Pairing Cheese with Simple Foods for Easy Entertaining

Cheese expert Steve Jenkins says the rules for pairing cheese with other foods are simple: There are no rules! Just use your imagination. Here are some tips from Steve to get you started:

• Don't be afraid of big flavors, and think about beauty when you're putting together a cheese tray.
• Forget boring apples and grapes. Instead consider melons and stone fruits which pair superbly with cow-milk cheeses.
• Dried fruit is an excellent accent. Steve loves royal medjool dates, dried papaya, prunes, figs, and dried cantaloupe with big-flavored cheeses.
• Consider simple savories: Drizzle a little fine olive oil over goat and sheep cheeses and partner with some good olives, your own oven-roasted tomatoes, and warm hazelnuts, walnuts, or almonds.
• Drizzle honey over sheep or goat cheese then grind some fresh pepper over the top.
• The fruit pastes from Spain that we're beginning to see in the markets are wonderful with Spanish cheeses.