Elana’s Favorite Cheese Plate

You don’t need to cook in order to feed your guests. Just choose the best quality items for a simple, yet fantastic, cheese plate.

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You don’t need to cook in order to feed your guests. Just choose the best quality items for a simple, yet fantastic, cheese plate.

Fyi, you only need to serve one type of cheese....if it is good, no one will be less happy. They will be thrilled that you chose a great one and that they get to eat it. Trust me.

WHAT YOU NEED

• Wood chopping block to put cheeses and jam on...and crackers and olives to if you can fit. The more knotted and rustic looking the better. But even if its just a plain old wood cutting board (as I often use, it will look glamorously delicious once we get it all decorated with food!

• Cheese: my favorites are always made from goat or sheep’s milk cheese but I have a few from cow milk that I love too for cheese plate. You can always ask “the cheese guy” for a taste at any decent gourmet market.
  • Manchego (my go-to)- Sheep
  • Any Italian Sheep’s Milk Cheese, except Pecorino Romano- you want a touch less aged, i.e. softer....not super soft..but soft-er than Romano. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let it be. - Sheep
  • Humboldt Fog- Goat
  • Naked Goat- Goat
  • Drunken Goat- Goat
  • Boucheron- Goat
  • Feta- Sheep’s Milk is my first choice or Cow’s Milk Feta
  • Sharp WHITE Cheddar (don’t ever buy orange cheddar and double don’t ever put it on a cheese plate! Milk is not orange!)

• Fig Jam- (available at Whole Foods or other specialty shops)- If you can’t find fig jam, use another high quality jam that you would never have put on a PB and J as a kid. You don’t want strawberry cheese...just a hint of sweet fruit with your cheese.

• Raw Honey*- if you can’t find fig jam or if you prefer. Raw honey will support the flavor of the cheese....regular honey will ruin it.

• Olives: from an olive bar at a specialty market. (canned olives are cheap and taste cheap)- Put a little dish on the side for the pits!

• Crackers: there are many crackers that will go well, but far many more that won’t. Don’t use Ritz or any cracker you liked as a child. Look for a crispy, thin and rustic tasting cracker. My favorite: Mary’s Gone Crackers- Herb Flavor*

• Wine: Go for a Chianti, Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, a Nebbiolo on a winter night, a Prosecco for a dry bubbly in summer or winter or a Sauvignon Blanc for a crisp nuanced white. Try D-Cantor Wines for online ordering of great wines at reasonable prices. Enter “elana” for free shipping under promotion code.

*You can buy these products online here.