Just Say Cheese… For Holiday Entertaining Ease

'Tis the season for entertaining, but there’s no joy to being stuck in the kitchen preparing food while your guests make merry.

The solution is simple… just say cheese!

When the goal is effortless holiday entertaining, cheese is the life of the party. And with the dozens of cheese varieties created or imported by Tre Stelle, you need look no further.

From dazzling dips to delicious desserts, tantalizing canapés to dips for crudités, a sumptuous fondue or some intimate port and blue, cheese is the star of the holiday season table.

All it takes is a little imagination, some simple recipes and lots of cheese.

A great place to start is the traditional cheese board, a selection of varieties paired with crackers and bread and perhaps some fruit or nuts to add colour and variety. Creating a cheese board can bring out your inner artist. Think still life with cheese!

The best canvas is a wooden board, as other materials like marble can make cheese break into an unsightly sweat. It’s easiest to cut cheese when it’s cold, so do that straight out of the refrigerator. But remember, the true flavour of cheese only emerges at room temperature, so remove your cheese board from the fridge an hour before serving.

Place the cheese on the board with plenty of space between varieties, so distinct flavours are preserved. Present a selection of cheeses with a variety of textures, appearances and flavours. Experiment with Cheddar, Borgonzola, Havarti, Fruilano, Edam, Swiss and Brie. Have some fun if you like and label each cheese so guests know what they’re enjoying. Offer a separate knife for each variety, and for true sophistication and elegance check out your local kitchen supply store for specific cheese knives, shavers and spreaders. Pears, grapes, olives, apples and walnuts are all wonderful accompaniments to the wide range of cheese flavours.

When serving fine cheeses, simple, bland breads like baguettes and unflavoured crackers are ideal, as they really allow the flavour of the cheese to shine through. Consider the cheeses you’re serving when selecting your libations – wine and cheese is a marriage made in heaven. Be sure to have some cider and soft drinks on hand for designated drivers. If you’re serving different cheeses over the course of an evening, begin with milder varieties and work up to stronger cheeses in order to maximize gustatory satisfaction.

Cheese is the leading ingredient in hundreds of tasty dips and hors d’oeuvres too. Be versatile. Try using Ricotta, Feta, Emmental, Monterey Jack, Gouda and Provolone. Also visit the Recipe Gallery at www.nationalcheese.com -- you’ll be amazed how many appetizers and dips can be whipped together in 15 minutes or less. They’ll taste so great that your guests will think you’ve been cooking for hours.

The ‘Cheese Course’ is an age-old tradition that has returned as a hot trend in recent years, both in fine restaurants and as a sophisticated touch for home entertaining. It’s as simple as it sounds: a selection of cheeses, often presented along with slices of fruit, nuts and a digestif. It’s a perfect replacement for often time-consuming dessert preparation.

The origins of the cheese course are lost in the mists of time, though there are some suggestions that it is a French tradition created for occasions when there was wine left over after a meal. Adding the cheese course was said to be an excuse to continue drinking the wine. But it’s hard to reconcile that the Gallic soul ever required an excuse to drink wine. It likely has more to do with an abiding love of cheese. The celebrated French gastronome Brillat-Savarin likened a dinner that ended without cheese to “a beautiful woman with only one eye.”

Whatever its origins, a cheese course is an elegant and effortless way to linger with good friends and warm conversation as you digest a fine holiday meal.

Whether you’re welcoming unexpected guests, hosting friends and neighbours or entertaining the whole family, presenting fine Tre Stelle cheeses is elegant, sophisticated, festive and appreciated. Only you need to know how easy it is!