Cooking web notes

Creating The Perfect Cheese Tray

Creating the perfect cheese tray can be a daunting task for a new party hostess but with these tips, I think you will find it easier than you think.

Plan to serve five to six cheeses, selecting distinctly different styles, flavors and textures.

With an abundance of artisan crafted cheeses produced worldwide, you can focus on cheeses from a single country or region; select by mild, medium or strong flavors; or you can select from categories such as soft, firm, hard and blue.

Soft Cheeses: Brie, Camembert, Feta, Colby

Semi-Soft Cheeses: Mozzarella, Havarti, Monterey Jack, Brick, Muenster

Medium Cheeses: American

Semi-Hard Cheeses: Cheddar (mild, medium and sharp), Provolone, Gouda, Jarlsberg, Colby Jack

Hard Cheeses: Parmesan, Asiago, Romano, Gruyere

Blue Cheeses: Stilton, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Maytag

Cheese is best served at room temperature, which means it's a good idea to remove it from the refrigerator one hour before serving. Be sure to keep it covered to prevent it from drying out. Serve your cheese tray with tasty sides like crusty French bread and fresh fruits.

Fresh Fruit Ideas: green grapes, red grapes, strawberries, raspberries, black berries and blueberries all make nice presentations on cheese trays.

Additional Ideas: cherry tomatoes, green olives and black olives.

Presentation: Choose an oval or round serving platter. Place a bed of fresh lettuce leaves down onto your platter and layer your cheese in sections on top. In between your cheese sections, add some small fresh fruit, cherry tomatoes or olives. You can also garnish the tray even further by using some fresh sprigs of mint or your favorite herbs.

In the center of your cheese tray you can add a container of dip or salsa. I personally like adding Honey Mustard Dippping Sauce into a small dip container and placing it in the center of my cheese tray.

You should have a different serving knife for each of the different cheeses on your cheese tray. You can put the cheese knifes on the tray or just lay them beside the tray, either way is acceptable.

Cheese Quantities: You should plan to serve 2 ounces of cheese per party guest.

The most important part of making a cheese tray is to offer a nice variety of cheeses.

This article is copyright 2009 by Shelly Hill, All Rights Reserved. This article can not be reproduced without Shelly's permission.