In honor of The Saturday Cheese Course, Lovie and I took a field trip to Haystack Mountain Farm, 
where they produce phenomenal handcrafted goat cheeses. Although the farm is located just outside Boulder, less than 45 minutes away from my house, the trip there reminded me of searching the European countryside to visit some out of the way artisanal farm. The directions to Haystack included unmarked dirt roads and that I was to turn when I saw "three mailboxes by an apple tree". As we pulled up the long, dirt driveway, I was struck by how small the whole operation was. One small building and 136 goats are churning out thousands of pounds of drool-inducing cheese each year. We parked by the "teenager" pen and were met by a throng of tiny white goats rushing up to be petted. The self-guided tour included stops at the baby goat nursery, the maternity ward, the bucks' house and the milking herd, all filled with beautiful, clean, happy goats, full of personality and fun.
Inside the milking house, we saw how they milk goats, eight at a time and looked into the cheese room, where trays of Haystack Peak sat aging on the counter. Our guide opened the door to the walk-in and the aroma of cheese filled the air. The fridge was filled with small rounds of Red Cloud and Sunlight cheese, raw-milk cheeses aged for 60 days. During the aging process, each round is scrubbed every week to remove mold blooms, produced by larger rounds of green cheese left to induce spore growth and flavor, leaving behind a beautiful reddish washed-rind finish.
In the tasting room, most of the varieties were available for snacking, YUM! We tasted the deliciously smooth and creamy Chevre, Buttercup - a mixed milk semi-hard cheese that reminded me of a Gouda, the Queso de Mano - a mild and nutty raw-milk cheese and the Red Cloud, which is what, after much deliberation, came home with me.
The Red Cloud is an amazing cheese, firm with a nice bite. The rind is a gorgeous color, light reddish-gold with tiny moldy holes. Inside the creamy white cheese is a revelation of complex, nutty and woody flavors that melt in your mouth. This is a fabulous cheese simply to enjoy with a glass of wine and chunks of crispy baguette. I also think it would be a wonderful and unusual way to finish a spicy dish, crumbled on top of guacamole, enchiladas or tostadas. I always love the way tangy goat cheeses give Mexican food a new twist, and this would be a great choice.
Haystack Mountain Cheese is sold in gourmet grocery stores across the country and is served in many fine restaurants. You can find a location or order online at Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy. I'm thrilled to have found them in my own backyard!
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