Each month, your Neighboring Food Co-ops feature our region’s artisan cheesemakers by offering a specially selected cheese at great price. Look for the “Cave to Co-op” sign in the cheese section at your local food co-op. To find one near you, visit www.nfca.coop/members.
This month’s special cheese is Mt. Alice, von Trapp Farmstead, Waitsfield, VT
The Sound of Music has made “von Trapp” a household name across generations. The family didn’t traverse the Alps on foot with all their instruments, but they did leave Austria to tour around Europe and the United States, eventually settling in Stowe in the 1940s.
Werner and Erika von Trapp started the von Trapp Farm in Waitsfield, Vermont in 1959. Erika had studied agriculture in Austria and was a main force behind establishing and growing the farm.
Over 60 years later, von Trapp Farmstead continues using regenerative practices like rotational grazing and on-farm cheesemaking, focuses on healthy soil, animal welfare, and expressing place through milk. All cheeses are made with pasteurized organic cow’s milk from their own pasture-raised herd, just steps from the fields where the cows graze.
Mt. Alice is a soft-ripened, bloomy-rind cheese named for the mountain overlooking the farm. When young, it offers a buttery, milky profile with subtle floral notes; as it ripens, the texture becomes lusciously gooey with developing mushroom and earthy complexity. Approachable yet elegant, Mt. Alice is a versatile cheese that shines both on boards and in the kitchen.
Recipe ideas include grilled cheese with apples or caramelized onions, melted over roasted potatoes or vegetables or spoon warmed Mt. Alice onto flatbread with mushrooms and herbs.
Mt. Alice pairs well with baguettes, sourdough, water crackers, apples, pears, grapes, honey, fruit preserves, or prosciutto! Sparkling wine, Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, dry cider are wonderful matches.
Try this recipe for special occasions or just because it’s winter!
Roasted Beet Crostini with Walnut & Orange
Featuring von Trapp’s Mt. Alice
Makes 6-8 crostini
Ingredients:
- 1 small baguette, sliced and toasted
- 4 oz. Mt. Alice cheese, sliced
- 2 medium roasted beets, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
- Zest of 1 orange
- Drizzle of honey or orange-infused olive oil
- Fresh microgreens or arugula, for garnish
Instructions:
1. Toast baguette slices until golden.
2. Spread or layer Mt. Alice on each crostini.
3. Top with roasted beet slices, walnuts, and a sprinkle of orange zest.
4. Drizzle lightly with honey or orange-infused olive oil.
5. Garnish with microgreens or arugula for color and freshness.
Cave to Co-op is a partnership between Provision International and the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) to support local, artisanal cheese producers in our region and make their products more easily available to co-op shoppers. The NFCA is a network of more than 40 food co-ops in our region — including yours — that are working together to advance their vision of a thriving regional economy, rooted in a healthy, just and sustainable food system and a vibrant community of co-operative enterprise. For more information, please visit www.nfca.coop.