It could be argued that February’s Cheese, Please! Challenge was cheesy in more ways than one. But with Valentine’s Day smack in the middle of the month like a big, glowing red beacon plus Godminster giving me some lovely heart-shaped cheese to give away, it had to be a romantic theme. Normal cynicism will be resumed in March. But without further ado, onto the round-up and the announcement of the lucky winner…
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February’s Cheese, Please! Challenge Round-Up – Cheesy Romance
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Home-Made Stilton
It’s been a while since I bid a fond farewell to my home-made Cheddar, known as Tooting Gold or E-Colin for short. Anyone who has read this sorry tale before will recall that Colin, despite maturing apparently happily down in my cellar for six months was judged (quite literally, by a judge) to be distinctly below par. It was a disappointing result but hardly surprising, given my complete lack of knowledge about cheese-making when I set out to create him. Dr Frankenstein had nothing on me as I cobbled together moulds, picked off hairs and chased away mites to create my cheese monster. Poor Colin.
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Cotherstone
Selecting which cheese to try next is always a fairly random occasion. Sometimes I like the name (Baron BIGOD!), sometimes I like the history (Single Gloucester PDO), sometimes I feel guilty about not eating cheese from a particular area (Teifi) and sometimes, if I am feeling particularly organised, I try and tie it in to an occasion (Caboc). But, feeling devoid of inspiration a few weeks ago, I put out a plaintive call on Twitter for cheese suggestions. One was from someone who works at Neal’s Yard Dairy who suggested Cotherstone because ‘It’s a great cheese, often overlooked and pretty rare…May not be around for ever either. Go grab some!’ I then heard it described as ‘the closest that British cheese-making has to a living fossil’. All in all, it sounded like a cheese to hunt down.
Here it is, the shy, retiring, winsome beauty that is Cotherstone:
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Five-hour Kleftiko with Feta Cheese
I’m afraid this recipe doesn’t feature British cheese and that this time I didn’t make the feta myself (although after last year’s home-made feta slime-fest I think my family are probably quite glad). I was going to write a very exciting cheese post but under-estimated how long that particular ‘recipe’ would take to reach its conclusion, so instead I bring you what I had for Sunday lunch: Kleftiko, slow-cooked for five hours with feta cheese.
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Rachel
It’s fair to say that cheese isn’t the first foodstuff that springs to mind when you think about romance. But actually there’s a historical precedent for cheese romance as the milkmaids of yore with their creamy (smallpox-free) complexions, impeccable personal hygiene and impressive biceps were the most sought-after of country companions. These days cheese has somewhat lost its allure d’amour but nevertheless, on this pinkest and fluffiest of days, I was determined to bring you a cheesy cheese story.
And here she is, ivory-white and lovely – Rachel:
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Chocolate and Cheese Truffles with Stilton and Goat’s Cheese
I love cheese. And I love chocolate. But, just like a husband and a gigolo, some loves should be kept apart – or at least that’s what I used to believe. A few months ago, I started coming across the odd choc-cheese combo and not just the usual cheesecake suspects; people were combining goat’s cheese with chocolate and even having a go with soft brie-type cheeses. Bringing my two loves together had to be worth a shot and I thought I’d throw blue cheese into the mix, although the internet was fairly quiet on this one.
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Single Gloucester PDO
Some cheeses come with such a history and pedigree that I’m almost afraid to try them in case they taste like dust or tom cat’s spray. And so it was with this week’s cheese which manages to combine coming back from the dead with gaining the coveted PDO status and being cheese-sibling of ‘Britain’s smelliest cheese.’ It also has the distinction of being the nicest-smelling cheese I’ve yet to come across. If this cheese were a person, I’d be handing them a big red book and so, in the style of Michael Aspel (or Eamonn Andrews if you’ve got a couple of years on me): ‘Single Gloucester, This Is Your Life’…
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Lanark Blue, Celeriac and Walnut Soda Bread
It’s rare that there’s such a thing as ‘left-over’ cheese in our house; it usually denotes that the cheese was a bit ropey in some way, or sometimes it happens with a particularly potent washed rind that no-one else will eat but me and I fail to conquer in time. In the case of this Lanark Blue, I just happened to have bought a whopper of a chunk and I thought that, rather than just scoff it all down in handfuls (which I was doing quite a good job of), I’d see if I could cook something with it to complement its striking flavour.
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February’s Cheese, Please! Recipe Blog Challenge – Cheesy Romance
Image courtesy of Godminster
I do love the Cheese, Please! Challenge. The first month was perhaps a tad underwhelming, with only myself and one other person submitting recipes (and I seem to remember allowing them to cheat). Since then, more than fifty bloggers have submitted their lovely recipes in reward for nothing more than sharing them with others and the occasional tweet from me. But this month, I’m excited to announce that there’s a prize, woo-hoo!
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Lanark Blue
After I broke my Scottish cheese duck last week with Caboc, I’m on a roll as this week’s cheese also hails from north of the border (or The Borders, to be precise). But this week’s cheese could not be more different from last week’s. If Caboc is mild and inoffensive, the Balamory of Scottish cheese, Lanark Blue is – Scottish cliché alert – the Braveheart of cheeses. It’s fierce, blue and has certainly faced battle in its time.
So, here is Lanark Blue, seeking freedom from its foil:
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Fromage Homage 