Celebrate Love
This month’s prompt is about Favorite Romantic Meals or Dishes and the possibilities are endless! Do you have a go-to meal you make every year on your anniversary? Is there one dip you cannot live without for your Galentine’s celebration? Do your kids love to make a certain dessert for the holiday?
I remember someone telling me the story of the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake she made for her now husband on their first date and how she suspected it sealed the deal for a second date. There was another story I heard about a woman’s husband and two boys surprising her one Valentine’s Day by transforming the house into a restaurant. When she got home from a business trip, everything was decorated, music was playing and she had a personalized menu of the Chef’s specials for the evening. I hope they kept that a lasting tradition. Any get-together with girlfriends on my end, Galentine’s or otherwise, must included queso and margaritas. It’s an unspoken rule.
For my husband and I, we are fairly simple in our preferences. We are quite honestly happiest with a cheese platter and all the fixings. Include a crusty loaf of french bread, salami or prosciutto, some spreads for contrast of flavor and we are beyond thrilled.
We may undertake new challenges and ways of celebrating in future years. I would love to try my hand at different flavors for chocolate fondue. I know it is a little outdated, but what is not to love about dipping desserts in chocolate? There are recipe books and boxes full of family recipes for baked goods I haven’t even tapped into yet. This is my first year needing to eat gluten free and I would love to master the art of baking gluten free bread. Who knows how our lifestyles will change in the years to come?
Regardless of any future changes or adjustments to our lives, or any new experiments or endeavors, I get the feeling we will keep coming back to a simple spread of our favorites. There is something wonderful, truly, about breaking bread and enjoying simple yet exquisite flavors.
So with that in mind, here are my top recommendations for building a spread worthy of your celebration this year:
Choose 3 or more cheeses of differing textures: As long as all members of your gathering can enjoy (there are some amazing vegan options to consider as well!), select cheeses for your spread that will provide variety and character. We tend to select at least one spreadable or soft cheese like goat cheese or brie, and then choose at least one medium and one hard cheese. We are partial to Spanish cheese so this most often looks like Manchego or Iberico for our selections.
Smoked or Dried Meat: We love a hard, dry salami for our spread. We will buy a small salami and slice off pieces to layer with bread and cheese for a heavenly combination. We have also used Prosciutto or Capocollo, whatever you prefer!
Bread or Crackers: This year we will certainly have gluten free crackers (and gluten free bread if I can pull myself together) but we have enjoyed a variety of options over the years. French bread is a favorite, lavosh or rosemary flatbread is wonderful. Use a dark pumpernickel or a swirled rye bread, or ciabatta rolls or breadsticks. I may be a little biased to all things in this category, but you really can’t go wrong. Select the best one for the cheese and meats you are featuring. Are you spreading a goat cheese and adding a jam? Maybe French bread or toasted crostinis are your best bet. Are you layering thin slices of sharp cheddar with a strong salami? Maybe select a butter cracker as your ideal base. Select your cheeses and meats and go from there.
Spreads Like Jams or Tapenades: I have to admit, when I first started ordering cheese plates in restaurants, I almost never touched the jams or honey or spreads they featured. I would have been happy with cheese and bread alone and I wasn’t that crazy about mixing sweet with savory. I think what made me change my mind was when my uncle served me toasted bread with goat cheese and blackberry jam. I was hooked and the spreads never went untouched again. One of my favorite restaurants includes honey with a bit of honeycomb (which is delicious), but I (strangely) don’t often have honeycomb in my fridge. Typically I will use a berry or fig jam and I like to get an olive tapenade for a salty flavor.
Fruit & Nuts: Slices of apples or pears are always a good option, or bunches of grapes or cherries work well too. Same as with the type of bread or crackers, select the fruit based on the contrast of flavors you are going for. It’s often nice to have almonds or cashews to crunch into and dried fruits like apricots or cranberries add a nicely sweet flavor.
With these basics in place, your cheese and antipasto platter will please crowds or satisfy an intimate party of one or two.
Regardless of how you celebrate, enjoy this month of love and send us your stories and recipes for your favorites. Play this month’s Romantic Playlist as the backdrop for your celebrations or preparations and let us know what you think. Enjoy!