Make Cheese! Kookoolan Farms
April 6th, 2009
First class cheese (sorry couldn't resist the pun) -- we made ricotta and herbed chevre
The only cheese I’d ever made prior to last weekend was paneer for a chickpea buttermilk curry in college and it was great even though I used regular old store-bought homogenized, pasteurized milk.
If I had to choose one food as a favorite it would be cheese. It’s my favorite snack and rare is the day that I don’t eat at least a bite of it — e.g. this morning’s breakfast was a feta, sour cream, lime and herb spread on toasted baguette. I love cheese which is why I went to Scott Dominic Catino’s goat cheese making class this weekend in Yamhill at Kookoolan Farms. Kookoolan is an amazingly diverse small farm with orchards, vegetable gardens, chickens for eggs and meat and a few Jersey milking cows. It’s about an hour southwest from Portland and a beautiful drive once you get off I-5
This is the second year that Kookoolan’s Chrissie and Kooroosh Zaerpoor are offering cheese classes with various cheese makers through the spring and summer. Classes fill up fast.
If you don’t want to attend a class but are in the area Chrissie and Kooroosh also operate a farm store stocked with heirloom chicken eggs, broilers, kombucha and more along with cheesemaking and dairy cultures and supplies including kefir grains. It’s best to call ahead if visiting the farm store for the first time. Kookoolan Farms also operates a booth at the Hillsdale Farmers Market in addition to delivering chicken, eggs and more weekly to many fine Portland restaurants such as Navarre, Nostrana and Biwa.
Some of Kookoolan's cheese making supplies for sale
I plan on making some homemade goat cheese this spring. I bought a chevre culture, a cheese making book and vegetable rennet from Kookoolan. Now I just need to source some raw goat milk when I’m ready. Catino keeps Nigerian dwarf goats (he’s had 40 births in the last two weeks, including quintuplets) and I’ve never tasted such sweet, fresh milk. No wonder his cheese is so good…
Catino's raw goat milk cheese that we got to try
Kookoolan Farms (and farm store)
15713 Highway 47
Yamhill, Oregon 97148
503.730.7535
www.kookoolanfarms.com
Call Chrissie at the number above to register for a cheese making class.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
[...] are crafted more for their flavor rather than for their storage capability. Chocolate, coffee, cheese, wine, miso, yogurt and, of course, sauerkraut are all good examples of fermented foods that [...]
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Would like to receive information about cheese making classes.
Thanks,
Debi
June 17th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
[...] don’t think that the fact that I LOVE cheese is a secret to anyone who reads this blog. The thought of a cheese-less existence sends shivers down my back. It would be a bleak, cold, [...]
July 26th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
[...] and Michele Knaus of Friends of Family Farmers gave out tastes of her homemade ice milk (made from Kookoolan Farms’ milk) blended with mascarpone topped with a strawberry honey balsamic glaze. (Michele also teaches [...]