Our Cave to Co-op for June 2024 is Rupert from Consider Bardwell Farm, West Pawlet, Vermont
Consider Bardwell Farm in West Pawlet, Vermont, which produces award-winning handmade cheese. Spanning the rolling hills of Vermont’s Champlain Valley and easternmost Washington County, New York, 
the 300-acre Consider Bardwell Farm was the first cheese-making co-op in Vermont, founded in 1864 by Consider Stebbins Bardwell himself.
In the late 1860s, the farm changed hands. The Nelsonville Cheese Factory purchased the property, and they continued the same service that Bardwell had started until the late 1930s when the Great Depression brought it all down.
A century later, Angela Miller and Russell Glover, with the help of cheesemaker Peter Dixon, revitalized the tradition of cheesemaking on the farm. After years of accolades and challenges, today’s lineup of cheeses uses the milk from neighboring Indian River Farm to craft cheeses that are friendly enough for everyone but nuanced enough for the discerning palate.
Rupert is a regal whale of a wheel of cheese from Consider Bardwell Farm. Each 35-pound wheel of 
Rupert is stamped with a whale shape as well as the batch number when the curds are being pressed, no doubt an homage to its grandeur and heft. The cheese is a dense, fruity, butterscotchy, and nutty experience, with a well-honed flavor profile that extends on the palate long after the last bite. The wheels are aged for a minimum of nine months to ensure the development of the cheese’s dignified, lingering flavor.
Check out the recipe below using Consider Bardwell Farm’s Rupert cheese. You can find more recipes featuring their Pawlet cheese here.
Jalapeno-Rupert Beer Bread
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
1 stick (8 T) unsalted butter, melted
2¾ cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 T sugar
2 fresh jalapeños, seeded and chopped
1 cup shredded Rupert (about 4 oz)
1 12-oz can or bottle lager, pilsner, or IPA-style beer, at room temperature 1 fresh jalapeño, seeded and thinly sliced into rounds
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375° F.
2.Brush an 8″ x 4″ x 2½” loaf pan with some of the melted butter.
3.Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, garlic powder, sugar, chopped jalapeños and 1⁄2 cup Rupert in a large bowl.
4.Pour the beer into a medium bowl. Add half of the remaining butter and whisk together.
5.Pour the beer-butter mixture into the flour mixture and fold until just combined, until the batter is thick and shaggy. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top evenly.
6.Pour the remaining butter over the batter and top with the remaining Rupert and the jalapeño slices.
7.Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the top is golden brown, 50-60 minutes.
8.Let cool in the pan on a rack for about 15 minutes. Invert the bread out of the pan and eat warm or at room temperature, with or without a pat of butter.
