St. Patrick's Day Dinner Party

Our family has been celebrating St. Patrick's Day with our neighbors for the last few years. Judith of The Ulster Kitchen is one of my favorite chefs and she runs a catering and Irish products company. She and her husband are the consummate hosts. Despite her protests that I didn't need to bring anything, I decided to prepare an appetizer using Kerrygold cheeses that I'd bought at our local Sam's Club. I've had the Dubliner variety but not the Ballyshannon (cream hue) and Red Leicester (orange hue) that were now in my fridge. I know that Kerrygold makes excellent cheeses so I didn't think I would be disappointed with these new varieties.

It was my college friend, Kim, who introduced me to apple and cheddar slices. I didn't grow up eating a lot of cheese. Most of it was consumed on Cuban sandwiches. Well, it's one of my favorite sweet and savory morsels now. I prepared 2 types of cheese appetizers for the St. Patrick's Day dinner party. One was topped with 3 Agrume Preserves and a grape half (pictured); the other was topped with an apple slice, dab of Fig and Roasted Shallot Tapenade, and drizzled with local honey (not pictured). I found the 3 Agrume Preserves by Twin Oaks Farm (Bonifay, FL) at the Seaside Farmers Market. Their 3 Agrume Preserves includes Satzuma Mandarins, Florida Oranges and Meyer Lemons...truly delicious!

Kerrygold Cheese Appetizer

Kerrygold Ballyshannon, sliced thickly (approx. 1/4")
Kerrygold Red Leicester Cheese, sliced thickly (approx. 1/4")
green grapes, halved
3 Agrume Preserves or other Citrus Preserves

apple slices
Napa Valley Fig & Roasted Shallot with Sherry Tapenade
local honey

Arrange cheese slices on a platter. Top each slice with 1/8 tsp. 3 Agrume Preserves and a green grape half. As an alternative, top with an apple slice, a small dab of Fig and Roasted Shallot Tapenade, and drizzle with honey.