sharing culture
Nov. 29th, 2012 10:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gfrancieI mentioned in passing that I had made a cheese ball, and someone asked, "what is a cheese ball?" Good question. I made one yesterday as my husband's assorted family were coming over for tea and present opening for Senor Onion's birthday. I suppose a cheese ball isn't the most traditional/expected thing at a birthday tea (what with all the cakes, and biscuits, and cookies going on) but I figured there might be a few people who wanted something savory, and I have this eleven year old nephew who has developed a hollow leg. My sister in law is going to go broke in his teenaged years with the way he eats. (he is also having a growth spurt. He eats all of the food. He sleeps all of the time. He bangs into all of the things.) I thought it wouldn't hurt to have plenty of food on hand. And really I love the fact that I have this never full nephew because he is such a delight to feed. He loves to try anything, he likes learning about cooking, and he is just a generally lovely kid.
Anyhow, the cheeseball. The cheeseball is pretty darn American at times and does hark back to an age of casual domestic violence, heavy social drinking, and great dresses. You know... the fifties. It is ideal for cocktail hours and other social occasions. I think a lot of families have a recipe or two in the brain vault for this stuff. The basic idea of a cheese ball is cream cheese (the British seem to refer to it as "Philadelphia" -the brand name. Kind of like how people will say, Kleenex for all generally disposable tissues.) that is softened and mixed with some variety of shredded cheese (cheddar and bleu cheese is a good combination) along with a few seasonings. Say garlic powder, salt & pepper, a little paprika (for color!) and Worcestershire sauce. (kind of adds a nice healthy umami flavor to things if you want to sound fancy and sophisticated) There are a lot of ways to do this. You can even make a sweet version of cheeseballs. (cream cheese, nutella, nuts, and maybe bits of candied orange.) You make sure it is a nice creamy-ish mixture, pop it in the fridge awhile to firm up and then you shape it into a ball or a log (if you want to do something different) OR any other shape. If you feel the call of the domestic Goddess you can shape it like a Christmas tree, a turkey or something mildly exotic.
Once you have your desired shape you can do things like cover it in shredded/crumbled parsley, chopped nuts (a personal favorite) Different kinds of cheese, pimentos, olives. Oh the possibilities are endless. Then pop it back in the fridge until it is ready to serve. Have it on a plate surrounded by crackers, maybe with a knife if you want to appear sorta civilized, and eat up.
Mr. Jenner's family took a great liking to it. "What is this???" "It's a cheeseball?" "What is that?" "Bit of this and that. Lots of flavors. Good on crackers." "ooooh this is nice." And then there was nothing left by the end of tea.
I think they might be ready for the cheese bacon buns of glory. Something so horrifying to the eye but so delicious that you don't know what to feel. But you want more.
Anyhow, the cheeseball. The cheeseball is pretty darn American at times and does hark back to an age of casual domestic violence, heavy social drinking, and great dresses. You know... the fifties. It is ideal for cocktail hours and other social occasions. I think a lot of families have a recipe or two in the brain vault for this stuff. The basic idea of a cheese ball is cream cheese (the British seem to refer to it as "Philadelphia" -the brand name. Kind of like how people will say, Kleenex for all generally disposable tissues.) that is softened and mixed with some variety of shredded cheese (cheddar and bleu cheese is a good combination) along with a few seasonings. Say garlic powder, salt & pepper, a little paprika (for color!) and Worcestershire sauce. (kind of adds a nice healthy umami flavor to things if you want to sound fancy and sophisticated) There are a lot of ways to do this. You can even make a sweet version of cheeseballs. (cream cheese, nutella, nuts, and maybe bits of candied orange.) You make sure it is a nice creamy-ish mixture, pop it in the fridge awhile to firm up and then you shape it into a ball or a log (if you want to do something different) OR any other shape. If you feel the call of the domestic Goddess you can shape it like a Christmas tree, a turkey or something mildly exotic.
Once you have your desired shape you can do things like cover it in shredded/crumbled parsley, chopped nuts (a personal favorite) Different kinds of cheese, pimentos, olives. Oh the possibilities are endless. Then pop it back in the fridge until it is ready to serve. Have it on a plate surrounded by crackers, maybe with a knife if you want to appear sorta civilized, and eat up.
Mr. Jenner's family took a great liking to it. "What is this???" "It's a cheeseball?" "What is that?" "Bit of this and that. Lots of flavors. Good on crackers." "ooooh this is nice." And then there was nothing left by the end of tea.
I think they might be ready for the cheese bacon buns of glory. Something so horrifying to the eye but so delicious that you don't know what to feel. But you want more.
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![mildly exotic.](http://img4-1.myrecipes.timeinc.net/i/recipes/sl/03142008/cheese-ball-sl-520345-l.jpg"){kind=link}
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Date: 2012-11-29 09:22 pm (UTC)Anyway this made me think of senior onion.
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Date: 2012-11-29 09:28 pm (UTC)I saw those. He would go bananas for them.
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Date: 2012-11-29 09:25 pm (UTC)My introduction to cheese balls was at church. My mom and her family never really made them, but they would show up at church potluck events, and I remember my best friend going absolutely nuts and gobbling them up. I never knew what was in those cheese balls, aside from cheese ball crack, of course.
My mom tended to make salmon balls instead - similar ingredients, but with smoked salmon as well. Man, I miss that stuff.
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Date: 2012-11-29 09:28 pm (UTC)You can be pretty creative with what you put in it.
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