Episode 29: Summertime Cheesin’

Well hell has frozen over, the fat lady’s a singing and the pigs are a flying.  The Cheesefreak is back and in action in DC!  Finally.

It’s only been since December – what??

I’ve had many demands for by the locals in this town (ok like 2 demands) to restart, so I thought that I’d start by posting some footage from Summer 2011(!) when I first moved to DC.  We were on a delightful roofdeck with Meghann and Mike (now married!) and our BFF Lauren visiting from NYC.  Twas a lovely evening, I think, it’s been over a year…

I bought these cheeses at a fancy cheese and wine store on 14^th street called Cork Market www.corkdc.com.  They’re pretty nice in there and have a smallish but excellent selection.

So we started with:

1. Delice de Bourgogne – Young cow cheese from Lincet Creamery in the Burgundy region of France.  Total fairy tale land – I mean really – who lives like this?

It has a bloomy rind and a fluffly texture.  It’s tangy, tart and made with creame fraiche….good with white or sparkling wine.

Like you I have no idea what creame fraiche is – so here’s a little learnin from good ol’ Wikipedia: is a soured cream containing about 28% butterfat and with a pH of around 4.5. It is soured with bacterial culture, but is less sour than American sour cream. It has a comparatively low viscosity and a higher fat content.

Mmmmmmmm butterfat.

We  liked it – fresh and nice.

Next we busted into a:

2. Lamb Chopper.  This cheese is made by Cypress Grove and is sheep’s milk. And it was totally a snore…..

Next!

3. Clothbound Cheddar by Cabot Creamery…You all know Cabot – they’re freakin huge and like rule Vermont cheese.  This baby is one of their special cheeses as it is a cheddar that is aged 10-12 months and stored at the famous and impossible to find (I know, I’ve tried unsuccessfully) Jasper Hill Farm caves. Its supposed to taste like toasted nuts, toffee, and fruits and goes great with beer.

We thought it was good a good picnic and melted cheesebread cheese.  Nothing to write home about. Better than the average Cabot you get in the store though.  Man I feel bad knocking any VT creamery right now with the total disaster that state is in.  Forgive me oh gods and goddesses of cheese.

And finally….

4. Bleu de Gex

This come from France, like…

From the Jura region – kinda in the far eastern part in the middle.

It’s supposed to taste like mushrooms, tarragon and violets…and well we thought it smelled like nuclear fallout and had a nasty ammonia aftertaste.  Blech.

So….We’re back!  We’ll be filming and doing more shows soon.  If you’re in DC and want to be on the show just let me know!

P.S. I have to say I love that Meghann busts out my favorite Madeline Khan moment ever in this video…If you don’t know it – here ya go…