Time for Hot Weather Cheeses
It's hot. The weather is perfect for eating cheeses that keep you cool. We'll be attending four farmers' markets this Saturday--Urbana, Bloomington, Green City Market and Oak Park--and we'll be bringing fresh chevre, fresh sheep milk ricotta and debuting our "Greek style" sheep milk feta. All the cheeses are perfect adornments for heirloom tomatoes drizzled with a little olive oil and sea salt. Or just throw a salad together and top it with some of these cheeses.
We'll also be bringing plenty of Angel Food, our goat milk brie and maybe a few Little Bloom on the Prairie. Both of these cheeses are great simply sliced a top some nice crusty bread. If you have a little energy, you can slice some fresh peaches with these cheeses or spoon a little honey on the bread.
If time permits, we'll cut up the last of our Mollisol Pecorino Romano cheese. This cheese too would be great shaved over a salad or if you grill some sweet corn, you can grate some Pecorino over the hot buttered corn--deliciousness incarnate!
Our beekeepers Emil and Melvin Blobaum have been braving the heat (and the feisty bees) to take the first extraction of honey from the hives. It is light and floral as we have come to expect from early season honey. We'll be bringing both 8 oz. and 16 oz. jars to all four markets. The honey is a sublime accompaniment to the bloomy rind cheeses and the ricotta.
Lastly, we should be bringing some organic pears, blackberries and maybe peaches to select markets on Saturday. We held our first u-pick of peaches and blackberries this evening, and folks did an excellent job of picking most of the ripe Reliance peaches.
For Chicagoans, if you haven't seen the menu for the Birchwood Kitchen Dinner featuring our cheeses on Monday, July 26th--check it out.
I believe there are still seats available if you want to make reservations.
Don't let the heat stifle your farmers' market shopping. Just bring a cooler or insulated bag and shop with abandon. It's the best antidote for a sultry summer day.
