Cheeses of the Field

This is a scene from Friday's tasting at the home of Sue Miller, maker of some of the finest raw milk cheese in Pennsylvania. I've bought Sue's cheese for several years -- her Birchrun Blue and Red Cat are household favorites. Usually, I eat them at my dining room table. What a treat it was to eat at Sue's table, in the meadow behind her pasture.

Her house in Chester County is the kind of place that makes you want to abandon your laptop and curl up with a book on her porch. Or in the swing across the road.

I wanted to do just that, but I had cheese to eat. And candied bacon. Paul Lawler of Fair Food Philly (right) and Sue Miller (left) know how to plan wicked schemes.

Plus, Jean Broillet IV was on the scene, pouring something called Blood Root.

It was a great pairing, alongside Sue's cheeses. Then someone pulled out a jar of brandied cherries. You know how I have a thing for cherries and blue.

I don't think I have ever been to a more convivial gathering. Or a prettier one. Just before solstice. With Holsteins grazing at sunset. And cheese lovers carrying on like children who have just discovered fireflies.

Many thanks to Sue and her family for so much hard work. For the milking. For the planning. For walking through the mud to make good cheese happen.

Who's Who at the Brewer's Plate 2011

This image is what I see most mornings when I pop off the train to pick up a nub of cheese at the Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market. The Market is an old train station, and in it, this stand is the nexus of local food.

On March 13, the stand hosts its biggest fundraising smash, Brewer’s Plate – a feast of local beer and grub, the best Philly has to offer within 150 miles. You can meet me there (it's at the Penn Museum). And meet the local cheese intelligensia. Here’s a little primer, for all you red-carpet dairy dreamers.

Cheesemonger Paul Lawler will no doubt wearing a smart suit. Paul, pictured below, is the most knowledgeable person I know about local cheese. Last summer, we drank whey together (a heinous experience; sorry, Paul) while he was “babysitting” Keswick Creamery.

Look for the fashionable folks from Doe Run Dairy (cheesemakers from the Urban Outfitters empire). Paul Lawler tells me, “I am SO psyched to see what mixed milk robiola-esque cheese they will bring!”

You can also meet veteran cheesemaker Sue Miller, maker of Birchrun Blue, along with the much-lauded Jonathan and Nina White form Bobolink Dairy – one-time cheesemakers to the White House.

So, if your Oscar party is a letdown and you want a little red carpet action with the guys from the dairy case, get in on the sizzle. And the oysters. And the snifters of Root.

I’ll be in the Speakeasy, munching Bobolink. Let’s find each other and talk rennet.

Free Beer'n Cheese Pre-Party, March 4

Stop by the Farmstand on Friday between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. for a taste of what the Brewer's Plate will bring. The Foodery will offer local beer and Paul Lawler will let you nibble wheels of Bobolink Drumm, Valley Shepard Fairmount, and Keswick Tommenator.

Yuletide Cheese Tasting, Dec. 10

Noble Road, Calkins Creamery (PA)

Darlings, isn’t it about time we sat down and ate cheese and drank beer together? On December 10, I am co-hosting an all-local cheese-travaganza with cheesemonger Paul Lawler at the Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market.

Paul is my go-to man for local cheese, and he has appeared on this blog, usually in the presence of cows or runny raw-milk treats. If you want dairy trivia, he is the man to call. He is also a whiz at pairing cheese and spirits.

Join us from 6:30 – 8 p.m. for a 5-course feast of farmstead cheeses from around Pennsylvania, along with local beer and accompaniments. We’ll feature the cheeses from my column in Grid this month, a two-page spread of dreamy delicacies, including the heart throb pictured above.

Tickets cost $35 and can be purchased at the Fair Food Farmstand. Seating is limited to 15. All proceeds benefit the Farmstand. Dig out your holiday sweater and come on down.

What: Yuletide Cheese Tasting

Where: Fair Food Farmstand

When: Dec. 10, 6:30-8 p.m.

Tickets: $35 in advance at the Farmstand