Recently Ms. Marife asked me to help out with Bunco appetizers. She hosts a Bunco gathering every few months and wanted me to share any easy appetizer. Apparently Trader Joes and Costco appetizers in the Pacific Northwest have become overdone in her circle and she wanted something flashy.
It is The Cheese Plate, to the rescue. Here are a few Cheese Plate Favorites.
Assembling a cheese plate requires no cooking honey! Hooray. Follow a few key principles, so it looks clean and delish, and you’ll be the star of the Bunco hosting show.
With so many cheeses to choose from, what should you put on your plate? Some say to serve no more than three at a time. I tend to break that rule. I’d be inclined to serve up to six. The more the better is how I roll. Many cheeses run $20 to $40 a pound, but because you needn’t serve a lot, you needn’t spend a lot.
Take them home, refrigerate them, and then bring them to room temperature a few hours before serving.
Be sure to have a plate that is flat and large enough to hold the cheeses without crowding them. Choose a variety of cheeses— from hard, to soft. I also like to add unique additions such as blue cheese stuffed olives, salami, and smoked cashews. Next to the cheese plate, there is a basket of rustic bread and a variety of crackers.
If you were to select four cheeses, consider two hard and two soft. To share what I serve here at Ksugarandspice basecamp:
Beemster XO – Aged Gouda is simply unrivaled for that perfect balance of salty and sweet. It is my personal favorite. (Hard)
Cambozola Triple Cream Blue Veined – This is very much a blue-brie. The light creamy texture and flavor is delicately offset with the pungent blue. A true crowd pleaser. (Soft)
Purple Haze From California’s Cypress Grove – Fresh goat’s milk cheese with lavender buds mixed with wild harvested fennel pollen give it a sweet addicting flavor. From California’s Cypress Grove. (Soft)
English Cheddar with Caramlized Onions – Creamy, buttery cheddar is perfectly blended with tangy, caramelized onions (Hard)
Locally, I buy cheese from Vin Goat in Corona del Mar or The Brewery in Old Town Orange. Online, I use igourmet.com or chefswarehouse.com.
Good luck with those dice Marife. Let me know how your cheese plate turns out. Can’t wait to laugh with you again very soon.
Terese says
I would add some brie and triple creme. Scrumptious.
Mary says
You love Beemster too! So carmel, So nuggety, So delish! Excellent choices.
Angel Collins says
Great presentation, I do love cheese,specially melted.it taste like candy inside my mouth.