Cheese Platters

Happy New Year.  I don't believe in diets, but in moderation.  Plus, I still had one post from Christmas dinner to finish.

I decided to disguise the fact that I didn't make rolls and could only come up with one side dish for the rib roast I made for Christmas by doing courses.  When food keeps coming every twenty minutes, no one counts what was on them.

The easiest place to start is with a cheese plate as guests are arriving.  It takes the edge off the hunger and absorbs any cocktails so they don't hit an empty stomach.  Ok, I was the only one with a drink, but not for lack of trying.  After a full day of cooking, I earned that half a glass of sherry.

I've learned this year that there's actually an art to the cheese platter.  Growing up, there was usually a ball of something compound that was covered with nuts and set on a plate with some crackers.  After a few cruises and some cooking shows, I've found out that a good cheese plate has at least three cheeses of different profiles, some nuts, jam, dried fruit, and good-quality crackers that go with the cheeses.

What I did in the plate above was have three categories of cheese: brie was the smooth, bleu for the aged, and smoked gouda for hard.  Then there were walnuts, some cherry vanilla jam, dried figs, and a navel orange off the tree.

I did choose to pre-cut the bleu and gouda, but that was about knowing your guests.  Some folks you have over are more coordinated than others.  They still got to use the cheese knife on the brie, because there's no real way to pre-cut that if you're leaving a plate out for an hour.

Cheese and crackers don't have to be hard to be impressive.  It's all in the arrangement.