Our Cave to Co-op for December 2021 is CHAMPLAIN VALLEY TRIPLE CREAM with Truffles from Champlain Valley Creamery, Middlebury, VT
With a graduate degree in Food Science and a background in winemaking, Carleton Yoder moved to Vermont in the late 1990s to make hard apple cider. He took a year’s detour making farmstead Vermont cheddar at Shelburne Farms and then decided to venture into cheesemaking on his own. After a number of years in an old mill in Vergennes,
where he carried countless full milk cans up countless flights of stairs, he finds himself in Middlebury along with a small crew, making cheese that is produced by traditional recipes and methods, aided by modern technology. The milk Champlain Valley uses is 100% grass-fed organic Jersey cow milk from Severy Farm in Cornwall, VT, about 15 minutes from the creamery in Middlebury.
The texture of his Organic Triple Cream is velvety and the flavor is full of milky sweetness and it melts like butter in the mouth. It is a delightful cheese, with a beautiful soft-ripened triple cream and a bloomy white rind, earthy and with hints of mushroom. This American Cheese Society Award Winner is excellent for a cheese plate and add to omelets or frittatas, place a dollop on grilled chicken or beef and watch it slowly melt. Here are a few ideas, courtesy of Provisions International Ltd.
Champlain Valley Triple Cream w/ Citrus and Herbs
Serves 4
Ingredients
This recipe highlights the cheese flavor with the clear taste of citrus.
2 Champlain Valley Triple Creams
1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, basil or chives, chopped
Grated peel of 1 lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Mix herbs, lemon peel, salt and pepper in small bowl. Slice the Triple Cream in half horizontally and remove the top layer of each. Carefully spread the herb mixture evenly over the bottom layers, pressing gently to help it adhere. Replace the top and wrap each cheese separately in aluminum foil and let them sit out at room temperature for an hour. Pre-heat oven to 350 ºF. Place the packets of cheese on a baking sheet with rimmed sides and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let the packets rest for 20 minutes. Unwrap carefully and transfer the cheese to a platter. Serve with crusty bread and fresh fruit.
Truffle Triple Cream Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 6 medium potatoes), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled
Kosher salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 Champlain Valley Truffle Triple Cream rind removed and cut into pieces, at room temperature
3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1 1/3 cups)
Place potatoes in a large saucepan, and add cold water to cover by 1 inch. Add garlic cloves and a generous pinch of salt, and bring to a boil over high. Reduce heat to medium-high, and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are fork-tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, and let stand at room temperature until potatoes look dry and chalky, about 10 minutes.
While potatoes dry, bring heavy cream and butter to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan over medium, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Press potatoes and garlic cloves through a ricer, and return to saucepan. Fold cream mixture into potatoes.
Return saucepan to heat over medium-low. Add cheese in batches, stirring after each addition until cheese is fully melted and incorporated.
