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Janet Fletcher

180 Stonecrest Dr
Napa, CA, 94558
(707) 265-0404
{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

Janet Fletcher

  • Home
  • About
    • About Janet
    • Media
    • Client List
    • Contact
  • Planet Cheese
    • Planet Cheese Blog
    • Planet Cheese Signup
    • Cheese Library
  • Store
    • All Items
    • World Cheese Tour
    • Books
  • Classes
    • World Cheese Tour Classes
    • Other Classes & Events
    • Custom Class/Event Request
    • Cheese O'Clock Video Archive
  • Recipes
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
    • Winter
    • Comfort

Goat Cheese Dresses Up

January 30, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

For someone who doesn’t typically want stuff in or on my cheese, I sure do love this herb- and spice-rubbed beauty. In fact, I can’t think of too many goat cheeses I enjoy more than this aromatic gem from France, which I wouldn’t hesitate to serve to goat cheese avoiders. People who think goat cheese is always tart and chalky are amazed when they encounter a chèvre as sweet, nutty and creamy as this one. So whether you’re a goat cheese enthusiast or on the never-chèvre side, prepare to be amazed.

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In From: France, Milk: Goat Tags chèvre, goat cheese, French cheese, Tomme de Fontenay, Rodolphe Le Meunier
14 Comments

Goat Cheese and Grilled Veggies Make a Tostada Masterpiece

October 10, 2023 janet@janetfletcher.com

Photo: Jeff Babcock

To answer your first question: Yes, it’s as good as it looks. And a breeze to make. Wish I had thought of it, but at least I recognize a genius idea when I see one. Crisp tostada, warm soft goat cheese, grilled autumn vegetables. My friend-in-cheese and talented cook Jeff Babcock was experimenting with fresh chèvre at home when this tasty concept took shape.

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Tags tostada, fresh goat cheese, chèvre, grilled vegetables, Mexican cooking
2 Comments

Buzziest Creamery in America

May 9, 2023 janet@janetfletcher.com

Top: Linedeline (left) and Shabby Shoe; bottom (l to r): Sunny Ridge, Afterglow and St. Germain

In last week’s post, I polled retailers around the country about their favorite new American cheeses. Laura Downey, who owns the Greenwich Cheese Shop and Fairfield Cheese Shop in Connecticut, replied immediately. “Veronica Pedraza is making some of the best cheese in the U.S. at the moment,” wrote Downey. Wow. I’ve written about Pedraza before but not since her latest career move: to a new goat farm and creamery in Wisconsin, where she has creative freedom and an employer with deep pockets. Time for an update on this rock-star cheesemaker and what seems like the “buzziest” creamery in America.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Goat Tags Blakesville Creamery, Wisconsin cheese, goat cheese, American goat cheese, chèvre, Veronica Pedraza, Lynde Uihlein, Shabby Shoe
18 Comments

Big Win for a Glorious Goat Cheese

October 4, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com
Pennyroyal Farm's Boont Corners

I am overjoyed to see aged goat cheese getting more attention from America’s cheesemakers. Personally, I can’t work up much enthusiasm for another fresh, rindless chèvre—we have plenty of those—but a new firm, nutty goat cheese with a natural rind, made in the U.S.A., gives us more choice in a slender category. The blue ribbon-winning beauty pictured above isn’t new—it debuted maybe 10 years ago—but it’s tasting better than ever. And I am noticing a few more entries in this slim niche. Many people tell me they don’t like goat cheese, but in my experience, everybody likes this type.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Goat, Milk: Mixed, Milk: Sheep Tags goat cheese, chèvre, aged goat cheese, chevre, Pennyroyal Farm, Anderson Valley, Navarro Vineyards, Firefly Farms, Andante Dairy, Goat Lady Dairy
8 Comments

Summer of Chèvre

June 28, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com
Summer of Chèvre

A creamy goat cheese coated with sweet paprika, shallots and garlic, Fleur Soleil is my new summer crush. With a bottle of rosé, a fresh baguette and a salad, there’s lunch. Or dinner. Or a picnic. I could eat this dreamy cheese all day long. The texture is almost fluffy, and the seasoning is bold but not overdone. Just in time to pair with summer tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and peppers.

