Search results for "pennsylvania"


Smooch!

Smooch!

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: On a snowy Valentines Day Eve, I decided to stop by and visit my neighbor and friends at Perrystead Dairy, on the way to the studio. Their holiday gift box introduces this new little wheel of love. It's a limited-edition special 3.5 ounce lactic wheel that is Negroni-washed and has this pretty pinkish-red seductive rind (pink from the Campari & Vermouth) I just had to set up with some dramatic, moody lighting.

Origin: pennsylvania, USA

Tags: perrystead, cow, lactic , Negroni

Price: sold

St Malachi Reserve

St Malachi Reserve

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This is the 2016 Best of Show (tied for 2nd) winner of the American Cheese Society annual conference and competition. Ranked 2nd of all the 18 hundred cheeses entered into the completion, this is the first Best in Show for my home state of pennsylvania! The Farm at Doe Run is located just outside of Philadelphia where they produce some exceptional cheese and it was no surprise this one is so successful, as it is heavenly to have on your tongue. This natural rinded "Reserve" Alpine style cheese was aged between 12 to 24 months has a wonderful flavor that reminds me of exceptional goudas from L'Amuse. This beautiful wedge came with veins of crystalized strata producing a toffee, roasted nut and pineapple flavor profile. When I cut down the generous chunk they sent me to paint, I decided to enjoy the thin flame-like wedge I cut from it. The fiery glow really shows off the complexity of this beautiful artisan cheese accomplished. I love this cheese!

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: PA, Doe Run, acs 2016 Best in Show, ACSBOS, cow

Price: sold

Atlantis

Atlantis

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Happy to paint another cheese from my friend and neighbor, Atlantis is an incredible model. Yoav Perry, opened Perrystead Dairy, in March 2021 and in a couple years of making cheese, literally a few blocks from my house, has created plenty of deliciousness to keep me busy. After picking up a wheel to enjoy with some gin and tonics, my tastebuds screamed "paint me!". I'm gonna be lazy here and use Yoav's own description from his site because this ocean washed wheel is fascinating as it is delicious. "True to its fantastical maritime namesake, Atlantis is a semi soft cheese with rind that is washed in our local Atlantic Ocean seawater which were infused with various edible local North Atlantic seaweed varieties. Atlantis is cellar-aged 45-60 days, during which the rind develops a kaleidoscope of colors that contrasts the light speckles of seaweed dusted on the rind. It's not just about looks; as the cheese ages, the natural glutamine in the seaweed imparts deep umami flavor. The act of rind washing gives life to cultures that break down the proteins and acids, resulting in an interior that is supple and neutral from the rind inwards. When young, the inner center core will still be more acidic and crumbly, sort of a cheese trapped within another cheese! When at full age it is supple throughout. This cheese is beachy, light and very approachable. The funk is never over the top. It is meant to highlight the traits of fantastic grass-fed summer and fall milk and our North-Atlantic meritime."

Origin: pennsylvania, USA

Tags: Perry, Yoav, philly local food, Atlantic Ocean

Price: sold

Maysiola

Maysiola

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Inspired by an Italian Robiola, this full-flavored pasteurized goat cheese is made made at Shellbark Hollow Farm in Chester County, by Pete Demchur, the first goat cheesemaker in pennsylvania. He named this cheese after one of his favorite goats ("Maisie Daisy sat up like a dog in the corner") This cheese is made when there's extra milk from their own Nubian goat heard. It has a tangy rich buttery flavor with a bit of funk as this little wheel is quite ripe and the wrinkly rind most beautiful, in my opinion. I had fun painting this little wedge of a little bloomy rinded wheel of goat farmstead cheese so I painted it small, intentionally to celebrate those textures.

Origin: pennsylvania, USA

Tags: goat

Price: sold

Equinox

Equinox

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Today I wanted to paint and the perk that goes with having a friend that's a cheesemaker is having casual gifts of cheese when she visits. Sue Miller, of Birchrun Hill Farm, brought over a bunch of her great cheeses. This wedge of her Alpine-style , nutty with a hint of salt and a toasty brown butter finish is one of her standards. It's mild, young flavors and semi firm paste travels well and holds up to lots of variations. I've previously painted her "Teaquinox" and "Tomme Mole" for which equinox is a base. Made with raw cow’s milk and aged in our caves for 4-5 months surrounded by natural flora it's the perfect subject for perhaps my final painting at my studio space of over 8 years. This is also my 10th painting of a Birchrun Hill cheese! I guess I like the Miller family, huh? Their cheeses are beloved throughout the Philadelphia area and never disappoint.

