Avalanche Cheese Company: Lamborn Bloomer

 

     The Avalanche Cheese Company has become something of a summer time darling around The Board and Wire.  Made locally to me in Basalt, Colorado, cheese can't get any fresher than this.  Well, unless it's aged on purpose, you get the idea.  My current obsession now that June is fully upon us is the Avalanche Lamborn Bloomer.  

    

    Those lady goats grazing on the Western Slope in Paonia are getting the best of the spring grasses and flora.  As a result the milk produced is rich in flavor and nutrients.  Making it ideal for creating bloomy rinded, milky, fresh cheese.  Hence, the Lamborn Bloomer.  

    Based on the Robiola style cheese of Italy it oozes out of its light, snappy rind.  Lactic and creamy at first bite it blossoms into floral and fresh-mowed grass.  Finishing gently with subtle flavors of citrus and yogurt.  Best served with seasonal fruit (right now, strawberries, get 'em while they're good) and slices of soft french bread (not crackers. do yourself a favor on this one.). 

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Bloody Mary Week: Carrot + Peach Bloody Maria w/Gorgonzola Dolce Stuffed Peppadews

    As the grande finale of Bloody Mary week I present, to you, the Carrot + Peach Bloody Maria.  Because apparently using tequila instead of vodka makes its name all Latin-ized.  I wonder what the translation of "Mary" is in Russian?  
    Anyways, this sweet gem of a drink still packs the savoriness and heat of the original Bloody Mary.  An added splash of lemon juice keeps the peach from descending into cloying.  All around this is the cocktail to have in hand when it's 90F at 9am on a weekday.  
    Topping it off (since you all know, by this point, how I feel about garnish) is a wee South African beauty known as the Golden Peppadew.  Sweet, spicy, and a bit pickled it goes quite nicely with a cool filling of butter-soft Gorgonzola Dolce.  This simple but punchy topping is pretty straight forward in construction so let's jump straight to the beverage.

Carrot + Peach Bloody Maria

Carrot Juice

Peach Nectar

(just a really thick, pulpy juice)

Tomato Juice

Lemon Juice 

Prepared Horseradish

Tabasco Sauce

Tequila 

(optional)

Serves 1

• Measure out 2/3 cup Carrot Juice to 1/3 cup Peach Nectar
• Add a splash of Tomato Juice and a splash of Lemon Juice (I also liked an extra splash of peach nectar in mine since I Love peach)
• Stir in a 1/2 tsp. Prepared Horseradish and 1/2 tsp. of Tabasco sauce.  Use more or less to taste.
• Add 1 shot of Tequila (or 2 if you really don't feel like going to work that day). 

Enjoy!

(responsibly) 

 

  

     

Bloody Mary Week: Classic B.M. w/Capricho de Cabra + Manchego Stuffed Olives

     As the cocktail train keeps rolling I realize that I should have labeled this "Garnish Week"  being that it's what I'm most excited about in these Bloody Mary's.  I am pretty stoked about today's offering.  
    What we have here is an olive stuffed with a mixture of Capricho de Cabra and One Year Aged Manchego.  That's right, I'm mixing milks here.  Goat Cheese + Sheep's Milk Cheese = Love (Forever).  I told you it would get crazy in here this week.  
    The Capricho is bright and balanced, with a touch of that familiar lemon zest of fresh goat cheese.  Meanwhile the Aged Manchego adds depth and fatty-earthy aroma.  Together they make my favorite stuffed olive yet.

 Olives w/Capricho de Cabra and 1 Year Aged Manchego

Pitted Olives

(Green works best with this variation)

Capricho de Cabra, plain

1 Year Aged Manchego

• Bring Capricho and Manchego to room temperature.  About 20 minutes out of the fridge.
• Drain and pat dry olives.
• Shred Manchego using a hand held cheese grater
• Mix 1 part Capricho with 2 parts shredded manchego
• To stuff the olive roll a pinch of the cheese mixture in the palm of your hand and gently poke it into the  olive. 
• To get the pretty "snowball" effect from the photos dip the large end of the stuffed olive into any remaining Manchego shreds.  This is also good for extra Manchego flavor.  

Enjoy!

      (Responsibly)     

    

Visit TBAW here for the Classic Bloody Mary recipe! 

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Bloody Mary Week: Classic B.M. w/Fire Roasted Tomato Olives + Bresaola

    Today's Bloody Mary garnish has no cheese in it.  I know.  That's pretty weird.  But bear with me, here.  For Charcuterie makes a strong appearance.  Particularly Bresaola Piccola from Creminelli Fine Meats.  
    I'm not much into eating beef, however this air-dried eye of round is amongst my favorite pieces of charcuterie.  The salt and pepper profile of the beef blends well with the spicy-tomato of the Classic Bloody Mary.  Meanwhile the olives provide their astringent vegetal flavors paired with a fire-roasted tomato filling.  All together this topping lends a smokey, vaguely peat-y, roasted note to the cocktail as a whole.  

