Your Christmas Cheese Checklist

Your Christmas Cheese Checklist

 

There's nothing more reliable, easy and crowd-pleasing than cheese when entertaining, and Australia is home to some of the best producers in the world. With the festive season on our doorstep and the inevitable increase in cocktail parties, long lunches and Sunday afternoon drinks, The Dairy Kitchen has put together a guide with everything you need to know to impress your guests with cheese from our own dairy regions these holidays.

Variety is key: Serving up the perfect cheese platter is all about nailing the texture and flavour combinations. Three cheeses on a platter is a good rule of thumb; choose something soft, something strong and something hard (like brie, blue and cheddar). Likewise with the accompaniments, go for something crunchy, something sweet and something tangy (to refresh the palate). Try like nuts, fruit and pickles or apple for the perfect balanced cheese board.

Buy Australian: Show your support for Australian producers and choose Australian cheese this Christmas. Whether you find it at your local farmers market, from your favourite cheesemonger or at the supermarket, there is a locally produced cheese out there to suit every palate!

Ripe cheese: Cheese is a bit like fruit in that it changes with the season and should be consumed when -ripe' for optimal flavour and texture. Ask your cheesemonger for their recommendation on what's ripe and ready for eating. Make sure you ask to taste it too! If you're at the supermarket, look for cheeses within a week or so of their best before date as this is usually when they're at their peak. When choosing whole wheels of soft ripened cheeses like brie or camembert test it like you would an avocado, - if it feels slightly soft, it's probably going to be ripe and oozy when you serve it. If it's hard, then it probably needs a little longer to mature.

 

Pantry prep: Interesting accompaniments don't require too much effort and most pantries are usually packed full of the perfect things to jazz up your cheese board. Think honey on blue cheese or balsamic glaze on a wedge of parmesan. Walnuts go well with almost all cheeses, and add a flourish with fresh or dried fruit, pickled vegetables or a sprinkling of dukkah.

 

Keep it in the fridge! It's handy to have some cheese on hand for the inevitable and spontaneous drop-ins throughout the festive season. Cheese is the perfect -go to' when you're unprepared as it takes minimal effort for maximum impact and flavour. Hard varieties like parmesan and cheddar can be stored in the fridge for long periods and they match with just about everything in your pantry.

 

The room temperature rule: The cardinal rule of serving cheese is to always serve it at room temperature, so take it out of the fridge about an hour before serving (20 to 30 minutes if it's hot). You can arrange the cheese board and cover it with a barely damp
tea towel to keep the cheese from drying out. Fresh cheeses like mozzarella, burrata, ricotta and labne should be served cool.

 

Don't waste! So long as it's not sweating away in the sun, there's no reason to waste any leftover cheese. There are plenty of things you can do with that little nugget leftover at the end. Ricotta can be sprinkled on spaghetti, cheddar can be grated for sandwiches, and camembert can be served over chicken. This of course assumes there are leftovers to be saved!

Keep it fresh: Once you've used a portioned cheese, wrap it up in some baking paper and put it in the fridge in a container with a loose fitting lid. Don't forget to keep those more stinky cheeses in a different container! Return small whole cheeses like camembert and brie to their original packaging and pop them in a container in the fridge

 

Platters: If you don't have a wooden serving board, add it to your wish list this Christmas! You can also get creative with your presentation as cheese looks great on just about every flat surface, enamel trays, a cake platter or even a washed floor tile will do the trick.

 

Knives: One knife per cheese, please! No one likes bits of blue cheese stuck to the brie. If you don't have enough cheese knives, use pate or butter knives for the softer cheeses.

 

How to Make the Perfect Festive Cheese Board

There's nothing more reliable, easy and crowd-pleasing than cheese when entertaining, and Australia is home to some of the best producers in the world. With the festive season on our doorstep and the inevitable increase in cocktail parties, long lunches and Sunday afternoon drinks, The Dairy Kitchen has put together a collection of fool-proof, fail-safe cheese boards suitable for every occasion, palate and budget, using cheeses from our own dairy regions. Here's one of our favourites.

The Festive Board

 
Looking for a Christmas table centrepiece that brings the -wow' factor? Look no further than this delicious grazing board complete with all your favourite festive treats – from Christmas cake to gingerbread and the Australian cheese to match…yep, you heard right.
Let the cheese do the talking here. Choose your favourite Australian varieties and pair them with Christmas classics to add a little festive fanfare. Here's our suggestions for building the perfect Christmas cheese board:

The Cheese: Creamy brie, pungent washed rind, spicy blue, cloth bound cheddar.

 When it comes to choosing cheese at Christmas, think about catering to a range of tastes and try to offer something everyone will love like a classic vintage cheddar as well as something a little more complex like a washed rind for true connoisseurs. Also consider your textures and offer a range of hard and soft cheeses. If you're serving cheese at the end of the meal, avoid adding savoury flavours back into the mix, and don't forget to ask your cheesemonger for advice on what's ripe and ready for eating!

The Accompaniments: Decorate your board with gingerbread, Christmas cake and mince pies, they're the -tinsel' on the board as well as the cracker for your cheese. Christmas favourites go surprisingly well with cheese! A classic Australian brie or washed rind matches really well with sweet summer strawberries, cherries and gingerbread cookies. Contrast the creaminess with the crunch of a handful of pistachios, scattered atop the cheese.

For something more traditional, try an Australian cloth bound cheddar with fruitcake or mince pies! Something that has to be eaten to be believed – this partnership is an old English one and is a pleasant surprise.

Pair a classic blue with hazelnuts - or try tossing them in toffee to take it to the next level! The sweetness of the toffee will cut through the saltiness of the cheese sending you and your guests to cheese heaven. The Tipple: Serve this decadent, festive board with port, sherry or your favourite dessert wine for a cracking good Christmas!

Tips:

 
1. Take your cheeses out of the fridge one hour (20 to 30 minutes on a hot day) before serving and cover with a damp tea towel to stop them drying out. Serving your cheese at room temperature means you're getting the full impact of their texture and flavour
2. Matured cheeses are generally at their best when they are closest to their best before date, so keep the date you plan to serve the cheese in mind when choosing the one for you
3. If Christmas Day ends up being a hot one, sprinkle a few frozen seasonal grapes on the board to add some refreshing sweetness.

What you'll need:

 
Blue cheese with candied hazelnuts, vintage cheddar with fruitcake or mince tarts, washed rind with cherries and nuts, brie with gingerbread and strawberries, served with port.

 

Dairy Australia has released a 38 second video on how to pull together the perfect -Festive' cheese board; check it out on Facebook. 

 

For more information on entertaining with Australian cheese this festive season, visit http://www.legendairy.com.au/cheeseplease and download your free copy of Cheese Please! – your complete guide to choosing, storing and serving Australian cheese.