Cheese Plate is a delicious appetizer food, and this is very suitable for parties, family gatherings, or for enjoying holidays. For those of you who are looking for a recipe for making this cheese with food and fruit, here we will share with you how to make it. Please continue reading the article.
Before we start the recipe, let’s talk about cheese, because Cheese Plate uses cheese as its main ingredient.
Let’s find out more about CHEESE!
Cheese Plate appetizers are an essential dish at holiday gatherings and family parties. So here I made an article entitled How to Make a Cheese Plate, you can follow the steps we provide below. In this recipe, we’ve added meat (cheese and charcuterie FTW!). Also, when serving it uses various other additions such as crackers, fruit, sausages, and various existing seasonal products.
Making this fresh dish is easy, I’m sure you will like making it, especially since it tastes delicious and makes all family members enjoy it.
Please follow the method of making it, don’t be afraid to be creative and have fun with your cheese plate dish. Ok, if you are ready, let’s look at the step by step for making this extraordinary cheese food.
How to make a Cheese Plate Step-by-Step!
1. Start with the big items: bowls and cheese.
Start with something larger that takes up more room on the cheese board or plate.
Some people start with cheese, but you can also start by placing several bowls around the cheese board. This will help create part of the cheese plate fresh dish
Add cheese, cheese should cool to room temperature. If you have stored it in the refrigerator, then take it out and let it sit at room temperature for around 30 or 60 minutes. To prevent drying out, cover with wax paper.
Presenting it in various forms will add interest. You can serve it with brie or goat cheese. So, this soft cheese can be served as is. If you are using hard cheese like cheddar or parmesan, I prefer to cut it into cubes and stack it on a board.
By making it like this, your guests can take them directly one by one without having to cut them again with a knife.
2. Add bread, meat and crackers
Add charcuterie to your cheese dish. I used soppressata, a basic deli salami, and also used prosciutto.
Meat can be seasoned in many ways. You can spread them out in a line, or by folding larger pieces, shape them into promising, fun shapes. This is related to visual appeal but is important to increase appetite.
When making a cheese plate, you can choose to fold it, so it doesn’t take up a lot of space, because there are ingredients you have to add to the board.
There are several ways to fold charcuterie meat, including:
- Fold the large, thin piece in half, and then fold it again in half to form a triangle. Slide the ends between a large piece of cheese and between one of your bowls (this is important, so it doesn’t change or stay in place). This is the technique used for soppressata at the bottom of the dish.
- Fold the large, circular piece in half and roll it into a small cone shape. The tip of the cone is inserted tightly between the cheese and the bowl so that it remains in place. We usually use this technique for deli salami on the far-left side of the cheese board.
- If using small, thin meat such as prosciutto, simply fold each piece of meat vertically onto the cheese tray.
- If using sausages too, cut the sausages at an angle and fan the pieces sequentially.
To bulk or shape them as closely as possible to real estate, I use a handful of crostini, or a handful of crackers for those who prefer them. Spread the crackers or Crostini along the edge of the serving plate to make it easier for those who want to take them.
3. Fill the large spaces on the Board with fruit and nuts
Now fill in the blanks on your cheese plate, this is where the initial interest begins, people will be amazed by what you put on your plate. How to fill it with nuts and make it, let’s see below.
– Add some fruit, for example, grapes, you can use vegetables or fruit that you have. I usually distribute some fruit to put in several places on the plate. For the grapes, I placed them on both sides of the plate, so they looked balanced and allowed guests to take them from each side.
– Add nuts, for example, if you use walnuts and almonds, add nuts in a smaller space on the cheese board. This not only covers the open parts of the board but can also add texture to the dish. At the edges, leave a little room so you can add olives or other fruit as an addition so it looks perfect.
4. Add the olives and fill the bowl
If you use olives, you can place them anywhere on the cheese plate. Add some green olives to the board and some black olives to the bowl.
In a small bowl, you can add whatever you think is interesting and delicious to eat. Add more fruit, and whole grains like nuts. Also fill a small bowl with honey, Maldon Sea salt, and other foods such as pesto, premium salted butter, etc.
5. Put some greenery into the empty bowl
It’s almost done, we’re going to get everything ready for this cheese plate. There are a few boards that are still empty, only small gaps, but you have to fill them completely until it feels very interesting. The fuller your cheese board is, the tastier sweeter, and more appetizing it will look.
At the end of this, the small gap will be filled with something green. For greens like this, you can use fresh arugula, this is an extraordinary combination, you will have a special meal on party day with this satisfying cheese plate.
Well, what I said earlier is a fact, you can do it easily, right? You can do this.
How Much Cheese Do You Need?
If you are serving cheese as an appetizer, plan to serve 2-3 oz per person. However, if you serve lots of side dishes such as biscuits, fruit, and charcuterie along with cheese, of course, people will have less cheese.
If you want to make a cheese plate for dinner, then you can plan on 4-5 oz of cheese per person. Fill the plate with lots of fruit and vegetables for balance.
One more thing, if you know that the people attending your party are not people who like to eat cheese, then you don’t need to prepare a lot of cheese.
Ingredients
CHEESES
- Blue or Gorgonzola Cheese
- Goat Cheese (I used a Bijou aged goat cheese from Vermont Creamery)
- Sharp White Cheddar Cheese (I used a Kerrygold aged cheddar)
- Brie
- Parmigiano Reggiano
NUTS
- Almonds
- Walnuts
CRACKERS & CROSTINI
- Toasted baguette slices with salt and pepper (crostini)
- Water crackers (we used these crackers from Carr)
MEATS & CHARCUTERIE
- Sliced salami
- Prosciutto
- Sliced soppressata
OTHER ACCOMPANIMENTS
- Black & Green olives
- Honey
- Flakey Sea Salt (we used Maldon Salt here!)
- Red Grapes
- Fresh arugula, for garnish
Instructions
- Store the cheese in the refrigerator and let it thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes or 1 hour.
- Follow the step by step that we have mentioned in the article.
NOTES
I used a wooden cutting board for my cheese plates, you can use it or try the classic way. However, you can use a plastic cutting board or large dinner plate, don't forget to use a few butter spreaders or fun cheese knives to serve.