Origin: pennsylvania, USA

Tags: equinox, sue miller, pa cheese, cow

Price: sold

Intergalactic 2

Intergalactic 2

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: A second view to go with the first. This thistle rennet bloomy rinded cube is soft and creamy and the cut cube reminds me of coach Chèvre. It's so good. It's part of a twin set of cheese portraits with special frames.

Origin: pennsylvania, USA

Price: sold

Intergalactic

Intergalactic

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This is perhaps the most local a cheese can get for me to paint. On my way to the studio, I stopped over at Perrystead Dairy a few blocks away to pick up this adorable and delicious model. I first met Yoav Perry, years ago when he was experimenting with cheese in his NYC apartment. A couple years later our friendship blossomed as he moved to Philadelphia, and into Fishtown, about a 12 minute walk from me and my studio. He's just crazy enough to open his own dairy (in the middle of a pandemic), a couple blocks away and go and then make this crazy good cheese cube! There's no shortage of info on Yoav to be found; he's been the darling of cheese news so go find him and his pretty little cheese too. Intergalactic is a soft-rinded lactic cow’s milk cheese that is coagulated with the stamens of cardoon artichoke thistle flowers, so, it's vegetarian. It's aged about two weeks and is the perfect 3.5 oz square you don't have to share (if you don't want to!). This cube is incredibly creamy, like soft fresh fudge, and this lactic center can flirt with a hint of tanginess that compliments the buttery milky bliss. This delicate little bloomy-rinded cube is sold in a cute wooden box and seemed perfect to paint in a little square. This is on a 1/16" , beech wood panel measuring 6x6" and is sold framed. Floating frame is custom made and included in the price.

Origin: pennsylvania, USA

Tags: philadelphia, pa cheese

Price: sold

R+D Round

R+D Round

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: I had the pleasure of walking just a few blocks over to where my friend Yoav Perry recently started making cheese at his new business, "Perrystead Dairy". What a privilege to be able to have a cheese-making neighbor a few blocks from my house, and my house is a few blocks from my studio. Perrystead Dairy will be making fresh, soft and aged cheeses along with yogurts, kefir and who knows what's in store beyond that. He let me choose a cheese model to take to the studio today. Naturally, I picked the most colorful wheel. This is one of 9 wheels made with fellow friend/local cheesemaker Emilliano Tatar of Merion Park Cheese Co. on the very first day of production. This inaugural batch is made with local Buck's County grass fed cow's milk and has a buttery, slight tang and meaty flavor that is incredibly delicious. Not bad for a first try, guy! Bravo. The rind shows a spectrum of colors due to some major biodiversity. They let the rind bloom, then smeared it with bacterial wash then bloom again; so it has characteristics of both. This cheese may or may not be made again, hence the name "research and development" but it's a colorful and delicious glimpse of the potential of this urban dairy.

Origin: pennsylvania, USA

Tags: Perrystead, Yoav, Philly

Price: sold

Ola

Ola

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Inspired by the Wabash Connonball from Capriole Goat Cheese, Birchrun Hill's cow's milk homage is coated with a sprinkle of sumac before aged and becoming an incredibly lush and tangy lactic treasure. When Sue Miller gave me over two versions (the other has an Espolete pepper coating) I was excited to unwrap a burgundy-colored ball. Alas, that's not how bloomy rinds work! haha. The beautiful white velvet coating starts to wrangle and spot as it gets older, ensuring you get a cheese with this beautiful cream line along the outer layer. The sumac is just barely visible under the rind but the flavor of the finished cheese bomb is wonderful. Initially made for the CSA that they partner with Taproot Farm, this cheese didn't have a name. When the farmer/owner, Ola, expressed her love of it, the cheese was named after her.

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: cow, Birchrun, sumak

Price: sold

Witchgrass

Witchgrass

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Stefanie Angstadt, at Valley Milkhouse Creamery is in Oley, PA where she makes an array of dreamy, wonderful dairy treats. All her cheeses are named after local flowers, found in the Berks County area and as I recall, she once told me the names all come from a journal she found that belonged to her Grandfather. I have previously painted a couple of Stefanie's cheeses, and only bought this one just as a treat to myself. I was just so in the mood for something lactic-creamy, soft and indulgent. When the cheesemonger at Dibrunos Bros Italian Market shop unwrapped this wheel, I loved seeing that beautiful rind. It is ripened with vegetable ash which gives it an earthy flavor note and an unctuous cream line beneath its bloomy blue-gray rind. I love that this half wheel of Witchgrass was perfectly ripened so the outer edges of the paste are gooey and the inner wheel is light and fluffy, almost like goat cheese. It's a clean and fresh milky flavor with a savory, mushroom finish. I confess, I am in love with this cheese.

