Not your average board…
The week before last I prepared a charcuterie board for my lovely book club, and I was way excited. You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to prepare one, but I needed the perfect setting and audience. What is a charcuterie ((ˌ)shär-ˌkü-tə-ˈrē) board? Well, it’s an arrangement usually displayed on a wood board of specialty smoked/cured meats, soft and hard cheeses, fresh or dried fruit, breads, crackers, nuts, etc. You can make it what you want it, but most importantly you want to have the meats and cheeses.
Here’s the one I made…
WHAT’S ON MY BOARD?
super creamy blue cheese
french soft cheese
dubliner cheese by kerrygold
red plums
turkey pastrami
salami
prosciutto
olive bread
rosemary olive oil bread (grilled)
rosemary and raisin cracker
spiced almonds
honey
truffle salt (not shown)
sprigs of rosemary and thyme for decoration
Where do I start?
To make a charcuterie board, you need to first get the board. You can use a wood cutting board, slate cheese board, or a regular flat platter. I used #2 below. Here are some great choices…
What stuff can I put on a charcuterie board?
Smoked or cured meats, soft and hard cheeses (make sure you sample them before you serve them to your guest, don’t want any surprises), veggies, olives, pickles, peppers, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit (apples, plums, pluots, figs, apricots), fresh breads, crackers, marmalade, mustard, honey, herbed butter, truffle salt, shortbread cookies, poppy seed cake, and the list can go on and on. . . be creative!
How do I arrange a charcuterie board?
In putting together your board, you really can arrange it however you like. I went by what looked pleasing to my eye. If you just need some sort of guideline, I would keep the cheeses together, place fruit close to the cheeses, breads or crackers can be arranged together, and the meats can be separated according to type. So, place pork with pork, turkey with turkey, etc. If you have spreads or sauces, place them at the corners of the board. Make sure you have a cheese knife for soft and hard cheeses, and any mini serving utensils you need for sauces or spreads. Just make it easy for yourself!
Where do I find specialty meats, cheeses, and more?
Trader Joes
Wholefoods
Bristol Farms
Gelsons
World Market Cost Plus
Sur La Table
Harris & Teeter
Wine stores
Local Grocery Store
I think that is it! When in doubt, find pictures of boards you like and arrange yours the same way.
Here are some really nice ones. . .
photo credit: Love my Foods & Sugar blog
photo credit: tickling my fancy blog
photo credit: our daily brett
And there you have it!
Chat you, later
Ladybird J.P.Archie
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As a taster of said board it was as fabulous as it was delicious.
So lovely!!! Adding this board to my list of must haves!!! Look out holidays!!!