- It doesn't matter what kind of party or get together you're throwing, a charcuterie board is always
an amazing appetizer option. It looks beautiful, there's
something for everybody, and it's super easy to put together. Charcuterie literally translates from French to English as deli. Now ask yourself, what's at a deli? Fresh meats, cured meats,
dried meats, and cheese. To me, these are the two
most important things that every charcuterie board should have. Now, there are so many
ways to do this, okay? This one is just my take, but there are some things to consider, like balance of flavor. You should have some sweet, some spicy, some salty, some umami, and definitely the five main components, which are meat, cheese, vegetables/fruit, spreads, and crackers. The first thing you need to do though is figure out what you
want to serve it on, a platter or a cutting board. Once you've got that made
up, we can start moving. Let's talk about meat. I've got an awesome selection of meats that I absolutely love. I've got some prosciutto ham, some soppressata, a little bit of salami, I've got some summer sausage, and I even have some beef sticks, but don't let that limit you. Please use whatever it is that you love, maybe some ham and maybe
a few other things. Even spec would be awesome. Okay, to start this off. Thanks to the grocery store for already kind of fanning these out. We're just gonna change the direction and shape a little bit, kind
of like little half moons. Put them at one side of the
cutting board and the other. Now for the bigger salami piece, you can serve these up a couple ways, fold them over in half and
then just sort of layer them and stack them down the
side of a cutting board or you can take another
fold and put that in there so they're little sort of triangles, and that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna stack them up and
fan them out just like this, right onto the cutting board. Okay, now I'm going to work
with this prosciutto ham. It is kind of hard to do
because it's so fragile and it will rip and tear. It's okay. To avoid anything looking crazy, I just roll 'em up into
little stacks like this and put 'em up like a
little bundle of sticks. Perfect! All right, for the summer sausage, be sure to remove that outside paper. It's like a wax paper, so to speak, and it just keeps it fresh. After you've taken it off,
just make thin little slices. Now, I do like to keep
a little chunk of it, really just for show. Obviously, no one's gonna
take that last big piece and take a bite out of it. Or maybe they will, but
hopefully they don't. And we're just going to
fan out those pieces again. It's going to look really, really nice. And then last, but not least, I'm just going to put those
beef sticks in a little jar. Boom, perfect! Starting to come together. Lots of room left to add
quite a few more things. And definitely do not limit
yourself when it comes to meat. What about mortadella or ham or pepperoni? Get creative. Have some fun. Buy the things that you love to eat. Put them on your charcuterie board. Now for the cheese. This part is my favorite because I just love to
pick and eat cheeses while I'm doing this. I've got some brie, bleu,
little bit of fontina, cheddar. Lots of good combination of soft, medium-hard, and hard cheeses, and even a spreadable one like brie. Love the combination. Speaking of brie, it's
kind of a nice centerpiece. It's a pretty round piece. It's gonna be awesome right there. And because I like to show
that it is a spreadable cheese, I take a little chunk out
and make sure a put a knife or a little cheese knife in there. Let everyone know, hey,
this is spreadable. And for the fontina, I'm just
gonna cut little rectangles. You can cut them into
squares, however you want. Again, this is all about you, my friends, and what you're serving up to your guests. Once they are sliced
into little rectangles, just going to fan them out, put them on one side of the salami and the other side of the summer sausage. It doesn't have to be
so perfect like this. I was sort of kinda taught that way. And because our Asiago are
already in nice little triangles, I'm just gonna keep slicing that through and keep those little shapes. And similar to our fontina, I'm gonna put some on one
side of the cutting board on the other side of the salami and the same thing at the far end. Keep it nice and
symmetrical, but who knows? We may be moving some things around. And for the cheddar, I've got
a really nice aged cheddar. I will say this, when it comes to working
with really aged cheddars, if you cut them into really small pieces, they may start to break down a little bit. Totally fine. Don't stress out. We're still gonna make it look beautiful. I'm gonna cut these into
little medium dices. Want some nice bite-sized pieces here. And we're gonna take a good handful and put it right over on
our charcuterie board. Yep, already got to
start moving some stuff. Let's pull back our soppressata and put a few handfuls there. Now, a little secret. Don't put all the cheese out. Save a little to the
