Cruise Cuisine – Pancho’s, Cozumel, Mexico

 

In the duty-free marketplace on Cozumel, our intrepid fellows insisted that we have lunch at a local establishment they were already aware of. It’s called Pancho’s, as might be expected in the tourist area, but the food was not typical tourist fare. It was delightful to have real Mexican cuisine instead of the Tex-Mex hybrid dishes so profligate in Texas.

I started off with a coffee, while some of my fellow travelers indulged in frosty adult beverages as seen in a previous blog. The coffee was a locally grown blend, dark and rich, and served with heavy cream. it was so good I almost didn’t order food.

My empty cup.

 

 

My partner wanted to try a Mexican beer in Mexico. Upon finding out that Dos XX was available on tap, he chose to make that his beverage experience.

for the meal itself, we went with a couple of dishes we are quite familiar with, wanting to know how they would be served in their homeland. He went with the queso flameado (as we had previously learned to call it), while I settle for the chicken flautas.

The queso came all melty, as we know it, though it came in a shallower dish, and covered in a mild green sauce. It was served with flour tortillas as we are also used to. Somehow it tasted better than anything we had experienced back home.

 

The flautas were just as I had been told to expect in Mexico. There was nothing added. Roasted chicken was rolled into tortillas and fried. The chicken was flavorful, but without all the crazy spices Tex-Mex utilizes. The sauce it was served with was a little sweet and a lot spicy, just as I had hoped it might be. There was even a large spoonful of guacamole to help cool my tongue after the first taste of that sauce.

 

We were fortunate to be able to get a table on the “beach” as the hostess referred to it. It was outside on a built up bit of sand, with palm fronds for a ceiling and a view of old coral coastline and sparkling blue water.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and the chance to sit and do relatively little for an hour or so. We hope to be able to revisit Pancho’s and try some of the more adventurous items on the menu.

–Ann Cathey

Cruise Cuisine – Supper in Sapphire

On our third day of the cruise, we were back in Sapphire for dinner. Things were pretty relaxed, and while there was a dress code, no one was really enforcing it.

We were getting more into the swing of things and finally noticed this little addition to the menu that featured an unusual appetizer: “Rare Finds”. My partner in food was much more willing and able to take advantage of this particular little gem. While I returned to the shrimp cocktail, he adventurously ordered the Escargots Bourgignonne (snails in Burgandy). They were not presented in shell, but on a special plate with numerous cups around the rim, each holding a snail. The flavor of the sauce they had been cooked in was outstanding, the heartiness of wine mixed with spices and butter. I was at least brave enough to try that, if not the gastropods themselves.

Sadly, in our excitement, neither of us remembered to take photos of the appetizers.

Our main courses were more mainstream, being beef and chicken, but were as delicious as everything else we had been served to date.

Chicken Milanese with charred lemon, sautéed green beans, and steamed vegetables.

Flat Iron Steak with au jus, a baked potato and steamed veggies.

On we went, after a measured pause, to dessert. One of the selections truly surprised me, being lower calorie and having no added sugar. Of course I had to try it and I was not disappointed.

Chocolate Panna Cotta. A deliciously chocolate dessert with lowered calories and no added sugars.

Cheese Plate with whole grain bread, blueberries and strawberries, A Swiss-type cheese, a bleu cheese, a Gouda, a Cheddar and a Brie.

If for nothing else, time spent together with excellent food readily available made this trip more than worth the price.

— Ann Cathey

Cruise Cuisine – Fahrenheit 555

There is a restaurant aboard the Carnival Breeze that specializes in steak rendered as haute cuisine: Fahrenheit 555. We were fortunate enough to be included in a group reservation and experience this elaborate and delicious corner of the ship. Below are photos and descriptions of the dishes we tasted and consumed with much relish.

We were surprised with these little cheese and potato hors d’oeuvres, compliments of the chef.

A double cheese potato hors d’oeuvre, compliments of the chef.

 

Note the Parmesan cracker and dill sprig enhancing the visual and flavor experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appetizers abounded at our table. Of course we sampled everything we could. Left to right are Grilled Portobello, Ahi Tartar, and Beef Carpaccio.

