Yesterday we took a short stroll down memory lane, back to the late 1970’s in fact, to a neighborhood holiday party GR and his family hosted during the Christmas – New Year week.
His busy as a bee grandmother, a diminutive, grandmotherly version of the Pillsbury Doughboy, kept the eggnog bowl full and served a near-continuous stream of classic Southern appetizers and party finger food that would have made Paula Deen blush.
The biggest collections of folks were always at the bar in the corner of the living room and around the eggnog bowl, but believe it or not Grandma’s cheese ball drew the next biggest crowd (even with cheese straws, southern ham sliders, 7-layer bean dip, and Rotel-Velveta queso on the table).
Chef Libby in Austin recently told me that down here in the South, even in the land of Texicans and their unabashed love of all things queso, the old-fashioned cheese ball, once shamed and cliched, is now a hot party item, with new versions springing up like garden weeds on a sunny spring afternoon.
We never stopped liking cheese balls around our camp, and this Retro Bacon Chive Cheddar Cheese Ball is probably one of our favorites, especially made with a sharp Vermont white Cheddar (Grafton Village, I’m thinking of you right now), and a crisp, hardwood-smoked bacon, and as fresh as you can find chives and parsley.
Throw some chopped toasted pecans in there and you’ll be serving some of the most fashionable – and crowd pleasing – party food around this holiday. And you don’t need some artisanal, paleo-grain cracker, hand-formed and cooked over an open flame by Tibetan monks; a simple, good, pedestrian cracker plays very well here.
1 and 1/2 cups shredded sharp white Cheddar cheese
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, divided
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Optional: 1/3 cup toasted chopped pecans
Grab your trusty food processor and pulse to combine the Cheddar, softened cream cheese, cooked bacon, 1 generous tbsp of the chives, Worcestershire, and pepper. Fold in the pecans. Shape into a ball.
Now combine the parsley and the rest of the chives, and roll the cheese ball in the greens to coat it evenly. Hold in the fridge until ready to get after this one.
Enjoy.
