I Need Charcuterie Plate Help

[Heather07438]

I like to add grapes, cantaloupe and/or whichever fruits look good at the market. Adds balance against the salts and fats. Nice crusty bread or interesting crackers to go along
https://www.sandiegomagazine.com/im...eg?ver=1571876286&aspectratio=1.4971428571429^Looks good


My BIL always makes a charcuterie salad when they have gatherings, which is a big hit!

 

[emer95]

Aldis has great prices on really delicious gourmet cheeses. I put together a cheese board with ash brie, sharp cheddar, cranberry goat cheese, havarti dill and some nuts, fruit and honey. It was inexpensive and SO good!

 

[1GoldenSun]

They are pretty expensive! But I usually only have three or four cheeses and usually just a summer sausage or something similar for the meat since we're not big cured meat eaters. Crackers and grossini aren't terribly expensive, although one kind of cracker I'm particularly fond of is around $4 for a very small box but that's a holiday splurge. Most everything else I usually have on hand or are things I'd buy anyway--fruit, preserves, dried fruit and nuts-- so it's not like I have to go out and make a major expenditure all at once. The cheese is always the bulk of the expense, and yes, those can be very pricey.

But a big spread could easily out-price a nice dinner, that's for sure! But I looove cheese so it's worth it to me for a once or twice a year indulgence!

 

[disneyhand]

I'd go with a couple meat selections, 3 cheeses and for sure grapes, nuts and dried apricot. Of course crackers and or sliced baguette. I have picky people in my life, along with big appetites so I always select meat and cheese they'll eat

 

[disykat]

I'm enjoying this thread because it's so foreign to me! My grocery list for this would look like: cheese, fruit, crackers, deli meat. LOL!

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I like to include some spreadable items on charcuterie boards for dipping or smearing on the bread and crackers. Black olive tapenade, whole grain mustard, fruit preserves, hummus, pesto... Charcuterie foods can sometimes lean towards the dry side, IMO, and this helps balance that.

In addition to the jarred-products aisle of the grocery store, check the international section for things like whole pimentos and pickled mangoes. Sauerkraut also pairs well if you’ll be including sausage and mustards.

Place a dish off to the side for disposing pits.

Prepare as much in advance as you can. Charcuterie boards can take a lot of time to assemble. I try to have most everything portioned and paired with its serving utensil in my fridge a day ahead of time, if possible.

 

[ronandannette]

I like to include some spreadable items on charcuterie boards for dipping or smearing on the bread and crackers. Black olive tapenade, whole grain mustard, fruit preserves, hummus, pesto... Charcuterie foods can sometimes lean towards the dry side, IMO, and this helps balance that.

In addition to the jarred-products aisle of the grocery store, check the international section for things like whole pimentos and pickled mangoes. Sauerkraut also pairs well if you’ll be including sausage and mustards.

Place a dish off to the side for disposing pits.

Prepare as much in advance as you can. Charcuterie boards can take a lot of time to assemble. I try to have most everything portioned and paired with its serving utensil in my fridge a day ahead of time, if possible.

Totally agree with all of this. One of my favourite things ever is pickled asparagus and green beans and they're ideal for a spread like this. Tapenade is also divine, as is bacon jam.

 

[KMarston]

Last year Costco had an amazing combination of 5 imported cheese wedges for $20. Made it very inexpensive to do a board for 14 house guests when they arrived. We keep olives and nuts and mustard on hand, I added crackers, baguette, honey comb, figs, Prosciutto, hard salami and dried beef “roses” stuffed with cream cheese. Around $50 to feed my hungry crowd.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Now I am wanting a nice cheese/meat/olive/fruit plate!!!
But sadly, I am one of those who knows very little about fine cheeses and different meats.
And I like to think I am a wanna-be foodie!!!

I wouldn't mind using a good smoked/summer sausage, along with the finer deli meats.
How about some kind of little finger sized wraps with meat and soft cheese. That would most likely be Italian?
I like the idea of having sliced bread/baguettes along with different crackers.

 

[Searc]

Last year Costco had an amazing combination of 5 imported cheese wedges for $20. Made it very inexpensive to do a board for 14 house guests when they arrived. We keep olives and nuts and mustard on hand, I added crackers, baguette, honey comb, figs, Prosciutto, hard salami and dried beef “roses” stuffed with cream cheese. Around $50 to feed my hungry crowd.