Grilled Portabello

Ahi Tartare

Beef Carpaccio

 

The Caesar salad was the order of the day, though it was prettier than it was interesting.

Caesar Salad

For our main courses, we chose the Prime Ribeye and a Lobster tail with Filet Mignon.

Prime Ribeye

Lobster tail with Filet Mignon

 

Then came the dessert offerings.

Cheesecake

Cheese Plate with grapes and almonds

 

 

— Ann Cathey
Photos by Ann Cathey and Christopher O’Banion.

Lighten Up Your Lunch!

Sandwiches are a staple for a lot of people for lunch. They are quick and convenient, easy to carry, throw together, and consume. The bread used is the main source of both carbs and calories for your average sandwich. Swapping out the bread for broad leaf lettuce to make wraps can add more crunch to your lunch, as well as a vegetable serving in your busy day.

Using a broad leaf lettuce, such as the outer leaves of iceburg, butterleaf, Romaine, or red-leaf lettuces, simply layer your sandwich fixings in the middle, roll it all up in the leaf, and eat.

Sound deceptively simple? It is! Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

TURKEY
Butter leaf lettuce
2 slices of turkey
a teaspoon of shredded beets
a teaspoon of fresh goat cheese
a teaspoon of chopped walnuts

Lay the turkey out on your lettuce leaf. Spread the goat cheese lengthwise along the meat so there will be some cheese in every bite. Add the beets and walnuts along the line of the cheese. Starting on one side, roll up the lettuce leaf around the other ingredients. Enjoy.

HAM
Iceburg lettuce
2 ounces ham, sliced or shredded
1 ounce Swiss or Emmenthaler
3 slices of fresh apple
1 teaspoon of chopped pecans

Follow the same procedure above in building and rolling your wrap.

BEEF
Romaine lettuce
2 ounces roast beef, corned beef or pastrami
1 ounce cheese, cheddar or provolone
1 kosher pickle spear
Brown or deli mustard

Beef is a hardy meat. Pile the beef and cheese on a microwave safe plate and heat for 30 seconds. This will soften the cheese but not make the meat hot enough to wilt the lettuce. Lay out the lettuce, add the meat and cheese. Run a line of mustard to taste down the length of the meat and cheese, an add the pickle spear. Wrap as instructed above.

Wraps are a wonderful way to use up leftovers that may be hanging about in the fridge. We always have broken meats, ends of cheese, a little of this or that available and have found this to be a good way to use them up.

You will also find that some restaurants now have lettuce wrap alternatives available for sandwiches on their menu. Five Guys Burgers & Fries now offers any hot dog or hamburger on their menu as a lettuce wrap. It’s a messy way to eat a burger, but it’s tasty and comes with any or all of their toppings.

I tried a double meat, double cheese wrap with pickles, mayo and sauteed mushrooms at Five Guys here in Conroe. It was so delicious that I smiled all the way through the meal, in spite of the slippery mess those mushrooms caused. I was licking my fingers afterward, too. They use two overlapping leaves of iceburg lettuce for that wrap, and the lettuce held up well enough in the beginning. It started getting messy about halfway through as the slippery ingredients started sliding to the relative bottom.

This taught me like nothing else that condiments such as mayo, mustard, and ketchup should be used sparingly in lettuce wraps, and to keep napkins handy!

Give wraps a try. The different combinations of ingredients are nearly endless, and can be tailored to individual diets. Remember not to over stuff your lettuce, go easy on the condiments, and have fun with it.

Bon appetite!

–Ann Cathey

Lasagna Style Bake

This dish is so simple, and it takes leftovers out of your fridge in a heartbeat. Leftover pasta is often something foodies face, be it long and thin or round and stuffed. In our case it was a batch of tortellini filled with Italian sausage and cheese. There was a jar of left over red sauce with spinach, shredded carrots, roasted garlic, and onions, about 16 ounces, and a few other goodies. We added a ton of mozzarella cheese and it became a meal. The trick is in the layering to create an entirely new dish.

This is not so much a recipe as a guideline, really.

