Cheese Plate Date Night!

This weekend J & I had another fabulous date night - this time at home, with a cheese plate, wine and two great food films, "Chef" and "The Hundred Foot Journey" (more on the movies later).

A local grocery store chain, Ingles Markets, has a fascinating cheese section at their Waynesville location. It's a few steps away from their antipasti bar - filled with marinated olives; curves gently around the edge of the deli close to their fabulously stocked bakery (fresh bread and pastries, homemade fudge, cronuts! and ice cream cakes) and is a two tiered celebration of all things cheese. There are colorful "moldy" cheese - like brilliant Roquefort's, soft goat cheeses marbled with berries, a variety of hard cheese and all the accouterments you'd expect, too (think melba toasts). This display fascinates me every time we stop in, and we finally decided to do our own cheese sampling at home.

We're both adventurous and with J being a sandwich artist, we are very pro-cheese and have tried a lot of different types. But the cheeses are usually inside a dish or sammie and we never get to taste them on their own or pair them with other small bites, so I did some research and we put together a pretty impressive and inexpensive (less than $30) spread.

Cheese plates may seem daunting but creating ours was relatively easy, even without going to a specialty cheese shop or a deli-counter. This Buzzfeed article was very informative about national, commercial brands and I was not disappointed by the brand I chose from it.

From the articles I read and our experience, here's my best cheese wisdom:

1. Include a variety of cheese textures and flavors. I'd say at least 3 of the following categories: creamy cheese (like Brie), something fresh (like a chevre), something sharp (like an aged cheddar), something nutty (like gouda) and a wild card - something you've just been dying to try (buy a smaller portion of this, just in case)
2. Don't rule out things you've had on hand for recipes but have never savored on their own. We had the chevre and blue cheeses already! 
3. Intend to serve about 2-3 ounces of cheese per person
4. Serve with lots of "extras" to either pair directly with the cheese or to nibble between bites. I suggest at least 3 of the following categories: dried fruit (like cranberries), fresh fruit (like grapes), crackers, warm bread, a flavorful spread (like fig jam or hot pepper jelly), nuts (salted or raw). 
5. Bring cheeses to room temperature for one hour before serving - their flavors will be more vibrant
6. J and I were multitasking and so we pre-sliced the cheeses and arranged them as such. If you are having a cheese plate at a party or serving a larger group of people, leave the labeled cheeses whole on the board (even the crumbly ones) with appropriate tools for your guests to serve themselves. 
7. Set your tray up on a knife-friendly surface (wooden cutting boards are functional and pretty) and/or provide a cheese slicer. Also, place it in a prominent area at your party where folks can gather and munch - they'll keep coming back for more! 

Rule 6.1 - Cute cheese knives are a plus! 

We featured the following cheese on our plate: "Categories" (see above) listed in parenthesis.

• Layered herb brie (creamy) - Brie becomes the most beautiful, gooey cheese when heated, but even at room temperature is still incredibly creamy and soft. This layered brie was "double decker" with a thin, herb-covered rind between the two. Some brie can have a rather thick, firm rind that, while edible, can be off-putting for some (like J). But this brand, was softer and with the herbs, the rind was flavorful enough to eat. In its unheated state, it's not great for spreading on bread or crackers but is so mild it pairs beautifully with apples or dried fruit. 
• Asiago (nutty) - When I was younger, I loved shaking grated Parmesan on top of buttery popcorn and my dad said it smelled like feet. This cheese brought back all of those memories - but in a good way, I promise! It's a bold, assertive flavor like Parmesan, with a hard, grainy texture. It paired will with the fruits, salami and jelly whose flavored played off each other well. 
• Cabot Seriously Sharp cheddar (sharp) - This was recommended by the Buzzfeed article and the name could not be more spot-on. It's strong and tangy with the beautiful texture we all know from cheddars. To me, Cabot products are upstanding members of the supermarket cooler because their business is owned by the farmers producing the milk, and they take care to do things right, like naturally aging their cheese, which makes for a better flavor. And of course, cheddar pairs well with apples. 
• Chevre (fresh) - I did a copy cat of a snazzy dish called "The Frenchy" from a local restaurant. It really makes the goat cheese shine. I used about 2 oz. of chevre topped with 5-6 chopped kalamata olives and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. It's creamy, tangy, salty and floral - so many flavors that blend so well together! I like to spread this on warm baguette slices for a fancy, but quick, appetizer. 
• Havarti - If you like butter, creamy cheese, havarti is a great choice. Some can be slightly sharp, but most are pretty mild. I love the almost spongy texture; just a little too stiff to spread, but still tender. BTW this is a GREAT sandwich cheese; it pairs will with everything can be just the creamy touch to a meat-heavy sammie, plus is melts perfectly!
• Blue cheese crumbles - I've mentioned before that I have a weakness for blue cheese recipes and like to try to sneak it in everything. This was another cheese we had on hand but never eat on it's own. I would like to try "fancier" brands sometime, but we used our go-to generic brand and it didn't disappoint. 

