Here's a quick tutorial on how to build a board of any kind, from the traditional cheese board with charcuterie to grazing board, mezze board, vegetable board, or even butter or icing boards. It's very quick and easy to do: This one took me about 15 minutes, with photography. I love the plentiful look and all kinds of special treats: hot or cold hors d'oeuvres, roasted or fresh vegetables, dips, sweets, hard boiled eggs or deviled eggs, roasted tofu spears, mini salads using fruit or vegetables or both ... Get creative, play to the crowd with your favorites or theirs, and keep it seasonal.
Before you start: Decide on open board, showing lots of wood, or a packed board, with elements layered on. I like an over-stuffed board. Here, I'll use some open space around the edges to show how the wood can showcase your food. Feel free to leave open spaces in the middle, too, to separate foods.
Step 1: Choose a range of soft and sharp cheeses from cow's, goat's, and sheep's milk. Here I have gruyere, cabernet sauvignon bellavitano, chèvre rolled in cranberries with cinnamon and honey, and brie. Place your cheeses toward the outside of the board. If it's a large board, add one or more in the middle. These serve as anchors for the board.
Step 2: Add the meats. The key here is to separate the meats and add air: fold in half twice and kind of tuck them in to make a ruffled edge, roll longer pieces, or just fold and pile. This fills the space nicely, but it's essential to ease self-service. This also the time to add meatballs, savory baked goods, mini tarts, and the like. For a vegetarian board, add fresh or roasted vegetables. Group meats and veggies together, so that folks can recognize what they're getting and see the different flavors.
Step 3: Add fresh fruit. Again, separating and fluffing is key, both for appearance and to make serving easy. Be seasonal! Grapes are often my go-to, either in a large bunch for the look, but usually snipped into single-serve bunches and places around the board. Strawberries and blackberries are wonderful, but only if they're fresh. If you're not serving right away, put fruit that browns into a water bath with citrus juice for a bit to keep it looking fresh. Avoid fruits that are too soft (like raspberries).
Step 4: Finish with all your layered small items. My standards are dried fruit, like dates, apricots, and cranberries or cherries; nuts, especially pistachios, walnuts, pecans, or fresh coconut; and a variety of olives and pickled vegetables, like hot peppers. I love adding fresh wine-stewed mushrooms. Color is important here. Group little piles together next to contrasting colors. This helps the overall appearance, but it also makes it easier for folks to pick what they'd like. Oil-marinated black olives look a lot like dried cherries! I like to finish by sprinkling something loose to make the colors pop: cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and shaved coconut work well.
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