Cheeseplates

The lot of fruit and one kind of cheese plate at Jack's

Memorial day weekend dawned with great plans of kayaking, but one sick friend, an Ikea incident, and 24 hours later, we found it hard to resist a suggestion that we just occupy the out door seating at a neighborhood bar all afternoon instead. Thus, 3pm found four of us at Jack's (on 17th st) talking  the very nice waiter into making a "meat and cheese plate" into a "just cheese plate."  Vince said "throw in some fruit" and  the waiter disappeared into the kitchen.

He returned with what was probably the best fruit plate I have seen in a long, long time: grapes, strawberries, orange, melon, kiwi, pineapple -- and 4 lonely slices of Brie.  We devoured it. In 20 min the 4 tables around us had each ordered one as well (bear in mind this isn't on the menu).

So if you happen by Jack's go ahead and ask for the fruit and cheese plate -- tell them you read about it online.  Its pretty sucky from a cheese perspective, but it was absolutely perfect for a mildly inebriated, humid, Sunday afternoon.

friends for dinner and some creamy cheeses

We had some friends for dinner on Saturday, which was, of course the perfect excuse for another cheese plate.  I decided to go the creamy cheese route, and wanted to pair something nice and safe with something I'd never tried. One trip to Whole Foods later (I know, I need to branch out) and I had three cheeses that seemed like they would match up well.

• Port salut (always a favorite);
• French Munster (which looked nice and oozy, but sounded safe - all the Munsters I've had have some flavor, but are pretty calm ); and
• A Chimay Grand Cru- which I had never heard of, but was described as an unpasteurized, nutty, semi-firm cheese with a rind washed in Chimay beer.

It turns out that French Munster is nothing like other Munster -- rather, it has a decidedly pasture-ey flavor, which is delicious in a creamy cheese, particularly when eaten as a gob on top of a single dried apricot and never-mind the cracker. The majestic sounding Chimay Grand Cru was rich and pleasant: it paled a bit beside the French Munster, but rounded out the trio nicely. With ryvita crackers and a few almonds and apricots on the side, we even had a good array of cheesy accompaniments.

note: for more info on Chimay Grand Cru, see CurdNurd's entry on the cheese.