Lasagna Style Bake
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes to an hour
Pre-heat: oven to 300F
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
Check out your fridge and see what you’ve got. Our list included these items.
A pasta – spaghetti, ravioli, tortellini, whatever is on hand
A sauce – red, white or rose, or a mix of flavors
Veggies? Spinach, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and garlic all work wonderfully
Olives? Black, green, kalamata…
Cheese – mozzarella and Provolone work best
Olive oil

Directions:
1. Choose a pan that will comfortably hold the ingredients. I chose an 8×8 Pyrex pan. Yours may need to be larger.
2. Spray or wipe pan lightly with olive oil.
3. Dribble in just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Mine was a tomato based sauce quite chunky with spinach and onion.
4. Lay in a layer of veggies. Sliced zucchini and mushroom were the veggies du jour.
5. Spread cheese everywhere in the pan. Don’t ignore the corners. At this point you may use shredded mozzarella, sliced provolone, a smear of ricotta or even well drained cottage cheese.
6. Add your pasta and distribute evenly across the pan. If you have a spaghetti style pasta, you may want to make several layers of it. Lumpier pastas, such as tortellini and ravioli, can be settled in a single layer if preferred.
7. Drizzle on some more sauce and another layer of veggies.
8. Add another layer of cheese at this point.
9. Pour the remaining sauce on top and distribute evenly. The heavier layer of sauce at the top will cook down into the rest of the dish.
10. Top with a goodly layer of cheese.
11. Cover with foil and bake at 300F for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how done you want your veggies.
12. Once removed from the oven, allow to rest for five minutes or so while you get ready to emplate.

There are so many variations on this dish that your imagination is the only possible limit. It can be done as a quick fix meal with canned sauce, any pasta, and cheese. Add whatever strikes your culinary fancy and have fun with it.

Enjoy!

–Ann Cathey

Food Porn Episode 6

This episode of Food Porn is brought to you by my kitchen. The food photos were, as they have been in this series, culled from stock photography. I’ve added a little info about each one, though I’m told they speak for themselves, especially the ones that scream, “BACON!”

Bunless bacon cheeseburgers! Broiled beef patties, hickory smoked bacon, shredded colbyjack cheese, and kosher dill slices.

 

Okay this one is not from my kitchen, but from a campout we enjoyed a month or so ago. Chicken Enchilada Lasagne with fresh diced tomatoes, a corn and black bean mix, with a side of French bread and butter.

 

Yellow curried chicken over white rice with mini pita on the side.

 

Scrambled ham with spices and ham sandwiched on a fresh butter croissant.

 

A heart attack on a butter croissant with coarse mustard, three layers of maple bacon, kosher dills, and colbyjack cheddar cheese.

 

Let’s get another look at that bunless bacon cheeseburger, shall we?

–Ann Cathey

Crock Pot Adventure – Pork Chops

In my kitchen, the “manager’s markdown” items at our local groceries are a boon. Today’s dinner menu is based around several of them that had been purchased and frozen for use on days such as this – when I can’t immediately think of anything to cook.

As I perused the freezers (a top and a chest), my mind began to formulate a plan. Here was a bag of pork chops, there a pack of fresh chives; here a red wine/onion broth from a previous crock pot adventure, there a package of sliced Pancetta. In the dry cabinet there were three large white potatoes. I pulled out a casserole style crock pot and some olive oil spray, and began to compose.

I sprayed the inside of the crock as it does not easily accommodate the liner bags I prefer to use. This one is a 3.5 quart, long and sleek and low. Perfect for chops and other such cuts of meat.

The potatoes were washed and sliced in rounds. This is how they are sliced for German potatoes (potatoes, onions, and butter, baked into a lovely hot side dish). they were layered into the bottom of the crock with a little seasoned salt and a light spray of olive oil in between the layers. This was topped with a sprinkle of diced chives, and a thin layer of the Pancetta.

Essentially bacon and potatoes – what could be a better base?

Roasted garlic schmeer

The next layer was the pork chops, the meat of the meal, as it were. They were arranged in a neat, single layer. A bulb of roasted garlic was squeezed out and spread on top of the meat. Already aromatic and slightly sweet to the taste, it would become moreso with this second roasting, flavoring the meat and the potatoes beneath in one fell swoop.