side, keep it wrapped up because you want to replenish
your charcuterie board throughout the night. Keep it going and keep it nice and full. Now for the bleu cheese. I'm gonna cut off a little wedge
at the top, just like this. And for the other bigger piece, what I'm gonna do is just crumble it up. You want these to be little pieces. Bleu cheese is incredibly
strong and flavor and no one likes a huge
chunk, I'm telling you, so nice little bite-size pieces, maybe a little 1/4 to 1/2
inch chunks, that's it. And to set that up, we're gonna put that little
block wedge right there and then apply all the crumbles
just right in front of it. And remember, keep some to the side so you can replenish
all throughout the night when you're serving up
this charcuterie board. And it doesn't stop there! What about Gouda or Havarti or feta? See? The options are endless. Just because I like a combination of soft, hard and spreadable cheeses, you can pick whatever you want. What's your favorite cheeses? Put 'em on there. Okay, now for the veg and fruit. So much good stuff here, and you can have a field
day with whatever you like. Fresh, salted, cured, pickled, brined, you name it, all are acceptable. I've got some pears. I've got some grapes, some dried fruits even. Got lots of canned little vegetables, lots of brined goodies here. When it comes to plating this up, it's really about finding room. The most important things are on there with the cheese and meat, so adding all the fruit and
veg is about making room, pushing some things around. I like to keep something symmetrical, like I was telling you before. Some on one side, the exact same thing on the other or a like piece on the other. Had to move the cheese around. There wasn't enough room,
so I stacked up our Asiago and just doubled it up on the one side. Totally fine. Got some caper berries, some cornichons, grapes, dried plums, you name it. It is starting to come
together, my friends. Still plenty of room though. We've got some spreads and some crackers coming up right around the corner. For me when it comes to fruit,
it's all about seasonality. Because berries aren't in season in those winter and fall months, they shouldn't really be
on the charcuterie board if you're serving it up
during those time periods. Think about your apples
or pears or persimmons, all those great winter
fruits you can put on there. Save the berries for your
summer charcuterie board. For vegetables, personally
I just like a combination of salty and fresh. You can pick what you want. Okay, now for the spreads. I've got a fig and orange spread. It's kind of a little tart
in there from the citrus. You could do a tart cherry
spread or even a citrus spread to get some nice, good
tart flavors in there. I know I said tart ten times. Now for some mustard,
a little bit of spice. I like whole grain mustard. You could get a spicy
mustard in there as well. And then last, but not
least, for some sweetness, got a little bit of honey. This is just to help round
off some of those salty and spicy flavors on your cracker. Now, the spreads are
definitely optional as well, but I do like thinking of
the balance of flavors. So I like a good spice,
like a good mustard. I like tart maybe found in a jam or sweetness found in honey
or another fruit spread. This is just me. Again, totally up to you. Okay, last, but not least, crackers. My only really train of
thought here is shape and size and different flowers. I've got a wafer, a butter cracker, and an artisan rye cracker. So now it's time to scoot everything in and make even more room. Add your crackers all around the outside. Keep all of your show
pieces in the center. The crackers aren't any special highlight, but all those meats, those
cheeses, those fruits, that's what we want to do. You may need to lift some things up. Tuck the crackers underneath. Make sure there's no cracked crackers. Keep it nice and fresh. And then here's a little trick, bonus! Maybe it's a sixth component. I'm gonna add some nuts wherever there's any little
gaps around the cheeses, just to help fill it in to
make it look really full. Got some almonds. Got some of those spicy pistachios. It's gonna be perfect on this. It is looking gorgeous, my friends. Crackers are, well, I'm not
even really sure honestly, other than what I offered up as options. I mean, you can definitely choose whatever crackers you want. But even understanding the
fundamental basics of flavors and putting all those
things together in one board so that when you take a mouthful, you can get sweet and spicy and salty, all those flavors together. Putting those things into practice to help elevate your everyday cooking, I'm telling you, this
charcuterie board is a win, no matter what time of year it is. Let's have one more look at this beauty. Absolutely amazing. And do not forget to add spoons and knives so people can pick this up with ease. Maybe even some tongs. This is incredible and
it is a fan favorite. Let's for sure get in this (tranquil electronic music)
