How to Build the Perfect Cheese Plate

December 9, 2014 / mikeysinmykitchen / 6 Comments

I’m from Wisconsin. I love cheese.

My perfect meal is cheese.

Whether it’s paired with amazing wine or beautiful sides and toppings…or straight out of the tub, I love it!

I am no expert on cheese and wine pairings. I just made what I think is a super solid cheese spread and thought I would share the deliciousness with you!

I had a friend (yes, all this cheese for just the two of us…though Mikey and his cousin showed up later and helped us) over for a cheese and wine lunch (which inevtiably turned into an early bedtime).

I didn’t do much research before I went out and bought my cheeses and things…I just went with what I love and it turns out I followed a lot of the actual “rules” in making a cheese plate!

I’ll give you a little how-to guide that you can follow. Here is what I’ve got:

1. You don’t need a ton of different types of cheese and you want to avoid anything with “added” flavors. You want to avoid things that have added herbs or spices because they may not pair with all the other toppings you have out. Plus, other additives distract from the true flavor of the cheese.

2. Keep your sauces (mustard, jam, honey) off to the side rather than pouring them over the cheese. That way you can try the cheese alone or with all the other toppings, deciding which pairing you like best.

3. Funky. Creamy. Gooey. Sweet. Salt. I feel like you need to have a few cheeses that fall into these categories. Something to please everyone!

4. Make sure you have your cheese out at the right temperature and pre-sliced or at least have the proper utensils available to slice the it. The last thing you want is for someone to walk away with half your block of Brie because it was too hard to slice.

I wanted to have some other jams and sauces to go with the cheese. I mixed some Greek honey with some toasted pecans and it was great. I also used a spicy pepper jelly and some hot brown mustard. I sliced up some apples and pears as well as some salami.

I picked out a nice French baguette and some gluten free crackers and then some olives, roasted red peppers and marinated artichokes.

I don’t know much about pairing wine with cheese…I just know I like wine, and I like cheese…therefore I eat them together. We had a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Rose and a Prosecco. They were all delicious with the cheeses.

Time: ”10
Difficulty: ”easy”
Print

Cheeses:

Sartori Gold BellaVitano. Rich, Creamy cheese with nutty, fruity flavor. World cheese gold medal winner

Champignon Cambazola black label

Meadowkass Dutch Gouda

Brie Chantelain Double Cream

Wines:

Cabernet Sauvignon

Rose

Prosecco

Sauces:

Pepper Jelly

Brown Mustard

Honey with toasted Pecans

Sides:

Salami

French Bread

Crackers

Olives

Roasted Red Peppers

Marinated Artichoke Hearts

Pear (sliced)

Apple (sliced)

Other optional sides/toppings:

Any type of jam is always amazing when paired with cheese. Flavored honey or syrup is also great. You could serve with any fruit or any nuts. Also grapes and chocolate pair great with wine and cheese!

Lately

December 5, 2014 / mikeysinmykitchen / 3 Comments

I am in the Christmas spirit. Christmas music is on blast, decorations are up, and packages from Amazon are beginning to arrive.

I love the hustle and bustle that comes along with Christmas. We have a pretty packed schedule this Christmas season and I am so excited to celebrate with friends and family!

I am inspired to try harder with my decorating skills…this wreath and chalkboard are amazing…

It is so easy to get caught up in the chaos that comes with Christmas and very easy to lose focus on the whole reason we celebrate! I got this beautiful Advent book, “O Come Let Us Adore Him” for my Mom and my sister in law and we are loving the daily verses that help us stay focused on the reason we celebrate Christmas!

Obviously we all love the song…and what’s better than a cute little throw pillow? Booze and ice cream. No more words are needed. Just a large Brandy Alexander in my hand, please.

(different recipes have cream or ice cream, depends on what you’re in the mood for).
I want to find some fun Scandinavian Christmas decorations to celebrate my heritage and because my Grandma always has the best Swedish and Norwegian decor during the Holidays! I love this sweet little scene here!

Leave it to Martha. I can totally see my Mom making a whimsical little village like this! I can just imagine how obsessed I would have been with something like this as a kid! Hopefully I can make time to decorate on this level someday!

Decadent Homemade Hot Chocolate

December 1, 2014 / mikeysinmykitchen / 12 Comments

Remember I told you it was time to step up your hot chocolate game last week?

Well here is the recipe to help you do that!

I made this absolutely decadent hot chocolate that’s richer and creamier than any hot coco anyone has ever given me. Topped with homemade marshmallows you really can’t go wrong. Add a little baileys and you might just faint. I pinky promise you will never regret making this even though it has whole milk or heavy cream in it…it makes it so much better than the mix with water your Mom used to make you (no offense, Moms).

I hope everyone had an absolutely fantastic Thanksgiving Holiday! I know I did because I am now perpetually starving. I stretched my stomach out and then some…and It was worth it! Mikey and I packed in as much friend and family time as humanly possible and we wouldn’t have had it any other way!

I know your schedules are beginning to fill up…but maybe you can add this to your next get-together menu…it won’t disappoint!

Continue reading →

Homemade Marshmallows

November 26, 2014November 26, 2014 / mikeysinmykitchen / 14 Comments

Who is ready to up their hot chocolate game?

These homemade marshmallows are sure to boost your street cred and gain you some major points with Grandma this holiday season.

(apparently I talk like a gangster now)
If you have been looking for something fun to bring to Thanksgiving dinner but your sweet Mom/Aunt keeps telling you they’ve got it covered…these marshmallows are your ticket to getting out of dish duty!

Once the meal is over and it is time for dessert, you can bust out some hot chocolate, add some booze (of course) and then top it all off with a fluffy, giant, vanilla bean specked marshmallow.

Everyone will be impressed (and tipsy) which means extra hugs and kisses (which can be a good thing or bad thing depending on which distant relatives show up).

I made some homemade hot chocolate to try with these marshmallows and promise to share that recipe asap! It doesn’t matter if its homemade, or from a packet (sometimes nothing tastes better than a packet of Swiss Miss) or just straight Baileys…these marshmallows will be a welcome addition to the hot drink of your choice this Thanksgiving and Christmas.

You could also add some fun food coloring to these if you were feeling extra festive. Or omit the vanilla beans if you don’t have those on hand. You could also coat these in chocolate and add some fun decorations to them if you wanted to serve them as treats rather than put them into your drinks. No matter what you do, I hope you make them and share them with all your friends (or dip them in chocolate and share them with no one but your cat).

Continue reading →

Stuffed Peppers

November 18, 2014 / mikeysinmykitchen / 6 Comments

One of our favorite comfort foods is stuffed peppers. There are so many different ways to prepare them but our favorite way is this Italian recipe.

I add tons of spices and then top them with a layer of marinara (Mikey calls it gravy, but I’m not Italian..so gravy to me is brown and goes on potatoes) and a hefty handful of cheeses.

These are also a great meal that you can prep ahead of time and freeze. I made this batch for a friend who is a new Mom and needed something comforting and easy to re-heat.

You can make these in so many different ways. You can also stuff tomatoes with this filling or you can adjust the meat and use either chicken, pork or turkey instead of beef. They are a delicious, low carb meal (but serving them with extra sauce and bread is absolutely delicious!).