2 Terrific WI Cheesemakers come to Green City Market

Hidden Springs Creamery & Nordic Creamery are now sharing a stall at the market. Both have outstanding products that aren't much like anything else being sold at Green City.

Hidden Springs cheeses are all pure sheep’s milk. The fresh cheese is soft, spreadable, creamy and herbaceous. It would make an outstanding ravioli filling with some roasted cherry tomatoes, but also terrific eaten alone or on some toast. I tasted only the plain, but there was also one flavored with honey/ lavender and another with basil and sea salt. I bought an aged cheese made with raw, unpasteurized sheep’s milk. It's semi-hard, and the texture is smooth and luscious. Same herbaceousness as the fresh cheese, with more tang.

Nordic makes goat cheeses as well as goat/ cow combos. I tasted and bought something called Capriko - a semi-hard, very rich goat milk cheese flavored with cumin and clove.

Hidden Springs & Nordic are very welcome additions to the Green City Market. Their products will be on tonight's dinner table along with some outstanding local grapes from Ellis Farm.

I'm a big fan of Hidden Springs cheeses, especially the fresh cheeses. The plain Drifless goes well with the season's finest tomatoes.

For a while, Whole Foods was carrying the Driftless tubs, but I do not believe they do now. Marion St. Cheese in OP has both the plain and the aged Hidden Springs cheeses.

Grapes

Vital Information wrote:Grapes

Grapes have indeed arrived. Phenomenal, juicy, simultaneously very sweet and very tart. I went through a giant bunch with ease during the workday. Just a few left for the aforementioned dinner table.

Nordic Creamery now sells butter at the Green City Market. I picked up a 12oz container for $5.50 (You can buy two for $10, if I recall). It is lightly salted and tastes amazingly good.

Kenny, I'm curious: what kind of grapes, and from whence? [I'm a loonnng-time grape grower, and I'm extremely very curious to find out about what you've gotten hold of.] Pix?

Geo

Mick Klug (at Green City Market, among other places) also has several varieties of grapes. I don't remember all of the varieties, but I'm pretty sure that concord grapes were one. I think there were two or three others. They should be arriving soon - the grapes on the vines in my backyard are almost ready.

Klug had a bunch of varieties last year which were asskickingly fourth-dimensionally good, in fact, they made my top ten. One of the things I am eagerly awaiting this summer.

Geo wrote:Kenny, I'm curious: what kind of grapes, and from whence? [I'm a loonnng-time grape grower, and I'm extremely very curious to find out about what you've gotten hold of.] Pix?

Geo

hmm, I wonder if you realize my post was a year ago

Duh. Sorry! I should be a bit more careful about dates...

But I'm still interested in whence those grapes. I've got three dozen in my backyard—winegrapes—and as noted (whenever!), nothing beats homegrown grapes for sweetness and flavor. Unfortunately, there's heavy competition for those backyard grapes. Here's what I have to do:




That was taken yesterday morning. My vines should be ripe in 3 weeks to a month.

Geo

Darren72 wrote:Nordic Creamery now sells butter at the Green City Market. I picked up a 12oz container for $5.50 (You can buy two for $10, if I recall). It is lightly salted and tastes amazingly good.

Wow. Incredible stuff...




with French breakfast radishes on Semolina bread from Fox and Obel...

I picked up a cup of that butter today. Holy cow is it hard not to just eat that stuff right out of the container. It did go well on some sweet corn though, also purchased at today's market.

jesteinf wrote:I picked up a cup of that butter today. Holy cow...

Indeed, and according to the farmer, the cream for that butter was still inside that holy cow on Wednesday of this week. Talk about fresh.

Kenny, where did you get those gorgeous radishes??

Geo

Geo wrote:Kenny, where did you get those gorgeous radishes??

Geo

Genesis Growers at the Green City Market. They are crunchy and intensely peppery, and came with hearty greens I plan to use in a salad with anchovy dressing.