Goat's Milk Cheddar/ La Buchette (Canada)

Two Canadian cheeses that have drown my attention. 
 I haven't notice any characteristic flavor of Goat's milk cheddar and I see no reason to eat it anymore. There are much better cheddar and more delicious goat cheeses to choose.
 I  used to buy it when I needed some cheese to use it in a casserole, because it grates and melts easily. I also liked it pale color.  Now I prefer chèvre, which flavor is more detectable.
Tuna Savoury with Goat's Milk Cheddar recipe.


 La Buchette not only has appealing look (after removing these ugly yellow sticks) but also fantastic flavor.

The cheese is a copy of  Bucheron - French goat milk's cheese derived from Loire Valley.  It is like a camembert cheese with delicate rind and chèvre in the center. Perfect pair - isn't it?

I WANT IT ALL! I WANT IT NOW!

Goat's milk cheese -chèvre

In my humble opinion, goat cheese made in USA is as good as  French original. I have a problem with American cheeses. I believe there are plenty great domestic cheeses, but are not available. It's much easier to buy famous European cheese than domestic high quality product.

 Chèvre flavor is not sophisticated, which makes it a perfect pair with other food. Rarely I eat chèvre with bread, but I use it very often to improve the taste of meats, salads, casseroles or desserts.

Recipe: Turkey Tenderloins with Wattle Seed Chevre.

Trader's Joe offers goat cheese logs flavored with fruit like cranberries or blueberries.



I have noticed  TJ's brand fresh goat cheeses with added honey or olives, but I have never bought them. I like neither honey nor olives.

Blueberry Vanilla Chevre

Chocolate Stout Cake with Blueberry Vanilla Chevre recipe (photo below):

My recipes with goat cheese.

Ile de France Bûchette, known for its mild, fresh curd, is made high in the Rhône Alps. I won this cheese in the Chef’s Weekly Basket Sweepstakes a year ago. Very tasty. They offer original and  flavored goat cheeses in two sizes: 10.5 oz and 4 oz. (Petite Bûche). 

La Bûchette with garlic and fresh herbs

I have also tried chèvre cheese medallions. The one with paprika powder didn't bring me to my knees.


 But pistachios and garlic chevre is my favorite combination.


I left the best chèvre cheese at the end. Montchevre’s fresh goat cheese Crottin is absolutely the most delicious fresh goat's cheese I have ever eaten. I wish I could try their other products (http://www.montchevre.com/). It is also  domestic made cheese, even if it looks like French product and the  founder and president of Montchevre has French roots (Arnaud Soland).

Montchevre Crottin Leeks recipe:

TINTERN -Welsh Cheddar with Chives and Shallots

Another creation of in Somerdale’s cheese makers and for me it was a love at a first sight / bite. It is a full-bodied cheese with perfectly assorted flavors: fresh chives and shallots from the gardens of Tintern Abbey. Smooth and creamy, taste even more delicious when melted. It seems like the shallots were fried and chives release all its aromas.

Red Dragon Cheddar with Wholegrain Mustard & Welsh Brown Ale (Somerdale)

Cheddar, wholegrain mustard seeds and Welsh brown ale constitute Y Fenni cheese. Red waxed bears
the name of the symbol taken from the Welsh flag. Another Y Fenni cheese have a yellow wax but similarly to Red Dragon it is labeled with a medieval artwork.



This Cheddar Cheese has more appealing name and look than flavor.
When I first tasted it, I was really disappointed that the cheese is not as hot as I would expected. There is plenty of mustard seeds in it, but they are soft and mild. Melting helps to release its tangy flavor.
The cheese is as the Cheddar should be: buttery and creamy.



I believe that the cheddar is worth giving it a try. I appreciate it original farmhouse character and attractive, deliberated design.





It also pairs very well with chicken or turkey breast.



Recipes
Omelet with Red Dragon Cheddar and Cubanelle Pepper
Veal stuffed with Red Dragon

Oak Smoked English Cheddar

I really hate artificially smoked cheese. But, thanks God, there are the people who can smoke traditionally. The cheese comes the Quicke's family in Devon in the United Kingdom.
Their 12-15-month mature well-flavored cheddar has been traditionally smoked for 3-4 hours over oak chips from the farm's woodland. No liquids are used to smoke and there are no artificial flavorings.  It gives the cheese a strong flavor of smoking and a slightly dry texture.

Thanks to this cheese I started discovering and enjoying cheddar cheese. I had a few unpleasant experiences with cheddar made in the USA and I hadn't expected that I would fall in love with the cheese.

Cheddar info

Chocolate English Cheddar

I don't care about chocolate at all. I can't live without it. But I'm a huge fan of English Cheddar, so without hesitation I bough a piece of this cheese. I was very happy to feel again well known flavor of the English Cheddar, not distracted by dark chocolate.  For sure I will buy more.

Havarti, Cream Havarti, Fløde Havarti

Havarti was created by Hanne Nielsen at her farm Havarthigaard, in Øverød, north of Copenhagen, in the mid-20th century. She traveled to many countries to learn cheese making. There is nothing extraordinary in Havarti : it is a washed curds cheese, aged for only 3 months . It has no rind, its surface is bright pale with very tiny and irregular "eyes".

 I believe original is better than mass produced Creamy Havarti (photos below).  Fløde Havarti  is made from high-pasteurized milk, which means that the whey remains  in the curd. The remaining of whey could change the smell and taste of the cheese if it was ripened too long.

Tasty enough when melted; cold is buttery, gooey, mild , pretty boring. It reminds me the time during communism in Poland when all  of the cheeses (about 3) looked and tasted  hopeless. Havarti is also flavored with dill (it looks funny, but I'm not going to try because I loathe dill ), caraway seeds, cranberry, garlic, basil, coconut, sour cream & chives, red pepper and jalapeño. I have all of them at home so I can try to combine some of them with the rest of the cheese to give it a kick.