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: cow, pa cheese , Valley Milkhouse

Price: sold

Batch 17

Batch 17

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This incredibly delicious sweet hard aged cheese is officially called "The Creamery Collection, Batch 17" from The Farm at Doe Run, in Coatesville, PA. It's aged for 11 months and is made with mostly goats milk (80%) with some cows milk (20%) and has a sweet finish like goats milk caramel. This reminds me of an interesting extra aged goats gouda and I couldn't resist painting the beautiful glowing ambers that the light seems insistent on illuminating. At the cheese counter at Dibrunos Bros, this wheel was cut open for me and being rather cold, it created a great amount of stripes, or "resilience" in the paste causing lines like stratified rock. This tasty cheese was a champion finalist at the US Championship Cheese Contest, wining bronze.

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Doe Run, PA Cheese, Goat, Cow

Price: sold

Little Chardy

Little Chardy

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This cow's milk, soft ripened cheese is yet another tasty morsel made by my good friend Sue Miller at Birchrun Hills Farm. I needed something to paint today and decided to just cut this in quarters and play with presentation. This cross-like expanded cube seemed more dynamic than all the various outcomes. I was about finished the painting when I finally got a response from Sue, with my request on information about "Little Chardy" . Those always busy cheesemakers, ammirite? Little Chardy has a special place in the hearts of the Millers. She was the first calf that Sue's sons Randy and Jesse, purchased around 10 years ago. The calf's mother was prominent cow from VT, and of a special pedigree, making Little Chardy special and her pet name came from her lineage. The Millers absolutely loved this cow. Sue tells me I met her, the first time I visited her farm, in 2012 (big smile). They lost her this past winter, 2020, however. Randy found Little Chardy on top of the hill, her favorite spot on the farm, where she apparently fell peacefully asleep and passed. Sue tells me that Little Chardy has given them a few beautiful daughters over the years. #familymilk Needless to say, this sweet, gentle cheese is named after her.

Origin: pennsylvania, USA

Tags: Cow birchrunhills , PA CHEESE, Lil Chardy, Sue Miller

Price: sold

Figgy Blue 2

Figgy Blue 2

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This is one of my favorite cheeses and it's made by one of my favorite people in the cheese world. Sue Miller's Birchrun Blue, of Birchrun Hills Farm, is perfectly sweet, mellow, creamy and just a touch of peppery blue-ness that shows off the quality of her cows milk. Being friends with Sue also affords me special nagging power; a series of non-subtle hints throughout the year reminding her that I'm selfish and that I want this more complicated version of her blue. To help fortify my friendly bullying, this year I donated most of my own fig tree's leaves late this fall so I became even more belligerent, naturally. Sue ages her beautiful raw-milk blue cheese wheels wrapped in fig leaves that have been soaked in Laird's Applejack Brandy from NJ, for about 5 weeks. The result is a chorus of heavenly flavors that are both bright and a touch fruity goodness that any sentient being would agree is the flavor of happiness. Thank you Sue.

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Sue Miller, cow, blue

Price: sold

Cowboy Coffee

Cowboy Coffee

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This tangy cheese is from Goat Rodeo farm and dairy, a 130 acre family owned farm located near Pittsburgh in northern Allegheny County of pennsylvania. I've painted a good amount of cheese portraits from my home state, but this is my first from the western side and boy was it overdue! Goat Rodeo makes quite a handsome portfolio of cheeses with raw goats milk, as well as some blended goat and cow milk. They also have one of the most fun label designs featuring their logo of a twisting goat, mid-air spinning in a lasso loop with its cowboy hat at risk of flying off. This delicious model is especially interesting with a nutty but sharp and tangy bite that's nicely paired with Pittsburgh's own Commonplace Coffeehouse's Espresso which gets hand rubbed on each wheel. On this cold wintery day, this coffee coated wedge was the perfect remedy and naturally it made perfect sense to light it just so it would glow and warm me up in my cold studio.