We also had the following "extras" on the cheese board: 

• Craisins (dried cranberries)
• Pistachios
• Walnuts
• Honeycrisp apple slices
• Hard salami
• Homemade hot pepper jelly
• Monet crackers
• Sliced baguette

The additional items really helped the cheeses to shine. I highly doubt I could have (or would have even wanted to) eat as much cheese as I did were it not for experimenting with different flavor and texture combinations. I would break the cheese slices in half and try one half with a bite of apple, then the other half with a bite of salami, and so on. It really amazed me how well they worked together to bring out different notes in each other. And I must say, the pepper jelly was amazing on everything, but I never would've guessed!

One of the really beautiful things about a cheese plate is that you can customize the "sides" with whatever you've got on hand and some other inexpensive add-ons (I actually got several of ours at the Dollar Tree) and can focus your time and budget on the cheeses themselves. 

If you're looking for an impressive spread for a romantic night in or a fun way to try new things with friends or impress at a party, a cheese plate is the way to go. You'll find wonderful flavors and make a great impression without breaking the bank or your back! 

For other ideas for you and your boo or fun fete food, visit our Date Night or Party Food tabs. 

Fat Kid Friday: No-Bake Cheesecake

It's the Fourth of July and about 900 degrees outside, so I had an urge to make something festive (without gallons of food coloring) and wonderfully refreshing.

I scoured Pinterest for 4th desserts and I was pretty disappointed. Everything was either overly cheesy - like red,white and blue Jell-o parfaits, or overwhelmingly unimpressive - there's nothing "symbolic" or patriotic about kabobs of blueberries, strawberries and marshmallows.

Whenever Pinterest is uninspired and lets me down, I turn to our massive collection of recipes ripped out of magazines. And it worked! I found an old Taste of Home recipe for an easy, no-bake cheesecake - for which I had almost all of the ingredients and would only take up 45 minutes of my precious paid-time-off.

This recipe was a great dessert for a hot summer night. It was creamy and cool, the berries were sweet counterpart to the tart cream cheese and the crust was impeccable. Most graham crusts are just a little bit of white sugar and butter mixed with the graham crackers but two additions in this recipe made a world of difference. Using brown sugar instead of plain granulated sugar added a deeper, molasses sweetness and the ground cinnamon made for a great spicy flavor - like the most delicious warm cookie.

As is, this is cheesecake at it's purest; with so much room to mix and match flavors.You could add a dash (1 t.) of almost any flavor extract or citrus zest, in addition to the lemon juice, to brighten the filling. I think fresh vanilla bean seeds or almond extract would be delicious. And the berries can go in any direction; I used a carton of strawberries and our flavorful vanilla sugar. But you could take it in the 4th of July direction with blue and red berries atop the creamy white cake.

But there is one caveat I'd like to address - because I always forget it. Cheesecake's flavor is pretty universal. There is nothing that is quite as signature as the taste of cream cheese. On an episode of Cake Boss, when the Valastro family goes to Italy, they visit a bakery and bake a cheesecake together. The Italian bakers are talking about each of the ingredients in Italian and then ask for the "philadelphia" - because there is no word for cream cheese, other than that timeless white logo on the silvery-blue boxes of Kraft's Philadelphia cream cheese.

