Our group of neighborhood ladies meet for lunch and bubbly, calling ourselves “The Bubbles Club”. All of us are very good cooks and we enjoy sharing our recipes. One of the ladies is of Greek descent and we always look forward to the dishes she brings to the table. One of my favorites is her Greek Herb Cheese Appetizer. As she explains, “Nothing is better than warm cheese!” She gets her feta cheese from Greece and it is creamy without the briny taste. I did not have the option to get my feta from Greece so here’s how I made my feta taste less salty/briny:
I rinsed the feta with water and placed it in a Tupperware container. Then I covered the feta with milk, placed the top on the container and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.
I recreated her recipe from memory. This recipe is super easy. My husband, who is not a feta fan, loved it! I paired the Greek Herb Cheese Appetizer with Cameron Hughes Lot 639 Rosé. You probably think that rosé is not bold enough to stand up to the vibrant tomato and herb flavors in this appetizer, so be prepared to be pleasantly surprised!
This lovely rosé is from the Arroyo Seco wine region in California. Made with Valdiguié grapes, beautiful coral hue, notes of strawberry with just the tiniest bit of sweetness and a crisp finish.
https://chwine.com/
Greek Herb Cheese Appetizer
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
8 ounces Feta cheese, rinsed and soaked in milk overnight
14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes, drained (drain as much of the liquid off the tomatoes as possible)
2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence ~ Five Continent Spices is my favorite brand. https://www.fivecontinentspices.com/
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Firehook Sea Salt Baked Crackers to serve (local crackers made in Chantilly, Virginia!) https://www.firehook.com/
Remove feta from milk and place it in a baking pan (I use the same pan to serve the appetizer so I like to use a decorative baking pan for this recipe). Place the tomatoes on top of the feta. Sprinkle the Herbes de Provence, basil, oregano and black pepper over the tomatoes. Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil over the herbs.
Place feta in 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove feta from oven and mash feta with fork to combine the ingredients with the cheese. Place feta back in the oven and bake for 10 more minutes (or until the cheese is warm and spreadable).
Cook’s Note: I received a bottle of Cameron Hughes Lot 369 Rosé from the Cameron Hughes Wine Team to taste and a sample of the Herbes de Provence to try in my recipes from my friends at Five Continent Spices.
Find more fun bubbly recipes on the Roanoker Magazine Blog: https://theroanoker.com/blogging
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