The Art of the Cheese Plate
If there is one thing Jake and I have perfected over these two months since moving in together it is the art of wine and cheese night. Every week we have a wine and cheese night, complete with cheese, wine, crackers, fruit, prosciutto and bread. It's so much fun to pick out the cheeses and try new combinations of flavors.
Recently, Jake and I went to Eataly in downtown Chicago to buy cheese for wine night. We normally pick about three cheeses: a blue cheese, a parmesan, and a brie. We've found these three cheeses are different enough, but still complement each other. The guys at Eataly were so helpful and knowledgable about the different kinds of cheeses. They led us through a few samples to find the right about of texture and flavor for each cheese.
For the blue cheese we selected a Bay Blue Wheel Point Reye cheese. It was the perfect flavor, not too strong but not too mild, and it had the best texture of creamy with a bit of crumble! For the parmesan we selected a Parmesan Reggiano Red Cow Cuparr Cheese. It was amazing, but very hard to cut into. Finally for the brie, we selected a Moses Sleeper Jasper Hill cheese. To complete our plate, we selected a Prosciutto Toscano Dop Pinacenti. We don't always go super fancy at Eataly, but we always follow the same basic formula.
As for the wine, we finally enjoyed a red blend, 19 Crimes, which is my favorite. I don't follow the rules of always pairing red with cheese, so we normally alternate weeks for white and red wines.
To finish the plate, we add crackers, a warm french baguette and fruit like grapes and berries. We also have a few jams and honey to add flavor to the cheese.
Not our fanciest wine + cheese night, but this was one of our first so it took a bit of practice to be where we are now haha!
As for our favorite flavor combinations, I love pairing the parmesan with prosciutto. It's a powerful combination but delicious! I also love the pair a cracker with blue cheese and a drop of honey on top. The sweetness from the honey balances the strong taste of the blue. Finally, I love a warm piece of bread, spread with brie and raspberry + rose jam on top.
Try these cheese plate tips at home and share with me on social media! I'd love to see what you come up with!