Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese

She's beauty and she's grace, she's the most awarded cheese in the United States

Welcome to the first official Cheese Church Bulletin! It feels particularly appropriate to launch this new venture during peak summer, while nature shows off her most plentiful and verdant self. The pastures are lush with grasses, clover, and other flora, creating a feast for grazing cows, sheep, and goats. I love how all that sunshine is distilled into their milk and concentrated into cheese; summer preserved like a jar of peaches. 

Our first featured cheese embodies this magic in her sun-gold hue and grassy flavors of a Wisconsin pasture in bloom. To honor the upcoming birthday of the problematic icon that is the United States, today we worship the most awarded cheese in American history: Pleasant Ridge from Uplands Cheese.

Cheese of the Month: Pleasant Ridge Reserve 

Modeled after Beaufort, a legendary French Alpine cheese, Pleasant Ridge is a Wisconsin original made with raw milk from gorgeous cows grazing on a pastoral paradise. Uplands Cheese is located in the Driftless, a midwestern region that was untouched by glaciers. While much of the surrounding land was flattened into prairie lands during the Ice Age, the Driftless has deep valleys and rolling hills that make for the uniquely beautiful terrain that makes Pleasant Ridge so magical. 

Owned and operated by herd manager Scott Mericka and cheesemaker Andy Hatch, Uplands only makes two cheeses. When the cows are at pasture, their milk goes to Pleasant Ridge. In the fall, the herd switches from fresh grass to hay which makes for a richer milk that’s transformed into the custard-soft, bark-wrapped Rush Creek Reserve. While their autumnal creation only comes out around the holidays, Pleasant Ridge is available year-round thanks to her long shelf-life (see below for where to buy her). 

Upland’s gorgeous cows just feasting on that Wisconsin flora

Like Beaufort, Gruyere, and other cheeses made in the Alpine-style, Pleasant Ridge has a rugged washed rind and smooth, firm paste. The beta-carotene rich summer flora give her a glowing golden hue and endlessly complex flavor experience. She’s both savory and sweet, with notes of bone broth and cultured butter unfolding into toasted Brazil nuts, and even butterscotch, especially in the extra-aged Reserve batches. Because of the seasonal nature of her production, no wheels are never alike. Some batches taste like tropical fruit, while others have notes of plums and chocolate. 

Pleasant Ridge with bread and butter pickles and summer sausage from Underground Meats. fun fact: cheesemaker Andy Hatch and Underground’s founder were college roommates.

Pleasant Ridge was recently featured in the cheese episode of Top Chef: Wisconsin, transformed into a fritter served over collard greens, which earned contestant Michelle Wallace the win. Now, I’m a little plucked that almost every other contestant also fried their cheese, because that is at best boring and at worst sacrelige, but I digress. I love what Michelle did and it sounds like an incredible pairing. Imagine melting a slice of Pleasant Ridge over braised greens on toasted sourdough! 

Anyway, here’s how I’d recommend serving this absolute gem of a cheese Let me know how you’d pair Pleasant Ridge in the comments below. Cheesus bless!

• How to Serve: slice into thin triangles

• Sweet Pairings: cherries, dark chocolate, and toasted almonds 

• Savories Pairings: salami, rye crackers, and cornichons

• What to Drink: Rye Manhattan, Farmhouse Ale such as Spotted Cow, or a cherry shrub with seltzer

• Where to buy: order directly or find her at cheese shops and specialty grocers such as Whole Foods, Wegman’s, and Murray’s Cheese at Kroger. You can also order online from Fromagination in Madison, Wisconsin.

Looking to buy some cheese? Find a local cheese shop near you or checkout my online retailer list.

Tip of the Month: Thinly Slice Your Firm Cheeses

When it comes to cutting the cheese, more surface area means more flavor on your tongue. Instead of cubing firm cheeses such as cheddars and Pleasant Ridge, try slicing them thinly to maintain the shape of the wedge. 

Charity of the Month: HEAL Palestine

Each month I donate proceeds from my Cheese Angel pin to a different charity. This month's featured charity is HEAL Palestine, a nonprofit dedicated to the humanitarian needs of children in Palestine. Donate here, or shop the pin.