Cheddar Cheese

MidLifeCrisis_3

Your help please! Where can I get a decent cheddar that looks and tastes good for as little as possible? I am going to a friends house tomorrow evening for drinks and nibbles and when asked if there was anything I could bring she requested some cheddar for the cheeseboard. Simple enough you may think, but one of the other guests is a real Hyacinth Bouquet and I know she's highly likely to turn up with a huge whole round of some fancy cheese. To boot couple of the others are in total revere of her and also like to boast of their culinary knowledge. I really don't know much about cheese, wine, fancy foods with french names, etc - tbh it's more a case of if I try it and like it I'll buy it again - if it's on offer that is:D - and so I feel completely inadequate:o.

I can't afford posh farm style shops like the others so how can I meet their expectations without spending a fortune? Normally I buy whatever mature cheddar is on offer in the supermarket eg Cathedral City, etc and I know Aldi have what seems to be a nice cheese selection, but which cheddar will be good enough and what size wedge(s) should I be looking for to serve approx 15 people?

Thanks in advance for your helpful advice:A

heavenleigh

You could either buy Cathedral city and remove package and decant into a tupperware pot so nobody knows! or local butchers do local cheese at very reasonable prices (well mine do) x

McKneff

Do you have a Jack Fultons near you.

They sell the best cheese on the market. Really really nice.

The Wensleydale is my favourite,mmmmm

Seakay

you don't have to feed 15 - if everyone brings something then there will be 15 cheeses so it's unlikely everyone will have everything.
Get the most mature chedar that you can afford, if it has some rind even better but not to worry if not, get rid of the plastic wrapping and re wrap it in greaseproof paper. A wedge shape looks nicest if poss, about half a pound should be fine. Your friend wants you - not a caterer!

peachyprice

I would go to the deli counter in Sainsbury's, they have various cheddars and you can ask them to cut off as little or as much as you want. You could always get a selection of a few different ones and they'll have that cut off the round/block shape you won't get with pre-packed. Their Tickler is particualrly nice.

If you do want to go with pre-packed their Taste the Difference West Country extra mature is on BOGOF £4.15 and is a really nice cheddar with a good texture, tastes much more 'real' than Cathedral City.

suki1964

Have to agree the west country is lovely.

Any supermarket cheese counter that has a taste the difference/extra special cheddar should be good - sample before you buy and buy what you like

Honeythief

I would make a trio of cheddar cheese balls and present that! Retro is very "in" right now and cheese balls are bound to go down a treat, especially if the rest of the board is just plain wedges or rounds of cheese. Roll one in nuts, one in herbs, one in some kind of spice (pepper or paprika spring to mind). The bonus is that nobody could possibly know what exact cheese you used or how much it cost you.

[Deleted User]

M&S do a lovely cheese from Wales which is really nice and tastes like cheddar used to and not the supermarket rubbish.It was on offer at £4.00 for a whopping big block.Cheese is my downfal when it comes to budgetting as I do like a nice cheese i'd rather have a small amount that was really good than a lot which tasted of a washing flannel iyswim :)

MidLifeCrisis_3

Honeythief wrote: »

I would make a trio of cheddar cheese balls and present that! Retro is very "in" right now and cheese balls are bound to go down a treat, especially if the rest of the board is just plain wedges or rounds of cheese. Roll one in nuts, one in herbs, one in some kind of spice (pepper or paprika spring to mind). The bonus is that nobody could possibly know what exact cheese you used or how much it cost you.

How would you make a cheese ball and what sort of size do they need to be? I've never heard of this idea before, but I love it:T. What sort of nuts and herbs should I use too? I have fresh coriander, mint and basil or various store cupboard dried herbs; mixed, coriander, basil, thyme, oregano, etc and have mixed peppercorns (whole or milled), black pepper and paprika. I have just bought some nuts in for Xmas; cashews, pistachios, dry roasted and salted peanuts.

I'm going to Asda later and they have pre-packed The Black Farmer Sweet Mature Cheddar "Traditionally hand made in the West Country, this cheese has the strength you'd expect from mature cheddar but with real depth of flavour and a delicious rounded sweet finish" or Collier's Powerful Welsh Cheddar "Made to the traditional recipe, Collier's cheddar stand amongst the finest examples of Welsh cheese-making and is one of the most consistently powerful cheddars you can buy" both 400 g for £2.50 each - would either of these be ok? If not, there is a Sainsburys near here too, only 3 or 4 of us have been asked to bring cheese, others are bringing wine, etc so is 400g enough? I like the sound of anything from the West Country as I live there.

In fact even better, I've just checked and Sainsburys currently have their West Country 400g £4.19 on 241.

Ooh I can feel my inner Hyacinth coming on already:j

p00

Farmfoods do a 1k extra mature cheese for £5 which is lovely and strong and ideal for anything from cheese on toast to cooking.

xxp00

Honeythief

MidLifeCrisis wrote: »

How would you make a cheese ball and what sort of size do they need to be? I've never heard of this idea before, but I love it:T. What sort of nuts and herbs should I use too?

Here ya go - Martha Stewart to the rescue!
Cheese Balls Three Ways

That link has Cheddar And Cranberry, Roquefort And Walnut, and Goat Cheese And Scallions, but there are no set rules for what flavourings to use. If you Google "cheese ball recipe" you'll find heaps of ideas.

Have fun!