If you took a trip in our whey back machine to 2013, you’d find our cheesemaker Brad Sinko putting the finishing flavor touches on what would become In Your Face Cheddar, one of the first three cheeses to be wrapped in the Face Rock Creamery logo. In our first year of operation, In Your Face 3-Pepper Curds took 1st place at the 2014 American Cheese Society awards, the prestigious national cheese competition of North America.

In Your Face cheddar is a spicy 3-pepper cheddar that is studded with Jalapeno, Habanero and sweet red Chili’s. This trio of heat makes this a cheese that’s full on In Your Face with flavor. We created a Flavor Profile of In Your Face so you can learn more about this fan favorite.

In Your Face is available as fresh curds, or aged blocks. All cheddar starts as curds. When we make a batch of cheese, we separate out a portion of curds to flavor and package as fresh curds. We press the rest into larger blocks that are taken to the aging room so they can settle into the block format and age into the familiar creamy blocks of cheddar. A fun experiment is to taste a fresh In Your Face Curd, and a slice of aged In Your Face Cheddar. What do you notice about the texture? Flavor? Heat?

Ready to get In Your Face in your mouth?? Here are five of our favorite ways to enjoy In Your Face Spicy Cheddar.

1. Any taco night, any time! As a spicy, full-flavored cheddar, In Your Face goes exceptionally well with the flavors we often find in Mexican inspired dishes. So shred up a block and serve with all of your favorites from nachos and tacos, to enchiladas and pozole, and everything in between!
2. Add big flavor to box mixes. We believe that if something is made at home, it’s homemade! So if box mixes make life easier for you, you can use In Your Face curds and cheese to amp the flavor. This works great for cornbread, muffins, biscuits, scones, and packaged mac and cheese.
3. Add to cold dishes as well as hot. One of our favorite ways to use In Your Face is to add cubes or curds to a loaded summer pasta salad. Here’s our recipe for In Your Face Chilled Pasta Salad if you want to give it a try!
4. Snack it! Cheese boards, snacking boards, grazing boards…they are all extremely popular methods for creating a curated meal or snack for yourself or a crowd. Don’t overlook the good old fashioned cracker stacker. Thick cuts of In Your Face block cheddar, a triscuit or club cracker, and a slice of salami is just about perfect for snack time.
5. Curds straight outta the tub! Yep, as much as we love to cook with curds, you can most likely find us standing in front of the fridge and eating these fresh chunks of squeaky, cheesy goodness.