A Cheese Lover's Thanksgiving

We love the traditional Thanksgiving meal as much as anyone, but this year, we feel like shaking it up a bit. Maybe it has to do with the way our lives have been overturned by the pandemic or maybe it’s just one of those years. Whatever the reason, we feel like going rogue and we’ve decided to share the madness with you.

We have prepared our idea of the perfect Thanksgiving meal (this year only) for cheese makers and for anyone who loves cheese as much as we do. The recipes are easy because, well, we want them to be…

Appetizer

Festive Cheese Balls

From vermontcreamery.com

Ingredients:
CHEVRE BALLS
8 ounces goat cheese

TOPPINGS
Spicy
1/3 cup dried hot peppers, ancho chilies are the best

Sophisticated
1/4 cup chopped fresh lavender
1/8 cup coarse ground peppercorn

Sweet
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup candied or spiced pecans or walnuts

Cheese Shot Glasses
1 (8-ounce) jar fresh pesto
1 (15-ounce) can high-quality roasted red pepper soup, chilled
4 ounces goat cheese
3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Directions:
Chèvre Balls:

• Cut each log of fresh goat cheese into 12 pieces and roll into a small ball (most easily done when chèvre is at room temperature). Roll ball in topping and place on a plate and serve. These can be made a day in advance and refrigerated. Bring up to room temperature before serving.

Cheese Shot Glasses:

• Use eight 2 1/2 to 3 ounce shot glasses. For each glass, pour 2 tablespoons of pesto, then 2 tablespoons of soup, then crumble some chèvre on top, and add 1 tablespoon of pine nuts.

Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche Canapés:

• Mix crème fraîche, horseradish, chives, and lemon peel in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper. Spread 1 teaspoon of the mixture over each bread slice. Divide smoked salmon among bread slices. Sprinkle each canapé with dill.

And/Or

Cheddar Stuffed Meatballs

From buythiscookthat.com

Ingredients:
2 lbs lean ground beef
6 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese (about ¾ of a block) or any other hard cheese
1 egg
⅔ cup bread crumbs
½ cup BBQ sauce divided
¼ cup milk
½ tablespoon minced garlic
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

• Spray a broiler pan with non stick spray and set aside.
• Cut cheese into ½ inch cubes.
• Pour milk over the crumbs and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, crumb and milk mixture, egg, garlic, salt, pepper, and half of the BBQ sauce. With your hands, mix the meatballs until combined.
• Evenly roll a section of the meat mixture into an approximately 1 inch sized meat ball. Press 1 cube of cheese into the center. Gently form the meat around the cheese cube so it is in the center.
• Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400F while cooling.
• Place the meat balls onto the prepared broiler pan. Use the kind with a drip pan so the hamburger grease drips into a catch pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and baste on all sides with the remaining BBQ sauce.
• Return to the oven and bake another 10-12 minutes until the meat is no longer pink inside. Let cool slightly and serve.

And/Or

Lasagna Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

From sweetpeasandsaffron.com

Ingredients:
4 portobello mushrooms (choose mushrooms with large, intact caps that round up. Avoid flat caps if possible.)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup marinara sauce
1 ½ cups ricotta
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 ½ cup fresh spinach chopped
½ cup basil chopped
1 cup mozzarella shredded

Directions:

• Prep mushrooms – Start by snapping off the stems, and use a spoon to scoop the gills out of four portobello mushrooms. Wash, then pat gently dry. Brush mushrooms on all sides with olive oil, and arrange on a sheet pan.
• Fill mushrooms – Spoon ¼ cup of marinara sauce into each mushroom. Mix together ricotta, spinach, basil and egg, then divide it evenly between four mushrooms. Sprinkle tops with shredded mozzarella cheese.
• Bake – Place in a 400F oven, and bake for 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are dark brown and tender. You do not want the mushrooms to get completely soft, as they will collapse and all the lasagna fillings will spill out.

Main Course

Cheesy Turkey Rice Casserole

From allrecipes.com

We think this is a whey better idea than plain turkey. You can make it it the day before Thanksgiving if you want and then just pop it in the oven. (If you are hosting vegetarians, you can make a separate casserole without the turkey.)

