Three-Cheese Board with Quick Red Wine Fruit Compote

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A French bistro cheese course built on the only rule that matters: one soft, one firm, one blue, all served at room temperature. A fast dried-fruit compote simmered with red wine and honey does the work of an expensive accompaniment, and the whole board comes together in the time it takes the cheese to warm up on the counter.

Ingredients

• 6 oz soft-ripened cheese, such as Brie or Camembert
• 6 oz firm aged cheese, such as Comté, Gruyère, or aged Gouda
• 4 oz blue cheese, such as Roquefort, Fourme d'Ambert, or Stilton

• 3/4 cup dried fruit, chopped (figs, apricots, or a mix)
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 strip orange zest, about 2 inches
• 1 small sprig fresh thyme
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground

• 1 baguette, sliced, or 4 oz seeded crackers
• 1/3 cup walnut halves, toasted
• 1 crisp apple or firm pear, sliced just before serving
• 2 tbsp cornichons or a small handful of grapes (optional)

Instructions

1. Take all three cheeses out of the refrigerator, unwrap them, and set them on the serving board or a plate. Cover loosely with parchment or an inverted bowl and leave at room temperature for 45 to 60 minutes. This is the single most important step — cold cheese tastes flat and dull, and the soft-ripened wheel will not go creamy at the center until it warms.
2. While the cheese warms, make the compote. Combine the chopped dried fruit, red wine, water, honey, red wine vinegar, orange zest strip, thyme sprig, salt, and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat.
3. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is plump and the liquid has reduced to a loose, glossy syrup that coats the back of a spoon. If it tightens too much, splash in a tablespoon of water.
4. Remove from the heat, fish out the thyme sprig and orange zest, and transfer the compote to a small bowl. Let it cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes — it thickens as it cools.
5. Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, shaking often, until fragrant and lightly browned. Slide them onto a plate immediately so they stop cooking.
6. If serving baguette, heat the oven to 375°F, arrange the slices on a sheet pan, and bake 6 to 8 minutes until the edges are crisp but the centers still have a little chew.
7. Arrange the board: place the soft cheese, firm cheese, and blue cheese well apart from one another so their flavors and rinds do not mingle. Give each one its own knife — a small spreader for the soft, a sturdy paring or plane knife for the firm, a narrow blade for the blue.
8. Set the bowl of compote near the blue cheese, its best partner. Fill the gaps with toasted walnuts, cornichons or grapes, and the bread or crackers. Slice the apple or pear right before serving so it does not brown, and fan it along one edge.
9. Serve immediately at room temperature. Tell guests to work from mildest to strongest — soft, then firm, then blue — and to hit the blue with a spoonful of compote.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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