I could wax lyrical about all the cheese that I have made that went according to plan, but I don’t think I have ever mentioned one that has gone terribly wrong! This is one of those times.
If you have been reading my adventures over at Little Green Cheese, you would have been following a series of posts about a Blue cheese that I have been chronicalling. This is the final post in the Blue cheese adventure.
It started out looking kind of nice and something like this. There was enough curds for two small and one rather large cheeses.
Over the course of the last few weeks, I totally neglected these cheeses. They required turning every 4 days and humid conditions. At the 30 day mark I was to scrape off the mould and it would have looked nice.
Anyway, because of the neglect, this is what they looked like on Monday night!
The large one had mostly had a melt down, but was salvageable of sorts, but the two small ones had totally lost their form and were runny inside. A bit like blue cheese Camembert I suppose. As for the taste, well they were fantastic. A great creamy blue cheese flavour.
This is what I managed to do with them.
I scraped all of the mould off of the large cheese, then wrapped it in cheese wrap and put it into the normal refrigerator to see what happens. I could use it now, but it would be just good for spreading on crackers like a blue cream cheese.
As for the two small ones, we stored them for a day in the fridge and turned them into a wonderful blue cheese sauce. Kim cooked up some Penne pasta and lots of cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and corn, mixed it all together with the some rue which she added the cheese to make a blue cheese sauce and baked it in the oven. The flavour was amazing and the meal was delicious. Ben went back for seconds as did I!
If this is what is known as a disaster in the cheese world, then I am happy with it! I love it when we learn from mistakes that can be turned around to something edible and yummy. It just goes to show that cheese making is not all about recipes and following rules, it can be about serendipitous mistakes as well!
I will leave you with this cheesy quote of the day:
“People who know nothing about cheeses reel away from Camembert, Roquefort, and Stilton because the plebeian proboscis is not equipped to differentiate between the sordid and the sublime.” – Harvey Day
While they don’t look overly appetising in their photographed state, there’s nothing better than a blue cheese with a bit of kick.
I’ve been meaning to have a crack at cheesemaking with a kit I was given, you may have just inspired me to finally do it.
Oh, no, they look terrible… bit like how I look after a hard day!
Bet they taste delish though… love blue cheese!
Congratulations on turning a near cheese disaster into a culinary treat! I am also learning that cheeses take time, consistent monitoring and patience. We left an unwaxed cabra al vino (drunken goat cheese) in the cave while on vacation. Without supervision, it grew a lovely beard of white and musty green mold. We trimmed it off and soaked it in red wine for a couple of days – it’s a nice shade of purple outside now with no hint of a musty smell. We’ll see how it tastes in a couple of weeks.
Mm, I love a runny blue cheese. The best things always come from those serendipitous mistakes as you say.
Did you ever get your hands on some raw milk for your cheeses? I noticed Ceres ‘Fair Food’ is distributing raw milk as “bath milk”. Not sure if they have a drop off in your area.
We haven’t had a cheese go sideways yet, but we have a back-up plan if they do.
My husband’s Aunt raises pigs. We already bring her some of our whey and agreed that if a cheese flops, it’s slops. 😉
I’m sorry – I just threw up! Love cheese (cheddar) – hate blue, mouldy cheese (yours). Good on you, though, for being able to consume it and call it a success.
Joolz
Thanks everyone for your comments. I figured out what I have been doing wrong with my blue cheeses. After reading some very old posts on my own blog about the first few Stilton’s that I made, I remembered that I wrapped the cheese in foil after the first two weeks, but leaving the ends with the holes exposed. That way the cheese stays intact and the mould grows down the holes instead.
I need to take my own advice!
Gav