Cheeseplatekebabs Recipes

CHEESE PLATE KEBABS

Steps:

• First, choose your cheese. I suggest choosing between 2-4 kinds of cheese depending on how much variety you want on your skewer. Be sure you're also choosing cheeses that will hold up to being cut and skewered. My favorites for this are: your favorite cheddar, a simple brie that isn't too runny at room temp, a goat gouda, and a blue like fourme d'ambert. Cube all your cheese.
• When getting ready to cube hard cheese (like cheddar or gouda), be sure to let it come to room temperature so it doesn't shatter when you try to slice it. Softer cheeses are ok to cut cold.
• Get out your skewers, I like to use mid-sized or traditional kababs cut in half.
• Now, layer your skewers with your cheese plate cubes. The pattern I use is: cheese, olive, bread, different cheese, salami,bread, cheese, olive prociutto, bread, apricot. This is to keep the cheeses from touching so you can enjoy them individually while always giving the eater a piece of bread next to a piece of cheese.
• Feel free to have fun layering! Try this method with your favorite cheese plate staples for a fun picnic dish that will quickly become everyone's favorite.

EASY CHEESE BOARD

Steps:

• Arrange the fig leaves on a round platter. Place the grapes in the middle and the Brie, Cheddar and goat cheese around the grapes. Sprinkle thyme leaves and place a sprig of time on top of the goat cheese and drizzle with olive oil. Add the blue cheese to the cheese arrangement and artfully arrange the apricots, figs and crackers among the cheeses.

CHEESE PLATTER

Steps:

• Go to the best cheese shop in town and ask the person at the counter which cheeses are ready to serve. Taste everything; they expect you to. We all know that the Brie may look terrific, but it can be underripe and tough or overripe and ammoniated. You want only the freshest cheeses that are perfectly ripened. Take them home, refrigerate them, and then bring them to room temperature a few hours before serving.
• Second, be sure to have a platter or wooden board that is flat and large enough to hold the cheeses without crowding them. Arrange the cheeses with the cut sides facing out, and with several small cheese knives, maybe one for each type of cheese.
• Third, to finish the platter, add sliced breads or crackers, and green leaves. I use either lemon or galax leaves, which you can get from your florist. If you have a garden, any large flat leaf like hydrangea looks beautiful, but be sure they aren't poisonous and are pesticide-free!
• Overall, the simpler the design, the better the platter looks. Group each kind of cheese together and add one large bunch of green or red grapes in the center to create a visual focal point. Fill in the spaces with lots of crackers or small slices of bread.

"BURNT" BASQUE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Butter a 9-inch cake pan. Cut a sheet of parchment paper large enough to line the inside of the pan by a few extra inches. Butter the paper and press it into the pan, flattening any major creases. Trim away any excess paper from the sides until you have an inch or two of overhang.
• Combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and flour in a bowl. Stir and smear together with a spatula until very smooth and creamy. Add vanilla extract and 1 egg; whisk to combine. Whisk in remaining eggs, one at a time. Pour in heavy cream and mix until smooth.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan. Tap the pan against the counter to burst any excess air bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until puffed, very well browned, and nearly burned on the edges, 50 to 55 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) in the last 10 minutes.
• Let cheesecake cool to room temperature, at least 25 minutes. Lift out onto a plate and peel back parchment paper, using a knife or spatula if needed. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, 4 hours to overnight.

CHEESECAKE BABKA

Steps:

• Dough: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook, beat together milk, yeast, flours, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and butter on low speed until well combined. Transfer dough to work surface and form into a 10-by-8-inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Wrap in parchment; refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• Butter Package: Place butter between two pieces of parchment or plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, gently beat until butter is slightly softened, then roll into a 9-by-7-inch rectangle. Loosely wrap in plastic; refrigerate at least 2 hours.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to an 18-by-9-inch rectangle with a short side parallel to edge of work surface. Place chilled butter package on top half of dough. Fold bottom half of dough over butter to cover completely and firmly press to adhere butter and dough to one another. Pinch edges to seal. Roll out dough once more to a 24-by-7-inch rectangle. Fold top and bottom of dough toward center until they meet. Fold bottom half up to cover top half, rotate dough package 90 degrees, and roll out dough to a 28-by-7 1/2-inch rectangle. Repeat folding process. Wrap dough in plastic; refrigerate 1 hour or freeze for later use.
• Filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on low speed until softened. Beat in ricotta until just combined (do not overbeat). Add half the egg (reserve remaining half for egg wash), vanilla seeds, lemon zest, confectioners' sugar, and cornstarch; beat until combined. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Streusel: In a medium bowl, stir together butter and sugar. Mix in flour until large clumps form. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour.
• Spray three 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Roll out dough to a 27-by-9-inch rectangle. Divide into six 13 1/2-by-3-inch rectangles. Transfer filling to a pastry bag and pipe one-sixth of filling in a line down the center of each rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Pull edges of dough up and pinch to enclose filling. Place two filled portions of dough, seam-side down, on work surface to form an X. Working from center of the X, twist ends. Transfer to prepared pan, seam-side down. Repeat process with remaining dough.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly cover pans with a kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. (Dough should just reach edge of pan.) Gently brush dough with egg wash. Break streusel into pebble-sized pieces and gently sprinkle over loaves, dividing equally. Bake until crust is firm and golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer pans to a wire rack; let cool 10 minutes. Invert loaves onto racks; let cool completely. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar.

BASIC CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, chopped walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and melted butter. Mix well and press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Beat in sour cream and heavy cream. Blend in the flour and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add eggs one at a time. Pour batter over crust.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until center is almost set (filling will be soft). Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight before removing from pan.