Frozen broth

 

The broth was set into the microwave on low to thaw from the frozen brick it had become. Full of onions and based in a red wine, the broth was reserved from a previous pork chop crock. Waste not, want not, as they say. In this case it came in quite handy for another dish of pork chops when I had a noticeable lack of red wine available in the kitchen.

Broth over the pork, you can see the previously cooked onions

The broth was gently poured over the contents of the pot, covering every available surface. It was followed by a light sprinkle of seasoned salt, then the pot was sealed for the next several hours.

While the pork was roasting, the bread and cheese side was conceived, discussed, and executed.

Pulling out all the leftover cheeses in the fridge, we cubed them and tossed them in a bowl. This included all the odds and ends from a party and some bits that had just not yet been consumed. There was a bit of Monterrey Jack, a couple of different cheddars, a tomato and basil mozzarella, some Romano and parmesan, and I don’t recall what all else.

Using a can of crescent roll dough, it was laid out flat and instead of being cut into the recommended triangles, the seams were pinched shut and it was sliced into 6 squares.

The squares lined a pan of large cupcake cups. The cheese was liberally spooned into each shell. The tops and sides were pulled over the cheese and patted into place. The tray baked at the recommended temperature for 12-15 minutes.

The resulting savory pasty was nom-o-rific!

When the pork was ready, we emplated with the potatoes and pastry for a fantastic meal.

 

 

 

 

— Ann Cathey

Simple Wine Pairings

A lot of people enjoy wine, but have not yet learned how best to pair wines with food for the maximum enjoyment. While I am not a big wine drinker, my father made sure I was at least educated in the basics. In his honor I will share some of what he taught me.

We start with the simplest of rote teachings that I grew up with: Red wines for red meat (beef, venison, buffalo, etc), white wines for white meat (fowl, pork, etc). That is merely a starting point – there are so many delicate variations to explore that wine enthusiasts, each with his or her own opinions, abound. Let’s just stick with some basics.

There are so many more varieties of grapes being grown around the world that to try to cover them all at once would take a really long time and likely confuse many readers.

All of the wines mentioned below are readily available from numerous vineyards, and consequently from vine to vine are a little different. You may find that you prefer the flavor of a wine from California or Texas over that of the same type of wine produced in Europe, or vice versa. Experiment with the differences and find the wines that you like best.

Personally, there is little difference between a table wine and a cooking wine. A little for me, a little for the pot, as it were. On the opposite end of the spectrum, many people consider wines to be categorized as only to be savored from the glass, while others are good only for cooking, and yet others are only good for making vinegar. As with any taste experience, personal taste is everything.

 

RED WINES

Cabernet Sauvignon is a red wine that often sports hints of cherry or blackberry. It has a  full-bodied, but firm flavor, quite gripping when young. With age, rich currant qualities come forward. Vanilla notes, if present, come not from the fruit but from the oak treatment.
-Food-wine pairing: best with simply prepared red meat.
-Cheeses: Cheddar, Gouda, Edam, Havarti

Merlot is the go-to for most people starting to experiment with wine. It is wasy to drink and excellent for most cooking projects. Most often it will sport black-cherry and herbal flavors.
-Food-wine pairing: any will do
-Cheeses: Gouda, Camembert, Gorgonzola, Brie, Cheddar

Pinot Noir is very unlike it’s cousin, Cabernet Sauvignon. The structure is delicate and fresh with very soft tannins. This is related to the low level of polyphenols. The aromatics are very fruity (cherry, strawberry, plum), often with notes of tea-leaf or damp earth
-Food-wine pairing: excellent with grilled salmon, chicken, lamb and Japanese dishes
-Cheeses: Swiss, Port Salut, Gruyere, Feta

Syrah, or Shiraz, is a very popular wine for both drinkability and table pairings. The shiraz variety gives hearty, spicy reds. While shiraz is used to produce many average wines it can produce some of the world’s finest, deepest, and darkest reds with intense flavors and excellent longevity. It offers aromas and flavors of wild black-fruit (such as blackcurrant), with overtones of black pepper spice and roasting meat. The abundance of fruit sensations is often complemented by warm alcohol and gripping tannins.
-Food-wine pairing: meat (steak, beef, wild game, stews, etc.)
-Cheeses: Sharp Cheddar, Edam, Gouda, Roquefort