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In From: France, Milk: Goat Tags goat cheese, chèvre, Fleur Soleil, fresh cheese, French cheese, summer cheese, rosé and cheese, cheese and rosé, Chèvrefeuille
12 Comments

Head of the Class

April 5, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com

Whatever they are doing at Fromagerie P. Jacquin to make this gorgeous, glorious goat cheese, I wish they’d reveal it. Is it the Loire Valley microclimate or simply French savoir-faire? Maybe it’s the expertise that comes from making the same cheeses for 60 years. Whatever, this chèvre has it all: good looks, luscious texture, big mushroomy aroma. To be honest, I’m often disappointed by goat cheeses in this style—they can be chalky or dense and lacking in scent—but this beauty is a pure delight.

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In From: France, Milk: Goat Tags goat cheese, Loire Valley, chèvre, Fromagerie Jacquin, Jacquin, French goat cheese, cheese with ash
9 Comments

Wandering the Backroads

July 6, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 27 _DSC4363.jpg

My dream job—and maybe yours, too—would be traveling the backroads of Europe as a Cheese Explorer, hunting for undiscovered cheeses at local farmers’ markets and in off-the-beaten-path bistros. I don’t get to do this but, fortunately, others do. That’s how American distributors keep receiving exquisite, unusual wheels from Europe that are hardly known there. This goat’s milk beauty comes from a scenic part of western France called Venise Verte (“Green Venice”). Did you even know this lush, canal-laced region existed? I didn’t, but I intend to go at the first opportunity. Maybe I’ll stumble on more goat cheeses as fabulous as this one.

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In From: France, Milk: Goat Tags goat cheese, French cheese, chèvre, fromage de chèvre, Hervé Mons, affinage, Venise Verte, Tomme de la Chataigneraie
5 Comments

Pandemic’s Silver Lining

May 17, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 41 _DSC4169.jpg

There aren’t many silver linings to this pandemic but here’s one: it spurred the development of a new fresh sheep cheese from Bellwether Farms. With restaurant sales of its aged cheeses plummeting—from 300 wheels a week to five—the California creamery ramped up its plan to launch a sheep’s milk version of fresh chèvre. Just a few days old when released, this dreamy toast-ready cheese is what pandemic-weary consumers want now, says Callahan. I’m loving it on crostini with carrots and dukkah.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Sheep Tags Bellwether Farms, crostini, sheep cheese, American Cheese Month, chèvre, California cheese, fresh cheese, Cakebread Cellars
2 Comments

You’re in Luck

December 25, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 78 _DSC7318.jpg

They say you’re supposed to eat lentils on New Year’s Day for good luck all year. I’m a skeptic but why tempt fate?

Years ago, as a young cook at Chez Panisse Café, I made a few thousand goat cheese and lentil salads. At least it seemed that way. Customers loved that salad and it was often on the menu.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Goat Tags chèvre, goat cheese, lentils, Laura Chenel, Bûcheron, goat cheese salad, Chez Panisse
8 Comments

Worth the Wait

April 18, 2017 Douglas Fletcher
Délice-des-Deux-Sèvres

Because we can always grab a quart of milk at the store, most of us don’t think of milk as seasonal. But cheesemakers do, especially if they work with goats or sheep. A dairy goat’s output dips and rises as the seasons change. Milk quality goes up and down. In summer, goats are generous but the milk is lean. In winter, supply plunges as farmers let pregnant goats go dry. For flavor and selection, spring is prime time. To experience the year’s finest fresh goat cheeses, leap now.

Read more
In From: France, Milk: Goat Tags chèvre, Loire Valley, Ovalié Cendrée, Hervé Mons, Délice des Deux-Sèvres
5 Comments
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Welcome to my world: a fragrant, fascinating universe devoted to great cheese. In this and future Planet Cheese posts, you’ll find profiles of the world’s best cheeses plus insights into everything cheese: shops, recipes, interviews, pairing discoveries, classes, videos, travel. If you haven’t already done so, sign up here - it’s complimentary - and join me in learning something new about cheese every week.


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     Photographs: Douglas Fletcher, Ed Anderson, Megan Clouse, Faith Echtermeyer, Eva Kolenko,
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