Nighttide... at last!

Welcome to Prudence Dapperling's "Mouse in a Million" BIG CHEESE Blog!

I know it's been a while since last I wrote. I've been waiting for just the right moment to  make this very important announcement!

[drum roll please]

Now available on Amazon

******  Darklings II: Nighttide ******

by my good friend and colleague, C. D. Davis

Buy it here

And don't miss the story that started it all!

****** Darklings ******

Buy it here

It's a long, long way to Tipperary, etc.

Welcome to Prudence Dapperling's "Mouse in a Million" BIG CHEESE Blog!

No cheese tour of my native islands would be complete without a look at the delights produced in Ireland.

When I think of the Emerald Isle, five exquisite farmhouse cheeses come to mind: Cashel Blue, Crozier Blue, Coolea, Milleens, and Croghan.

Cashel Blue and Crozier Blue
As their names suggest, these are blue cheeses--two of the very few produced in the British Isles. Cashel Blue is made of raw cow's milk. Crozier Blue is the product of raw sheep's milk (and, by the way, is the only sheep's milk blue cheese made in Ireland). Both are the creations of the Grubb Family and are made on their farm at Beechmount (near Cashel) in County Tipperary.

The youngest cheeses (aged 2 to 3 months) have a white paste, are firm, creamy around the edges, and delightfully tangy, but never strong. As they mature (aging up to 6 months), the cheeses resolve themselves to a rounder, richer flavor and achieve a buttery yellow paste and a luxurious creaminess. Throughout the paste is the marbled bluing for which the cheeses are known. The rind is untreated and, as such, is edible. The cheeses are foil-wrapped, weigh 4 pounds, and are 5 inches high and 6 inches in diameter.

Serve Cashel Blue and Crozier Blue at room temperature and as a accompaniment to fruit (e.g., figs, pears, grapes, or apples), nuts (walnuts, pecans), and your favorite crackers or crusty bread. Sweeter wines go best with the more mature cheeses. For the younger ones, wines with some acidity make the best accompaniment. Gewurtzraminer is a good wine for a young Cashel Blue, Reisling Trocken (dry) for a young Crozier Blue.

For the blue cheese lover (Me! Me!), both Cashel Blue and Crozier Blue are absolute ambrosia.

Coolea
This Gouda-style, raw cow's milk cheese has been made by the Willems Family in Coolea, West County Cork, since 1979. Coolea comes in wheels 9 to 12 inches in diameter, weighing 900g, 5.5 kg, or 9 kg, and has a firm light yellow paste and rich, smooth, carmel-like flavor. Younger cheeses are aged 6 to 12 months, the more mature ones 14 to 18 months. Like Gouda, Coolea comes wrapped in a solid wax rind that helps to preserve its flavor and texture. The cheese goes well with fruit, good bread, and  most wines and beers.

Milleens
This remarkable raw cow's milk cheese is made by Veronica and Norman Steele on their farm on the Beara Peninsula in County Cork. Milleen is a soft, washed-rind cheese, which matures within 4 to 10 weeks. It's fragrant, rich, and hugely flavorful, with a sweet, creamy taste and texture, and a gorgeous salmon pink rind.

Croghan
Croghan is a semi-soft, raw goat's milk cheese made at Croghan's Goat Farm by its creators Luc and Anne Van Kampen in Blackwater, County Wexford.

The rind, brine-washed and pinkish tan, covers a  vaguely disk-shaped, 2-month old cheese, weighing 2 to 3 pounds. Full, rich, slightly goaty, with nuts, herbs, and garlic abounding in a paste that is smooth and silky, this cheese is absolutely glorious. Serve Croghan with fruit, crusty bread, sparkling white wine and pale ale.

What does all this mean? When you visit Ireland, for heaven's sake, try the cheese!


Like Cheese? Check out America's Chevalier du Taste-Fromage Steven Jenkins' blog here.

And don't miss the latest installment from that wise and worthy cheese-loving feline, Spaulding Gray.

Like mice and bats and other critters of the night? Then you'll love Darklings! Buy it here...

Very Caerphilly

Welcome to Prudence Dapperling's "Mouse in a Million" BIG CHEESE Blog!

For this installment, our lactose-based delight hails from a land of great beauty in the western part of the British mainland... Wales. The cheese? A raw cow's milk variety with a heavenly buttery flavor and varied texture called--

Caerphilly

--named after the town in South Wales near which it was originally produced.


Caerphilly has an interesting history.  A simple cheese--mild, semi-firm, with a slight squishiness around the edges--Caerphilly was a staple of the diet of Welsh coal miners, who wrapped it in cabbage leaves to take down with them into the mine for their mid-day meal.