Zinfandels are sporty wines offering raspberry, blackberry, black cherry, raisin, and prune flavors. For decades zinfandel was California’s grape, though now it is grown all over the west coast of the United States, in Australia, Italy, and elsewhere, and its ancestry has been traced to Croatia. California zinfandel remains the model for all others, and it grows well and vines distinctively all over the state.
-Food-wine pairing: any will do, though very acceptable with fruits
-Cheeses: Double Gloucester, Asiago, Bleu, Feta, aged Gouda or Cheddar

 

WHITE WINES

Chardonnay is often wider-bodied (and more velvety) than other types of dry whites, with rich citrus (lemon, grapefruit) flavors. Fermenting in new oak barrels adds a buttery tone (vanilla, toast, coconut, toffee). Tasting a moderately priced Californian Chardonnay should give citrus fruit flavors, hints of melon, vanilla, some toasty character and some creaminess.
-Food-wine pairing: it is a good choice for fish and chicken dishes.
-Cheeses: Brie, Asiago, Havarti

Riesling wines are much lighter than Chardonnay wines. The aromas generally include fresh apples. The riesling variety expresses itself very differently depending on the district and the winemaking. Rieslings should taste fresh. If they do, then they might also prove tastier and tastier as they age.
-Food-wine pairing: dry versions go well with fish, chicken and pork dishes.
-Cheeses: Bleu, Colby, Brie, Edam, Gouda, Havarti

Pinot Grigio creates light, zippy, food-friendly white wines that do not clobber the palate with oak and alcohol. Its alter ego, pinot gris (same grape, different name), has become the white wine of Oregon, where it produces lively, pear-flavored wines that may carry an additional fruity sweetness. The California version  is a bit heavier, while vintners in Washington make intense, tart wines that match well with seafood.
-Flavors: Citrus, fresh pear, melon, Fuji apples, seafood
-Cheeses: Goat cheese, Muenster, Gouda, Edam, Asiago

Sauvignon Blanc is generally lighter than Chardonnay. It tends to show an herbal character suggesting bell pepper or freshly mown grass. The dominating flavors range from sour green fruits of apple and pear through to tropical fruits of melon, mango and blackcurrant. Quality unoaked Sauvignon Blancs will display smokey qualities. They offer bright aromas with a strong acid finish.
-Food-wine pairing: a versatile food wine for seafood, poultry, and salads.
-Cheeses: Gruyere, Mozzarella, Asiago, Neufchatel

For the host or hostess who does not wish to keep a cellar of wines, simply keeping one red and one white that are versatile on hand will cover most casual occasions. A good Zinfandel is also a catch all for a lot of people as it goes with so much.

There are tons of information out on the internet for those who wish to develop their wine palate. One sight of particular interest is Wine Enthusiast [http://www.winemag.com/], which offers Wine for Beginners [http://www.winemag.com/wine-for-beginners/]. The article offers some valuable information up to and including storing wines and investing in them. This site was a primary source for material used in this blog.

My primary investment in wine is what it will do to a roast or add to chicken or duck when cooking, and I freely admit it. Your relationship with wine will develop to suit you.

Happy Sipping!

— Ann Cathey

Ready-Made Fondue Comparison

Fondue is a truly fun foodie experience. Originating in Switzerland, Italy and France, the Swiss Cheese Union promoted it as a Swiss national dish in the 1930s. It began as a dish of melted cheese served in a shared pot, eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese. Two decades later began to be generalized into a cooking style in which food is dipped into a pot of hot liquid, be it melted cheese, hot wine or boiling water. It spread spread further to include fruits and sweet breads dipped into chocolate, and fondue bouguignonne where bites of meat are cooked in hot oil.

Fondue as a style was popularized in the United States sometime in the 60’s and has been with us ever since. There is so much more information available on this fun and tasty method that I may blog on it again later.

