Tag Archives: Appetizer

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?

Uncategorized

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.

Food

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.

Cheeseboards, Food

Our New Favorite Pairing: Havarti + Radish

Looking for an easy appetizer or new twist on your plain ol’ cheeseboard? Top a radish slice with a square slice of Roth Havarti cheese, then sprinkle the top with coarse sea salt. Try many Havarti flavors like dill (pictured), jalapeno or original.

What you’ll need:
1 package (6 or 8 ounce) Roth Havarti cheese
1 bunch fresh radishes
coarse sea salt, for topping

How to do it
1. Slice radishes into disks
2. Slice havarti into strips, then cut into squares
3. Top radish slices with havarti slices and sprinkle with sea salt. Or, place havarti squares and radishes on a cheeseboard for quests to assemble their own pairings.

Find more inspiration at rothcheese.com/ideas

Featured, Food

How to Make a Spring Cheese Board

It’s finally spring! Whether you’re making a cheese board for a party, a shower, or just because, you might as well make it as lovely, tasty, and seasonal as possible. Here’s our latest inspiration:

STEP 1: Choose your cheese

We recommend starting with a creamy, flavored havarti. Roth Horseradish Havarti has just enough kick without overpowering your palate. Plus, it pairs especially well with seasonal ham.
Next, add a nice, nutty alpine-style cheese. Alpine-style cheeses, like Roth Grand Cru®, have a rich, complex flavor and appeals to just about any party-goer. Plus, it pairs beautifully with nuts, fruits, and ham—which makes it a perfect partner for this spring board.
Add a pop of color with a mild cheddar or American Original cheese. Roth Prairie Sunset® is a perfect choice for spring. It is slightly sweet with a hint of butterscotch, and so approachable that it tastes great in just about any combination.

Step 2: Pair with Accompaniments

Have fun adding color to your cheese board with seasonal vegetables, fruit and nuts. Here’s some ideas:

Marcona almonds: These simple salted, slightly oily almonds provide a great crunch between bites.

Pickled spring onions: You can make these a few days in advance in the fridge by putting trimmed spring onions into a simple brine—a quick search for pickled spring onions or scallions will turn up dozens of tasty options.

Grapes: Pick your favorite variety—we love the color of red grapes against the color of the Prairie Sunset.

Rhubarb jam: Nothing says spring like rhubarb!

Beauty heart radishes: Peppery-sweet and oh-so-pretty, these radishes may look boring from the outside, but when you slice them, they’re show-stoppers. Great on a sliced baguette with ham and your choice of cheese.
Candied Meyer Lemon: Meyer lemons have a distinctive taste—less sour than regular lemons, with a slightly floral aroma. If you can’t find them candied, you can make your own! Martha Stewart’s version calls for simmering sliced lemons in a simple syrup for 30 minutes, letting them cool, then laying them out on a rack.

Step 3: Add a Base

Bulk up your cheese board with meats, crackers and bread. For spring, we love:

Country ham: Salty country ham is a great choice for a cheese board, but an unctuous liver pâté would be lovely, too.

Whole wheat crackers and sliced baguette: These serve as the perfect base for stacking up adventurous cheese board combos.

With these simple tips, you can make the perfect cheese board at home.
Check out more cheese board inspiration!

Food

Hot & Cheesy Corn Dip

By: Meggan Hill, Culinary Hill

I never met a hot, cheesy dip I didn’t love, but I have a special place in my heart for this Hot Corn Dip. And it’s definitely the cheese.

Any dip can taste great when it’s loaded with mayonnaise and sour cream, but to make a dip taste special, you need a wow factor. The star of this show is: Roth GranQueso.

GranQueso

Inspired by the cheeses of Spain but made by the masters in the heart of Wisconsin, your hot cheesy dips will never be the same. GranQueso transports you to a world of brown butter and cinnamon undertones which naturally draw out the sweetness of the corn. It’s a positively heavenly indulgence!

Hot Cheesy Corn Dip

You can easily make this dip ahead of time for your next event. Follow the recipe through Step 5, spreading the dip in the prepared baking dish. Then, cover and refrigerate overnight or until serving time. Add 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time when you bake it straight from the refrigerator.

This recipe is inspired by a Mexican Corn Dip from a group of quilters in Marquette County, Wisconsin (The “Calico Capers”).

GET THE RECIPE

Food

Romancing the Cheese Board

There are plenty of ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Of course, our favorite is with cheese—that’s why we put together this little Valentine’s Day Cheese board for two.

To keep it light enough for two, we only used two cheeses: Roth Buttermilk Blue® and Roth Original Havarti.

Buttermilk Blue® is an exceptionally creamy blue cheese that traditionally pairs well with figs, pears, dates and dark chocolate.

Havarti is a crowd-pleasing, buttery cheese that pairs well with, well … just about everything.

For this cheese board, we dipped strawberries in dark chocolate—rich and sweet berries pair with either cheese. Honey, too, pairs well with both cheeses on water crackers, and the crunchy candied nuts make a perfect nibble.

The final touch on this board: Smoked oysters. Great with Havarti, and of course oysters are also a purported aphrodisiac.

And finally, of course, we chose a sparkling rosé to pair with our board. Make sure to look for a dry—or brut—version, as a sweeter wine doesn’t play well with the earthier flavors in this cozy cheese board.