- Repeat after me, charcuterie.
This is basically the art of making an assembling
of meat and cheese platter
and I'm gonna show you how to make one
that'll impress everyone.
(upbeat music)
Hey everybody, it's Natasha of natashaskitchen.com
and today I'm gonna teach you
how to make the ultimate cheese board.
This is a crowd pleaser and it's easier than you think.
So, let's get started.
You'll need something to serve your charcuterie on.
You can use either a serving platter
or a rimmed baking sheet.
Also a cutting board works really well
or you can put several cutting boards together depending
on how big of a board you want to make.
If you can get your hands on one,
the fancy charcuterie boards are really pretty for serving
and I especially love these with a rimmed border
so that nothing rolls off.
Charcuterie is basically a way
of arranging cured meats and cheeses
and all the good things together.
I like to start with putting out my cheeses
and you want a combination of hard cheeses.
Manchego is very popular.
Also I like a white Vermont cheddar cheese.
It's a simple cheese that has great flavor.
Then you want some softer cheeses.
During the holidays it's fun to get a goat cheese
that's either blueberry or cranberry-flavored.
Also some mozzarella balls
and I love these fresh, marinated mozzarella balls.
You also want some soft, spreadable cheeses
and brie is one of my all-time favorite cheeses.
Another favorite of mine
is the soft, spreadable triple cream cheese.
This is perfect for crackers or toasts.
It's super creamy, buttery and satisfying.
You want to cut up your hard cheeses
so that they're easy to grab and serve.
For the Manchego, this is a fun way to serve it.
Slice it into triangles.
Then arrange them in opposite directions.
This is simple to do
but the presentation is beautiful on a cheeseboard.
Now we're gonna quickly dice up our white cheddar cheese.
Remember you want different textures
and sizes for a prettier presentation.
I like to put the cheeses down first.
So, transfer your prepared cheese onto your serving board.
Here's a great styling tip.
To make your board more visually appealing,
you want to work in odd numbers.
So I like to have either three cheeses or five cheeses.
Place those around your board,
keeping in mind that you're gonna fill
all of those empty spaces
with meats, fruit, and all the accoutrements.
If you're adding something to your board
like the mozzarella balls with a lot
of liquid or that can get messy,
it's a great idea to put them into a ramekin.
For the cured meats,
I love getting a multi-pack like this because it's easier
and usually less expensive.
I got this at Costco and it has two types
of salami, coppa and my favorite prosciutto.
For a prettier presentation you want to fold the meat
in a variety of ways.
For the large circle slices,
you can fold them into tulips or triangle shapes.
So fold them in half, then fold them in half again.
Also arrange them as a deck of cards,
that way you can layer them easily
onto your serving board.
For the salami, you can also just fold them in half
and layer them as a deck of cards,
keeping them fanned out light and not compacted.
And those peppered salami look really pretty folded
into the tulip shape.
Once your meats are all folded and arranged,
you can transfer them to the serving platter.
Layer the meats around your cheeses.
If you are using a board that doesn't have a rim to it,
keep in mind you want to arrange your meats, cheeses
and things that don't roll easily
at the borders of your platter.
The last meat to go on is the prosciutto
and I love arranging it in ribbons.
It's a great way to keep the meat light
and fill up the space.
This was just 12 ounces of cured meats
but it's amazing how fanning them out
and arranging them like this makes
the platter look so full and abundant.
Once your cheese and cured meats are on,
it's time to add the accoutrements.
And accoutrements are basically everything else
that pairs well with meat and cheese.
If something needs to be served in a separate dish,
I like to put those down first so I can gauge my space.
We're gonna start out with our salty things.
I have some green olives here and some Kalamata olives.
Just make sure that they're pitted
so no one breaks their teeth on your cheeseboard.
We're also gonna add some tiny pickles.
You can either use baby dills or buy some gherkins.
The gherkins are quite a bit more expensive.
I find the baby dills work great.
You also want to arrange things
so that they're easy to grab and serve.
So when placing the pickles,
I like to stack them vertically.
You'll also be able to fit way more
into the ramekin this way and they'll look really cute.
Arrange things on your platter based
on what pairs really well together.
For example, I will always have a pot
of honey next to my brie cheese.
Another condiment that's really fun is a fruit spread
and I have a fig and strawberry spread here.
Our board is filling up nicely,
but wait, there's more.
We're gonna add color with some fresh fruit.
Apple is an inexpensive and delicious pairing
with most any kind of cheese and I love to slice it thinly,
then shape it into a heart shape
which looks really cute on a cheeseboard.
You can do this with any color apple or try this
with pears or even persimmon.
For the best flavor,
it's great to use fruit that's in season.
