Holiday Charcuterie Board

(Photo courtesy: CJ Katz)

I love charcuterie boards because anything goes! Pull out all the stops and make your loved ones feel extra special. Pull out the fine china, your best crystal, and polish the silverware. Get some fancy napkins and go crazy with ingredients.

Here are some suggestions but honestly…the sky is the limit. Stop into your local deli – they are offering lots of great options to keep your family intrigued on their taste journey around the board. Happy New Year to you and your families from Jack and I.

• Cold cuts, like prosciutto, genoa salami, braesola, turkey pepperettes
• Fat raw sausages that you cook, cool, and slice on the diagonal
• Assorted cheeses with different shapes and textures – go with something creamy, something really old with those gorgeous salt crystals, a log of goat cheese rolled in ground black pepper, a great blue cheese
• Other meats like a duck breast – score the skin and rub all over with Chinese Five Spice and then shallow fry in a dry pan on low heat skinside down to start to rendering out the fat.
• Assorted pickles like mini gerkins, white asparagus, and artichoke hearts
• Sweet cheese spreads and jams
• Savoury spreads with some kick
• Fun crackers and breads, include a few breadsticks too
• A slab of honeycomb or a small pot with a spoon for drizzling
• Dried fruits like dates and apricots
• Grainy mustard

Scatter the ingredients all over the board like an abstract painting, or be more geometric. It all works. Just have fun!

Serve with neat teaspoons, cheese knives and whatever else you need. If you don’t have small pots for all the relishes, spreads and mustard, find a tea cup or espresso cup, or ramekin.