We decided to have a fruit & cheese platter for dinner tonight, instead
of cooking......here's what I came up with:

*brie (ile de France brand double-cream brie)
*"Roaring Twenties Style Bleu Cheese"
*parrano
*fresh mozzarella
*sliced baguette, 1/2 spread with herbed olive oil and the other half
spread with pesto, run under the broiler to crisp them up
*sun-dried tomatoes
*roasted red peppers
*roasted garlic
*celery
*apple slices
*pear slices
* red and green grapes
*toasted hazelniuts
*toasted walnuts
*honey mustard

I think I'm going to have to do this more often!!! YUM!

The only question I had was with the bleu cheese. it was a kind i've
never had, and I didn't like it. The white part was fine but the blue
veins were strangely gritty. It semmed like maybe they added something
to the fresh cheese to make it vein blue, and maybe it didn't take
right? It was gritty, like fine crystals of sand all through the bllue
veins, and they were discolored, a muddy brown. The flavor of the
cheese was good but the consistency was awful. Has anyone heard of this
happening in blue cheese? I'm used to either a mooth, creamy texture or
a crumbly texture, but either wayt it's usually consistent. This was
not. The blue parts were definitely WEIRD.

Jude wrote:
> We decided to have a fruit & cheese platter for dinner tonight, instead
> of cooking......here's what I came up with:
>
> *brie (ile de France brand double-cream brie)
> *"Roaring Twenties Style Bleu Cheese"
> *parrano
> *fresh mozzarella
> *sliced baguette, 1/2 spread with herbed olive oil and the other half
> spread with pesto, run under the broiler to crisp them up
> *sun-dried tomatoes
> *roasted red peppers
> *roasted garlic
> *celery
> *apple slices
> *pear slices
> * red and green grapes
> *toasted hazelniuts
> *toasted walnuts
> *honey mustard
>
> I think I'm going to have to do this more often!!! YUM!
>
> The only question I had was with the bleu cheese. it was a kind i've
> never had, and I didn't like it. The white part was fine but the blue
> veins were strangely gritty. It semmed like maybe they added something
> to the fresh cheese to make it vein blue, and maybe it didn't take
> right? It was gritty, like fine crystals of sand all through the bllue
> veins, and they were discolored, a muddy brown. The flavor of the
> cheese was good but the consistency was awful. Has anyone heard of this
> happening in blue cheese? I'm used to either a mooth, creamy texture or
> a crumbly texture, but either wayt it's usually consistent. This was
> not. The blue parts were definitely WEIRD.
>
Oh, Yum, my kind of dinner, without the Blue Cheese, please.

You forgot to tell us what kind of wine you had with that delicious
assortment of goodies. )

"Margaret Suran" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Jude wrote:
>> We decided to have a fruit & cheese platter for dinner tonight, instead
>> of cooking......here's what I came up with:
>>
>> *brie (ile de France brand double-cream brie)
>> *"Roaring Twenties Style Bleu Cheese"
>> *parrano
>> *fresh mozzarella
>> *sliced baguette, 1/2 spread with herbed olive oil and the other half
>> spread with pesto, run under the broiler to crisp them up
>> *sun-dried tomatoes
>> *roasted red peppers
>> *roasted garlic
>> *celery
>> *apple slices
>> *pear slices
>> * red and green grapes
>> *toasted hazelniuts
>> *toasted walnuts
>> *honey mustard
>>
>> I think I'm going to have to do this more often!!! YUM!
>>
> Oh, Yum, my kind of dinner, without the Blue Cheese, please.
>
> You forgot to tell us what kind of wine you had with that delicious
> assortment of goodies. )

Margaret took the words right out of my mouth. Yummers indeed!

Chris

Margaret Suran wrote:
> Jude wrote:
> > We decided to have a fruit & cheese platter for dinner tonight, instead
> > of cooking......here's what I came up with:
> >
> > *brie (ile de France brand double-cream brie)
> > *"Roaring Twenties Style Bleu Cheese"
> > *parrano
> > *fresh mozzarella
> > *sliced baguette, 1/2 spread with herbed olive oil and the other half
> > spread with pesto, run under the broiler to crisp them up
> > *sun-dried tomatoes
> > *roasted red peppers
> > *roasted garlic
> > *celery
> > *apple slices
> > *pear slices
> > * red and green grapes
> > *toasted hazelniuts
> > *toasted walnuts
> > *honey mustard
> >
> > I think I'm going to have to do this more often!!! YUM!
> >
> > The only question I had was with the bleu cheese. it was a kind i've
> > never had, and I didn't like it. The white part was fine but the blue
> > veins were strangely gritty. It semmed like maybe they added something
> > to the fresh cheese to make it vein blue, and maybe it didn't take
> > right? It was gritty, like fine crystals of sand all through the bllue
> > veins, and they were discolored, a muddy brown. The flavor of the
> > cheese was good but the consistency was awful. Has anyone heard of this
> > happening in blue cheese? I'm used to either a mooth, creamy texture or
> > a crumbly texture, but either wayt it's usually consistent. This was
> > not. The blue parts were definitely WEIRD.
> >
> Oh, Yum, my kind of dinner, without the Blue Cheese, please.
>
> You forgot to tell us what kind of wine you had with that delicious
> assortment of goodies. )

a california caberbet sauvignon. robert mondavi, i believe. a good
grocery store red =)

>>Oh, Yum, my kind of dinner, without the Blue Cheese, please.
>>>
>>> You forgot to tell us what kind of wine you had with that delicious
>>> assortment of goodies. )
>
>
> a california cabernet sauvignon. robert mondavi, i believe. a good
> grocery store red =)
>

I find that this is one of the best bargains in red wine. I do not
have any right now, but I get it when it is on sale. I believe it is
the Robert Mondavi Reserve, or something like this. Grocery stores in
New York City may not sell alcohol, except for beer, On the other
hand, liquor stores are not allowed to sell beer.

The Robert Mondavi red can be bought for somewhere around seven
dollars when on sale. Perhaps a little more now, as prices are
forever going up. I am ashamed to say that I order and do not look at
the price. (

Jude wrote:
> We decided to have a fruit & cheese platter for dinner tonight, instead
> of cooking......here's what I came up with:
>
> *"Roaring Twenties Style Bleu Cheese"
>
> The only question I had was with the bleu cheese. it was a kind i've
> never had, and I didn't like it. The white part was fine but the blue

Remove all doubt next time and use Maytag Blue Cheese, the best in the
country. If you can't get it where you are, ping me and I'll send you
some.

N.

Nancy1 wrote:
> Jude wrote:
> > We decided to have a fruit & cheese platter for dinner tonight, instead
> > of cooking......here's what I came up with:
> >
> > *"Roaring Twenties Style Bleu Cheese"
> >
> > The only question I had was with the bleu cheese. it was a kind i've
> > never had, and I didn't like it. The white part was fine but the blue
>
> Remove all doubt next time and use Maytag Blue Cheese, the best in the
> country. If you can't get it where you are, ping me and I'll send you
> some.
>
> N.

Well, the idea is that we like to get a couple of tries-and-true
flavors and try a couple of new cheeses each time. I've had Maytag Blue
(don't knwo where to get it around here but my parents used to eat
Maytag), but we bought an unknown on purpose. This time, a dud. Maybe
next time a big success. the Parrano was our other new flavor and that
was a big hit!

Thanks for the advice though!