A quick and easy summer meal using leftover steak!

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1/2 head romaine lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 large head Belgian endive, thinly sliced crosswise (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced into rings
• 3 cups fresh baby arugula
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 ounces blue cheese (like Gorgonzola or Bette Davis Eyes) coarsely crumbled
• Red Wine Vinaigrette, recipe follows
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Roughly 1 pound sliced steak (such as New York, rib-eye or filet mignon), pan-fried or grilled and chilled
• optional avocado chunks, or pickled red onion instead of fresh

Red Wine Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup olive oil

Red Wine Vinaigrette:

1. Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper in a jar with a tight lid. Making sure the lid is tight, shake it vigorously til the mix is emulsified (thick and opaque with all ingredients mixed).

Salad Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the romaine lettuce, Belgian endive, red onion, baby arugula and cherry tomatoes, and half of the cheese. Toss the salad with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad with salt and pepper, to taste. Arrange the salad on a platter.
2. Cut the steak crosswise into thin slices. Arrange the steak slices atop the salad and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Drizzle more vinaigrette over the steak slices and serve.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. It seems simple enough and we have been repeated it for nearly 50 years. How do we reframe the 3 R’s  in terms of things we do every day?

How can you reduce, reuse, and recycle during your evening meal?  

Reduce (Your Energy Usage)

That saves money and our natural resources – win-win! Not all cooking devices use the same amount of energy. If you just can’t bear the thought of turning on the oven or burners during these dog days of summer, don’t worry! Your microwave, slow cooker, and toaster oven are actually 2-3 times more energy efficient.

Pro-tip: consider grilling outdoors so your A/C isn’t working overtime during dinnertime!

Reuse (Your Leftovers)
For those hot days, nothing beats having a nice dinner already prepped from the evening before. “Reusing” leftovers will cut down on your food waste and your grocery bill!

Pro-tip: Try reusable, washable beeswax paper instead of cling wrap to cover your leftovers.

Recycle (Your Storage Containers)

If takeaway is your best friend, you can still do your part. Once those delicious leftovers have been devoured, the container you brought it home in can move on to its next life. Find out if the following are recyclable in your area:

• Plastic clamshells
• Foam cups and containers
• Compostable containers

How else can you apply the reduce-reuse-recycle mentality to other areas of your life? Share this information with your friends to keep the conversation going! Check out The Next Level Recycler Team for more info!

Happy Recycling.

Howdy cheese friends! Our cheesemakers have returned from their pilgrimage to the American Cheese Society conference in Richmond, VA, and we are excited to move forward with all the information learned and shared. We have lots of new cheese friends too!

Conference sessions covered a wide ranges of topics, from dairy farming and climate change, to courses on physical rehab, how to stay physically safe while milking cows and flipping big wheels of Havilah, to discovering new and exciting cheese pairings, understanding what causes cheese defects, to new research on affinage, and even a behind-the-scenes look at how cheeses are judged in competition.

We are all just about bursting with newfound motivation, and it is always great to see old friends and meet the new, and then taste cheeses from all around the country (even Hawaii!). 

But its great to be home and great to break open new wheels of our own beloved cheeses, so without further ado…..

Havilah
These raw milk Havilah wheels are just delicious. These batches have a dense, flakey texture with lots of that wonderful crystallization throughout. Brothy, hearty aromas greet you as you open the wheel, and when you take a bite, you get a wonderfully balanced flavor: beefy, with notes of broiled potatoes and slow-roasted root vegetables, and on the sweeter side, notes of hazelnut, salted caramel, honey, and vanilla. This is the perfect time of year to fall in love with Havilah again. Raw milk.

Oooumammi
Oooumammi is ready to take its rightful place as the star of your summertime cheese board. This cheese is a love child between a vegetal brie and an earthy tomme – the mottled rind on these raw milk wheels is just the beginning of the beauty that is Oooumammi. Underneath that dappled bloomy rind lies a fudgy creamline and a dense center paste packed with flavor. Earthy funky flavors of mushrooms and root vegetables are balanced by notes of salted butter, savory meats, with hints of anise near the finish. Raw milk.

Rarebird
Rarebird batches are always exceptional – they are each made with only the milk of 1 day – a perfect snapshot of the farm and the cows at that moment in time. Our delicious fresh raw milk is formed into small wheels in baskets, and for the next two months they each undergo a delicate washing by hand, which helps to form that beautiful creamsicle-colored rind. This batch is fudgy and creamy, with a texture that just about melts in your mouth with every bite. Flavor starts out clean, with notes of fresh cream and warm, yeasty bread straight out of the oven, and then develops just a hint of grassy funk near the washed rind. And Rarebird always leaves a last sweet goodbye: hints of almond and vanilla dancing across your palate at the finish. Raw milk

Herdsman
These six month old winter Herdsman baskets start off with notes of cultured butter and creme fraiche, lemony citrus, and fresh sea salt, finishing off with hints of toasted cashew, caramel, and a bit of sharpness. This batch is firm and flakey, very versatile – equally great for snacking or for cooking! Raw milk

Toma
In store only this week

This rustic raw milk farmhouse Toma batch boasts a delectable dense texture with an enticingly piquant aroma. Each bite of these wheels is buttery and bursting with flavor – layers of grassy notes atop hints of autumnal fruits and roasted nuts. In addition, there is a subtle minerality running in between all the stronger notes that really ties this flavorful batch together. Raw milk.

Buttercup Brie
On sale this week at 20% off in our farm store and at our farmers markets. Made from pasteurized milk.

We are off to the American Cheese Society’s annual conference in Richmond for four days of education, awards and cheesy fun! On Friday we will get the final word as to which cheeses stood out to the judges. Keep your fingers crossed for us. And stay tuned for more news!