Designer Cheese Balls

By Joseph Parish

I have always been a big fan of cheese and cheese related products. A particular fondness exists for those small ball shaped packages of cheese with nuts on them that are found in your local supermarket. I liked them so much that I decided to do some experimenting on how they were made. They are actually quite simple to make and can be created in a short period of time. You can make your own designer cheese balls by starting with several packages of cream cheese or one if using an additional cheese as well and adding various additives to it in order to vary the flavor. The technique for making them is the same regardless of which flavors you try to duplicate. Here’s you chance to be very creative and design your own flavor of cheese ball.

Although I generally use Cream Cheese as my core cheese you could employ other types such as goat cheese for your cheese balls. I frequently add a cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the mixture as a binder depending upon the flavor I am trying to achieve. As for adding seasoning garlic powder or onion powder are always popular favorites. You could put some parsley, Worchester sauce or other flavors into the mix as you see fit. To achieve a better taste in your finished cheese ball use fresh herbs directly from your garden.

You could stretch your imagination a bit and make some use of fresh chopped up pineapple, maybe a little celery, red or green pepper, raisins, or even a bit of meat. Pepperoni is a good choice to use. The only limitation imposed is from your imagination.

Even though my sample lists chopped pecan nuts as a coating you are free to select anything you care to. These coatings can range from ground nuts, to bacon bits, as there is no limit on what you can put into these balls. Here is a recipe to get you started.

Ingredients

1 packages of cream cheese

1 cup of shredded sharp cheese

1 Tablespoon of chopped onions

1 tablespoon of chopped green bell peppers

2 teaspoons of Worcester sauce

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 cup of chopped pecans

To start your cheese ball combine the two cheeses in a small bowl and blend it well with your mixer. When well blended add the remainder of the ingredients to the mix except for the pecans. Continue to mix the ingredients until they are all combined. Refrigerate the mixture for several hours until chilled then remove the cheese from the refrigerator and form into a large cheese ball. After you have a well rounded ball roll the cheese mixture in the chopped nuts and return it to the refrigerator.

This is an excellent snack when you have friends visiting or just want something different in the evening. Store the product in the refrigerator until used and after use as well. If you master this lesson on making cheese balls then you will have a quick way to create an inexpensive appetizer for your future get together. Just remember don’t tell people how easy it really is!

Copyright @2010 Joseph Parish

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