It’s the holiday season. That means there are lots of parties happening. Whether you are hosting a Friendsgiving, a Cocktail Christmas Party, Girl’s Gift Exchange Night in your PJ’s…whatever the event may be…a Cheeseboard is ALWAYS appropriate. I like to have Charcututerie for dinner sometimes. Don’t tell the kids. They think we are being fancy. We really just didn’t want to cook.
Seeing all the beautiful images of cheeseboards out there, it can seem really intimidating. But, fear not, I am here to show you step x step how to throw it together effortlessly (but not looking effortless).
I first give your the tools and then show you how I put my own board together. Scroll down to see!
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The Boards:
You can’t start a cheeseboard without a good board. Marble, slate and wood are all good options for a surface. See below for some of my fav’s!
Shop These Boards: 1. Farmhouse Potter Live Edge Walnut Boards / 2. New Shapes Marble Board / 3. Thirtystone Marble Paddle Board / 4. Round Marble Cheeseboard / 5. Marble & Brass “Share” Rectangular Board / 6. Natural Teak Root Rectangular Server / 7. Dansk Niklas Round Paddle Board / 8. New Shaped Marble Board / 9. Square Piedmont Slate Cheese Board / 10. Marble and Wood Cheese Boards / 11. Acacia Cutting Board / 12. Peanny White Marble Server
The Cheeses:
Now…to the most important part of the board, the CHEESE! I would have at least 4 different types of cheese. Depending on how big your board is or how many people you are serving, you can certainly add more.
You want to have a good variety of flavors, texture, visual appearance, intensity, colors and even milk types. The world of cheese is endless so this part can be really fun to choose. If you aren’t a cheese guru, here is a simple guide:
Aged: This is your Cheddars, Goudas, and Gruyeres.
Soft: This will be a Brie or a Goat Cheese or any cheese that is on the spreadable side.
Firm: Asiago, Parmegiano-Regianno and Manchego are good options here.
Blue: A Gorgonzola or Stilton
For my board, I chose a Sharp Cheddar, Gouda, Asiago, Gorgonzola & Brie.
Shop This Cheese: 1. Seaside Cheddar / 2. Honey Goat Gouda / 3. Le Gruyere / 4. Gorgonzola Mountain / 5. Murray’s Dansk Blue / 6. Asiago Pressato / 7. Murray’s Young Manchego / 8. Good & Gather Brie / 9. Vermont Creamery Classic Chèvre Goat / 10. Camembert
The Vessels:
This is anything that can be used to aid in the eating of the cheese. Crackers, bread, breadsticks, etc. I always use a simple wheat party cracker for the harder cheeses and a melba toast or crostini for the softer cheeses like brie, goat cheese or blue cheese. You can also use the skinny breadsticks, club crackers, water crackers or triscuits.
The Meats:
I love the salty bit of cured meats on a board. I always use Prosciutto because it’s my favorite of all the cured meats. You can also use salami, pepperoni, capocolla, summer sausage or smoked salmon.
My board is on the smaller side, so I only used one meat – prosciutto. Like I said, it’s my fav.
The Sidekicks:
This is the really fun part. Now is the time to add all the things that accompany the cheeses. You want a combo of sweet and salty flavors to go with each cheese. Here is a good list of options:
Fruit: I always start with some fruit. Fruit and cheese just go very well together. You will want a combo of fresh and dried. My go-to on every board are grapes. They are easy to pick up and eat and always a crowd pleaser. Some other fresh fruit options would be figs, cumquats, or apple slices. Some great dried fruit options are figs, apricots or cranberries. I only used grapes for this particular board.
Olives: Olives are salty and briny and pair so well with a variety of cheese. I used green olives on my board.
Spreads: Jellies, Jams, Fruit spreads, and honey are all great options. I always have honey for blue cheese. Fig preserves also pair so well with blue or brie. I used fig jam and honey on my board.
Nuts: Almonds, pecan, walnuts, cashews. You can’t go wrong with any nuts. This is a great item to fill in any holes in the board. I also like to make spiced or candied nuts to add to the board. You can also purchase some great flavored nuts out there. I used Pumpkin Spice Candied Walnuts and Private’s Selection Smoked Almonds on my board.
Garnish: For a special touch at the end, take some herbs like Rosemary or Thyme and fill in any empty spaces with sprigs of herbs. It just adds some pretty greenery to your board.
Shop These Foods: 1. Divina Fig Spread / 2. Honeychild Smoked Strawberry Jelly / 3. Salted Honey / 4. Tru Bee Tennessee Snow Whipped Honey / 5. Bloom Honey Orange Blossom Pure Raw Honey / 6. Entertainment Crackers / 7. Black Pepper Crackers / 8. Melba Toast / 9. Karma Cinnamon Wrapped Cashews / 10. Organic Bruschetta Olives / 11. Greek Kalamata Pitted Olives / 12. Sugar Plum All-Natural Spiced Nuts / 13. La Quericia Prosciutto Picante / 14. Olympia Provisions European Salami Sampler
The Tools:
You will need a good set of cheese knives, especially for the cheeses you leave whole. There are SO MANY beautiful options out there to pick up. See below for what I would love, as well as some other fun accessories for your cheese board.
Shop These Tools: 1. Gold Cheese Markers / 2. Rabbit Cheese Knives / 3. Thirstystone Black and White Marble Handled Cheese Knives / 4. Oak Cheese Knives / 5. Prodyne Froma Cheese Knives / 6. Boska Cheese Slicer / 7. Marble & Copper Cheese Knives / 8. Black Agate Cheese Knives / 9. Natural Slate Cheese Labels / 10. Mateo Wood Cheese Knives
Now, Let’s Put it together:
Here is what I started with:
STEP 1: Cut the cheeses into a variety of shapes. Since the cheddar was already in a square shape, I just cut it into square slices. I cut strips out of the Gouda and triangles out of the Asiago. I left the Blue Cheese and Brie whole. This helps differentiate between the different cheese and makes for a more visually appealing board.
STEP 2: Layout cheese across the board, leaving space to add other items between each one.
STEP 3: Add the crackers. Place them close to the cheese if you can. I put the wheat crackers closer to the hard cheeses and placed the melba toasts closer to the softer cheeses.
STEP 4: Add the meats. At this point you will just fill in where you have space. Feel free to move things around as you need to.
STEP 5: Add the sidekicks in the open spots on the board: grapes, jams, honey, nuts, olives, etc.
STEP 6: Garnish with herbs like rosemary or thyme.
See how easy this can be? I hope I took the intimidation out of putting together a beautiful cheeseboard you can take to your next gathering. People will be impressed. We don’t have to tell them how easy it really is.
Try these Recipes to go with your Cheese Board:
Orange Spiced Cashews
Pumpkin Spice Candied Walnuts
Spicy Coca-Cola Nuts
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