Willowbrae Chèvre Cheese 'Marinated Chèvre'

Fresh (Marinated)
Goat's milk (mostly Toggenburg, with Anglo-Nubian & Saanen)
Hawkesbury Valley (Blue Mountains foothills)
300g jars

Willowbrae Chèvre Cheeses have been a permanent fixture at many farmers' markets around Sydney since the very early days of "growers" markets. Willowbrae's marinated chèvre - their flagship cheese - was the first NSW farmhouse cheese I ever tried, way back before I was a "cheese person".

Willowbrae Chèvre Cheese
Marinated Chèvre

Twelve years ago Karen & David Borg swapped corporate life for a patch of land at Wilberforce and a couple of goats, and have since grown their herd to 100 milkers, and their range of cheeses to around a dozen. David looks after the goats, Karen makes the cheese, and daughter Kate makes a regular appearance at many of the markets where the cheeses are exclusively sold.

Using a similar technique to gnocchi-making, Karen rolls the fresh chèvre into sausage-like logs then cuts it into small pieces, before marinating it in a delicate blend of sunflower and olive oils, with garlic and fresh herbs. I'm not normally a fan of flavoured and marinated cheeses - perhaps that's the cheese snob in me - but I like this one because the marinade is not overpowering, and you can still taste the distinctive goat's milk cheese underneath.

It's delicous spread on good, wholemeal bread with a slice of fresh, ripe tomato, and even better atop home-made pizza. Plus, the left-over marinade makes an excellent salad dressing.

Udder Farm Premium Jersey Full Cream Milk

Non-homogenised milk
Jersey cows
Hunter Valley
750ml glass bottles
www.udderfarm.com.au

My first post for the new year takes us back to where it all begins - real milk. As it's also the first post from my new home town of Newcastle, I've chosen something local from the Hunter Valley.

Udder Farm Premium Jersey
Full Cream Milk

This old-fashioned milk is the latest addition to the range of milks, cream and cheese from Greg Haines, a dairy farmer from Luskintyre near Maitland. Greg and his family milk the cows twice each day and bottle their milk several times a week, to be sold in corner stores and markets in the local area.

Already the distinctive glass bottles are developing a cult-like following, with stories circulating of how customers are re-using them in creative ways - from bottling pasta sauce and salad dressings to rainwater and homebrew.

It's real milk with nothing added, and nothing taken away. And it tastes sensational - silky smooth, clean and sweet. I challenge you not to dip in a spoon and eat the thick plug of cream on top.