Cheese #12 tasting and Dry Cured Sausage Tart

This was the first raw milk cheese I made, and was one of the simplest recipes. It was one gallon of raw milk, two cups of butter milk, salt, rennet, and patience. You can see the interior is quite open, I suspect this was due to not pressing it with enough pressure at the start. While this is a defect, it really isn't one that bothers me, especially since this is such a good melter. This loaf also had all the cream from the raw milk as well, which is something I've changed in more recent batches. I have started skimming about half of the cream off and saving it for other purposes (coffee!). This cheese is so creamy it is virtually spreadable, but still holds it's shape while cutting quite well.

The flavor of the cheese is big and complex. It is creamy yet firm at the same time on the palate, with a lot of mouthfeel. There is a strong but not overwhelming sharpness along with almost grassy herbal flavors. I think perhaps a lot of the body comes from the high cream content, and it actually makes it a little difficult to eat all by itself. Pairing it off against some crisp fruit would probably be a fantastic combination.

The tart is also very, very simple and can be made from off the shelf ingredients as well. For this one I used whole wheat bread, roughly sliced dry cured sausage, cheese #12, parmesean, and fresh oregano. The key to a snack like this is actually the fresh oregano--it was picked while the tart was under the broiler, bruised to release more aroma and flavor, then added to the tart when it came out. Many herbs can be used this way, but oregano, thyme, and basil are naturals.