3 Ways To Serve Cheese This Christmas.
Tis the season to enjoy Cheese! If December was a food it would definitely be cheese, so I wanted to share 3 ways to eat and enjoy cheese this Christmas season. Whether you are having 20 people round or you are enjoying it alone, hopefully you can find some inspiration below! Without further ado…unleash the cheese!
The Cheese Fondue
As a great accompaniment to a meal cheese can also be used as the whole meal itself and after visiting local restaurant The Cheese Society for a working Lunch Emily and I were only too pleased to see that they had fondue for 2 on their specials menu. Rather than a traditional fondue pot, we were pleasantly surprised by our first meeting with The Mont D’or! This cheese is a seasonal and creamy cow’s milk cheese, and it was baked and served with boiled potatoes, chunks of sourdough, salad, gherkins, pink pickles and prosciutto. It was a perfect winter warmer. I made sure to buy one to bring home and enjoy in our own way.
Having baked it for 15 minutes we enjoyed this as a indulgent lunch on a very grey and wet day. It very much is a cheese that will make even bare cupboards even seem full. A jar of pickles, a bag of crisps, and some bread is all you need to make this cheese truly shine!
The Cheese Grazing Table
At this time of year cheese is also great for serving at parties and gatherings where you want to offer snacks but maybe not a whole meal (although IMO opinion cheese is definitely a meal). A platter is a great way to do this, I created one earlier this year (paid partnership) with Boursin, I love their garlic and herbs soft cheese for this kind of feast. A soft cheese is easy to spread (or dip into, I am not ashamed) and I find that building a platter around this cheese is an easy thing to do. I have built this board up with crackers, vegetables, soft fruits, nuts, pretzels, small pickled onions, gherkins and yes, edible flowers. I would suggest adding savoury jams, pickles and houmous. Also experiment, and get a few different types of cheeses to cover all bases, there are no hard or fast rules. This feast is a joy to sit around and pick at through an evening - a feature table for sure!
Cheese Board for One or Two
I love cheese as just an evening snack too. Jack and I have sat many a time watching a film and enjoying something fizzy with a mini cheese board for two. Waitrose have some super cute mini tree shaped cheeses in for Christmas time which are perfect for popping on a small cheeseboard. With three different flavours in the pack, these trees not only look cute but are perfectly portioned for enjoying solo or with a partner. I enjoyed it with a side of cashew nuts, some sultana crackers of course, and if you’ve got some - a glass of Champagne.
There are obviously multiple ways to enjoy Cheese throughout the year and these suggestions work all year round but at this time of year it’s the rules to put cheese with just about everything, right?!
P.S. This year will be my first year trying a mature cheddar with my Christmas cake, an idea that my colleague Emily suggested. Traditionally in Lincolnshire you have a slice of Lincolnshire Plum bread with cheese and a slice of Christmas cake makes a very fitting alternative. I will report back on that one…but in the meantime, can we have a big round of applause for the cheese.