Fire Roasted Tomato Stuffed Olives w/Bresaola

Green Olives, pitted

Fire Roasted Tomatoes,  in oil

Bresaola, sliced paper thin

• Drain and pat dry olives
• Drain tomatoes(Set aside the oil. It makes an awesome drizzle for arugula salad or chicken breast.) cut width wise into thin strips.
• Stuffing these olives is fairly easy.  I found that folding up the tomato piece and just poking it into the olive worked fine.  
• String your stuffed olive and Bresaola slices onto a skewer in an ascetically pleasing way.
• I also suggest taking a little nibble of garnish before sipping the cocktail.  Though, I'm sure that goes with out saying.

Enjoy!

    (Responsibly)     

For the Classic Bloody Mary recipe see The Board and Wire post here!

(Oh and one more thing.  That little bit of something dangling off the skewer is called a flower pepper.  It's a real scorcher!)

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Bloody Mary Week: A Classic B.M. with Gorgonzola + Almond Stuffed Olives

    At long last the Great Bloody Mary Week has arrived!  Inspired by warmer weather and a love of mid-morning I couldn't resist featuring this brunch-time classic.  Not only is the Bloody Mary a favorite cocktail of mine it's an awesome vechicle for exotic garnish.  More so than your average plain martini.  Which, for myself, ends up being a glass of olives moistened with spirits.  Seriously.  
    As I'm sure you can predict I was motivated to discover what fancy extra bits I could adorn my Bloody Mary with when I planned out this week long feature.  So brace yourself, it's about to get crazy up in here.
    I'll start with the garnish (duh).  This was a bit more on the "Classic with a twist" side of things.  The picant finish and wet-crumble of the Gorgonzola adds interest to the drink.  While the almonds help sooth some of the heat.  This is really a texturally exciting and delicious bit of decoration.

Gorgonzola + Almond Stuffed Olives

Pitted olives of choice, drained and patted dry 

(I chose plain green)

Gorgonzola, room temperature 

(I chose an aged version for more bite)

Almonds, sliced and blanched

• Crush one part almond into two parts Gorgonzola.  

• Mash together with a fork until well combined.

• To stuff the olives I've heard of bartenders using wide, plastic mouthed syringes (like those used to give animals liquid medicine. Weird, I know) to pipe in the filling.

• However I just gracelessly used my well cleaned hands to poke the cheese and almond mixture in.  

• Slide your freshly stuffed olives onto a skewer with other garnish of your choice.

• Place on top of your Bloody Mary and...well...you know what to do next.  

Enjoy!

(responsibly.)  

The Bloody Mary recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart's.  To make the Board and Wire version combine the following.

TBAW Bloody Mary

8oz. Tomato Juice 

1/2 t Tabasco

1/2 t Prepared Horseradish

1/2 t Worcestershire Sauce

1 T Lime Juice 

(or juice from 1 crushed lime)

1 shot of Vodka

• Put all ingredients together in a 16oz tumbler.

• Stir well to combine.  

• You may want to leave the spoon in since the horseradish tends to sink to the bottom of the glass after a time.
• I also recommend salting the rim of your glass with course salt.  I am occasionally the junkie for savory things.

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Capricho de Cabra with Colorado Honey + Lavender Blooms

    A fresh half-puck of Capricho de Cabra lightly sprinkled with french lavender blossoms and local honey.  This is what springtime breakfasts are made of.  There's just something about the clean, lemony tang of goat cheese that lends its self so well to sultry lavender and vaguely astringent clover honey.

    Thanks to my dear friend Lyn, back East, I have harbored an obsession for lavender flavored anything.  This dense, cakey Capricho being no exception.

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{Super Secret} Sneak Peek #7

Wish you were here!

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Sneak Peek #6

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Sneak Peek #5

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This Cheese Doesn't Suck: Avalanche Chevre

It's springtime on the Front Range.  The woodpeckers are making a ruckus, the rivers are just starting to swell with snow melt, but most importantly the goats that are herded out here are in the middle of kidding season.  What does that mean exactly? It means the goat milk is flowing!  Finally the first batch this year of fresh chevre from Avalanche* is now available!!! This cheese is worthy of those 3 exclamation points.

It's those little logs. c/o Avalanche

 It is hands down the best chevre I have ever had the pleasure to consume.  Some chevs end up with a dense clay like texture (which is not a bad thing, however).  This little log of goat cheese goodness is actually fluffy all through, with springy moisture and melts as soon as it hovers over the tongue.  Amazing, right?  It has the classic citrus note of a chevre but on a much subtler scale.  It's creamy paste brings up notes of lightly sweet fruit preserves, cut green grass, and hint of winter alfalfa.  In Englishy speak: It's damn fine cheese. Go eat some. Right. Now.


*Avalanche lets their does have some maternity time before & after they kid.  Hence we don't get any fresh chevre from them during the winter months.  Those long, long months where we all craves the milky delicioussss...*drool*....  But I digress.  They love their animals and even elect a "Goat of the Month" rather than an "Employee of the Month".  Three cheers for excellent animal husbandry resulting in oh-so-happy animals!

Arroyo: March's Goat of the Month. c/o Avalanche