Charcuterie Boards, Crudités, Dessert Boards – Fill ‘em up and enjoy the show – and the flavors!
Boards have taken the Thanksgiving season by storm! Beautiful arrangements of meats and cheeses and other goodies on wooden slabs or turkey shaped platters; these are works of delicious art. Many charcuterie boards have expanded from the original French definition which included a savory display of smoked or roasted cuts meats and sausages to include fruits, cheeses, veggies, crackers and sweets.
Then, there are the board masterpieces that involve gorgeous vegetables-crudités-and maybe a dip or two. Carrots, celery, green onions, bite-sized broccoli, slices of avocado, cauliflower fleurets, olives, grape tomatoes, chick peas, edamame. For dipping, hummus and tapenade, Ranch dressing, aioli aka delicious garlic mayonnaise-purchased or homemade. . .retro-favorite French onion dip made with sour cream and dry onion soup mix. . . the list goes on.
Building a board involves color, texture, flavor and the cost of prep. See what’s on sale at your local market and go with it. If squash is plentiful, perhaps puréed, savory seasoned squash served with colorful red, yellow and green pepper slices alternated with sliced zucchini rounds or cucumbers would be lovely.
How about growing your own microgreens to sprinkle or places strategically among the crudités or at one end of the meat and cheeses? Start some beet seeds in a planter, or reuse a plastic container in a sunny window. When they are a couple of inches tall, pull up to thin them out, rinse and pat dry, and voilà! You have micro-greens with pretty red trim, all fresh and nutritious.
Fruit boards are gorgeous with grapes, apple slices, strawberries, oranges, blueberries, dried dates, raisins, dried figs, melon slices, fresh or canned pineapple chunks, mangoes, guavas, starfruit, kiwi….served with plain whipped cream dusted with freshly ground nutmeg, chocolate dessert hummus, or open a jar of marshmallow fluff- just remove the lid and start dipping!
To keep sensitive fruits like apples and vegetables like avocadoes from turning brown, try Freshsliced.
A local Sabetha product, freshsliced keeps apples crisp and crunchy; guacamole and avocado slices green and tasty. Check out the URL to learn more from the developer of this great product.
My husband saws fallen tree trunks into inch-thick wooden “plates” for board serving. Just fire up the chainsaw and cut a few slices of tree. We like cedar, walnut or fruit trees for the interesting design and fragrances that emanate from the beautiful wood. Depending upon the shape and age of the fallen trees, he chooses to either peel off the bark, or leave it on for a more rustic look. For food safety, we place clear glass or plastic plates on the rounds. It adds an extra festive sparkle to the party!
David cuts larger platters for the centerpiece and people serve themselves buffet style. If preferred, the smaller cuts of wood can be pre-filled and arranged on the serving table. A host may wish to slide the filled wooden rounds into gallon, zip-lock plastic bags. Sanitary and secure, this method prevents spills, or perhaps stops the occasional grape or olive that tends to roll off the edges.
Dessert boards, well, anything sweet, seasonal and scrumptious are the stars of dessert boards! Cookies, candies, tiny tarts, hand pies, cake bites, macrons, petits-fours, meringues, cake pops, banana split fixin’s – anything that would be popular at a Sugar Factory© or Grandma’s house – go for it! Make a gingerbread house, center it on a large tray encircled with twinkle lights and shiny decorations, flanked with a couple of dessert boards filled with decorations to sample and to add to the scene.
Are you excited at the prospect of “building a board”? Let your imagination and creativity run wild. Anything you choose to include on your “board” is your very own. Trust yourself and enjoy! It’s 100% guaranteed that your guests will love your creative yummies just as much as you enjoyed creating your boards! Make them soon and often! ‘Tis the season for goodies of all kinds!
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