How to Serve a Cheese Course

Any way you cut it, cheese is a crowd-pleaser. When it’s served as a course at the end of a meal, it’s both an easy alternative to dessert and also a decadent, memorable finale with sweet and salty components.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cheese board
• Goat, sheep and cow’s milk cheeses
• Quince paste
• Honey
• Dried fruit
• Mango chutney (or other fruit chutney)
• Baguette
• Crackers
• Grapes, apples or pears to cleanse the palate

1. Decide on a theme for your cheese course, such as cheeses from the Midwest or cheddars from around the world.

2. Select three or four cheeses that have a variety of flavors, textures and components that play off of each other. Ones to consider include soft, herbaceous goat cheese, pungent Gorgonzola, cave-aged Gouda and hard, salty Parmigiano-Reggiano.

3. Choose wines or beers that complement the cheeses you’ll serve. Bolder wines, such as Zinfandel, pair best with creamy, salty cheeses, while sprightly wines and fizzy brews work best with young, acidic cheeses.

4. Slice baguette and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for five minutes or until lightly toasted.

5. Place each cheese selection on the platter, arranging them from mildest to strongest. If you’re serving goat cheese or Gruyere, consider drizzling it lightly with honey.

6. Intersperse quince paste, dried fruit, chutney, fresh fruit, baguette slices and crackers between cheeses and serve.

Tips & Warnings

• When it comes to pairing wine with cheese, matching regions is a good idea. However, because you’ll have an array of cheeses on the platter, it’s easiest to choose one wine that’s on the lighter end of the spectrum. That way, it won’t overpower any of what’s being served.
• Less is more, so plan on serving no more than six cheeses at a time.

[SeventhSibling]

on 8/29/2008 Sounds perfect to serve when guests arrive!