Of course you’ll need to take an easy, affordable, and festive hors d’oeuvre someplace this holiday season. I’ve got a really, really good one for you. I’ll be quick. I know you’re busy, and so am I.
I first stumbled upon this Marinated Cheese recipe in a magazine, then I found it on Allrecipes.com, and later saw it all over the entire Internet. It involved alternating slices of cheese and slices of cream cheese (Slices of cream cheese? Really?), plus a tasty and pretty marinade. Everybody always loved the flavors, but the comments were all about how to make the slicing and stacking and plating easier. Some of the photos were very nice. Some of them, though, weren’t. The plating of that Marinated Cheese is tricky and seems to require a food stylist to pull it off properly. And how long was it going to look good once people started digging into it anyway?
While my primary focus is always great tasting real food, I do like food to look pretty. I was intrigued with the flavors of Marinated Cheese and encouraged by the 5-star reviews raving about how delicious it was. But no way was I going to that much trouble for something that was going to look like a crime scene 10 minutes into the party. Who has time for that? So I didn’t make Marinated Cheese at all. Still, the recipe interested me. Finally, after seeing all that butter board nonsense a couple of years back, I knew exactly what to do.
Instead of a lot of tedious slicing and stacking, I take a drastically easier route. I crumble very sharp cheddar cheese and marinate it. I put cream cheese out to soften. Right before the party, I spread the cream cheese nicely on a platter or plate, and spoon the cheese crumbles and marinade over it. I put out a spreader or two and whatever good crackers or bread I have handy. It seems fancy, but it’s dead easy. Plus, it’s delicious AND good-looking!
I had two people separately see and then try Marinated Cheese this afternoon while I was taking pictures. They said almost the exact same thing. First was, “WHAT is that? It smells good.” And then I got one “OMG!” and one “Damn, that’s tasty!” Hahaha!
Happy Easy Holidays? Mission accomplished. ♥️
Marinated Cheese
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- 3 T. fresh parsley, minced
- 2 scallions, green part only, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 2 oz. jar diced pimento, drained, or the same amount of jarred roasted red peppers, minced
- 1 t. dried basil
- 1 t. honey
- ½ t. each salt and pepper
- 8 oz. block extra-sharp cheddar cheese
- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
- crackers or baguette slices for serving
Instructions
- in a medium-sized mixing bowl mix together the oil, vinegar, parsley, scallions, garlic, and pimento. Add basil, honey, and salt and pepper. Whisk together well.
- Open the cheddar and lay it flat on a cutting board. Crumble it by sticking a fork into it vertically and twisting/pulling it into irregular small chunks. Add the crumbled cheddar to the bowl with the marinade and combine thoroughly. Marinate the cheese, covered, in the refrigerator overnight, or on the counter for an hour or two.
- To serve, spread the cream cheese on a plate or platter. Don't try to make it perfectly even on top, swirl it around. Peaks and valleys are best. Spoon the cheddar over the cream cheese, and drizzle a little of the marinade over it. Serve with crackers and/or baguette slices.
I’m gonna try it for our POA Christmas party. It may cause a stampede to your website!
Bring it! Merry Christmas!