In the early 20th century, demand for this popular cheese in England overwhelmed supply in Wales, so cheesemakers across the Bristol Channel in Somerset, England, started producing it, as well. Between the World Wars and for years after the Second, traditional farm production of Caerphilly ceased entirely. A manufactured variety replaced it and, although called "Caerphilly," this mass produced cheese bore little resemblance to the original.

Since then, however, traditional farmhouse Caerphilly, with the same delightful creamy flavor and texture, has made a comeback, both in South Wales and Somerset.

The cheese comes in 8-to-9 pound wheels, 3 inches thick and 12 inches in diameter, has a natural gray rind and a paste that is creamy beige to yellow in color, and is slightly runny in the center. When buying Caerphilly,  avoid any with paste that looks dry or is moldy. The rind should be dry and gray, never black, moist, or mushy.  Because Caerphilly is not a particularly dense cheese, it will dry out and go stale after about  a week. So, buy just enough to last that long, and you'll enjoy every bite.

Caerphilly is a lovely snack cheese, good with bread, fruit, chutney, or preserves. It's also a great melter and works well sliced or shredded for a fantastic toasted cheese sandwich!

****And now for this important announcement***

Now available on Amazon, 3-Mice Production's latest release....
Family Matters, A Gracie Andersen Cozy Mystery by Laurinda Wallace! Buy it here

**********

Like Cheese? Check out America's Chevalier du Taste-Fromage Steven Jenkins' blog here.

And don't miss the latest installment from that wise and worthy cheese-loving feline, Spaulding Gray.

Like mice and bats and other critters of the night? Then you'll love Darklings! Buy it here...

Shropshire Blues

Welcome to Prudence Dapperling’s “Mouse in a Million” BIG CHEESE Blog!

Long time, no write. Sorry about that. I’ve been up to my whiskers in research and nibbles as part of my quest for the best in cheesy lore.

Today’s featured delight is another marvelous offering from my native land—

Shropshire Blue.

Shropshire Blue is a “new” cheese, which means it’s been in existence less than 25 years. Originally produced in Scotland, it was marketed in England as having come from the County of Shropshire, near Wales. This wondrous Blue is now actually produced in Shropshire and in Melton Mowbray in the County of Leicestershire.

Shropshire Blue is like Stilton in that it has a creamy texture, a rough, brown rind, and the same dimensions:  cylindrical shape, 11 to 12 inches in height, 7 inches in diameter, and weighing 14 to 16 pounds. Its similarity to its venerable and much esteemed counterpart ends there, however; its paste is bright orange, its blues are bluer, and its flavor is considerably sharper than Stilton's.

When buying Shropshire Blue, the most important consideration is its freshness. A fresh cheese has that bright orange hue I mentioned, with veins of vibrant blue/green running through it. Its texture should be creamy. No cracks, no crumbling, no slimy or powdery rind. The flavor should be quite sharp and tangy with a lasting, piquant aftertaste.

Shropshire Blue is a great cheese to serve after dinner with sweet fruit, crusty bread, and a robust red wine, sweet dessert wine, port, Madeira, or sherry. 

Buy yourself a hunk today and enjoy!

Like Cheese? Check out Steven Jenkins' blog here. 

And don't miss the latest installment from that wise and worthy cheese-loving feline, Spaulding Gray.

Like mice and bats and other critters of the night? Then you'll love Darklings! Buy it here...

Source: Cheese Primer, Steven Jenkins, Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 1996

Spectacular Stilton!

Welcome to Prudence Dapperling’s “Mouse in a Million” BIG CHEESE Blog!

Today, I share the wonders of England’s one and only name-protected cheese (and arguably our most famous)--

Stilton.

The person credited with pioneering the production of Stilton was Elizabeth Scarbrow, housekeeper to the Ashby family at Quenby Hall, Hungarton, Leicestershire, around 1720.  Most of the local cheese of that time, called Quenby, was sold at the Bell Inn at Stilton, a coach house on the Great North Road in Huntingdonshire. Though no cheese was ever made in Stilton, that’s where the cheese became famous and from whence it eventually took its name.  Elizabeth took Quenby, which she'd taught herself to make, and turned into the delightful stuff that Stilton became. Through her daughter and granddaughter, to whom she passed her magical skills, Elizabeth Scarbrow established a Stilton-making monopoly that lasted about 50 years. By the 1790s, Stilton was being made and sold at great profit in almost every village in the area.

Flag of County Leicestershire

There are three places where this cheese can be made and legally be called “Stilton”—Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and The Dale of the Dove just west of Derbyshire in the Midlands of England. The Shires are known for having rich deposits of coal and iron. Many believe it’s the iron in the soil that contributes to the blueness of Stilton.  The name-control law requires that the milk and manufacture occur in these areas and nowhere else, and that the recipe and aging guidelines be those established by the Stilton Cheese Makers’ Association.

