Things You'll Need:
- A large wooden board, a cutting board works well.
- A small bunch of grapes, a pear, and an apple.
- Water crackers or a thinly sliced baguette.
- An assortment of cheeses; typically a nice balance of hard, sharp cheeses; soft, creamy cheeses; pungent blue cheeses.
- 2-3 cheese knifes and toothpicks.
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Step 1
Your hard cheeses and semi softs will need to be cubed. For a soft cheese, I usually go with a Saint Andre Triple Creme. I usually cut it in half for display, exposing the creamy goodness within. Your Gorgonzola Dolce (my personal fave) will be alot less overbearing than say a Danish Bleu, and you can crumble it into small bits. Get a container of Chavrie with Basil, you can take it out or leave it in the container. For a semi soft, I like to go with Danish Fontina - it's got a mellow and sweet sort of flavor, and it cuts nicely.
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Step 2
Whether you go with water crackers or a thinly sliced baguette, or both, they compliment this platter really well. Cut your apple and pear into quarters, and slice them: but not all the way through. You'll be able to fan the pear and apple out for display. Insert toothpicks into all of the cubed hard and semi-soft cheeses. Crumble the gorgonzola into large bits; you still want to be able to have the choice to spread the gorgonzola or spear it onto a toothpick.
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Step 3
Be sure your wooden board is large enough to accomodate the whole spread without overcrowding it too much. Place the small bunch of grapes (red or green) in the center of the board as your starting point, and arrange your cheese from there. Put the cheese cubes together, separate them from the next group with a apple fan or a few slices of bread. Alternate in that manner clear around the board.
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Step 4
Once assembly is done, keep two or three cheese knives on the side along with a handful of toothpicks to leave an option open to spear some gorgonzola dolce. Accompany the platter with a merlot and a chardonnay. Arrange the cheese platter on the center of your serving table with the wine and glasses behind the platter, with the knives and toothpicks.
