cheeseball!

I thought I had all the Thanksgiving shopping done a few days early.

I went to a not-so-busy store late at night and dutifully scratched one ingredient after another off my exhaustive list. I walked out of there with such a sense of satisfaction -- I would have floated to my car if it weren't for the two tons of groceries I had to push across a snowy parking lot.

But then I was driving to work on the day before the big day and I heard Chris Kimball from America's Test Kitchen on NPR's Morning Edition and he was going on and on and on about how his cheeseball was the Perfect-with-a-capital-P Thanksgiving appetizer. He hooked me. He really didn't need to go on that way. He had me at cheeseball.

Port Wine Blue Cheese Ball, to be exact.

It's easy and it's good. Really, really good. So good that I put it out on the table for awhile but people were digging into it too much, so after awhile I greedily stuck the remains of it back in the fridge and i filled the empty spot on the table with a relish tray. I've been carving away at it bit by bit for days now.

I don't have a food processor big enough to accomodate this so I used my kitchenaid mixer instead -- I left it a little lumpy because that's the way I like mashed potatoes and cheeseballs.

You should make one for your Christmas party or holiday dinner.

Port Wine Cheese Ball

1 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon port wine

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped fine

1. Process all of the ingredients (except the pecans) in a food processor until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary, about 1 minute. Transfer the cheese mixture to the center of a large sheet of plastic wrap.

2. Seal the cheese in the wrap and shape into a rough ball (the mixture will be somewhat loose). Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. (The cheese ball can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.) Once the cheese ball is firm, reshape it as necessary into a smooth sphere. Unwrap the cheese ball and roll it in the pecans. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

SERVES 15 TO 20

Comments

[nina]

Oh, this is great! This is going to be a hit on our Christmas eve spread!!!! Thx for sharing!!

[Jennifer]

That man in the bow tie can hook me with just about anything!!! I LOVE him! I just love reading your blog and thank you, as always, for sharing such a wonderful recipe!!!