We're also gonna add some fresh green grapes.
Just be sure to cut those into smaller portions
before putting them on your platter.
Now we're gonna add our fresh berries
and we're using strawberries and blueberries here.
Use the fruits to fill up the spaces
and keep them next to the cheeses that they pair well with.
And finally, to fill in any leftover spots,
we're gonna add the nuts.
And I love the pairing of brie cheese with nuts and honey,
so we're gonna surround the brie with some nuts.
The color and taste of pistachios is also fun,
so I'm gonna add some of those to the board.
I also love to add a sweet treat and that's gonna come
in the form of some dark chocolate squares.
Cheese and chocolate are actually a delicious
and exciting combination.
All right, all we have left is the toast
and crackers and we are done.
All right and this looks pretty amazing
if I do say so myself.
(laughs)
Now you can use little toasts,
so basically what I did was I sliced up a baguette
and then I brushed the both sides
with olive oil, toasted them at 400
for about six minutes or just until they're lightly golden.
And that's all there is to it.
It's a simple way to make little toasts fancier.
And you can also use water crackers.
Or these artisan crackers which are really pretty
and look great on here,
but you don't have to spend a ton of money
to make it taste good and look good.
So we're just gonna add these on.
All right, aren't these fun?
(laughs)
Hey, also great tip,
if someone at your event is gluten-free,
it's always a nice idea
to add a gluten-free option to the board.
So we're just gonna stack these in here.
And I like to put them where they fit.
Like these crackers pair really well
with this cheese or with this cheese, the soft cheeses.
So I'll stick a bunch of them in there.
And then because I'm running out of room,
I will probably just serve a separate platter
with the toasts and crackers.
And let's see if we can squeeze a few more in here.
(laughs)
It's getting tight.
That's all we're gonna get in that spot.
Okay and then also water crackers
with the brie is such a delicious combination.
So to let people know,
I do like to place them around the brie.
There we go and then we're just gonna put these toasts
onto a separate serving dish.
'Cause these are really good with the soft cheeses
because you can use it as a spread
and make little sandwiches with salami.
It's so good.
All right, beautiful.
Now if you see any little gaps, just feel free to fill those
in with some more fruit, nuts, whatever you have left over.
A few more super important things
to know when serving your charcuterie board
is you need little serving utensils so that you don't
have people putting their hands all over the food.
You don't want that.
Well, I don't.
So I like to have these little tiny forks
and if you don't have special serving utensils,
just use little forks, little spoons,
whatever you have in the drawer.
And set those out to make it easy
for people to get whatever they want to get.
Okay, and super important, when you're serving your cheese
make sure to always start slicing it at least a little bit
because the best way
to make sure your cheese doesn't get eaten
is if you don't start it.
I don't know why,
but people are hesitant when you don't do it first.
So I do love to pre-slice the brie a little bit.
Cut out.
Okay and then we have these fun little knife servers.
So we'll put one here into our soft cheese.
Boom.
Okay.
And that's all there is to it.
(laughs)
I know it looks super complicated,
but really you're just putting things on a board.
Start with the cheeses, then the meats,
Then the fruits, nuts, crackers, and voila.
(laughs)
It's easier than you think.
And then you can just kind of mix things
around to fit them all in and it'll look stunning.
I'm telling you.
If you've never tried making one of these,
you're in for a treat.
We're gonna do a taste test
and I'm just gonna do a taste test
of my very favorite part of this
which is brie with honey and pecans or walnuts.
They both work really well.
So you just need a slice of brie
and look at how soft this cheese is, it is so good.
We're gonna add a little bit of honey.
Normally I would put many slices on a plate for myself.
It is so good.
And then top that with a nut or two or three
and also a water cracker.
(humming)
I love that this is staring back at me.
And that this is my job right now.
(laughs)
I'm thankful, for sure.
Seriously, that combination is just a match made in heaven.
(laughs)
It hits your taste buds in all the right places.
And, I don't know, I'm drooling a little bit looking
at this platter because I don't know where to go next.
I'm really excited.
(laughs)
It's seriously an epic cheeseboard.
I mean, if you're hosting an event,
sometimes this is all you need.
This will feed quite a bit of people
and you can make it as inexpensive or expensive
as you want depending on what kind of cheese,
what kind of meats you buy.
Also, this is key.
Buy fruits that are in season.
They're gonna be less expensive
and they're gonna taste the best when you get them
at the peak of freshness.
I'm gonna go have a party with myself.
Oh, if this graces your table
for New Year's or any special occasion, let me know.
And we'll see you in our next video.
Yum.
Oh, it's got some weight to it.
Mine. (chuckles)