Cheese & Cracker Party Platter?

Question

Any suggestions on types of cheeses, crackers, and garnishes would be much appreciated. Your ideas are needed!

Answer 1

a soft cheese: brie or camembert
a blue cheese: roquefort or gorgonzola
a firm cheese: flakes of romano, mizithra, or parmesan
a yellow cheese: a good Sharp Cheddar
a white cheese: Swiss, Gouda, Muenster

With that, I'd serve pear and apple slices (wash in lemon juice to keep them from turning brown), grapes, quartered figs, whole strawberries

For crackers, have a table water cracker (like Carr's), a melba toast or melba round, some Ritz (everyone loves them), and some sliced baguettes, either toasted or fresh

Answer 2

in case you'll come across St Andres triple creme Brie that's the superb Brie. an excellent Swiss, a sharp Vermont Cheddar and a Port Salute. Serve with multiple cracker and cocktail breads. Throw some grapes and apples on the plate and also you're good to bypass!!

Answer 3

If you can find St Andres triple creme Brie that is the best Brie. A good Swiss, a Sharp Vermont Cheddar and a Port Salute. Serve with assorted cracker and cocktail breads. Throw some grapes and apples on the plate and you are good to go!!

Answer 4

Use the basics. Sharp Chedder, monerey jack, and provolone or swiss. This gives you a nice color display. They usually have a good prepackaged mix selection in the deli section. I would garnish with kale(very dark leafy greens) and place sweet/hot peppers on them, or olives. this gives extra color and finger food to compliment your cheeses. Use a mix of crackers like wheat, white, and rye. Also try using different cracker textures like thin and thick(triscuts are good) Good luck. Happy Holidays.

Answer 5

For crackers I would suggest a variety such as wheat thins, triscuit, you can never go wrong with ritz crackers. Also maybe some of the sliced mini breads like rye, etc. You could also do apple slices and other fruit with a fruit dip.

HOLIDAY CRANBERRY BRIE BAKE
1 sheet (1/2 package) frozen puff pastry dough
1 egg
3/4 cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
1 Brie cheese, about 13 ounces
Water crackers

Allow the pastry sheet to thaw in the package about 30 minutes, until pliable. Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a small bowl, beat the egg with 1 teaspoon water to make an egg wash. Set aside. Lightly flour a large wooden cutting board and roll out the pastry dough into a 14-inch square. Cut off the corners to make a circle. Save the extra dough to cut into decorative shapes for a garnish. Spread the apricot preserves on the pastry, leaving a 2-inch margin all around edge.
Pour the orange juice into a small glass dish and add the cranberries, allowing them to absorb the flavor of the orange juice for about 5 minutes, until the cranberries are soft. Drain the cranberries. Arrange the cranberries evenly on top of apricot preserves. Arrange the almonds evenly on the cranberries. Place the Brie on top of the almonds. Brush the edges of the puff pastry with the egg wash. Completely seal the Brie in the puff pastry. Seal the edges by brushing the egg wash on one edge, as if you are gluing the edge together.Spray a baking sheet with vegetable-oil cooking spray. Place the Brie seam side down on the sheet. Decorate the top with pastry cut-outs, rerolling scraps of dough, if desired. Brush the top with the remaining egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving; the cheese will ooze out if cut it too early! Serve with crackers.



Layered Pesto and Red Pepper Dip
1 tub (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Light Cream Cheese Spread, divided
1/4 cup chopped drained roasted red peppers
1 Tbsp. pesto
1 Tbsp. milk


PLACE half of the cream cheese spread and the peppers in blender; cover. Blend 30 to 40 sec. or until well blended, stopping and scraping down side of blender as needed. MIX remaining cream cheese spread, the pesto and milk until well blended. Spread onto small serving plate; top with the red pepper mixture. Cover. REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour before serving.


KNORR SPINACH DIP
1 (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup Hellmann's ® or Best Foods ® Real Mayonnaise
1 package Knorr ® Vegetable recipe mix
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional)
3 green onions, chopped (optional)

Combine all ingredients and chill about 2 hours.

Answer 6

Everyone has given such great responses already...Let me just say that Muenster and Gouda are THE BEST! And medium cheddar is better than sharp cheddar. Garnish with some oiled, toasted whole almonds and some granny smith apple slices. Yum, yum, YUM! Don't forget the wine!

Answer 7

Here are a few cracker toppers- something for everybody...

1)Ritz, cream cheese, cocktail sauce, 1 shrimp, chives

2)Rosemary and Olive oil Triscuits, topped with mozzarella, dab of pizza sauce, pepperoni

3) Wheat thins, cheddar, mini meatball, drop of bbq sauce

4) triscuits, cream cheese, fresh parsley, pickled okra

5) Ritz, cheddar, ham

6) ritz, mini cheese balls

7) garlic triscuits, tomato slice, lettuce, bacon

Answer 8

You could try a seasonal jam - this goes great with cream cheese:

http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/sweetcranberrysauce.html