How to Make a Charcuterie Board

Charcuterie (shar COOT er ee) literally means a butcher that specializes in pork product or the products made there. However, if you’ve ever been to happy hour at a brewery or a hipster bar it can also mean a plate of various meats, cheeses, spreads, fruits and crackers that can serve as an appetizer or as a meal. Charcuterie is the new cheese plate.

How to Make a Charcuterie Board

However, you don’t need to go out to enjoy ‘all the meats’. Making a good charcuterie board is easy and will please your guests. Last week my husband and I had one for a romantic dinner. You needn’t go to a specialty butcher. I just bought all of this at my local supermarket. Granted, you want to get the best meat that you can afford. It is going to be the center of the meal and skimping will be noticeable.

You can be creative and make a board that is pleasing to you. I will get you started by answering some basic questions.

How much meat will I need?

If the charcuterie is an appetizer, then you will need about 2 ounces per person. If the charcuterie is the main meal, you will need 5 ounces per person.

What type of meat should I get?

You want an interesting variety. Make sure you get some bold and some mild flavors. Depending on how many people you are feeding you should choose one or two whole muscle cuts, one or two sausages and something soft and spreadable.

Examples of whole muscles cuts include capicola, Jamón serrano, prosciutto, or roast beef. Mortadella, pepperoni, salami, soppressata and summer sausage are all good choices for sausage. The soft and spreadable option sometimes throws people. You can choose a pâté or use my recipe for Potted Beef. If you are less adventurous then you can substitute hummus or another bean spread.

Do I need cheese?

Yes. You should have at least one hard cheese and one soft cheese, more if you are serving this as a meal or as an appetizer for many people. Choose a pungent and a mild cheese. Cheeses are best served slightly below room temperature. For ideas, read my instructions for making a cheese plate.

 

Choose a variety of hard and soft cheeses

What else should I serve?

You should offer seasonal fruits, nuts and small pickles or olives. I also serve fruit paste. Fruit paste is like sliceable jelly and can usually be found in the deli section of your grocers. It adds a needed sweet element to your plate. I prefer Rutherford and Meyer. Jams such as fig or blackberry are also good sweet choices. Depending on the meats you are serving offer your guests stone ground mustards or prepared horseradish. Slices of soft baguette and crackers make a good foundation for these nibbles. Choose a mild cracker because you don’t want it to compete with the charcuterie.

 

Potted Beef

What should we drink?

Again, this is up to you. You can serve white wines if you are serving mild meats. Hardier meats require red wines or even beers.

Try to have salty, sour, sweet, bitter and spicy flavors on your charcuterie board. Have soft and hard cheese, Soft bread and crackers. Crunchy pickles and soft jams. This will allow your guests to make many interesting combinations of flavors and textures. Charcuterie items need to be served slightly chilled. It is never a good idea to allow meat to sit out for too long. I place the meats in the fridge on several small plates, wrapped in plastic. I can rotate these out and make sure that they are fresh. Also, if we don’t need everything that I purchased, the meats in the fridge become a delicious lunch tomorrow! Make sure to have many small dessert plates and napkins on hand. You will also need a few cheese spreaders and appetizer forks. (Or just use toothpicks and plastic knives, we aren’t judging you.)

Most importantly, have fun.

How to Peel a Peach

Peaches are in season. Often to use a peach you will need to peel it. Have you ever tried to peel a peach with a knife? If you have you are going to love this entry. If you haven’t, save yourself some time and do this. This method will produce perfectly smooth, beautiful peaches with no nicks or blemishes.

Time:  10 minutes, which includes waiting for the water to boil

Hardware:  A paring knife, a pot of boiling water, a large bowl of ice water, a large slotted spoon or skimmer

Ingredients:

Ripe Peaches

1.       Put a large pot of water onto boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

2.       Cut a small ex in the end of the peach opposite the stem.

3.       Carefully lower the peaches into the boiling water. Allow them to boil for no more than 1 minute. Using the slotted spoon remove the peaches from the boiling water and place them in the ice bath.

