Hi, I’m in Beachmond just outside Castle and Coudy Teporary, I’ve come too see how the cheese is casual blue, and couture blue is made. Sarah and Sir Joe are going to show me around their dairy so let’s go and meet them.
Chef: So Sarah where down in the field now with your lovely coast and how many do you have here?
Sarah: We have a hundred milking at the moment and then we have 130 cattle along the farm obviously and we have replacement stock as well, very proud of our cattle’s. That my father developed the herd in the late 70’s and its pedigree herd and registered couture blue herd and they are all British regions as distinct from the hallstand region, which will be more continent.
Chef: Right.
Sarah: and we keep the most for the majority of the year.
Chef: And mostly grass fed?
Sarah: Yes, and that’s basically quite one of the characteristics of Irish dairy.
Chef: Yup.
Sarah: And then can be out as early as soon as Valentines Day.
Chef: Wow.
Sarah: Let’s say February 14 right to through in the end of November.
Chef: Brilliant.
Sarah: Depending on the year and then which growth you crops we send maize to supplement on farm, to supplement their diets.
Chef: Suppose the grass is very important in t he final product that you have?
Sarah: Milk coming from cows that are grass fed would age for longer, which has the great subtlety of flavor and a gooish consistency of flavor.
Chef: we might have to take a walk inside and look at the cheese making process.
Sarah: It’s very good; it’s good to see it from hoof to that.
Chef: Here you see the couture blue being cut with the cheese cutter, the way it is then drained in the curds going to the molds, so Sarah I understand maturation is very important for the cheeses that you make here and do you want to talk to us through that a little bit?
Sarah: Yes indeed, well despite because it’s custom bluely and custom brown and I’ve come today, I want to check on our project blue, which are sheets melt cheese and maturation of couture blue goes two stages for us to finish are bluing. And then there’s the development of the textural development. It takes a minimum of about 14-days for cheese to turn blue. And if you leave it too long, it will become mold to tasting, if you leave it too little it will have not enough blue. And it’s amazing the difference to take them to make and in casement project don’t mature at the same range. And here we have pieces just to initial bluing and you can see it interesting enough, that is enough this cheese will be matured; oh, we have to bring it out to.
Chef: This cheese will be brining out to begin of the New Year?
Sarah: Yes, the beginning of the New Year its Louie’s Brother Henry who as the herd of the flock of sheep and he milks from January to September, so this will be for long term aging right through to New Year. I think you taste it now?
Chef: Yup.
Sarah: And if you ever tasted sheep’s cheese.
Chef: I haven’t, did you?
Sarah: At this stage before.
Chef: I love this stage.
Sarah: Very different profile to couture and it will be quite being Swiss flavor.
Chef: And still quite crumbly, isn’t like in this stage.
Sarah: But the milk is naturally quite fatty and rich and the other thing you get in there is lot of decisions here. Don’t have you’re mats is watering.
Chef: Absolutely.
Sarah: It wouldn’t have much acidity there it wouldn’t go the long haul.
Chef: Right.
Sarah: If it was too blue it would turn too long to take stage.
Chef: So Sarah its unbelievable set up you have here, very homely even by making cheese for about 25-years. How many people are involved in the day to day operation?
Sarah: Well there’s 14 of us in the cheese and another 3 on the farm and pretty much its family business. Mom starts in the kitchen but it still survived so you could see and the whole team.
Chef: Here they are.
Sarah: Everyone’s in tea break.
Chef: Everybody is on their lunch break.
Sarah: And we have a busy morning.
Chef: Seems like a great atmosphere you have here and I know it’s fantastic.
Sarah: What is not a city no limits but couture what is a sustainable future as well.
Chef: So not only so you make fantastic cheese. You’ve also put as the same with your gorgeous garden right here and I think we’re going to cook a dish with couture blue.
Sarah: I’m just going to make a simple spotted lunch involving couture blue and butter.
Chef: Yup.
Sarah: And a bit of parsley and some lovely dewberry steak.
Chef: So it’s doesn’t like get any better of that. Let’s go in to the kitchen and check it out.
So Sarah you brought us in here and were going to cook a lovely specialty of yours is it?
Sarah: Just a simple quick, I’m not a professional chef but so many can throw it together actually.
Chef: Well I’m going to knock together a simple steak and you’re telling me about this steak its true beef.
Sarah: True beef and very good and delicious, so if you can just find actual and cook of cattle blue butter.
Chef: absolutely.
Sarah: Let’s blend together equal portions of couture blue butter. Put in it a little bit of parsley and its lovely taste from the garden.
Chef: Perfect doesn’t get any better than that isn’t and what way we do like your steak cooked.
Sarah: Why not cook medium rare, that’s juicy. That works well with the cheese as well so it’s quite rich and creamy. It’s because of the different textures working together.
Chef: So I’m just going top sear the stick really quickly for nice medium rare. So you just keep it very simple butter, parsley.
Sarah: And male equal portions of butter of couture blue and mix it together and pop min top of your steak.
Chef: Brilliant and the key ingredient are definitely is the couture blue.
Sarah: What’s that give it a lot of that cuisine.
Chef: So that steak is just about ready, now what we’re going to do is we’re just going to take that off and allow it to rest. Just as so juices just relax and really becomes nice and tender and medium rare like you’re looking for.
Sarah: Yes.
Chef: so there you I think that’s really show up the couture blue in it’s best. A lovely steak, very simple nice and medium rare with the lovely couture blue in parsley butter, thank you very much Sarah.
Sarah: A lot of thanks of this great fun, I agree with you.
Chef: I learned a lot and I’m really very impressed with your cheese.
Sarah: Grateful thank you very much.
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