Lately, I’ve been feeling nostalgic for my home state of Wisconsin. Having spent most of my youth in America’s Dairyland, I now carry a lot of pride knowing my son is a first-year college student at a Wisconsin university. While I miss him dearly, I’m glad that this Chicago city boy will be getting some Wisco in his system.
In my recent blog post, I waxed poetic about my love for Door County, Wisconsin and offered a recipe for a smoked fish spread. Now here we are in October. There is a welcome reprieve from the sweltering temperatures of summer. The leaves are changing and it’s arguably the most wonderful time of the year. Time for chilly weather, bonfires, October baseball, football tailgates, and haunted holiday get-togethers. This month, I’d like to submit another Wisconsin classic that can be a welcome addition to your autumn table – Club Cheese.
What exactly is Club Cheese?
In order to answer this, we must examine its history and roots as they relate to supper clubs. In Wisconsin, the supper club is a traditional gathering place rooted in 1920s and 1930s roadside taverns. They are almost always located in rural areas, surrounded by the Northwoods or tucked in the pines along Wisconsin’s many lakes. I've shared my recipe for Wisconsin Beer Battered Fish Fry. In it, I listed some of my favorite supper clubs I still enjoy to this day.
What defines a Wisconsin supper club?
There are several indicating characteristics that define a real Wisconsin supper club. There is, most often, a lounge. The evening begins not at a dining table, but in a wood paneled lounge or bar often with a fish tank and a juke box that suits everyone, where patrons wait for their table and relax with a sweet Brandy Old Fashioned. For the kids, there is always a tasty Shirley Temple (or kiddie cocktail) garnished with a maraschino cherry and orange slice skewered with a plastic 16th-century Spanish sword.
The menu is a hearty slice of Americana: hand-cut steaks and chops, broiled walleye, Saturday night prime rib, and the legendary Friday Night Fish Fry (typically beer battered perch served with potato pancakes). The meal traditionally concludes with a blended cream cocktail like a Grasshopper or a Pink Squirrel instead of a standard dessert.
The Relish Tray
One of the most defining characteristics of the Wisconsin supper club is the relish tray. Once seated you are immediately served a complimentary, chilled relish tray featuring raw vegetables, pickled beets, sweet pickles, olives, crackers, breadsticks, and a crock of classic cold-pack club cheese spread. This tray serves to fill the gap between ordering and eating.
Club Cheese is a mixture of ground or grated cheddar cheese, mixed with cream cheese and sour cream, sometimes mayo, some seasonings such as Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, garlic, and mustard. Often there are additional ingredients mixed in such as chopped olives, radishes, and scallions or onions.
A pioneering Wisconsin cheesemaker by the name of Hubert Fassbender invented cold pack cheese spread. Originally, it was called club cheese or crock cheese because it was served out of small stoneware crocks. Over the years, this product was adopted by several restauranteurs and laid the groundwork for modern club, pub, and beer cheeses. Unlike beer cheese (originally created in Kentucky), club cheese is always served cold and does not contain any beer. Pub cheese is a broader category of spreadable cheese that may or may not contain beer.
Here I am offering a traditional club cheese for you to make for your next get together. It’s quite simple and lends itself to numerous variations. Typically, club cheese is made with whole, sharp cheddar. For this particular recipe, I am using cheese curds – more specifically, fresh cheese curds from Renard’s Cheese in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. I chill the cheese slightly in the freezer for a few minutes before I grind them with my meat grinder. You can use whole block cheddar and grate it with a cheese grater as well.
Wisconsin Club Cheese & Relish Tray
Yields: about 2 pounds or 48 one-ounce servings
Prep time: 30 minutes
For the club cheese:
1 pound fresh cheese curds
8oz. cream cheese, softened
2oz. sour cream
2oz. mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bunch scallions, sliced finely
12ea. pimento stuffed queen olives, chopped finely
For the relish tray:
2 carrots, peeled and thinly cut on the bias
4 ribs celery, cut into 3” batons
12ea. radishes, rinsed and trimmed
Cornichons or assorted sweet pickles
Assorted olives
Assorted crackers and breadsticks
1. Set up a meat grinder, and chill the grinder parts.
2. Lay the cheese curds on a small tray and set in freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
3. In a mixing bowl of electric mixer or using a handheld mixer, mix the softened cream cheese until it is smooth.
4. Add the sour cream and mayo and continue to mix until all is incorporated. smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again to assure all the cream cheese is incorporated and smooth.
5. Add the horseradish, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, granulated garlic and salt and continue to mix for 30 seconds.
6. Grind the cheese into a separate bowl.
7. Using a spatula, place the cream cheese mixture on top of the ground cheese and fold in until all is incorporated.
8. Fold in the scallions and olives until just incorporated.
9. Build your relish tray - serve with your favorite crackers, carrots, celery, radishes, sweet pickles, and assorted olives.
Take Your Appetizer Game to the Next Level
If building a Wisconsin-style relish tray has you thinking about your next gathering, keep the inspiration going in our Hands-On Cocktail Party: Small Plates, Big Flavor class. You’ll learn how to create an impressive spread of party-ready bites, from Beef Tenderloin Crostini with Parsley-Caper Pesto to Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraiche, while picking up tips for planning and prepping so you can actually enjoy your own party. We’ll even welcome you with a Cranberry-Ginger Vodka Punch to get the festivities started.