However, baked and no-bake cheesecake are completely different animals. Traditional, baked cheesecake is dense, yet fluffy, and it has a heartiness to it. It's so beautiful with the lightly browned top and thick slices. No-bake cheesecake is creamy, smooth and silky; you barely need to chew it, it just glides around your mouth. Both of these are delicious in their own way, but you have to remember which is which! I forgot until my knife glided through the tender filling and made loosely shaped slices.This no-bake cake is deliciously smooth and soft and almost melts in your mouth.

If you're looking for a quick-and-easy treat that tastes more decadent and time-consuming, and is cool and refreshing, this is the perfect dish.

No-Bake Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/3 c butter, melted
2, 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
2 t. lemon juice
2 c. heavy whipping cream
Prepared berries (optional)

Method:

In a small bowl, mix crumbs,cinnamon and brown sugar. Pour in butter and stir until all ingredients are wet. Press crumb mixture into an ungreased 9" springform pan covering the bottom and 1" up the sides. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Using a mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice until smooth; scraping the sides often. Gradually add cream; beat until stiff peaks form. Pour into prepared crust and smooth top with an offset spatula. Refrigerate, covered for at least 4 hours.

If you are using berries, toss them with 2 T. sugar and allow them to set for at least 15 minutes to make a sweet juice. The longer they rest, the softer and juicier they get.

Clean Energy Snacks

We're still keeping up our clean eating but one of the biggest struggles is with finding good snacks. Dinners are easily cleaned and can make for lunch leftovers, breakfasts are incredibly easy to "clean up," but snacks are a weakness. The snacks we ate on our challenge were great but you still miss the "old" snacks like cookies and cakes; and the exciting thing about this recipe is that it has all the yumminess of a hearty cookie but with clean, fresh ingredients.

First, let me say I've struggled to name these - I adapted them from a recipe that referred to them as "balls," but when I told my dad that I ate a "clean energy ball" he said "Is that something from Candy Crush?" And let's be honest, I tutor part-time and any of my kids over the age of 7 would laugh uncontrollably if I told them I made some delicious balls; and c'mon you know you laughed at SNL's classic Baldwin Schweddy balls segment.

This snack is a no-bake recipe with fruit, nuts,  peanut butter and chocolate - all the good things that make for an easy, yet sinful, snack; so I've settled on calling them Granola Truffles. Sounds delicious, right? And they are.

The hardest part of the whole recipe was "harvesting" the fresh coconut from it's shell - that is way too much work for me. However, once I got the meat peeled away from the hair brown layer (wow, not helping the innuendo of the balls post), my Ninja blender did all the work; and it also took care of pulverizing the dates.

I can't say enough nice things about medjool dates (or my Ninja). If you enjoy sweets, dates are perfect to eat plain or slip into recipes that need a sugary boost. They are remarkably sweet, so in recipes where you mix them with more bland or savory flavors, the sugariness still comes through clearly. In this recipe, the dates are the only boldly sweet item and they tie all of the flavors together and brighten the peanut butter, which unlike "traditional" pb isn't full of corn syrup.

This recipe makes about two dozen, 70-calorie truffles which keep in the fridge for a long time without going stale or drying out. And unlike some sweet snacks, these aren't sticky or hard-to-eat. I grab two in my hand and run out the door and they don't make a mess, which is remarkable because I'm a disgusting eater. And even more remarkably, they're filling. With the oats, peanut butter and nuts, they're full of long-lasting protein, perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up or mid-morning munch.

 Granola Truffles

Ingredients:

3/4 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c natural peanut butter
1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted
6 medjool dates, pitted
2 T raw, unsalted pistachios
2 T dark chocolate (or cacao nibs)
1 T chia seeds

Method:

In a food processor, pulse the dates until they are pulverized and form a ball.

Place dates and remaining ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands.

Using a tablespoon, pack mixture level to spoon and turn out onto parchment paper.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.