Holiday Cheddar

[Duntov]

I made this cheddar back in January for the upcoming December holiday celebrations.  A basic cheddar with dried cranberries and jalapenos.  It is nice but the flavors of the cranberry and jalapeno get somewhat lost in the sharpness of the cheddar.  The heat level was nice and mild.  I am coming to the conclusion that adding certain flavors are better suited to milder cheeses such as Gouda and Butterkase.

[Al Lewis]

I aged a Butterkase out about 6 months and the flavor is nearly as sharp as cheddar.  Tastes great but strong.  Anyway AC4 your excellent holiday cheddar!

[H-K-J]

Duntov, AC4U, this looks amazing.
(Got to make a cheddar soon)

[Dorchestercheese]

Jalapeño was dried how? Have lots may try this.

[Boofer]

Boy, that sure looks festive. Celebrate Festivus!

Very artistic spread, John. Have a cheese.

-Boofer-

[timsumrall]

Very nice! Is that a piece of slate?

[Duntov]

Very nice! Is that a piece of slate?

Actually it is a slate lazy susan.  I love it.

[Duntov]

Jalapeño was dried how? Have lots may try this.

I used pickled jalapenos.  I rinsed them and patted dry.  Spread out on a cookie sheet and put in the oven on super warm temp until they dry out a little but not dried out.  I do this because without drying, they would expel too much moisture in the cheese.

[Duntov]

I aged a Butterkase out about 6 months and the flavor is nearly as sharp as cheddar.  Tastes great but strong.  Anyway AC4 your excellent holiday cheddar!

I think that our brains are so conditioned to production cheeses that it confuses us when we taste natural cheeses sometimes.  I recently opened up a one year aged Gouda and it tasted like a sharp cheddar but with a store bought texture.  All the artisan aged cheddars I have tried never had texture anything like a store bought cheese.

[awakephd]

Sure is a pretty cheese!