 

 

4.       Let them sit in the ice for 30 seconds.

5.       The skin will just peel off.

This method will work for all thin skinned fruits and tomatoes.

How to Make the Perfect French toast

How to Make the Perfect French Toast

French toast is a brunch staple. The basic recipe consists of bread soaked in a mixture of beaten eggs and milk, which is then fried. Sounds simple and really it is. When prepared properly French toast is a thick, slightly sweetened slice of joy that is crunchy (even crispy) on the outside with a velvety custard-like center. When done poorly it is soggy and under cooked on the inside with little burned pieces of char on the outside, surrounded by rubbery scrambled eggs with a sickeningly sweet start and an eggy, sulfuric finish. I’m here to help.

The first step to making Perfect French Toast begins with picking the right kind of bread. I prefer to use challah bread, but brioche is also good. These breads are sturdy and don’t tend to fall apart when soaked in the egg mixture. Always buy a whole loaf and then slice it at home. Use a serrated knife to slice the bread into 1 to 1 ¼ inch portions. You can leave the slices out for a while because dry bread will soak up more of the egg mixture.

The egg mixture is the second step. The trick? Only use yolks. I know that separating eggs is a pain. I also know that this requires more eggs, more work and more time. The finished product will be worth the trouble. Egg whites are responsible for the aftertaste of sulfur. Just save the whites and make an egg white omelet for tomorrow’s brunch. Whisk the yolks with whole milk. Let’s face it, this is not diet food. It is more like dessert for breakfast, so use full fat milk. The fat helps make the custard fluffy. Trust me. How many eggs? How much milk? I usually use 3 yolks and ¼ cup milk for 2 slices of toast. Remember the toast is thick.  Make sure to whisk like crazy. You want the custard to be custard and not scrambled eggs.

This next step is really a matter of personal taste. What else should you add to the custard? If you plan to serve the toast with syrup or fruit you can just add a pinch of salt and go for it. However, I know this is supposed to be decadent. And I know everyone adds sugar. So, do that. Add sugar. But use powdered sugar. Granulated sugar can burn and give you a charred taste or cause the outside of the toast to cook before the inside is finished. To give your toast a little flair, add in a splash of vanilla extract or a good rum, bourbon or liqueur. Not too much or that will be all you can taste. Soak the bread in the custard mixture. I put each piece into the bowl and sort of press it down into the custard for 30 seconds and then flip it over and do the same thing on the other side. Take the bread out of the custard and allow the excess to drip back into the dish. You don’t want the bread to be dripping nor do you want any part of it to be dry. Now we toast.

Before I start cooking the bread, I place a wire rack over a cookie sheet and put that into a 250˚ oven. To fry the bread, you should use both butter and light vegetable oil. The butter is for the taste and the vegetable oil is to stop the butter from burning. Heat the fats in a cast iron or other non-stick skillet over medium heat. If the skillet is too hot, the outside will burn before the center is cooked. If the skillet is too cool, the egg mixture will spread out and make an egg ‘foot’ around the toast. The foot is the rubbery scrambled egg that surrounds not great French toast. When the butter has completely melted lay the toast, sides not touching, into the pan. Fry for 3-4 minutes or until the outside is golden and edges are just starting to crisp. Flip and toast the other side. Place each finished piece of toast onto the rack in the oven. The oven will keep the toast warm and the rack ensures that both sides are crispy. Don’t leave the toast in the oven for too long, however, or it will dry out. Wipe the pan out between slices of toast. If you don’t the little bits of egg from the previous toast will burn and make your Perfect French Toast into mediocre French toast that is covered in little, burned bits of egg.

Now you have something special, the Perfect French Toast. This toast is so rich, that usually I can only eat one slice. I’m lying to you. I eat 2 slices and rest and come back for more. Before serving, I put powdered sugar (and sometimes cinnamon) into a small strainer and tap it gently over the toast. The sugar falls like sweet, powdery snow. Then I top the toast with fruit and a little honey or whipped cream. Or I just pick up a piece and walk around the kitchen eating it like a cookie. You do you. But try this. You'll never be willing to eat mediocre French toast again.

The Perfect French Toast