PARTNER POST – Be inspired to create beautiful cheese boards with Castello cheese. And what goes better with cheese than wine? Enter to win a trip for two to Napa, California.
With sweet elements like caramel popcorn and salty crackers and cheese, check out this beautiful cheeseboard that is sure to be an award season winner.
By Justine Sulia
I am OBSESSED with awards season. I honestly don’t watch a movie all year until I watch the Oscars. I don’t binge on TV until I’ve watched the Emmys. I don’t buy an album until I watch the Grammys, and the Golden Globes kills it when it comes to the red carpet. You guys get the point right? 
This is why I’m all about keeping with the theme when it comes to serving food during an awards show. Cheese boards and platters are my favorite way to entertain, especially during awards season.
For this cheese board, I wanted to keep with the theme, and the theme for awards season is most definitely “gold.” Gold is such a fun color to try to replicate with food. You can go with all kinds of different types of mustards, and I love mustard. I could eat it with a spoon, literally. Mustard also happens to be a great accompaniment to cheese!
In addition to adding mustards, grapes, and crackers to my Oscar night cheese board, I have to add something sweet into the mix. I am firm believer that there has to be something sweet on a cheese board, and sweet foods often compliment cheese. This brings me to the recipe portion of this post: the caramel corn!
I thought that caramel corn would be the perfect accompaniment to the Castello cheeses adorning this cheese board. The Havarti cheese with the caramel corn was seriously a match made in heaven, and I’m literally STILL thinking about it!
Ingredients for the perfect Oscar night cheese board:
Castello Havarti Cheese
Castello Blue Cheese
Honey Mustard
Rice Crackers
Fresh Greens
Red Grapes
Salted Pistachios
Caramel Corn
Assorted Olives
A bottle of Folie à Deux
The most exciting part of today’s post however, is the sweepstakes! Enter here or below for a trip for two to Napa Valley, CA!
Caramel Corn
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Description
With sweet elements like caramel popcorn and salty crackers and cheese, check out this beautiful cheeseboard that is sure to be an award season winner.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
- In a large dutch oven, add the oil. Heat over medium heat until melted. Add 3-5 kernels of popcorn. Cover and wait until all kernels have popped, 1-2 minutes. Remove the popcorn with a slotted spoon and throw away. Reduce the heat to medium low, and add the rest of the popcorn kernels. Sprinkle with salt. Cover and allow the popcorn to pop until there is a couple of seconds between each pop, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer the popcorn to a large roasting pan. Set aside.
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in the baking soda and continue to cook until the mixture is thick. Remove from heat and pour the caramel over the popcorn. Toss to coat evenly.
- Bake the popcorn for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until crispy. Toss the popcorn every 15 minutes while it bakes. Remove from heat and pour the popcorn onto a couple of baking sheets that have been lined with foil. Break up the popcorn once it’s cool enough to handle.
- Once the caramel corn has cooled completely transfer it to airtight container where it will keep for a week or two.
- Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
This looks wonderful
So colorful and so many flavors.Love it Thanks for sharing