Author Archive for: ‘dkazmier’

After visiting a local, pick-your-own persimmon and pomegranate orchard, Charlie and his 8 -month old daughter Penny put together this cheeseboard. Charlie felt the cheese board should reflect the season, with fall colors and fruit. Penny wanted toys. After hours of negotiations, with play breaks, they agreed that the cheeseboard had to have Comte, since Comte pairs deliciously with fresh and roasted persimmon, almonds, wildflower honey and Blenheim apricot jam. Charlie agreed to add toys to the cheeseboard, the rest is history.

Ann divides her time between Washington DC and Paris, and one of her favorite ways to spend a convivial evening with friends is the "apéro dînatoire," which is a casual meal of wine and small bites that can stretch for hours – and there's no cooking! In this cheese board, Ann has paired nutty Comté – a hard mountain cheese – with three soft cheeses made by Strongman Gourmet Farmer, a local cheesemaker in the Shenandoah valley. There's a runny, bloomy-rind triple-cream made with goat and cow's milk; Grayson, a fragrant, semi-soft cheese, and an aged goat crottin. Accompanying the cheese are saucisson sec, and truffled chicken liver mousse; as well as grapes, plums, pears, olives, a...

As someone who spends four months a year in the mountains of Colorado, Laura is naturally driven to locally-made cheeses and mountain-grown products. And so she invited a few Colorado friends over for a delectable dessert cheese course featuring Comté. She started earlier in the day by heading to the local farmer’s market to forage for accompaniments that would highlight the beautiful cheese. Her first stop was at LivingGreensColorado, which specializes in “wildcrafting” – making jams, jellies, and other truly delectable products from the berries, herbs, fruits, and plants that grow in their area. She tasted several of their jellies, but it was the unlikely sage jelly that...

Ronne loves to entertain and finds a cheese plate is a great way to start a party. That way, there’s always something for everyone. One of the best things about putting together a cheese plate is matching the components to the season. She likes to include really beautiful seasonal fruit with great cheeses and classic components, such as honey and nuts. Bringing the season to your cheese plate celebrates all the wonderful flavors that pair well with Comte cheese! For this cheese plate, she surrounded lovely Comte cheese with the following green grapes and Vermont Creamery Ash-Ripened Goat Cheese, Plouts (a cross between a plum and an apricot), Blue Diamond Honey-Roasted Almonds,...

Janet describes herself as “old style” when it comes to serving cheese. A cheese board at her house rarely includes more than toasted nuts and seasonal fruit. Janet started by thinking about what she wanted to drink with this beautiful Comté and settled on Lustau Amontillado “Los Arcos” (a Spanish sherry) because it echoes the silkiness and nuttiness of the cheese. She also loves buttery blue cheeses with amontillado so chose the lovely Point Reyes Farmstead Bay Blue, which is made not far from her Napa Valley home. She put the cheeses on a Tiffany cake stand, found in an antiques store many years ago. Then added fresh Mission figs from her garden and roasted walnuts that her...

Here's an absolutely beautiful "Mother's Day" cheese plate from Kirstin Jackson cheese and wine writer, consultant, and teacher.

She went bold and fun with her pairings!  Her plate features the lovely: Stepladder Creamery's Cabrillo, Tomales Farmstead Teleeka, Comté, preserved lemon, Oreo's or Newman's O's, and Cultured's gingery sauerkraut.

(Photo credit: K Jackson)

This cheese board aptly named, "Le Comté et ses cousins Américains éloignés," (Comté and its distant American Cousins), was developed, by our friend, Max McCalman, well-known author, cheese educator, consultant and Maître Fromager! The other cheeses on the board include: Pawlett (back left) from Consider Bardwell in Vermont; Flory’s Truckle (back center) from Milton Creamery in Missouri and Goat Tomme (back right) from Twig Farm in Vermont; Kinsman Ridge (center, looks like a thick wedge of Brie) from Landaff Creamery, New Hampshire: Oma (orange rind cheese in front of Comté) from Von Trapp Farmstead in Vermont; Black and Blue (right side, middle) from Firefly in Maryland;...