Marinated cheeses - recipes

Sunset, Jan, 1989

As long-lasting gifts, for dessert or appetizers, tangy, spicy, or pungent

Customized cheeses, bathed in a flavorful oil marinade or saturated with herbs and liquor, make handsome presentations. These embellishments add more than intriguing tastes and good looks; they extend the life of the cheeses, allowing ample time to enjoy them.

As an appetizer, scoop herb-scented feta, chevre, or breakfast cheese from oil onto crackers and eat with salty olives.

To end a meal, try breakfast cheese or camembert in spiced oil spread thickly on gingersnap cookies.

(Use the flavorful marinade left from cheeses to dress salads.)

Blue-veined cheese with cognac or port is good before or after dinner, served on crackers and accompanied by toasted nuts and lady apples or ripe pear wedges.

Cheese in Olive Oil

1/2 pound feta cheese or an unripened

goat cheese like Montrachet, or

3 slightly soft whole breakfast

cheeses (3 oz. each)

About 5 sprigs (each about 3 in.

long) fresh or dry marjoram,

rosemary, oregano, or thyme (or

2 tablespoons of the dry,

crushed herbs)

3 cloves garlic, peeled

5 or 6 nicoise or salt-cured olives, or

Spanish-style green olives

About 1/2 cup olive oil

Cut feta into large chunks. Cut goat cheese into 1 1/2-inch-thick slices. Leave breakfast cheeses whole.

Fit cheese compactly into a jar or crock, about 1-1/2-cup size. Add herbs, garlic, and olives. Fill jar with oil to cover cheese; cover jar. Chill cheese at least 5 days (oil congeals, but melts at room temperature).

Serve at room temperature. Store in refrigerator up to 6 weeks. Makes 6 to 8 appetizer servings.

Per serving, drained of oil: 125 cal.; 4.2 g protein; 1.8 g carbo.; 11 g fat, 25 mg chol.; 3 76 mg sodium.

Cheese in Spiced Nut Oil

3 slightly soft whole breakfast

cheeses (3 oz. each) or 2 slightly

soft whole camembert (4 to 5 oz.

each)

1 tablespoon whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick (about 3 in. long)

1 long strip (8 to 10 in.) orange peel,

orange par& only

1 long strip (8 to 10 in.) lime peel,

green part only

1 to 2 cups almond oil (the kind that

smells like almonds), hazelnut

oil, or salad oil

Stud top and bottom of cheeses evenly with cloves. Place cheeses in a jar or crock, 3- to 4-cup size; add the cinnamon stick and drape the orange and lime peels around the cheese.

Pour oil into container to cover cheese; cover container. Chill at least 5 days (oil congeals, but melts at room temperature). Serve at room temperature. Store in refrigerator up to 6 weeks. Makes 8 to 10 dessert servings.

Per serving, drained of oil: 107 cal.; 4.5 g protein; a 7 g carbo.; 9.6 g fat; 16 mg chol.; 192 mg sodium.

Potted Blue Cheese

1 fresh or dry bay leaf

1 sprig (about 5 in.) fresh rosemary

or 1 teaspoon of the dry herb

About 3/4 pound blue cheese such

as Danish blue, Gorgonzola, or

Stilton

About 1/4 cup cognac or port

Place bay leaf and rosemary against inside of a jar or crock, 1-1/2- to 2-cup size. Trim off any wax or dried edges from cheese; break cheese into 1- to 1-1/2-inch chunks. Pack half the cheese into container (put dry rosemary on cheese).

Pour half the cognac over Danish or Gorgonzola cheese; use port with Stilton. Pack remaining cheese into jar. Pour cognac or port over cheese to cover it. Serve at room temperature. Store in refrigerator up to 6 weeks. Makes 16 to 18 appetizer servings.-Martin Cohen, Hollywood Calif.

Per serving: 98 cal.; 5.4 g protein; 0.7 g carbo.; 7.2 g fat; 19 mg chol.; 352 mg sodium.