When I was a kid, I thought a port wine cheese ball was the height of fancy. And I still kinda do. Plus, port wine cheese delicious. I have made one thattastes almost exactly like what you'd find in stores, only without the artificial colors and gums that can be present in commercial products. If you, too, are a fan of a great port wine cheese spread, you owe it to yourself to give my version a try!
1bottleruby portThis will be enough to make 3-4 cheese balls.
For the Port Wine Cheese Ball
8ozextra sharp cheddar cheese at room temperature(the orange kind is more traditional)
3ozcream cheese
2-3ozhalf and halfUse 2 oz for a firmer cheeseball and 3 ounces for one that is easier to spread straight from the fridge.
¼teaspoonkosher saltor to taste
Generous 1 1/2 teaspoons port wine reductiondivided use
For the Nuts
1 cuppecans
2Tablespoonsunsalted butter
pinchof salt
½teaspoonhot smoked paprikaor to taste
To Serve
Your choice of finely chopped fresh herbs for rolling(optional)
Instructions
For the Port Wine Reduction
Pour the port into a small saucepan.
Crank up the heat and boil until reduced to a thick syrup with a volume of about 1/4 cup.** Towards the end, watch it carefully. As the sugar content gets more concentrated, the chances of it burning increase.
Once the bubbles go from "watery boiling" bubbles to a thicker, syrupy kind of boil, periodically pour it into a heat-proof liquid measure to check for volume. On my stove on high, this took 18 minutes. Start checking at around 15 minutes of boiling.
Set aside to cool.
For the Port Wine Cheese Ball
Cut the cheddar and the cream cheese into about 1" chunks and place in the bowl of your food processor. Begin by pulsing to get the cheese chopped up in little bits before just letting it run.
Mix a slightly generous 1/2 teaspoon of the port wine reduction and the salt into the half and half.
Slowly pour the dairy mixture in through the feed tube.
Process until the cheese mixture is very, very smooth, about 2 minutes or so. Taste and add just a tiny bit more salt if you think it needs it.
Clean off the blade of the food processor and eyeball the cheese mixture to divide it into thirds. Place 2/3 of the mixture in one bowl and leave the remaining third in the food processor.
To that third, add 1 slightly generous teaspoon of port wine reduction. Process until smooth, scraping the sides of the container and processing some more until the mixture is a uniform purple-y color. You can add a touch more of the port wine concentrate if you'd like it more purple, but I was happy with mine, so I quit there.
Spread 2 layers of plastic wrap overlapping in an "X" on a clean countertop. Working randomly, plop spoonfuls of the orange and purple cheese mixtures into a pile in the middle of the plastic wrap.
Carefully pull up the ends of the plastic wrap around the pile of cheese and bring them together over the top, twisting to form the cheese into a ball. Refrigerate, twisted-side-down, until firm, about 4 hours.
In the meantime, make the pecans.
For the Pecans
Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the pecans, the salt and the hot smoked paprika and stir well with a spatula to coat all the nuts in the butter mixture.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the nuts are nicely browned, the butter is sort of foamy and the whole thing smells great, about 5 minutes or so.
Let the nuts cool spread out on several thicknesses of paper towels.
Once the nuts are cool, chop them fairly finely and set aside.
To Assemble the Port Wine Cheese Ball
Spread the spiced pecans out in a thick layer on a plate. Unwrap and roll the cheese ball in the nuts until it is evenly coated. You may have to press some on with your hands. Just try to get it evenly coated. Wrap in a clean sheet of plastic wrap until serving time.
About 45 minutes before serving, roll the ball in the optional chopped herbs and allow to sit at room temperature for best flavor and texture.
Serve with crackers, pita chips, vegetables or whatever your heart desires.
Rejoice in the deliciousness of your retro masterpiece.
Notes
**You will not need all the port reduction for this recipe, but if you try to reduce a smaller amount of port, you'll end up burning it. Add a touch of water to the remaining reduction so it's still syrupy but not so thick. Then you can brush it on berries for a berry pie or just toss berries in it as a topping for yogurt or something. Or make another cheeseball or two! Enjoy!Nutrition Information is based on 16 servings of about 1 oz each.