Our Cave to Co-op for April 2022 is VERMONT HERDSMAN from Parish Hill Creamery, Westminster West, Vermont.
Parish Hill Creamery produces seasonal, handmade, raw milk cheeses inspired by the traditional cheeses of Italy. Peter Dixon
brings over 30 years of cheesemaking experience and he is joined by his wife Rachel Schaal and sister Alex Schaal. The creamery is the culmination of Peter’s years making cheese, teaching classes, solving problems, and imagining possibilities.
Peter, Rachel, and Alex love making cheese. They make cheese traditionally, simply, as near to home as possible, and with the highest quality ingredients and results as can be had.
Parish Hill gets beautiful milk from Elm Lea Farm at the Putney School, just up the road from the creamery, and the milk is the result of healthy animals grazing lush pastures. Protein and fat are balanced ideally for the cheeses produced, and the cheese changes subtly throughout the season, reflecting the growth and maturation of various pasture plants.
Their starter cultures are made from the milk of 4 individual cows. Helga, Abigail, Clothilda, and Sonia were chosen for their health, their components, and their disposition. As a result, Parish Hill makes mother cultures that are truly an articulation of their milk and the resulting cheese is a revelation of that milk, the cows, the pastures, the water, and the land.
Whole milk, long-aged Asiago-style Herdsman is made when the cows are grazing on hillside pastures and aged at least 12 months to develop a full, slightly sharp flavor with hints of pineapple and hazelnuts. The supple interior becomes granular as the cheese ages beyond a year. The straw-colored edible rind is scrubbed weekly when young.
You’ll find a recipe using Herdsman with roasted fennel below and here’s a link to find a few more recipes.
Roasted Fennel w/Herdsman & Thyme
Ingredients
2 large fennel bulbs
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tsp minced fresh thyme
4 oz grated Herdsman
Directions
1. Position a rack in the top third of the oven, put a large heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 500°F. Trim the fennel, quarter each bulb vertically, and trim away most of the core, leaving just enough to hold the layers intact. Slice each quarter into 4 wedges.
2.In a medium bowl, toss the fennel with the olive oil, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and quickly spread the fennel on the sheet, with the largest pieces toward the edges of the pan. Roast until the fennel pieces are almost tender and the bottoms are lightly browned, about 18 minutes.
Flip the fennel, sprinkle with the thyme, and then the Herdsman, and continue roasting until the cheese is melted and golden, 3 to 5 minutes more.
3.With a spatula, transfer the fennel and any lacy, golden cheese bits to a serving dish.
