Is there anyone who doesn’t love cheese? OK, I’m not talking to you vegans, unless you count that fake soy cheese as remotely edible. But the rest of us love cheese. You don’t know how happy I was when I got pregnant and my lactose intolerance mysteriously disappeared. Owen’s birthday marked a day much more special than just becoming a mom — I could eat cheese again!
Many of us entertain to celebrate the New Year, and I’ve already given you nineteen ideas for easy and festive appetizers you can prepare. Now, the CliqueClack Food staff has banded together to give you some of our favorite cheese platters. After all, everyone should have a little Clique in their New Year.
Bob says, “I really like serving jelly with cheese. In particular there is a hot pepper cranberry jelly that is amazing with both brie (or St. Andre, another favorite) and extremely sharp cheddar. I also like to serve a selection of hard cheeses (Gruyere, Manchego, etc) with some paté.”
Keith loves meat with cheese too, like assorted hard cheeses (some spicy!) with cured meats, like salami, gourmet sausages and prosciutto.
Cate says in Portugal, where she lives, “people like to serve cheese with plain cakes, like an un-iced pound cake — sounds really weird but it’s totally delicious. It’s especially good with super-soft buttery cheeses. It’s that sweet/salty combination that makes it work, like Bob’s cheese and jelly or that feta with peppered honey. Other than that they pretty much just do a basic antipasto platter — cubes of cheese, slices or chunks of prosciutto, olives, fresh crusty bread, and lots of wine!”
Back to the jelly with cheese: my brother has been serving brie with apple butter to great raves, and two favorites of mine are Manchego with fig jam and Gouda with roasted onion and garlic jam.
Kona says, “I like to have an assortment of hard and soft cheeses with fruit, like grapes and Granny Smith apples. Blue cheese and granny smiths are great together. I also always make sure to have goat cheese and Dubliner on hand.”
Since Owen and I don’t eat wheat, we’ll use rice crackers, but like Kona, fruit works best. Here are some of my favorite combinations:
Kelly, the new kid on the block here at CliqueClack, loves to serve Alouette garlic and herb spread with crackers. Her family also loves Cabot extra sharp cheddar, and they will accept no substitute.
Jen‘s got some cheese and bread pairings for us (but why would we expect anything different from the genius behind the “Let’s Get Baked” column): “We like to pair Camembert with a good crusty Italian bread, sliced pears, and OLIVES! But gorgonzola melted onto bread slices under the broiler is always a great favorite, especially paired with a nice Shiraz.”
A few other super combinations that are easy to put together for guests:
Even Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa herself, got together with us to share some of her cheese platter ideas. OK, not really, but the link is out there for the world to see and I had you there for a minute, didn’t I?
If you’re serving wine with your cheese appetizers, we’ve discovered several rosé Cote du Rhones that go amazingly well with cheese. You also can’t miss with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
There are no rules for the cheese platter, but we hope that some of our favorites will make your New Year’s gathering even more special. Happy New Year from CliqueClack Food, and be sure to share your favorite combinations in the comments!
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Dec 30, 2009 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
I really love goat cheese it is really delicous. Most of the time I eat it as a dessert or use it to make a salsa.