Overbooked Cook: Asiago - Super Cheese

 

So today we are going to talk about easy, delicious, appetizers to take to a gathering when you forgot you promised to take something to a gathering. 

 

A gathering that is in 30 minutes.

Heck - you may even have forgotten there was a gathering in the first place, let alone that you promised to bring food to it.

But first a word about Asiago cheese. 

This is one of the all time great cheeses. It is usually a pretty hard cheese so it has a longer shelf life than a soft cheese. Which is very important for overbooked people because we need to be able to stock our fridge or pantry for emergencies and we need to be able to do that with stuff that lasts longer than a nanosecond before we throw it out.

Asiago is also a pretty affordable cheese that has a great sophisticated taste - a little sharper than a Parmesian, but definitely more mellow than a Romano.

And, most importantly for our purposes, Asiago generally slices well with a sharp knife without crumbling and it pairs beautifully with sweets and crackers.

So my all time best last minute hors d'oeuvre for emergency, panic stricken situations is as follows:

Sweet Asiago Canape's

Prep time 15-25 minutes - (add extra time if you have to run to the store and get these ingredients - the great thing is you can even take the ingredients with you and make these canapes on the spot if needed.)

Ingredients:

1-2 boxes of quality crackers - Breton and Carrs make several good varieties. 

(Occasionally I have also used thin cookies instead and that is even more delicious - check out Annas Thins here.)

1 wedge of Asiago

Jam or Honey (Raspberry and Peach Jam are particularly good for this)

To best serve these canapes you will need a pretty good sized tray so they don't overlap. The canapes themselves are incredibly simple - arrange several crackers on a tray, spread a little jam on each cracker, and then - with a very sharp knife - cut small pieces of cheese and set one piece on top of each jam covered cracker. The ratio of cheese to cracker is up to you but you can actually get away with pretty small pieces.

If you use honey instead of jam, put the cheese on the cracker first and then add a small amount of honey. Be careful not to add too much because the honey will just keep spreading out and spilling over the cracker if there is too much. When I make this with honey, I actually add the honey at the event.

If you have extra time and want an even tastier canape, add a small apple wedge, or a piece of walnut or a raisin.

Voila! A tasty appetizer that will impress everyone and they'll never know you how colossally disorganized you are!

(Unless they read this blog.)

Comments

[sandra]

I love Asiago cheese...this sounds like a great idea, I'm going to try it!

[anne hambrock]

I made it for Anna Richmond last year and she now takes it everywhere she goes! You'll love it!