Origin: USA, PA

Tags: pittsburgh , pennsylvania, goat , coffee

Price: sold

Mercer Road

Mercer Road

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: I'm so glad to finally get to paint this beautiful wedge, from a new cheese friend Emiliano Tatar, of Merion Park Cheese Co. He makes this raw cow milk, 2-3 month aged firm cheese that has a wonderful mouth feel of an ideal cheddar and a forward flavor of the cave it was aged in which seems to immediately balance out to a delicious and slightly tangy and bright finish. It's really great, and good thing since Emiliano is a part time cheese maker; he's a pediatrician with a passion for cheesemaking. So as a result, he's limited to producing a small amount of wheels and therefore they're a scarce Philadelphia delecacy. Emiliano developed the recipe by using the Welsh Caerphilly as my model because it has a unique flavor profile that isn't seen that commonly in American cheeses. He used a yeast adjunct culture instead of the more commonly used molds. He says he tweaked the recipe until it was representing his "terroir" as best as I could. The milk comes from Lancaster county and the rind is developed with the natural environment in his small creamery and cave. His affianage allows the rind to "go a little wild" and lets his cheese develop with minimal guidance. He embraces the complex flavor profiles and the fact it can vary from batch to batch. The artisanal quality of each wheel's blemish, to me, is a celebration of the earthy flaws and beautiful character.

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Mercer Rd. , Cow, Philadelphia, PA

Price: sold

Tomme Mole

Tomme Mole

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Coated with a blend of local La Colombe coffee, cocoa and hints of chili's and cinnamon then aged for 7 months, this raw milk alpine-style cheese is a delicious addition to Sue Miller's lactic portfolio at Birchrun Hills Farm. I especially enjoy the slightest bitter coating that compliments notes of caramel and nutty paste that's somewhat firm yet creamy. Birchrun Hills is one of the most popular cheese producers in the Philadelphia area and I was lucky enough to get half a wheel as my model. Tomme Molé is SO good.

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Cow, Coffee, PA , Sue Miller

Price: sold

Blow Horn

Blow Horn

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This is a beautiful dense firm cheese with an incredibly alluring rind. The folks at Doe Run Farm, just outside of Philadelphia, handed me this small wheel a week or so ago, I had a lot of paintings ahead of this. When I finally unwrapped it, I was so blown away by the crazy sexy rind pattern, I had to make the painting all about it. So this small cheese portrait is filled mostly with the rind as the star. Here's some info that they offered me when I posted it on instagram: Blow Horn is our one-of-a-kind cheese sold at 1 month to 3-4 months. This is our take on Tomme de Tarentaise made with our jersey cow's milk and with a lovely salt content. Lactic, aged, rustic, a nice mineral note, just simply amazing. A barrel of fun that is aged in two different caves on the farm."

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: cow, bird, Philadelphia local, urban outfitters

Price: sold

Birchrun Blue

Birchrun Blue

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This is a beautiful blue cheese that is made locally, in the Philadelphia area, by a wonderful cheesemaker, Sue Miller at Birchrun hills Farms. Sue Miller would be embarrassed to hear me say this but she's a warm-hearted "mother hen" of the local cheese world, in my opinion. Her smile is infectious and people seem to recognize her genuine kindness and love her instantly. She not only makes wonderful cheese, but she's been a positive force behind the entire region's cheese making community, promoting everyone and improving the Philadelphia cheese offerings. This Cheese portrait was part of my contribution to support her efforts to grow and improve what's offered in the Philadelphia area. I've donated this original oil painting to the (now very successful) Kickstarter that will enable her to build a proper cheese cave and grow as a cheese-making artist!

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Sue Miller, birchrun hills farm, blue, cow, kickstarter, Philadelphia, bluecheese

Price: sold

Burrata

Burrata

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Fresh Burrata made and sold at Di Bruno Bros. in Philadelphia. This commission became a double portrait as I wanted to show how handsome their burrata is sold, wrapped in leaves of leeks to gauge the freshness of the cream-filled mozzarella.

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Di Bruno Brothers, handmade, fresh, cow, Philadelphia, cream, J.S.Collection

Price: sold

Figgy Blue

Figgy Blue

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This incredible cheese is very hard-to-get, seasonal blue cheese from Sue Miller, of Birchrun Hills Farm. It pays to be friends with the cheese maker, since gave me this from a first availble batch of their wonderful blue cheese that's been wrapped in brandy-soaked fig leaves! As I painted this beauty, she flirted with me the whole time with the most tantalizing aroma. Once finished this portrait, I was finally able to have my first taste. Despite all the foreplay, I was not disappointed one bit!

