New Year's Day (or for whenever) Cheese Plate

Haapy New Year everyone - hope that you all rang in 2013 in a fun way, and took today to recover.  For me, it was nonstop celebration with a New Year's Day luncheon hosted by my brother Peter and sister-in-law, Fiana.  I wanted to bring something for their table as well, but didn't want to actually cook, so I used things in my pantry as well as a few new ingredients to put together a festive cheese plate.

It went over well and I thought it could be a good idea for a future party that I have at home or for when I'm asked to contribute something.  The ingredients can be switched up of course, based on your liking, but I thought I'd provide you with some initial inspiration.  Here's what I used:

Festive Cheese Plate (ingredients):
1.  3 varieties of cheese (goat's milk, sheep's milk and cow's milk, but you can use any cheese you have on-hand)
2.  Dried fruit such as Turkish apricots (you can also use dates, raisins, craisins, etc).
3.  Nuts such as cashews, peanuts, pistachios, almonds
4.  Something sweet like preserves or chutney (I used Anarchy in a Jar's Cranberry-Bacon Chutney that was given to me by my family friend, Kim)
5.  Good quality whole wheat crackers (I used whole wheat everything)
6.  Decorative elements such as the above pictured dehydrated lemons

Directions:
Choose a serving platter that you like and arrange in a rustic fashion.  I used a clustering approach, where I had heaping rows full of the same ingredients that created a nice pattern.

I look forward to seeing the combinations and designs you come up with!

Bistro 33's Artisanal Tasting

After a little stint of Bistro 33 bringing back their sushi on Halloween night, they're once again working on a special event for guests that should be interesting.  Featuring a special artisanal wine & cheese tasting, patrons will enjoy a unique menu of artisanal cheeses, breads, and charcuterie paired with the wines of Southern Europe.  Hosted in Bistro's private dining room, it should be a fun event, which can be nice to share with a small group of friends or your significant other.  Here are the deets:

Bistro 33's Artisanal Tasting
Thursday, December 6th from 7:00 p.m.
Bistro 33's Private Dining Room (21-76 21st Street)
Give a call soon to reserve your spot.

Bistro 33 - 19-33 Ditmars Blvd, Astoria, NY 11105

718.721.1933

N/Q Train to Ditmars Blvd (last stop)

www.bistro33nyc.com

Rosario's - Old-School Gourmet Italian Deli

Rosario's Deli - 22-55 31st Street, Astoria, NY 11105

718.728.2920

N/W Train to Ditmars Blvd (last stop)

I stumbled upon Rosario's yesterday afternoon on my way to Key Food. On a mission to get good brie and light snacks for our dinner guests Lauren and Keith, I peeked inside and liked what I saw. After my great experience, I'll definitely be hitting it up again for quality specialty foods.

Upon walking in, I immediately saw that this was a traditional, old-school, Italian deli--cured meats and cheeses displayed by the deli counter and neatly stacked shelves of specialty pasta, sauce, olive oil and various chocolates, both domestic and international. The staff is hospitable and really seem to know their customers--they're nice Italian guys who smile a lot and spend time with customers, making small-talk.

Browsing through the shelves and the deli section of Rosario's, I was impressed with their goods:

• Gourmet pasta and olive oil
• Mozzarella bufala so fresh, it was still warm
• Eurocrem, which is similar to Nutella but in addition to hazelnut, it also contains milk creme
• Fresh pizza dough, which you can take home to make your own pie
• All types of Baci chocolates
• Specialty sandwiches made-to-order (i.e. mortadella, fresh mozzarella, lettuce, tomatoes and roasted peppers--$4.95)
• Other specialty snacks such as Serendipity 3 Frozen Hot Chocolate Mix

I ended up buying a block of Le Chatelain Camembert, which is a creamy French cheese that's very much like a brie. Our guests seemed to like it a lot and I cut up half of it yesterday and the other half I saved to bake and garnish with strawberry preserves ($4.99). It was hard to pass up the Serendipity Hot Chocolate Mix so that went into my basket too for a whopping $4.99. It's a specialty product after all, so I was OK with paying a premium.

Rosario's will remain on my must-list in the future and if you haven't been there yet, I urge you to stop in--you'll be glad that you did.

Cheese and Wine Tasting at Artisanal

Artisanal Premium Cheese Center - 500 West 37th Street, New York, NY 10018

877.797.1200

A/C/E Train to 34th Street or 42nd Street

www.artisanalcheese.com

Four of my girlfriends, Rikki, Katie, Julie, Janel and I took a really fun and educational Cheese and Wine 101 Class at Artisanal last Saturday. Aside from doing something different with friends and pretending to be grownups, we learned about various cheeses and how to pair them with wine.

Our Setup

The class included a fun welcome reception with snacks and champagne. I think that it was meant to be a meet-and-greet with fellow classmates but first impressions could be awkward and everyone hung out with people they knew. After that, we walked into a classroom-style setting, fully stocked with individual cheese plates and four types of wines for everyone. To say that we felt a little woozy after sampling the wine is an understatement--but no surprise there. We did pay $60 to drink and eat cheese for two hours--not a bad deal. Note that this class actually costs $75 but if you book it with a group of four or more you get a $15 break for each person.

Our Instructor

Our instructor was a lovely man by the name of Max McCalman. He's a cheese extraordinaire and author of two respected books called, The Cheese Plate and Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best. He's got a great sense of humor, more than once telling us that the only thing left after good cheese is good sex. I doubt he's wrong!

Our Cheese

We tried 8 different types of cheeses, which spanned from a luxurious silky brie to a stinky Swiss Beer cheese. My favorite was called the Old Kentucky Tomme, which is a goat's milk cheese with mushroom overnotes. It has a smoky taste, which might be nice to crumble into a salad.

Our Wine
An offering of 2 whites and 2 reds was what we got with our cheese plate. From an '06 Gruner Veltliner from Austria (gentle and dry white) to an '00 Tempranillo from Spain (a dense fruity red), each had a distinct taste before and after the various cheeses. It was fun to observe how the taste of the wine changed on your tongue after each cheese--sometimes intensified and sometimes dulled.

Overall, the tasting was great experience for everyone. We bonded whether by agreeing about a particular cheese and wine pairing or getting grossed out about a cheese's "unique" smell. I can also see it being a fun thing to do with couples.

Interested in joining the next one? Click here.