Costco has it again this year.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We have a 5:00 pm dinner reservation for Thanksgiving. That's very early for our family to eat, so I'd like to put together a charcuterie plate to snack on later in the evening. The last charcuterie plate we had was takeout from a restaurant across the street. It was $35 & was little more than a small snack for DH & me. We're both light eaters. DS will be here Thanksgiving night & he can eat. He would have consumed that by himself & been looking for more food. I want to put together a platter by picking up stuff at a local deli, but have no experience making one myself. What should I buy to put together a really good charcuterie board for 3 people one of which eats a lot? I need recommendations for meat, cheese, bread & accompaniments. Specific quantities that I should ask for would be great.

@NYCgrrl, do you have any recommendations for a really awesome charcuterie plate with a lot of variety? If you have a suggestion of how much I should buy for a family of 3 with one person that can eat like 3 people, that would be helpful too.

This site gives the how to for a variety of textures, colors, and shapes that are visually appealing:

https://damndelicious.net/2018/01/26/antipasto-appetizer-cheese-board/
For your amount of guests I'd halve the amts called for.

I'd roast the olives since it takes the deli staple up to the next level w/ little effort.

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/herb-roasted-olives
For your amt of guests, 1/2 cup of olives should do well (the smallest container at the olive bar). It works fine using a strip of lemon or orange peel instead of getting all fussy with zest. Place an empty teacup sized saucer/dish nearby the olives so people don't throw the pits in your houseplants.

One 6.5 oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts works. After draining, I mix in a little rough chopped flat parsley (1 or 2 stalks) for a greener, fresh taste. You can probably find Roland brand in either the International or Italian aisle of your supermarket. Good bang for the buck.

At today's farmers' market I found some tasty very small grape tomatoes and bought 1 handful to use for our appetizer plate and salads (serving 2). Should they be good on your end the same amt would be fine for you appetizer plate.

Costco sells (used to?) a tub of mini bocconcini seasoned with pepper flakes, olive oil, and parsley that I always buy when possible. Lasts throughout the December holidays and gets eaten up by the dew drop inners starting w/ T-Day. Makes a tasty cheese to put on the platter.

Can't find Marcona almonds by you? Use any nuts that strike your fancy. Brazil nuts, Turkish pistachios, or smoked almonds are really good too.

Toaster naan or pita bread works just as good as focaccia. Rough cut either of the first two into triangles.

Got meat lovers plus puff pastry leftovers from a different dish? Make bacon cheese straws.

https://themom100.com/recipe/herbed-cheesy-puff-pastry-bacon-straws/

To keep from spoiling appetites or over indulging I put more veggies than protein on the plate.

HTH!

 

[Skippy918]

Growing up we always did the Italian antipasti. This includes fresh mozzarella (either slices or balls), Italian bread, a medley of olives (green and kalamata), Italian dry salami, prosciutto, capacoal, roasted red peppers, sliced tomatoes.

This year I am keeping it casual. I have a hummus selection, pita chips, olives and fresh mozzarella, sliced cheddar cheese and crackers for the kids.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Sounds good! Add Marconi almonds as well.

 

[Heather07438]

capacoal

Lol, did you mean gabbagoul...
to go with the galamad, rahgoat, brahzuit & mootzerell?

Haha, I read this article recently about Italian American history and how it pertains to language today. The funny thing is when 20 year olds learn to speak Italian thru their American family, it sounds like their 70yo when they use it to speak native in Italy.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articl...agool-the-italian-new-jersey-accent-explained

 

[tarheelmjfan]

ok, seeing as you are looking for specifics, this is what I would do

Soft Cheese
Brie
Camembert
Port Salut

Hard Cheese
Smoked Cheddar
Vintage Cheddar
Flavoured Cheddar

Goats Cheese

Blue Cheese
Stilton

Sheeps Cheese

Parma Ham
Chorizo
Salami

Breadsticks
Crispbread
Water crackers
Toothpicks

Chutney
Relish
Sundried tomatoes
Olives

Awesome post! I needed specifics. Thanks a bunch.

My board would include a variety of italian meats like prosciutto, coppo, soppressata and a bunch of pickled stuff like mushrooms, olives, peppers. I like hard nutty cheeses that have a little crunch in them. This year Im gonna add some stir fried shishito peppers.

Sounds good. Thanks

What @BadPinkTink describes sounds delicious, although I would probably choose either Brie or Camembert because although I love them both my palate is not refined enough to tell the difference.