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Sue Miller, birchrun hills farm, blue, cow, fig, brandy

Price: sold

Hummingbird

Hummingbird

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Hummingbird is a cow's milk Robiola from Doe Run Farm in Chester County. It's made by cheese maker Kristian Holbrook.Mdm Fromage: "It's a wonderful local robiola called Hummingbird, which has a bloomy rind and creamy interior at about 3 weeks. "You don't see many robiolas in the States," cheesemaker Kristian Holbrook (Doe Run Dairy)"Hummingbird is produced in Chester County, Pa. at Doe Run Farm, home to 16 cows, 30 sheep, and 19 goats. In Philadelphia, it makes appearances at Di Bruno Bros. in the Italian Market and at the Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal.

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Robiola, Chester County, Kristian Holbrook, PA

Price: sold

Mozzarella

Mozzarella

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Finally, I get to paint a fresh ball of Mozzarella! This delicious, tender and beautiful cheese is handmade by Di Bruno Brothers in Philadelphia. I've bought a lot of my cheeses that I painted here, but this one they actually make themselves. "Straight from south Philly to you, our fresh mozzarella is made daily. This smooth, creamy handcrafted cheese is beautiful with some heirloom tomatoes, sea salt and a bit of aged balsamic." - Rich Morillo, cheesemonger

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Di Bruno Brothers, handmade, fresh, cow, Philadelphia, J.S.Collection

Price: sold

Noble Road

Noble Road

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: I was commissioned to paint this cheese portrait for the 25th Anniversary issue of Cooking Lite Magazine, November 2012. They requested a creamy, oozy brie-like cheese and after speaking with one of the most talented cheese writers, Madame Fromage, she suggested this pennsylvania cheese by Calkin's creamery."Calkins creamery in honesdale makes a brie-style cheese called Noble Road that has garnered a cult following." -M. Fromage

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Calkins, cow, brie, nobel rd

Price: sold

Red Cat

Red Cat

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This delicious raw milk cheese is made by Sue Miller at a Philadelphia area farm. Birchrun Hills Farm makes some incredible cheese (see winter issue of Culture Magazine 2011).I was given this stinky gift and it reminded me every time I opened my fridge. The creamy, tangy cheese is a washed rind cheese which adds a lot of salty depth to the entire experience. It was fun to paint, though it started to slump and ooz by the time I finished it. Starving as I was, I consumed half of the still life before I had a chance to think twice. It's such a strong and wonderful flavor that I'm hooked. I'm looking forward to painting more portraits of Sue Miller's cheese

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: sue miller, birchrun hills farm

Price: sold

Smoke Signal

Smoke Signal

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Smoke Signal is actually a beautiful smoked gouda style cheese made in my home state of pennsylvania! I love the sunset colored smokey rind that helps trigger my hunger for it, since my first taste of it. Already being a fan of Calkin Creamery's I was happy to find that this is their "cheese with a cause". Profits from Smoke Signal's sales, go to support the Michael J Bryant Foundation, awarding grants to handicapped children in Wayne County each Spring. So basically, buying and eating this delicious cheese is good for your karma too!

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: gouda, calkin creamery,Michael J Bryant Foundation, J.S.Collection

Price: sold

Teaquinox

Teaquinox

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Sue Miller, maker of this spring time special cheese at Birchrun Hills Farm , just outside of Philadelphia, gave me this delicious wedge to paint. It's a seasonal small batch which is an alpine-style cheese rubbed with honey and aged in tea leaves. The tea leaves rubbed into the rind create an earthy spring flavor, not to mention the fun texture for painting. Like her sunny optimism, Sue Miller's cheese brightens your day. Thank you Sue, you're the hen-mother of south eastern PA cheese!

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Sue Miller, birchrun hills farm, cow, tea, honey, alpine

Price: sold

The Camel's Back

The Camel's Back

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: My first taste of this cheese was at a table with the owners, Thomas and Barbara Schaer, of Meadowset farm and Apiary. The farm is outside of Philadelphia on the DE border. Thomas is Swiss born and he and his wife began making cheese from their heard of sheep in addition to being full-time vetenarians! (so, I feel lazy and completely underworked after speaking with them...) "The Camel's Back, created in collaboration with longtime Talula's cheese expert Kate Stroh, is a firm Toma-style with less acidity due to its washed curd, and it shows the extraordinary complexity of good, aged sheep's milk: mushroomy earthiness, nuts, and lingering sweet grass." - Craig LaBan

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: Sheep, Deleware

Price: sold

Sea Smoke

Sea Smoke

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Sea Smoke from Elverson, PA is a beautiful goat cheese with a layer of charcoal ash. Fred and Debbie Mikulak, of Amazing Acres, the makers of this great cheese, purchased this painting!More here from Madame Fromage

Origin: USA, pennsylvania

Tags: elverson, pa, mikulak, amazing acres

Price: sold