Build A Better Board

Below, you’ll find the equipment and ingredients you’ll need to create a beautiful board for 4-6 people. Watch this video if you’d like to cook along with me. Grab your favorite board and let’s get going!

Tools & Equipment

• Your favorite food-safe board for display
• Cheese knife or small chef’s knife
• Paring knife
• Cutting Board
• Small juice glass or wine glass
• Bowls or vessels to hold small items or items with liquid
• Kitchen shears (optional)
• Toothpicks (optional)

Ingredients

Cheeses (2-3 total)

1 ½ ounces per cheese person; for a 2-person board, 3 ounces of each cheese; for a 4 person board, 6 ounces of each cheese. Check the cheese section for a basket of “remnants” or “tiny tastes” for small amounts of cheese. Or ask the cheese monger to cut a smaller piece for you—they’ll usually be happy to help.  Try to get a variety of textures:

• Soft/runny cheese like brie or goat cheese log
• Semi-soft cheese like Fontina or Muenster
• Hard cheese like Cheddar, Gouda or Manchego
• Crumbly cheese like blue cheese or Parmesan

* do not purchase any pre-sliced, pre-shredded or pre-cubed cheeses, if possible
* does not have to be exact sizes or varieties

Meats (1-2 total)

2 ounces of each meat per person; for a 2 person board, 4 ounces of meat for a 4 person board. Stop by the deli counter for these small portions and ask them to have them sliced for a charcuterie board. Again, try to get a variety of textures. Turkey, beef, smoked salmon and other protein sources may be substituted or added.

• Thinly sliced prosciutto
• Hard salami (any variety)
• Saucisson
• Sopressata
• Calabrese
• Mortadella
• Chorizo
• Smoked kielbasa
• Pate

Fresh fruits (2-3 total)

When purchasing fresh produce, look for items with leaves, stems, vines to add more texture and dimension to your board.

• Grapes (red, purple or green)
• Mixed berries
• Apples, pears
• Mandarins or other citrus
• Pomegranate (whole or seeds)
• Any in season fruit
• Exotic fruits

Fresh Vegetables (2-3 total)

• Carrots (multi-color or baby, with or without tops)
• Cucumbers (baby or regular)
• Peppers (red, green, yellow, orange)
• Cherry or teardrop tomatoes
• Regular or baby cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Radish
• Endive lettuce
• Celery

Breads/crackers (1-2 total)

Choose something sturdy for those items that are spreadable.

• Baguette
• Breadsticks
• Water crackers
• Seed, fruit and nut crackers
• Flatbread crackers
• Any artisanal crackers

Salty/Briney/Oily (1-3 total)

Amounts are up to you. Most of these items can be refrigerated for a few weeks after opening so you can use them for more than one board

• Pickled vegetables (green beans, okra, asparagus, beets, etc.)
• Olives: green, stuffed, marinated, Kalamata, black
• Pickles: cornichons, dill, garlic, spicy (chips, whole, spears)
• Roasted red peppers (stuffed or not)
• Artichokes (marinated or packed in water)
• Olive Tapanade
• Sun dried tomatoes

Sweet (1-2 total)

• Honey (with or without comb)
• Jams, jellies, marmalades
• Small chocolates
• Candied dried fruit

Dried fruit (1-2 total)

• Any berry
• Coconut
• Any citrus
• Apples
• Mango
• Apricots
• Figs
• Dates
• Nectarines

Extras

• Fresh herbs and/or edible flowers
• Mustards
• Other condiments as desired
• Dips for vegetables (hummus, ranch-style, garlic and herb, avocado, tzatziki, etc.)