I'd go to one of those olive bars like they have at Whole Foods and get an assortment of pickled stuff--stuffed olives, cornichons, marinated mushrooms, roasted red peppers, etc.

When I put together a charcuterie platter (although I call it a cheese board because I usually go way heavier on the cheeses) I like to have varying heights to give it-- well, I guess the trendy word would be "architectural interest." I put grissini or any kind of hard, thin breadsticks in a rocks glass, I include a champagne flute filled with smoked almonds, I take a small, handcrafted pottery bowl that someone once made for me and turn it upside down and put a cheese on that-- anything to vary the heights and make it look more interesting than a flat board.

I also like to add dried apricots, dates, and Craisins. I put these around the board in small groupings-- I don't sprinkle them, but just place a small handful of Craisins here and another there, maybe flowing over onto one of the cheeses a little. Also, small clusters of grapes and slices of apple (dipped in lemon juice so they don't brown) and maybe a perfectly ripe pear. If you get a really nice, ripe pear you can place the whole thing on the board and people can slice off pieces like they do the cheeses-- this looks attractive, especially a Bosc pear with a tinge of red. I also include walnuts and pecan halves, and maybe some cashews. Oh, and berries--strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, maybe blueberries--again in little clusters. I'd put anything runny or oily in ramekins, with the exception of apricot preserves or a nice chutney which looks pretty and tastes great when you pour it partially over a goat cheese, leaving half of it uncovered for people who prefer it without.

I don't know anything about quantities; I just eyeball that. If you have leftovers, just about everything goes great chopped up on a salad the next day, or on pasta.

Oh, you know what's really good? That Wesleydale cheese with apricots or cranberries in it--so good! Now I'm getting hungry.

Sounds delicious! Thanks for the detailed instructions. That helps a lot. I'm definitely going to Whole Foods, so I can get a small amounts of a larger variety from their bar.

Add in some caper berries too!

I had to look up caper berries. They sound interesting. I'll try to find some. Thanks

Good cheddar with honey, blue cheese and craisins, pepper jam goes well with various cheeses as well.

Those are a few of our favorite combos.

Pepper jam is something I've been wanting to try. Thanks

 

[Heather07438]

I love those pickled hot cherry peppers stuffed with proscuitto & provolone

When they can be found at a decent price, I'll cut in 4 and add to the platter. Good if you can find on an olive bar and buy a few instead of the huge jar.

 

[Dan Murphy]

charcuterie plate

To be honest, never heard of that, had to look it up. Sounds good.

 

[Heather07438]

To be honest, never heard of that, had to look it up. Sounds good.

Basically a cold antipasto on steroids, lol. Hollywood Studios has a great small size charcuterie board at Baseline Taphouse for $10, quite the deal at WDW.
https://i2.wp.com/easywdw.com/reports14/review_baseline_tap_house_disney_hollywood_studios-24.jpg
Took me a while to learn how to pronounce it

 

[tarheelmjfan]

The Disney owned restaurants have far superior plates of meats and cheeses than the independents.

They definitely do. I wish our local restaurants had charcuterie & cheese plates like WDW. Unfortunately, they're almost impossible to find here & I live in a heavily populated area with many restaurants of all types.

ok, for transparency, for all those who are liking my suggestion, I am a former chef, and my family is a foodie family, so something like this is easy for me to put together

I appreciate your expertise.

If you have a Trader Joe's near you,just peruse the aisles.All sorts of goodies there.

Unfortunately, our closest Trader Joe's are 10+ miles away. I realize to some people that seems like nothing, but around here it can take 30+ minutes to drive 2 miles. I do love TJ's, when I get a chance to shop at one.

I like to add grapes, cantaloupe and/or whichever fruits look good at the market. Adds balance against the salts and fats. Nice crusty bread or interesting crackers to go along
https://www.sandiegomagazine.com/im...eg?ver=1571876286&aspectratio=1.4971428571429^Looks good


My BIL always makes a charcuterie salad when they have gatherings, which is a big hit!

Thanks for the suggestions. The linked platter looks delicious.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Basically a cold antipasto on steroids, lol. Hollywood Studios has a great small size charcuterie board at Baseline Taphouse for $10, quite the deal at WDW.
https://i2.wp.com/easywdw.com/reports14/review_baseline_tap_house_disney_hollywood_studios-24.jpg
Took me a while to learn how to pronounce it

Thank you.