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice (brown or white or wild)
1 ½ cups chopped cooked turkey
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1-2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed or just chopped broccoli
½ cup chopped onion (you can saute in butter first if you want)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
• Combine cooked rice, turkey, evaporated milk, Monterey Jack cheese, cheddar cheese, mixed vegetables, onion, chopped green chiles, eggs, cilantro, and butter in a large bowl, stirring until thoroughly mixed.
• Pour into prepared casserole dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until casserole is set and top is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes.

Sides

Simple Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

From juliasalbum.com

Ingredients:
Salad Dressing
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Beet Salad
6 oz baby spinach fresh
2 beets , cooked, diced
⅓ cup pine nuts toasted
⅓ cup goat cheese crumbled

Directions:
Salad Dressing

• Add dressing ingredients to a medium size bowl. Whisk to combine.

Beet Salad

• Add baby spinach and diced cooked beets to a large bowl.
• Add the salad dressing and toss to combine.
• Top with toasted pine nuts and crumbled goat cheese. Season with extra black pepper if desired.

And/Or

Sauteed Broccoli and Cheese

From acouplecooks.com

If you want to grill the broccoli and serve it with cheese sauce, you can do that, but, the top of your oven should be free at this point to saute it. If you do saute it, you can use a standard cheese sauce with it instead of doing it this way. The advantage to using a cheese sauce would be that you can make extra sauce and freeze it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, stem on (about 3 large heads or 6 heaping cups florets)
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Chop the broccoli into medium sized florets (leave a good amount of the stem for a nice shape).
• Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat it on medium high heat.
• Add broccoli and salt.
• Cook 3 to 4 minutes until starting to brown, stirring occasionally.
• Sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over the broccoli, followed by the cheddar cheese.
• Add ¼ cup water to the bottom of the skillet and cover with a lid.
• Cook another 1 minute until cheese is melted and the water cooks out. Serve immediately!

And/Or

Cheesy Garlic Sweet Potatoes

From cafedelites.com

Ingredients:
4 small or medium sized sweet potatoes halved lengthwise (ends trimmed)
1/4 cup garlic butter melted
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese fresh grated
2 tablespoons dried or fresh chopped parsley

Directions:

• Heat oven to 425F (220C).
• Brush the potatoes with the garlic butter and season each potato with salt and pepper. Arrange cut-side down on a lightly greased baking sheet until golden brown and the flesh is tender (about 20-30 minutes, depending on your oven).
• Remove them from the oven, flip them cut-side up (skin side down) and top with the mozzarella, Parmesan and parsley.
• Change oven settings to broil on low or medium heat and broil until the cheese is golden and melted (about 2 minutes).
• Sprinkle with more salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm.

Dessert

Chocolate Cheesecake Expresso Bars with Goat Cheese

From foodgracious.com

Ingredients:
For the Base
9 ounce chocolate wafer cookie
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt

For the Filling
4 ounce cream cheese softened
4 ounce chevre goat cheese softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tablespoon lemon juice
4 ounce chocolate melted
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon ground coffee
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cocoa powder for dusting on top

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly butter an 8 x 8 baking tray. Pulse the chocolate cookies in a food processor until fine crumbs. Melt the butter in a microwave and add to the crumbs. Add the salt.
• Mix the crumb mixture until well combined. Transfer to the baking pan and press until flat. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Melt the chocolate either over a double boiler or in the microwave. In a stand mixer beat the cream cheese and goat cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, flour and mix. Add the egg and egg yolk, lemon juice, vanilla, cocoa powder, coffee and melted chocolate scraping down at least once. Mix until smooth and shiny.
• Pour the cheesecake mixture into the baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly still wet in the middle. Let cool before slicing.

And/Or

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie

From betty.crocker.com

Ingredients:
1 pie crust
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
11 oz cream cheese, softened (1 package (8 oz) plus 1 package (3 oz))
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 eggs
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

• Heat oven to 375F. Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate as directed on package for one-crust filled pie. Bake about 8 minutes or until light golden brown.
• In large bowl, beat sugar, flour and cream cheese with electric mixer on low speed until smooth; reserve 1/2 cup in small bowl. Add remaining ingredients except milk to cream cheese mixture. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl constantly, until smooth. Pour into crust.
• Stir milk into reserved cream cheese mixture. Spoon over pumpkin mixture. Cut through cream cheese and pumpkin mixtures with knife in S-shaped curves in one continuous motion for marbled design. Turn pie plate one-fourth turn and repeat.
• Cover edge of crust with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes. Cover loosely and refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Store covered in refrigerator.