Birthday Cheese Plate for my Wife

[rsterne]

I made up a cheese plate for Diane today, as she will be 60 on Monday.... We had 4 cheeses to sample, and tasted them with the Sourdough crackers she made a few days ago....



We really enjoyed the fruits of our past few months of Cheesemaking.... The Sourdough crackers are great for cleaning the palate between sampling different kinds of cheese.... and compliment the stronger tastes.... but they are so tasty they do overshadow the milder cheeses a bit though....

Bob

[Lancer99]

The cheeses look great.

Sorry about the crackers

Happy belated Birthday to Diane!

-L

[rsterne]

Are you kidding me?.... Your crackers are WONDERFUL.... 

We both love the sourdough taste, they are probably the nicest crackers we have ever eaten.... The problem is making enough of them and then not pigging out on them before the next cheese plate comes along.... 

She is doing another batch on Friday because we have more cheese maturing over the next 2 weeks.... 

BTW, how old is your starter?.... Ours is approaching 8 years now.... 

Bob

[oliverhenry]

Wow! Made me craving for cheese and wine right now.

[Lancer99]

I just meant I wish they hadn't overshadowed the milder cheeses.

I did have a starter that lasted for a couple of years, but it crashed when I was away and it didn't get fed.  The new one (~1 year) is completely different -- after just a couple of hours at room temperature, it is bubbly/frothy, whereas the former one took much longer.  But pretty much the same lovely sourness in the end.

A diferent strain of wild yeast, that's the fun of sourdough!

-L

[rsterne]

My wife, on the advice of a friend, puts her starter in the fridge to go dormant between uses.... She feeds it once a week, about 1/4 cup of flour and stirring in some hot water to get the consistency she wants, then back in the fridge.... When she wants to use it, she brings it out about 3 days ahead, feeds it again, and sits it on the back of the stove.... By the time she needs it, it is bubbling away nicely....

For the most part, we don't put our cheese on crackers, we find it harder to savour the subtle flavours that way.... I tend to chew the cheese a lot, and then let it melt on the tongue to bring out all the complexity, which I find lost on any cracker.... The Sourdough crackers are fabulous for cleaning the palate between varieties, however.... better than anything else I have tried.... and when I do feel like cheese on a cracker, there is nothing better.... 

Bob

[Lancer99]

I treat mine pretty much the same, but if I'm making bread, take out about 1 C. starter, stir in flour/water, then feed the starter.  I can't imagine that makes any difference.

You're right, I shouldn't be eating cheese on sourdough crackers.  I got used to eating cheese on bland supermarket crackers that had zero effect on the flavor  Hard to give up the crunch, though!

-L