Holiday Cheeseball

Cheeseball

This is a requirement for Christmas in my family, and it dates back to my childhood. Every Christmas Eve, my family would travel from Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood to a neighborhood much farther south, called Beverly Hills. At the time Beverly Hills, to me, meant wealth and big, splendid houses. We went to a party hosted by a couple who were among my parents’ closest friends.

Two dishes stick out in my memory: the cheese ball and my mom’s pickled shrimp. These days I can’t have the shrimp—I developed an allergy, probably from overdosing on shrimp when I was young. But you can find the cheeseball in my home every Christmas. My kids demand it. It truly is the best cheeseball I’ve ever tasted.

I think I’ve posted this recipe before, but it bears repeating if you lost it or missed it. A couple of shopping notes: it calls for horseradish. I’ve had trouble finding prepared horseradish lately. Stores seem to have plenty of something called creamy horseradish sauce but not the plain prepared. Kraft apparently offers prepared horseradish; other brands you might look for are Inglehofer or Zatarains. Just try to avoid anything called sauce.

The original recipe called for a roll of Old English cheese. There has not been such a product on the market for years. A small loaf of Velveeta makes a fine substitute. I’m not a big fan of Velveeta, but in some recipes it is irreplaceable. This is one of them.

Holiday Cheeseball

½ lb. Roquefort or blue cheese

1 8 oz. pkg. Velveeta

l 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese

½ lb. pecans, chopped fine

1 bunch parsley, chopped fine

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 small onion, chopped fine         

½ tsp. horseradish

Let the cheeses soften to room temperature and mix thoroughly. Add Worcestershire, onion, horseradish and half of the parsley and pecans. Mix thoroughly and shape into a ball. Do NOT do this in the food processor, as it will become too runny. Even a mixer makes it too smooth and creamy—wash your hands thoroughly and dig in, so the finished cheese ball has some texture and credibility. Roll the ball in the remaining parsley and pecans. Chill. Serve with crackers. Leftovers will keep a month in the freezer.