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Cheeseboards, Food

Slicing Cheese for Your Holiday Cheese Board

From rounds to wedges and blocks, different types of cheese come in different shapes and sizes and can be cut using a variety of cheese tools. To make it easy, we’ve put together a simple guide with tips and tricks for cutting cheese like a pro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
1. Pick Your Tool
The texture of the cheeses you’ve chosen will help determine the type of tool required for slicing. We recommend having the following tools on hand to fit a variety of styles of cheese:

Chef’s Knife – A strong sturdy blade is ideal for cutting through hard cheeses like Roth® Grand Cru®.

Serrated Knife – A serrated knife makes it easy to slice semi-soft cheeses like Roth® Havarti.

Wire Cutter – Soft and crumbly cheeses like Roth® Buttermilk Blue® stick to a knife so a wire cutter is recommended to help make a clean cut.

2. Determine Your Shape
Varying shapes like tiles and triangles will create striking patterns when building a holiday cheese board. Let the natural shape of the cheese be your guide when determining the best shape to cut it into.

Semi-Soft Block – Roth® Havarti is one of many semi-soft cheeses made in blocks so it can easily be cut into tiles or cubes.

Hard Wedge – Hard wedge-shaped cheeses like Roth® Grand Cru® should be sliced into smaller wedges or triangles.

Soft – Soft cheeses like Roth® Buttermilk Blue® can either be sliced with a wire cutter or simply crumbled and placed on a cheese board in chunks.

3. Make The Cut
While cheeses can be cut well in advance of being served, different styles of cheeses are easier to cut at different temperatures.

Hard Cheeses – Hard cheeses are easier to slice at room temperature. Remove these cheeses from the fridge 30 to 60 minutes before slicing.

Soft and Semi-Soft Cheeses – Soft and semi-soft cheeses hold their shape better and are easier to slice when cold. Try putting softer cheeses in the freezer 5 to 10 minutes before getting started.

Click here for more tips and holiday cheese board inspiration!

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Selecting Cheeses for Your Holiday Cheese Board

During the holiday season, cheese boards offer an eclectic assortment of flavorful items for guests to graze on as a snack or enjoy as an appetizer or dessert.

But with so many wonderful cheeses to choose from, how do you know where to start? Here are four steps to help make it easy to build a holiday cheese board of your own:

1. Be Selective
To start, limit your options to three to five different cheeses. Not only will this will give your guests a variety of cheeses to taste, but it also allows space on your board for plenty of accompaniments like nuts, preserves and crackers.

2. Choose Cheeses with Different Flavors
The best cheese boards feature a mix of sweet, spicy and mild flavor profiles. Alpine-style award-winners, like Roth® Grand Cru® or Roth® Private Reserve, are perfect cheeses to start with because they are rich and flavorful, while still being approachable. Next, add a spicy cheese like Roth® Sriracha Gouda or Jalapeño Havarti to give your board a touch of heat. Lastly, round out your offerings by adding a blue-veined cheese such as Buttermilk Blue

3. Feature Different Textures
When selecting cheeses, consider offering an assortment of hard and soft cheeses. A range of textures not only appeals to guests’ senses, but also provides variety for cutting and arranging the cheese which adds visual interest to your board

4. Embrace Color
The easiest way to make a statement is to add a pop of color. Catch the eye of your guests from across the room by making a bold statement with brightly colored cheeses such as the Roth® Prairie Sunset®.

Follow these simple tips when selecting cheeses and you’ll be on your way to creating a show-stopping, delicious cheese board.

Check out more cheese board inspiration!

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Easy Holiday Cheese Pairings

The holidays are the best time of year to share good drinks and great food with friends and family. The simplest way to impress is to artfully pair cheeses with your favorite wine, beer, and spirits. And though it seems difficult, cheese pairings can be simple and fun if you stick with the basics. The general rule for pairings is to not let either overpower the other. Bold cheeses can match bold drinks and milder cheeses pair well with sweet wines or mellow beer.

Here are some of our favorite easy cheese pairings to impress your guests this holiday season.

Alpine-style cheeses + Riesling
Grand Cru® Reserve washed-rind Alpine-style cheese is complex, yet crowd-pleasing. Careful crafting brings out light floral notes, nutty undertones, a hint of fruitiness and a mellow finish. It pairs perfectly with sweet and dry white wines like Riesling.

Blue Cheese + Gin and Tonic

Spicy Cheeses + Lager

Spicy Cheeses + Bold Hard Cider

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How to Make a Thanksgiving Cheeseboard


It’s one of the most magical times of the year. Leaves are changing, excitement for the holidays is brewing, and comfort food is back in your kitchen. One of the easiest ways to showcase (and taste!) all the delicious flavors of fall is with a harvest cheeseboard, perfect for your Thanksgiving table. Here’s how to make your own at home.

Step 1: Choose your cheese. Look for a variety of aged cheeses, which were historically made to survive the long winters. Great choices are aged gouda, alpine-style cheeses (like our Grand Cru), earthy blues and spicy varieties (like Sriracha Gouda) to keep guests warm.

We also always get asked… how do I cut the cheeses for my cheeseboard? This is easy – follow the shape of the cheese. If you have a wedge, cut your pieces into long triangles.

When you’re cutting a block of cheese, like havarti, you’ll cut it into rectangles.

