It was absolutely wonderful.

I’m going to have some pretty big news in the next few days, so keep an eye out for it.

Stay Cheesy!

@Cheese Forum+