Drink and a nosh: Mini rosemary roquefort cheese balls

 

OK, so this sweet little tray is really meant to hold olives, but it did a great job of snugly holding the cheese balls in place, which made for easier transport, and for easier serving.

 

This is one of those recipes that I had been intending to make roughly forever, or at least since the cookbook was released late in 2014. I'd buy the cream cheese, goat cheese, Roquefort and Marconas, but somehow I'd never quite get around to it for whatever event I was planning it for, and since it requires some lead time to soften the cheese, form the balls and then chilling time before the final step, it was always the recipe that got jettisoned out of the four I would plan to make. So then we'd just snarf the Marconas and use the rest of the ingredients for something else. Repeatedly.

Somehow I was enough beforehand with the world before the last potluck-ish event that I finally broke through the recipe block. I am very glad I did, and will have to try the other recipe variations next time.

The gimmick for this recipe is that there is a core base of ingredients, to which other ingredients are added to make particular flavor profiles. These are alleged to be French, and there are other options for Korean, Mexican, Middle Eastern and Indian.  The recipe as listed below is half of the original (except for the coating ingredients, because I discovered partway through that I really needed a full batch of coating material for a half recipe; good thing we hadn't yet snarfed all the Marconas). So if you wanted to make the full batch and have half be French and the other half be, say, Korean, it could give you some variety on a party tray. 

Other than the Roquefort bit, I'm not sure why these were billed as French since the Marconas are more Spanish and if the internet is to be believed, Worcestershire sauce can be tough to come by in France. The original recipe called for parsley, but rosemary seemed appropriately French to me so I substituted that. Plus I have an epic ton of rosemary growing in two large pots that have the added bonus of being reasonably accessible at the moment, unlike the parsley which is quite well blocked off by all the other herb pots I had to move off the patio and around the raised beds to be out of the way of the roofers, where they have stayed, awaiting painters and then the gutter crew.

Mini French cheese balls
Adapted from “Betty Crocker’s Tiny Bites”

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
4 ounces goat cheese, softened
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1½ cups Roquefort, crumbled
1½ tablespoons chopped shallots
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves, divided
¼ cup finely ground Marcona almonds (I used the orange and ginger flavored ones from the deli, but plain would certainly do)
Optional crackers or baguette slices for serving

Method
In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, goat cheese, lemon juice, Worcestershire, salt and pepper until combined. (This part is the base for a number of flavor variations in the book, depending on the add-ins.)

Blend in Roquefort, shallots, honey and ¼ cup rosemary leaves. Form into balls 1-inch big. (I actually had a hard time making them quite that small – they’re super sticky at this point -- so I ended up with 30 balls instead of the 37-ish I probably should have for making half of the original recipe that makes 75.)

Refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 3 days at this point. I found putting them on waxed paper paid off later in ease of use. (The recipe also says you could freeze them for up to a month; thaw before proceeding with coating.)

Combine remaining ¾ cup rosemary leaves and the Marcona almonds. Roll chilled cheese balls in the mixture to coat. Serve with optional crackers or French bread, or just let people pop them in their mouth as a single bite. 

Rating: Definitely worth planning ahead for. These are super tasty, plus they're kind of cute, and handily bite-sized, which makes them much more likely to disappear. While one could certainly spread them on something, they hold together just fine as finger food, and held up pretty well to being on a party platter for a few hours. Plus, major bonus points for the ease of making them ahead even through the coating phase. The flavor gets a little stronger if they've been sitting out for a bit, and they don't get too sticky for being at room temperature.

Unless you're only serving a couple of appetizers, I'd say this half recipe is probably good for a modest-size party, because they're fairly filling. But if you're going for a houseful party, then a double (full) batch would probably be called for. 

 

Pair it with: A French 75 seemed appropriate. We opted for a variation on the version from Hooper at Wonkette, although we have never tried The Botanist gin and went with Hendricks instead.

Shake 1 ounce gin,  ½ ounce honey syrup or simple syrup, ½ ounce elderflower syrup (Onos elderflower saft from Ingebretsen's) and ½ fresh lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into a champagne flute and fill with Prosecco or other bubbly. Garnish with lemon twist. Note:This is supposed to serve 1, but if your champagne flutes are as tiny as mine, you're better off dividing this into 2 servings or you won't have enough room for the proper proportion of Prosecco and it will taste a touch too sweet. Might try using St. Germaine elderflower liqueur next time instead of the saft to up the flavor and reduce the sweetness a tad. Although, let's face it, the champagne cocktail you really want is the Zelda from the Commodore. It's nearly impossible not to feel elegant while drinking it one of the bar's many nooks.

Play along: Dust of Suns' latest, "Ignes Fatui," captures that insouciant background music you'd hear on the soundtrack of a French charmer. The Parkway paired the group's album release party with a screening of "Amelie." A French 75 would have been an appropriate drink special, but they generally save those for the regular Thursday movie nights, and sparkling wine might be challenging to handle in the theater bar setting.Great fun, in any case. And just how many side projects can John Munson have?