And always just serve blue cheese with the entire wedge on your cheeseboard. Your guests can break off what they’d like.

 

Step 2: Add accompaniments. For fall, we love to bring in some unique nuts, jams and other accompaniments that you wouldn’t eat any other time of the year. Add a bowl of pumpkin seeds, some cranberry jam, winter wheat crackers and cured meats. Adding apples and mini pumpkins to decorate is also a nice seasonal touch.

Step 3: Pair with drinks. Never, we repeat, never, forget this part! If you’re serving drinks, think about how they pair with the cheeses you have, so the flavors go well together for guests enjoying both. Spicy cheeses deserve a nice beer to balance their flavor, blues can stand up to liquor like gin and alpine-style cheeses go really well with white wine.

Find food and drink pairing suggestions on each of our cheese product pages.

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How To Make a Halloween Cheeseboard


October is full of things we can’t resist, like pumpkin spice, Halloween candy, and October-inspired craft beer.  Now also on our list: cheese. Making a cheeseboard for Halloween parties, gatherings or dinner during your trick-or-treat duties is simple and fun. Just gather some cheeses, your favorite candy and try some new flavor pairings.

The Cheese
This cheeseboard features all of our favorite Halloween-inspired Roth cheeses, from Moody Blue to orange-hued Prairie Sunset, spicy Sriracha Gouda and Vintage Van Gogh Gouda with a dark rind.

The Candy
Whether you use mini candy bars, candy corn, or opt for fancier accompaniments, you really can’t go wrong pairing cheese and sweets. Here’s what we loved:

  • Caramel apples
  • Candy bars
  • Candy Corn
  • Dried Apricots
  • Caramel corn
  • Caramels
  • Pumpkin spice chocolate covered pretzels
  • Orange Marmelade

What would you put on a Halloween cheeseboard?

 

 

 

 

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How To Make a Cheese Board in 3 Easy Steps

Summer is coming to an end, so there’s no better time to enjoy time outdoors with food to share. Cheese boards are the perfect way to bring family and friends together for one last harrah before the end of the season. Plus, delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables are plentiful.

Need some inspiration? Here’s how to create your own cheese board in 3 easy steps.

Step 1: Choose Your Cheese
We recommend picking up to 5 cheeses, so the board doesn’t get too crowded. For this board, we chose Roth Jalapeño Havarti, Prairie Sunset, and Smoked Gouda. A mix of flavored or smoky cheeses, a milder cheese and something bold is a perfect combination.

Step 2: Add Fruits and Vegetables
Use a variety of fruit and vegetables that balance out the board in both taste and color. We used crunchy baked chickpeas, yellow cherry tomatoes, garlic-stuffed olives, grapes, peaches, and plums. This is also a good time to add on nuts, jams or mustards. On this board, we threw on some cashews and honey mustard to balance the spiciness of the  Jalapeño Havarti.

 Step 3: Finish with a Base
Lastly, pile on the meats and bread to bulk up your board. Some ideas: baguette slices, beet chips (or other vegetable chip, for color), your favorite crackers, and summer sausage.

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Charred Watermelon Cheese Wedges

The best appetizers are the ones that are surprisingly easy and always impress your guests. This new watermelon appetizer is topped with high-quality ingredients so you don’t need to work too hard. High-quality olive oil, salt and award-winning Grand Cru cheese add sophistication.

Grand Cru is an Alpine-style cheese is available in three different ages – Original, Reserve and Surchoix. Each are aged in the Roth cellars in Monroe, Wisconsin for different lengths of time to create three unique cheeses. Grand Cru Original is aged 4+ months, Reserve 6+ months and (World Champion!) Grand Cru Surchoix is aged 9+ months. You can learn more about our original Grand Cru cheese here.

Now back to this amazing recipe. Each age of Grand Cru has an earlthy, nutty, savory taste that perfectly balances the sweet watermelon in this appetizer. The crunch of the almonds and fresh mint add to the flavor combination. We guarantee you’ll impress.

 

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Dill Havarti Pasta Salad Lunch Box

Switch up lunch with this fun lunch box featuring Roth’s Dill Havarti and Van Gogh Original Gouda!

For the Dill Havarti Pasta Salad:
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 cups broccoli florets
12 ounces dry spiral pasta or other small pasta shapes
1 cup cooked chickpeas
2 cups Roth® Dill Havarti Cheese, cut into stars or other small shapes
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 medium lemon, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Recipe instructions here!

For the Hasselback Apple with Cheese:
1 apple, spiralized and cored
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 triangular slices of Roth® Van Gogh Original Gouda Cheese

Recipe instructions here!

Fontina Ham Zucchini Kebabs Lunch Box

Send your kids to school with this quick and easy lunch box idea with Roth’s Fontina and Original Havarti Cheeses!

For the Fontina Zucchini Kebabs:
3 slices deli ham
1 small zucchini, shaved into ribbon
3 black olives
2-4 ounces Roth® Fontina Cheese, thickly sliced and cut into flowers or other small shapes

Recipe instructions here!

For the Havarti Watermelon Mint Salad:
4 ounces Roth® Original Havarti Cheese, thickly sliced and cut into butterflies or other small shapes
2 cups watermelon cut in 1-inch cubes
6 thinly sliced mint leaves

Recipe instructions here!