Something you can always count on during the holidays is fabulous food, everywhere. Between dinner parties with family, cocktails with co-workers and everything in between; we thought we would talk about a staple that everyone should have down.
A giant, gorgeous cheese platter!
We aren’t going to lie, we definitely were not expecting this to be as challenging as we found it was. I mean, it’s cheese.
Well, let’s break it down. There are a few things that go into creating an awesome cheese platter that hits all the bases. First of all, you need a serving tray, platter, or board. We decided to go with a very large cutting board. Mostly because we couldn’t decide on which cheese to buy at the store and when we got home it didn’t all fit on the nice platter that we were going to use. See below…
Lesson number one: when you are out and about shopping for your cheese board items, keep in mind the size of your serving tray so that you don’t buy WAY too much.
Now that you have a tray, you need cheese. Try to mix up the types that you buy – go for different textures, flavors, and density. We went with brie and goat cheese for our soft cheeses; classically delicious, each with a unique shape. We chose Roquefort for a semi soft cheese to add color, shape, and texture. Lastly, we chose a Parmesan cheese as our hard cheese.
Pro Tip: Chop up some herbs you have on hand, like rosemary and thyme, for the perfect topping on your goat cheese. Nothing beats that fresh herb flavor on goat cheese.
Place each of your cheeses on your board and be sure to have a cheese knife for each cheese. Now time to add the accompaniments. Start with carbs – add some crackers or bread sticks to have with the cheese, or alone. We used plain crackers, honey mustard pretzel sticks, and threw in some slices of our Rosemary Focaccia Bread. Yum.
After you have carbs, you can layer in the meats. It’s always nice to have something savory to snack on, too. Just like picking out the cheeses, you want to have variety. So pick some that are spicy, some herby, some sliced thick, and some thin. This will continue to add texture and flavor to your board. We chose two types of meat: salami and prosciutto.
Finally, it’s time for dips and spreads, filler, and garnish. We used an orange fig spread that when combined with a slice of brie on a cracker will melt in your mouth. We also added our Green Goddess Hummus for a nice pop of color and yummy dipping. Then we added “filler” items, sweet things like fresh and dried fruit are great for this. Once you have your platter pretty full, top it all off will your favorite herbs for garnish. Not only does it add color and makes the whole platter look pretty, they smell amazing, which always pairs well with any eating experience.
Lesson number two: don’t be afraid to pile it on! Looking back now, we could have added more crackers, fruits, and berries to fill the empty space and really have this board looking gorgeous.
We hope you enjoyed reading about how to create a cheese board. Don’t worry if it doesn’t turn out perfect the first time. We think this is one of those things we will all just get better at the more times we do it.
Happy Holidays from Team North Shore. Wishing you all health, happiness, and lots of wine to have with your cheese. Cheers!
