Cheese plate help!

[Anonymous]

I'm having a few relatives over tomorrow afternoon (5 of us total), and I'd like to serve tea, shortbread cookies, and some sort of cheese plate. I am so NOT a cheese person, and I have absolutely no idea what kind of cheese to buy, how to slice it, or what kind of crackers to go with it. These relatives are a little more "fancy" than DH and I, so I'd like to make it look nice. Suggestions? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

A cheese plate is usually around 3-4 cheeses:
A soft cheese, a hard cheese, and an in-between cheese.
Soft cheese: goat, brie
Hard cheese: Parmesan or aged cheddar
medium: Harvarti, gouta (could also be hard)

Use a nice cutting board or platter. Put the cheeses down with enough time to get them to room temp.

Garnish with grapes, herbs. Crackers can be whatever you like - whole grain are nice, little toasts are nice, it's nice to have the same number of cracker options as you do cheese. Put them on a separate plate so it doesn't get too crowded.

On the cheese plate, add a few ramekins of honey, fig spread, tapenade. And everyone should be happy.

If you're in the district, Cowgirl creamery would totally set you up.

[Anonymous]

Thank you!! Do I slice the cheese, or do I put out a cheese knife? If slicing, do I cut in cubes, slices, etc?

[Anonymous]

No, don't slice, just put out some knives.

One way to do it to to focus on one region - three Spanish or French or Italian cheeses, for example, one soft, one hard and perhaps one goat. But don't worry too much!

[Anonymous]

Don't slice - let the guests do that. Sorry I forgot to comment on the knife.

If you don't already have a cheese knife, do not invest in one.

With the soft and medium cheeses, put out a regular butter knife. For the hard cheese, put out a steak knife (like you would at a place setting). Try not to have the knives mixed up, but don't sweat it.

[Anonymous]

Great advice!

[Anonymous]

You can buy at Whole Foods, or Trader Joe's (check the dates there, once in a while stuff can be past the date), or a cheese store like Cheesetique or Cowgirl Creamery. Trader Joe's will be the most affordable. Costco also has great cheeses, but the quantities will of course be pretty big.

[Anonymous]

I love cheese knives, but lots of people here seem to confuse spreading knives. A cheese knife has a blade with the tip curved up and back, with prongs. So that you can cut a piece, then turn the knife around and skewer it. Much less potential for catastrophe than trying to balance your piece of cheese on the blade of a butter knife!

http://www.roryconnerknives.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/damas-steel-cheese-knife-and-board-re-sized.jpg

During the cheese course, each person will have their own plate, and they will serve themselves from the platter onto their plate. In France, many people don't eat the cheese with bread. It's eaten alone, and the bread is mostly there to clear the palate in between cheeses.

[Anonymous]

A cheese plate screams out for wine... that's what I'd serve with it rather than tea as you plan to serve. Then again, if you and your relatives don't drink wine, I guess go with the tea.

[Anonymous]

I agree with everything said above. I'm wondering, though, about the shortbread cookies and tea as thye don't seem to go with a cheese plate. I would agree with the poster above who suggested wine. And maybe add an olice bowl or something similar with the cheese plate (or small chocolates after the cheese plate) instead of shortbread cookies.

If you are doing the cookies, then I might focus on sweeter cheeses (like St. Andres, a triple cream, I believe) that coudl be serve with marmalade and crackers, as would have more of a brunch feel than stronger cheeses.

[Anonymous]

"Something old, something new, something goat, something blue."


http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_prepare_a_cheese_board/