Well, it's the holiday season which means the reappearance of one of my guilty pleasures, the cheese ball.I've tried several recipes but most use cream cheese as a base, and even after I try adding in extra cheese just don't seem to capture that sharp cheesey flavor I've grown to crave.I believe there has to be a better base to build these around. Do you or any of your readers have a good recipe/idea to try?
Thanks,
Sparky
Well, the holiday season is over, but there's plenty of winter parties left. There are still lots of opportunities to indulge that cheese ball craving!
Cream cheese is often used as a base for cheese spreads because it's cheap, smooth, and easy to blend, and it has a relatively mild taste that will allow other flavors to shine out. If, however, you're looking for a more distinct cheese flavor, you should look for cheeses with a similar consistency to cream cheese. They need to be soft and able to be blended easily.
I would suggest trying goat cheese or a very soft blue cheese. You can browse through the the Cheesemonger's posts to find other suggestions for good soft cheeses.
When you've found a soft cheese with a good flavor, blend it with herbs, nuts, roasted garlic, or other ingredients until you get the taste you want. Depending on the pungency of the cheese you may also want to still cut in a little cream cheese.
I'll post a recipe a little later today for one of my favorite cheese spreads! In the meantime, does anyone else have favorite recipes for Sparky?
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Where you may be going wrong is in using real cheese for flavor. I used to make one that used that Kraft flavored stuff that comes in a little glass. Gross, but it did give it a nice cheddar flavor.
I no longer have the recipe, but what I remember was sharp cheddar flavor (or maybe it was garlic & cheddar) cheese, cream cheese, a little red wine and tabasco. I would smash a garlic clove just enough to release the flavor and then chill the mixture a while and remove the garlic before shaping it and rolling in chopped pecans.
I think I put cayenne or chili powder in too.
I used Martha Stewart's cheese ball recipes (see link on my name) this year and they were a big hit, even though I omitted the Worcestershire and Tabasco.
I would try with some fresh goat cheese. It's flavors would pair well with fruits, nuts, herbs, etc. The only problem would be that it's not that mallable. Maybe add a little cream cheese in to help work it's way to a cohesive mass. Good luck!