the stars must align- part 2

If you were to read back in the September posts of 2010 you would find my "the stars must align" post. Well today I am happy to report that a few more are falling into place.
-Boötes: Business Plan & correct licenses-
Boötes has just aligned as we are in the planning phases and getting bids for the garage/make room. We are getting everything in order to present to the banks. Scheduled for this week is the appraiser and we will see how that goes. This is make-it or break-it time.

Not only has Boötes lined up but so has...
-Mensa: Milk supply ready by spring-
After the Intermountain Dairy Sheep meeting Dale is very pumped and ready to get him operation going by mid April. He has already had others offer to buy his milk but he let them know that we are taking it all. We have also found a hormone free grass fed cow's milk dairy that is also in Mt. Pleasant. They are willing to sell us all their milk when we are ready. We made "what's her name" with it as well as our bleu and so far it is fantastic. The milk is very rich in beta carotene due to the fact that they are grass fed. Something we haven't seen in other local cheese- makers products.

bleu cheese- 68 days old

It has been a few weeks since I have updated our bleu cheese. He is doing well but I wasn't super happy with the looks of him so after watching how they prepare Stilton I decided to do some minor surgery on him... just to make him look a little prettier. Here he is before and what you can see is that the chunks are very firm around the edges so I shaved them down just a bit to soften the edges.

I then took my supplies and began salting him down with a little water and using the cheese brush to scrub and smooth out the edges even more.

Now that he is all scrubbed and salted Joel suggested I poke holes in the top & bottom to make sure there is proper air flow to the center. If you see bleu cheese with long veins running down it is due to this process and allows air to penetrate the middle. Anywhere there is air present bleu mold will grow.

He is now aging again in the basement and keeping the humidity level up is the biggest challenge since Utah is so dry but I tend to him every day. He will be ready for eating by the end of February. And yes, I did sample a small shaving and what I found so far is it is quite firm in texture but possibly more moist on the inside. The flavor is there and it does taste like bleu cheese but what was the most impressive was the numbing of my mouth the second it melted. I know a good bleu cheese makes your mouth numb but this was right at the onset so not sure how that will turn out... interesting stuff! Let me know if you'd like a sample.

2nd annual Intermountain Dairy Sheep Producers Association

Welcome to our 2nd annual meeting for dairy sheep producers! Last year there were 15 people who showed up from Utah, Idaho & Wyoming. This year we had about 27 so hopefully each year it will grow.
Dale Peel set up the meeting this year and it was held in Logan, Utah. Utah State University is located here and this is where Joel took his cheese course. The location was perfect and we are hoping to have it there more often. We all arrived on the Wednesday evening before the actual meeting and we were lucky enough to take a tour of the schools cheese-making facility. This is where Joel took the cheese course (highly recommended). These are the stainless steel canisters used to hold milk throughout the process. This is their fancy cheese pressing machine. We aren't quite to this point yet but maybe someday.
The following morning we had a breakfast and meet and greet. This is where we got to just talk with friends of the industry. I made 6 quiches for the breakfast and we got to have lamb sausage. It was a great meal. We then adjourned to the classroom and heard from several different specialists in the field of sheep, genetics & land pasture maintenance. So much valuable information. We broke for lunch where we had fresh lamb sandwiches and I made Roquefort blue cheese mac n cheese. We also had those who could bring in samples of their cheeses. It was so much fun trying all the different types of cheeses. Joel brought Whats Her Name and it was a hit and one of the cheese-makers who analyzes cheese and invents new cheeses wanted to take a sample of Whats Her Name. Not sure what he wants to do with it but they were all impressed with the color we are able to get even with a cows milk, very golden. In the end we really loved Logan. It is a quaint little city with a highly regarded college up in the mountains. Oh and we did get snowed in so we had to go right back to the hotel after a futile attempt of trying to leave and a trip home that normally takes 3 hours took alomst 6 and saw 25 accidents along the way. What a fun trip! Logan, Utah Temple

making what's her name

On September 8, 2010 I made my first batch of "what's her name" with raw milk, all by myself. It was a bit intimidating to do since I had to follow Joel's note keeping ex:
My dad brought me milk from a raw milk farm and, yes, you walk into the cooler take your milk and leave $4.50/ gallon in the box.... gotta love small towns. I followed the recipe pretty well and everything went smoothly. It was fun having Joel's aunt there to help, too. While I am tending Bleu boy he is tending "what's her name" in California. He let her age a few weeks and get covered in mold-













He then gives her a salt water cleaning & vinegar bath-













He rotates her every day and will rotate the salt & vinegar rubs-

These salt & vinegar rubs enhance the cheese flavor while keeping the mold to a minimum. It also helps develop a good rind, which will hopefully keep the cheese moisture in. We will be eating her around Christmas time which will make her almost 5 months old, which is the longest aging we have done thus far. We will also be taking her to our 2nd annual Rocky Mountain Dairy Sheep meeting. It will be held in Logan this year and I get to help with the catering. Very fun!

bleu cheese- 12 days old

Well our bleu baby is very interesting. We don't quite know how he's going to turn out. We didn't follow the recipe exactly... we added less of the Penicillium Roqueforti and added the Roquefort cheese itself. So it isn't really looking like the pictures from the recipe. I guess this is what we call "live and learn". We will do a few things differently next time such as cut smaller cubes or even mash the curd up by hand just to make sure the gaps aren't too big. The most important part of cheese making is of course, taste which we can't determine for another...50-90 days. But once you open that lid the smell hits you and makes you want to take a bite of it, it is amazing.

bleu cheese- 9 days old

The bleu is well on its way. How pretty! I will be piercing thin holes into it tomorrow which will stimulate the growth of the bleu mold. Anywhere there is access to air the bleu will grow.
This is an aging cave in France where they age the Roquefort Bleu Cheese and wow... so we have our work cut out for us.
This image comes from Hotel Cap Vert Saint Affrique, Roquefort France. If you are ever in the area please stop by and see the caves. One day Joel & I will go... I am sure of it.

Les grands classiques
Entre le mythique Viaduc de Millau qui s'élance vers le ciel et les légendaires Caves de Roquefort et leurs mystérieuses fleurines, classées site remarquable du goût, l'Aveyron oscille entre modernité et tradition.

I took one year of french in High school and 2 semesters of it in college so I will translate this for you.

The Grand Classics,
Enter the mystic viaduct of Millau ..um..something-something.... the legendary caves of Roquefort .. lets see here... um... mysteries ...what? uh.... classes a remarkable ...something or other.... something else... ok so basically that's it.

bleu cheese- 5 days old

Into day 5 and it is looking good so far but since it is our first bleu we really have no idea if its really looking good or if we are fooling ourselves, either way we are having fun trying. I removed the block from the mould and set it in the pot to age for the next 60-90 days. Now the temperature in our basement is perfect- it stays a nice 55-60 degrees and the humidity is around 85-90%.

I set in limestone rocks just to see if anything happens. I am sure it needs to have more limestone surrounding it but this is all I could fit in the pot. I still have to flip it every day so hopefully we will see some mold start to grow in the next few weeks.