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ROCKIN’ AROUND the Christmas Brie

THE ULTIMATE HOLI Create stations around the room(s) that focus on a single wine. For each wine, offer 2 cheese pairings and an accoutrement so guests can flow from one tasting to another. Ideally, arrange your stations from lightest to fullest wine, and encourage every- one to taste in that order. I love this for big groups of 12 or more and big spaces, because it spreads everyone out and encourages intimate discus- sions as people taste together. Four wines and 8 cheeses is the perfect combination to enliven and satiate without wrecking everyone.

BRUNCH EDITION Before you scoff at the idea of cheese for breakfast, let me remind you of the humble bagel and cream cheese, from which this former New Yorker takes her inspiration — and as a parent who has noticed that when I feed my kids coffee cake on Christ- mas morning they are more hyper- active than ever. Here’s to calming everyone with cheese. A brunch board is where you can enjoy all the simple, fresh milky cheeses usually relegated to the realm of ingredients, partnered with a range of sweet and savory accom- paniments. Consider this: BAGELS, TOASTS, A BAGUETTE AND 2’S COMPANY CRISPS For savory toasts: • La Bonne Vie Goat Cheese Pyramid • Ducktrap’s Nova Lox or Spruce Point Smoked Atlantic Salmon • Capers, slivered red onion and sliced tomato • BelGioioso Burrata • Terrapin Ridge Farms Hot Pepper Bacon Jam or Preservation Society Pepper Jelly For sweet toasts: • A bowl of BelGioioso Ricotta driz- zled with Savannah Bee Company Whipped Honey • Le Roulé Cranberry Log or La Bonne Vie Cranberry Cinnamon Goat Log Sides: • Fresh and dried fruits • Coffee • Tea • Fresh-squeezed satsuma juice WINE EDITION When the drink is as important as the cheese, try this approach instead of a single communal cheese board.

STATION ONE: SPARKLING WINE Bubbly is my go-to wine for cheese pairing. The effervescence cuts buttery soft cheeses and dense firm cheeses alike; the acidity refreshes; the flavors of fruit and toast comple- ment. The traditional pairing is Champagne and triple crème cheeses (cream-enriched Brie styles). Riffing on that, try: Wine: Ruffino Prosecco Cheese (Pick 2): • La Bonne Vie Brie • Fromager d’Affinois • Fromager d’Affinois with Truffles • Délice de Bourgogne • Dorothy’s Cheese Keep Dreaming • Saint Angel • Saint-André • Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog • Alp Blossom • Cave Aged Gruyere Condiments (Pick 1-2): • 2s Company Crisps • Dried fruit (figs, dates, cherries) STATION TWO: WHITE WINE If I’m serving a single white wine, I reach for something that hasn’t been aged in oak. Oaky whites are buttery,

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