Flag of County Nottinghamshire

The best cheeses are made from the highest quality milk, aged properly, turned often, and “ironed.”  Ironing is how careful cheese makers determine a cheese’s readiness for eating. A cylindrical auger is inserted into the cheese to remove a “plug,” which is then sniffed, examined for proper texture and bluing, tasted, and then reinserted into the cheese. Depending on the cheese’s development, a Stilton can be aged for as little as 6 months or as long as 18. Most Stiltons weigh 14 to 16 pounds, are 10 or 11 inches high, and 8 or 9 inches in diameter. 

Blue Stilton Cheese
Image by Dominik Hundhammer, 20 January 2005

The texture of a well-aged Stilton should be moist and creamy, with a slight crumble factor. The aroma should be large and piquant at room temperature, mild and pleasant when cold.   The flavor is full-bodied, rich, and creamy.  When buying Stilton, look for a dry, brown, rough rind and an ivory paste with abundant bluing uniformly throughout.

Stilton is one of those cheeses that can be enjoyed any time, either by itself as a snack or after a fine meal with Port or a good red wine, crusty bread, and sweet fruit. 

For me, it’s a treat that has no rival!

Like Cheese? Check out Steven Jenkins' blog here. 

And don't miss the latest installment from that wise and worthy cheese-loving feline, Spaulding Gray.

Like mice and bats and other critters of the night? Then you'll love Darklings! Buy it here...

Source: Cheese Primer, Steven Jenkins, Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 1996

Wonderful Wensleydale

Welcome to another installment of Prudence Dapperling's "Mouse in a Million" BIG CHEESE Blog!

"Rule Brittania! Britannia rules the waves!"

Yes, I'm feeling patriotic these days. As such, tonight I begin a series on the virtues of cheese from my beloved island home---England.

And the best cheese to start with is one of my all-time favorites...

Wensleydale

What lovely pup-hood memories I have of sitting around the dinner table with my 10 brothers and sisters, doing battle over the last crumbs of this delightful cheese. Oh, the flying fur, the howls, the bite marks! And were they worth it? You bet!

Made from either cow's or sheep's milk, I believe the best Wensleydale comes from Yorkshire in northern England. This cheese is tangy, yet delicate, with a crumbly texture and pure white color.

Sometimes you find it mixed with cranberries or other fruit. Personally, I like mine unembellished.  I love to eat it all by itself, with only a humble cracker to convey it to the lips.

But Wensleydale is worthwhile no matter how it comes--plain or fancy. So, should you come across it while foraging in the aisles of your favorite grocery store or cheese shop, grab some. You won't regret it.

For more exciting cheese lore, check out the latest offering from that fabulous cheese-loving feline, Spaulding Gray, here.

And now for this important commercial message.

Darklings... If you haven't yet read this funny, suspenseful romp set in 1912 Venice, click on the book below

Of Mice and the Isle of Man

Happy New Year!

Welcome to Prudence Dapperling’s “Mouse in a Million” BIG CHEESE Blog!

Whew! Just back from my holiday and what a time it was! For this season’s year-end extravaganza, I booked passage on a shipment of high-fiber breakfast biscuits, got loaded onto a lorry in outer London, then a ferry in Liverpool, and set out for fun and adventure on the Isle of Man. Stayed in the lovely Hotel Caigneyder-St. Patrick, run by some friendly and very hospitable church mice.

The Isle of Man is located in the middle of the Manx (aka Irish) Sea, plopped amongst Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England. Despite it's being the home of the Manx Cat, it's a most attractive and interesting place, boasting sea, sun (sometimes), green rolling hills, and the best thing of all—cheese!

Namely, the Manx Cheddar. I first heard about it from a friend on Facebook and, became so intrigued, I just had to go and check it out for myself.

In 1934, a group of Manx dairy farmers formed a cooperative that to this day produces this outstanding cheese from the creamy, rich milk of Holstein-Friesian cows, grazed year-round in the abundant grasses in the valleys and on the hills of the island.  The Manx Cheddar is aged 12-14 months, producing a nutty, sweet, slightly salty flavor with a nice sharp finish.  The cheese won the Silver Medal at the 2009 World Cheese Awards and with good reason. Never before have I had a more delightful cheddar experience!

If you ever have the chance to try Manx Cheddar, I highly recommend you take it.

One more thing… Though this may get me drummed out of the British Rodent Bloggers Society. While doing my usual web surfing, I came across the blog of a certain cheese-loving feline, Spaulding Gray. Despite the cat thing, I’ve gotten into Spaulding and find his blog both delightful and informative. Spaulding blogs through the fingers of his “Lady,” Marcella the Cheesemonger. Check him and Marcella out here. 

And now for this important message. Darklings… Mice and bats and rats, oh my!

Buy it here