- Hey guys, today I thought I'd show you how to create
one of my favorite appetizer ideas, a cheese board.
I love a cheese board because it's the kind of thing
that you can just set and forget
and if you have a house full of family and friends
and you're running around trying to get the meal ready,
you'll love a cheese board too.
Let me show you how to put together my go-to selection
for a flawless looking cheese board.
So step one, pick your favorite cutting board.
You could do a rectangular cutting board,
you could do a square cutting board.
I also like a round cutting board,
because I find that it makes a really pretty presentation.
But any boards you have will do.
So the first thing we're gonna do is create
a little center piece for our cheese board.
A cheese board is much like a table and you wanna create
visual interest by drawing your eye to the center.
And for me, especially this time of year,
when grapes are in season,
I like to do a selection of grapes.
I'll usually take some green grapes,
mix it with some red grapes and then add some purple grapes,
again just adding nice visual interest to the center
of our cheese board.
So the first cheese I like to use is something runny.
So I'll take a nice French Brie
and then the second cheese that I like to use
is a salty cheese.
And for me that's a really nice blue cheese.
Then when placing your cheese, place the triangles out.
That way I think it's a lot easier for people
to serve themselves.
Then I also like to include a mild flavored,
almost neutral cheese, and for that
I'll use a goat cheese log.
And then lastly, I also like to include a sweet cheese
like a Stilton, and this time of year you can find them
with dried fruits.
I like to use either apricot or cranberry,
either one is great.
Now that we have all of our cheese on our board,
we're gonna go ahead and pair this cheese
with some crackers.
And I like to provide a variety of flavors and textures
with the crackers like we did with the cheese.
Okay, so for the Brie, I love this cheese because it pairs
really well with salty things as well as sweet things.
But because we already have some sweet cheese on the board
we're actually gonna turn it into salty
and pair it with some olive bread.
I love nice sliced olive bread with Brie,
it's such a great combination.
So we're just gonna nestle that bread
right next to the cheese and this is what makes
a cheese board so easy, as everything is on one board.
And when it comes to the goat cheese, we're gonna use some
rosemary crackers.
I love these little rosemary flat breads that I can find
at the store.
You can just break them up and nestle them in
with the cheese.
Then when it comes to the blue cheese, I love to pair it
with something sweet.
I think there's a great combination between the saltiness
of the blue and the sweetness of something
like a raisin cracker.
And then when it comes to the Stilton, I like to pair that
with something sweet and flavorful
like a little Brioche toast.
Then the next thing that I think is really great
on a cheese board is some texture.
So we wanna have a combination of things
that are chewy and things that are crunchy.
So for the chewy side I like to add some dried cranberries.
That's a great thing to add especially this time of year
and some dried apricots.
And on the crunchy side we're gonna add some
candied pecans and some candied walnuts,
two great nuts that are terrific with cheese.
Now you could stop here and you would have a very lovely
cheese board, but you if want it to kick it up one notch
then you could also offer a selection of spreads.
For me, some of my go-to favorites are
some olive tapenade for something salty,
some honey for something sweet,
some pepper jelly for a little bit of kick.
Now if you've never had pepper jelly before,
it's really delicious and especially paired with cheese.
It's basically jam that's made from a selection
of red peppers, green peppers and spicy peppers
and it's really nice on a cracker with some cheese.
And lastly, a little bit of fig jam.
I love fig jam because it can go sweet, it can go savory,
it's the perfect type of thing to serve with cheese
and it also is a great flavor this time of year.
So now that you have all of these delicious ingredients
out there just waiting to be combined,
let me share with you some of my favorite combinations.
For a Mediterranean twist, you can take a rosemary cracker,
top it with a little bit of goat cheese,
add a dollop of tapenade
and you will head to the south of France
in one quick bite.
Then for something that's really salty and sweet
and is really delicious, you might wanna try
a raisin cracker with a little bit of blue cheese
and drizzle of honey and a candied walnut.
And let me tell you, this is another really great
flavor combination.
And lastly, I also really love this combination,
some Brioche toast, a little spread of Brie,
a dollop of fig jam,
add some candied pecans.
This is another winner in my book.
But hey, you guys try them all,
tell me what combinations you like best.
I love a cheese board because it becomes so interactive
with your guests, because everybody of course
wants to try their own flavor combinations
and it keeps them all really busy,
while you're in the kitchen getting the meal ready.
So I hope guys give this one a try and let me know
what you think, and I will see you back here the day after
Thanksgiving for a really great leftover idea.
Hold on to that cranberry sauce.
All right, I'll see you then, bye.
♫Loving you is easy, you're amazing
♫Please take a bite of my apple pie
♫Oh, love, loving, love, loving you
♫It's a piece of cake
♫Oh yes, yes, it's true, yes, it's true
♫Because it's you♫