In this article, we will be looking at two commercially available cheese based offerings that were, surprisingly enough, found at a local chain grocery rather than a specialty store. Neither of these are intended to be prepared in a caquelon over a mild flame, but to be oven baked or heated in a microwave. In both cases reheating in the microwave was required – we didn’t consume it fast enough in a 62F room to keep it from hardening.

We chose beef summer sausage, crimini (baby Portabella), a white Italian bread, and sliced apples for our dipping pleasure. This was a nicely varied group of textures and flavors with which to test and enjoy the fondues.

Paul Dischamp Fondue Saint-Nectaire
INGREDIENTS: cultured pasteurized milk, salt, rennet, calcium chloride (probably as a brine)

Our first discovery is a pure cheese rather than a wine and cheese mixture. It came vacuum sealed for freshness nestled in it’s own terra cotta crock for it’s preparation.

Interestingly, Saint-Nectaire has a “protected designation of origin” in France, where it is produced and package for export to the United States. You might think all this sounds a bit self-important and expensive. The truth is that it ensures consistency of texture and flavor, and quality production and packaging. While Saint-Nectaire may be a little expensive when imported here in the States, in it’s home region it is considered to be a modestly priced local offering.

There were instructions for heating the cheese either in the over or in a microwave. We chose the oven as the more “authentic” method for the experience and for the novelty.

The cheese came out a little goopy. It didn’t melt into a smooth texture in the middle. I didn’t count that against it after I tasted it. It had excellent flavor! There was a delicate hint of hazelnut in every bite.

It crusted nicely on the top and sides, offering a more substantial mouthfeel. The flavor was slightly stronger than the more fluid cheese in the middle of the crock. Where the cheese oils bubbled along the edges of the dish there was a crispy residue. This is crisp, sweeter, and less salty, with hints of caramel.

Lovely serving size (9.8oz) as an appetizer for two, or as a light snack with bread, potatoes, smoked sausage and/or crimini, with wine for a party of 4 or 6 people. Pairing a wine is simple: the field is wide open. In our case it was a Merlot to accentuate the smoky flavors of the sausage and crimini we dipped into the cheese.

The package was about $13.00 at the grocery, which includes both the vacuum sealed cheese and the reusable glazed terra cotta crock to prepare it in. The crock handled both the oven temperature and the microwave well.

Alouette Brie Fondue
INGREDIENTS: Brie cheese (pasteurized cultured milk and cream, salt, enzymes), water, Chabils wine reduction (contains sulfites), sodium phosphates, milk protein concentrate, casein, spices, lactic acid, garlic, sorbic acid, beta-carotine (for color), stabilizers (guar and/or carob bean gum

This is a different style of fondue, as we discovered after we got it home. The ingredients include cheese, wine and spices making this more of a Swiss style fondue. It also contains a lot of other stuff that may or may not have made it better or worse than the Saint-Nectaire’s simpler ingredients.

As a follow up to the Saint-Nectaire, the Alouette was a bit of a letdown. It had a more bitter edge to it, likely due to the spices chosen for the dish. There was a waxy feel to the tongue. The flavor was not bad, but probably better for a taste that appreciates astringent flavors above creamy ones.

The package is 11oz, making it a good size appetizer for two or three. As it contains a white wine, pairing it for a tasting should be done selectively. We preferred a dryer white to match the flavors in the cheese.

Alouette is available for about $6 at the grocery, sealed in a plastic microwavable dish. It also comes in a garlic variety. While not listed on the website, but available at both Kroger and Spec’s in Conroe.

Overall, the concencus of our tasters went with the Saint-Nectaire for flavor, richness, creamy texture, acceptance of all the items we chose for dipping, and our wine pairing. We even felt it would pair with a hearty brown ale for those who do not favor wine.

Don’t wait for the holidays to try these fondues! They are still available on the market as this blog is posted. Don’t see them? Ask for them by name and give them a try for yourself.

–Ann Cathey

Serving Cheeses

Cheese plates are a nice addition to any gathering, from a dinner for a few friends all the way up to a large wedding reception. The most often seen cheese tray is at a wine and cheese party, though, so your pairings for tasting must be carefully chosen.

