Irish CurdBomb Challenge

[mightyjesse]

I want to make a cheese in honor of my friend... This friend is an excellent host, and one of the annual traditions of parties at his house involves the drinking of a great many Irish Car Bombs... So I'm thinking of soaking some curd in some Jamesons and Guinness, and making an Irish CurdBomb... The questions/challenges I have for you lot are as follows:

• What kind of curd? Something creamy, but a hard cheese I'm thinking... Wensleydale? Cheddar might be too sharp... I'm really not sure how a Havarti would work as far as the curd soaking goes... So... What do you think? The curd will be replacing the flavor of the Bailey's, so keep that in mind.
• How should the different curd types be presented? Should I layer them? Should I make a small Jameson's cheese and then press it inside a larger Guinness cheese? Should I make two batches of curd and mix them together like Co-Jack? Should I stratify them in the mold in layers? Just mix all the booze and soak the curd in that?

My inspiration doesn't always stand up to my innovation ability... So help me cheesy friends. I need your experience and maybe a good "talking to" from the voice of reason... 
 

[anutcanfly]

Haven't a clue what will work, but I sure am interested in seeing what you decide to do!  Two types of curd that are very different, but complimentary, and in layers would be awesome!

[Cheese Head]

Jesse, search the forum for Cahill's Porter cheese to give you additional ideas, you'll find several Threads which should help you see how to make that style.

On a layered cheese I've no idea on the tricks but for others, in case you've never heard of Co-Jack or layered cheese, snaps of Colby-Jack cheese and a layered cheese attached.

PS: What's an "Irish Car Bomb", sound like a B52 type drink?

[mightyjesse]

I've gotten my Sage Derbies and Red Wine Lancs to come out the way I want with appropriate marbling, having determined that the "trick" is added food coloring. The question here is more, how to best have the flavors present in a favorable way similar to that of the drink... I'm thinking that if the tiny star shaped egg molds work OK for making mini cheeses, I may opt to make some star shaped Jameson's cheese to place inside a larger Guinness cheese, and then the trick will be to slice the sucker so that the artistic construction shows to advantage... I know, I know... it's not playdough... but curd is a valid artistic medium as far as I'm concerned...


3/4 pint Guinness® stout
1/2 shot Bailey's® Irish cream
1/2 shot Jameson® Irish whiskey


Add the Bailey's and Jameson to a shot glass, layering the Bailey's on the bottom. Pour the Guinness into a pint glass or beer mug 3/4 of the way full and let settle. Drop the shot glass into the Guinness and chug. If you don't drink it fast enough it will curdle and increasingly taste worse.


Read more: Irish Car Bomb recipe http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink7774.html#ixzz1jfnAbtRk

[mightyjesse]

So... Here's how it went down...

I made a 2 gallon batch of Wensleydale curd, following the instructions in the 200 Easy Homemade Cheeses book. This I divided into 1/3 and 2/3 groupings. During the cheddaring phase of the make, I soaked 2/3 of the curd in Guinness, and 1/3 of the curd in Jamesons. At pressing time, I layered into the mould: Guinness curd, Jameson's curd, Guinness curd...

Then I aged the cheese for about two months.

O.
M.
G.

The end flavor is lovely, but nothing at all like the drink. You get the flavor of the Wensleydale curd strengthened with a bit of a bite from the Jameson's and then followed by a gentle earthy finish from the Guinness. It is AMAZING, if entirely unremarkable to look at. (No... I don't think I remembered to take a picture before all the cheese was gobbled up or sent off to Gulf Wars...) I will make another batch soon (with pictures, this time) just to make SURE that this make wasn't some kind of delicious, delicious fluke...

Just into the cheese cave is a batch of "Puerto Rican Hooker" cheeses... No offense to anyone intended... I'm on a kick wherein I'm making cheeses based on cocktail recipies, and the "Puerto Rican Hooker" is very popular around here...

[anarch]

That sounds really interesting!  Good to know about the flavors and how they showed in the finished cheese.  Definitely take pics next time!

[DeejayDebi]

Way to go Jesse. I love to see people go with their gut on foodie items!