The Cheese Course

I don’t know about you, but I find it challenging to come up with new and exciting things to pair with cheese.  It’s so easy to fall into a rut!  That’s where this book is a life saver! For a dinner party, I was requested to pair cheddar with ‘something’.  Apples and honey are a lovely, but slightly boring pairing.  Quince paste, while perfect with Manchego is not as enticing with a mature cheddar.  I found a great recipe for a pear, cranberry and walnut compote in my little book.  It was delicious and easy to make too!  The morning of the dinner party I went to the Ferry Building to pick out cheese from Cowgirl Creamery and dessert from Miette’s.  I always ask the folks at Cowgirl for recommendations and I was not disappointed.  I ended up with a fantastic cheddar from Cabot Creamery and the pear, cranberry and walnut chutney was fabulous with it.

Cranberry Pear Chutney

Adapted from ‘The Cheese Course’ by Janet Fletcher

½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

6 oz cranberries

1 # pears, (about 2 or 3 good sized pears) peeled, quartered, cored and diced

1 cup sugar

½ cup cider vinegar

1 2-inch pice of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 cinnamon stick

1 clove

½ cup raisins or currants

In a saucepan, combine the cranberries, pears, sugar, vinegar and ginger.  Add the cinnamon stick and clove to the saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Continue to simmer until the cranberries have collapsed and the pears are tender, about 15 minutes or so.  Stir the raisins into the chutney and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the walnuts.  Cool and before serving remove the ginger, cinnamon stick and clove.  Serve the chutney alongside the cheddar cheese.  This chutney freezes well and will last about a week in the fridge.  I also liked this with soft ripened cheese such as Brie or Camembert.