I will concentrate on this last serving for today’s blog to keep it fairly simple and give you an idea that may be expanded on to fit your own cheese tasting experiences.

You will want to present a selection that offers several of tastes and textures, and there are plenty to choose from in the cheese world. Don’t be daunted by the variety. It’s not as difficult as may seem to choose just a few. Pick 3-5 cheeses so that your guests can experience each without confusion or being overwhelmed.

Start your list with a cheese that is familiar to your guests. A cheddar makes a good starting point. Having your other choices be easy to cube and handle can be reassuring to guests, especially if you are introducing your audience to new things.

Soft Cheeses
Soft cheeses are often the choice for melting, but they are also delightful for tastings. They most often spread well and may be served on crackers that are sturdy, but not dense. There are any number of soft cheeses that are flavored (naturally buttery or with added taste sensations such as garlic or raspberry), and will offer a singular mouth feel.

Boursin, Queso Fresco, Chevre (goat cheese), and fresh Mozarella are all readily available and interesting in both flavor and texture.

Creamy Cheeses
While there is some overlap between the soft and creamy cheeses, each type offers unique selections. Butterkase, Camembert, Danablu, and Cahill’s Irish Porter Cheddar all have their own flavors while sharing a creamy texture.

These cheeses match up with acidic flavors and crisp textures such as whole wheat crackers or apples.

Semi-Hard Cheeses
This is the range of firmness most commonly seen by most Americans: Cheddar, Swiss, Monterrey Jack, Gouda, and Provalone. For specifics, Kerrygold’s Blarney Castle, Applewood, Colby Swiss Cheddar (or just Colby), and Jarlsberg.

Pair these cheese with party sized breads such as pumpernickel and baguette. Serve with simple jellies, jams or preserves. Apricot and fig are popular.

Flavored Semi-Hard Cheeses
Many cheddar and similar types of cheeses are now available in flavored varieties. These cheeses are created using the same time-honored method most readily recognized in blue cheeses – where the flavoring has been stirred into the curds before they are pressed into molds. Some popular examples are Sage Derby, Pepper Jack, Red Windsor, and White Stilton with Mango and Ginger.

As these cheeses are already flavored, pair them simply with mild flavored crackers.

Smoked Cheeses
Most of the semi-hard cheeses mentioned above can be found in smoked varieties. Smoked Gouda and Tillamook Smoked Black Pepper White Cheddar are extremely popular examples.

Nuts make a nice accompaniment for these cheeses. I have enjoyed them with smoked baby oysters and sliced baguette as well.

Aged Cheeses
Gouda and Fontina age remarkably well, each changing in flavor, texture and hardness at different stages of the aging process. Pair them with things that will balance the flavors. Caramelized nuts or English mustard work well.

Hard Cheeses
Parmesan, Asiago, Romano and other hard or brittle cheeses may be used, but generally have very strong flavors and can be difficult to slice and serve in such a way to be easy for guests to handle. If your guests are cheese officionados, they shouldn’t be afraid of a little crumbling.

Pair these cheeses with green and red grapes as a counterpoint to both texture and the strong flavors.

Wine Pairings
The links included above go to cheese specific pages, many of which offer suggestions for wine pairings.

Setting Up your Platter
A large wooden cutting board or cheese board will make an excellent surface to present your cheeses on, and will allow you to offer cut pieces as well as the remainder of the whole cheese for a good visual effect. The whole piece may be cut right there if you need additional servings.Depending on your selections, parsley, cilantro or mint may be used for a bit of garnish on the platter. If there is room, crackers and fruits may be included, or served on separate dishes. Mustards, jams, or other wet offerings should be served in separate bowls.

Make labels to display on your platter. Small fold-over cards, or cards mounted on toothpicks which are inserted into the respective cheese work well. They may be hand-written or pre-printed to suit your gathering.

 

Don’t be afraid to try new things. There are literally thousands of cheeses worldwide, and with so many of them now available in groceries an markets across the US, they are readily available to consumers. Taste them, cook with them, share them with your friends!

–Ann Cathey