How to Build a Board
I confess, we LOVE a good charcuterie board!!! Elton and i were eating cheese, crackers, a beef stick and grapes, way back in the day, before it was cool. Mainly because, it gave me a break from cooking and it always felt like we were having a party.
Let’s start with the board - we get our boards at Home Goods. They almost always have an amazing selection in all sizes.
Next, head over to Aldi, Trader Joes or your favorite place to shop.
Cheese - buy 4 different types of cheeses: Soft cheese (mozzarella, goat cheese, Brie, spreadable cheese), Semi-soft cheese (smoked gouda (my favorite), Jarlsberg, gorgonzola), Semi-hard (provolone), Hard cheese (asiago, mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, white cheddar, pepper jack). (I like 4 -5 types of cheeses).
Meat - Salami, Prosciutto, Pepperoni. (I like using 3 types of meat)
Crackers - Buttery crackers, wheat crackers, baguettes, pretzels. (I like 3-4 types of crackers).
Fruit - Grapes, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, dried fruit, olives, sliced Granny Smith apples, celery, carrots.
Nuts - Glazed nuts, raw nuts, salted nuts.
Extras - Boars Head Chocolate Hummus, caramel for dipping apples, chewy candies, dark chocolate covered almonds, cookies (Trader Joes has a great selection of different types of cookies), caramel popcorn.
The first thing I put down is Wax Paper. Since your board is covered with all of the goodies, no one sees the wax paper and it makes clean up much easier.
Placement - First of all, I do two different boards, one for sweet and one for savory items.
Savory board - Place small bunches of grapes, still on the stem, in 3-4 different spots on the board. Cut the cheese in squares or slices and place on board. (Elton does all the cutting while i do the arranging). Make sure you place the cheeses not touching each other. You can put them in piles or lay them in a row. Next place the crackers in piles or lines up next to the cheeses. Next fill in with your meats. This does not have to. be fancy, i just tuck the meats in the empty spaces in a pile, the best way to put the prosciutto on the board is rolling it up and standing it in an empty space. Then you can add the dried fruits and blueberries and/or blackberries, filling in the holes. I like to be sure none of the same items are touching each other, you will have a few piles of grapes, a few piles of nuts and you may have extra of some of the cheeses.
Sweet board - Place chocolate hummus in the corner of the board and surround it with strawberries, place pretzels next to the strawberries. place chewy candies and dark chocolate almonds next to the chewy candies, lastly i place the cookies in a nice line, filling in the holes.
The fun thing about boards is that you can really place anything you want on them. When people walk in your home and see the boards, they will ooh and ahh over them.
The most important thing is to have fun!!!