Have you met our beautiful cheese makers yet? Andres, our dairy & veggie farmhand, took this beautiful picture.
Over the winter we bought 7 Ayrshire dairy cows, built a barn, bought equipment and built a cheese room on the farm to start our sister business, Haven Farmstead Table. Those cows gave birth to calves and started producing milk throughout the spring.
Reuben is in charge of the cows, the pastures and the milking, while our friend, Steve, is in charge of making the cheese, markets and selling. This partnership brings a unique product to the Lehigh Valley: Grass Fed Milk as Farm to Table Cheese all produced on one farm. The quality of this cheese is amazing!
Typical of a new business, we've been wading through regulations, permits and inspections. As of last week we have official permission to start selling so we made Fromage Blanc, Feta and Fresh Cheese Curd.
The last piece of the "puzzle" is getting the refrigeration unit installed in our Cheese Cave. Our friends from R. G. White HVAC came out to install it over the weekend. Our friend, Nick, is here right now doing the electrical wiring and then White can return to put the final pieces in and make sure the cave works properly. THEN we can start making the aged cheeses like Brie, Camembert, Blue and more.
This cheese will be selling at high end cheese counters in New York and Philadelphia but our Farm Share CSA customers will always have the option to buy it here at the farm and to add it to your share boxes. WOW! What a perk!
Look for these cheeses in the EXTRAS section of your customization email.
New! Fresh Feta: You won't get this at the grocery store. Aged in brine for a week or two, this feta goes from a soft exterior to a delicate and crumbly interior. Soak in fresh, cold water prior to serving to help draw off the saltiness. 1 hour should be plenty for most tastes. Less if you like it salty!
Fromage Blanc: This fresh spreading cheese is made from the whole milk of our grass-fed herd. This cheese is simple but full of flavor and as versatile as a pocket knife. Use in recipes to replace cream cheese and yogurt. For breakfast add
to eggs or serve on bagels and toast with jam. Make an awesome dressing for bean salads or greens. Or, make the best cheesecake of your life. This cheese is another great base to add herbs and other flavor additions for variety.
Cheese Curds - Chewy, squeaky, salty cheese curds! We ripen our milk gently with a farmhouse culture and follow a traditional Cheddaring process. The end result is a yummy cheese curd!
We'll keep farming for you!
Tessa DeMaster
P.S. Here's an update on the Veggies for the week from our weekend newsletter email. We're starting to see RED!
