How to Make a Charcuterie Board

    The word “charcuterie” (shaar·koo·ter·ee) means cold cooked meat. That’s French, but of course here in the states we’ve taken the idea of “laying out food on a board to look pretty” and run with it. Technically, there must be meat on the board for it to be “charcuterie.”

    Everyone loves them. Charcuterie boards make you feel So Cultured and Fancy. But really they are just glorified Lunchables. They make stunning centerpieces, and are often the star of the show. Which cheeses should I pick? Should I only pick 4?? And there are rules about hard, soft, stinky, mellow? They're colorful, overflowing, and filled things people love to eat, namely cheese, meat, and bread.

Rules for an amazing charcuterie board

1. You need a variety of types of cheese: at least 1 soft, 1 hard, 1 tangy. (2 oz per person) “Something old, something new, something goat and something blue.” 
2. Decide whether the board is gonna be full(no board showing) or minimal.
3. Don't buy anything you think your guests will eat.
4. A choice of fun and interesting jams, sauces, and savory spreads absolutely MAKE a charcuterie board. Don’t skimp in this area.
5. Provide a few different types of crackers and bread. 
6. Choose a variety of ingredients based on texture: crispy, soft, chewy.
7. Have something spicy and something sweet
8. Serve cheese room temperature; it’s more flavorful than cold cheese.
9. Be strategic in your placement, and arrange the crackers or bread in neat piles or rows, making sure they are not touching anything that will make them soggy.
10. Make everything bite sized. Cut everything that is going on the board.

    Cheese, meets, fresh fruit, veggies, crackers, nuts, spreads, sauces!

Example

Everyone loves cheese 8 oz. block cheddar cheese, cubed

Hard cheese ("something old") 6 oz. aged Guyère

Soft cheese ("something new") 6 oz. mozzarella balls

Goat cheese 6 oz. chèvre

Blue cheese 6 oz. Cambazola

6 oz. 

thinly sliced s

oppressata

6 oz. 

summer sausage, sliced

6 oz. ham

1/4 cup 

honey

1/2 cup Roasted red pepper hummus

1/2 cup fig jam

1/4 cup dijon

1/2 cup 

smoked almonds

Fresh fruit such as strawberries, blackberries, grapes, and apple slices

1/4 cup 

dried fruit, such as apricots or Craisins

Bread and crackers, for serving 

Martha Stewarts Meyer Lemon Pound Cake

I would personally call this a cake and not a pound cake. 

It is so light and fluffy.

Ingredients

For the Glaze

Zest of a Meyer lemon

2 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

For the Cake

1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

Plus more for pans 

4 cups of sifted flour, plus more for pans

1 teaspoon of salt

4 teaspoons of baking powder

2 3/4 cup of sugar

8 eggs, room temp

1 cup of milk, room temp

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

Directions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour two 9-by-5-by-3-inch (or larger) loaf pans and set aside.

Step 2
Sift the flour with the salt and baking powder two times and set aside.

Step 3
With an electric mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy.

Step 4
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk and vanilla. Stir only until thoroughly blended. Gently fold in the zest.

Step 5
Pour batter into the prepared pans, making sure to divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Level tops with an offset spatula. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan about 10 minutes; then remove to a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

If done in the pampered chef personal brownie 

pan then do 15 min baking.

If done in a mini loaf pan that do 20 min baking

Step 6
Make the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk all glaze ingredients to combine. If necessary, add additional confectioners' sugar to desired consistency.


Step 7
Pour glaze on top of cakes and serve.

Artisan Bread 🍞

 First things first.

It’s important that you know that when you deal with bread you need to use grams or oz measurements. Not cups. This is because when making bread someone can have a heavy hand when measuring. Such as someone can sift their flour and others just put the cup in and take it out and some put the cup in and level the top. You will get different amounts with all 3. A good recipe will give you the grams and/or ounces. So invest in a scale for your baking. 

Second, when you make bread you will need to consider what kind you like. Meaning, knead or no knead. I will always do kneaded bread. In my opinion the kneaded bread is superior to the no knead bread. But if you are new to bread making. Go ahead and start with the no knead. It will take longer and may not rise as well as the kneaded bread but it will be far better that the bread you get from the super market. Give it a try, Your family and friends will be sooooo impressed. 

This recipe is a plain white loaf. Crusty outside with a soft airy inside. Exactly what you want.

Ingredients

Bread Flour 567 grams (100%)

Salt 11 grams (2%)

Instant Yeast 3.5 grams (0.65%)

Water (room temperature) 13.5 oz (68%)

(If you want to make a bigger batch or smaller batch use the bakers’ percentages.)

Directions

It’s good practice to have all your ingredients out before hand. If you don’t you may realize you have ran out of something and don’t have it, or you may not have enough. Plus everything is where you need it, when you need it. 

 Start by putting everything in the mixer bowl, flour first then the rest. I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. You can use a bow and your hands or a wooden spoon if you like. If you are using a mixer, use the dough hook.

Set the speed to low and let it run for a moment to start combining everything, then set it to medium speed and let it go another minute or two until combined. It will be a sticky dough when it is done. 

Take it out on to a floured counter. Put some flour on your hands to get it out. 

In this video I will show you how to knead a bread. (This video shows me kneading whole wheat, but the stretch and fold is the same. I do find that the white bread has a lot more stretch as is more sticky.)

After you have kneaded the bread you will have put it in the oiled bowl, covered and let it rest for about 60 min. It should double in size at this point.

Turn it upside down on a piece of parchment paper. Let it fall on its own.

Put some melted butter on top

Using a pastry brush gently brush it to cover the surface.

Make cuts into the dough so it can expand. You can do it however you like. Some do a couple parallel next to each other, some make an X, some make a tic tax toe like I have here. You can be creative here. 

BON APPETIT!!!

Banana Bread

My mother made banana bread about every other week when I was young and I loved it when it just came out of the oven. But don’t get me wrong I love it after it has cooled as well. What is your favorite bread? 

 

I use the same recipe my mom used when I was a kid.

It is from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Prep time 25 min

Bake time 55 min

Oven temp 350 degrees

Makes 1 loaf , 16 servings

Ingredients

2 cups of all Purpose Flour (or gluten free flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons of Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of Ground Nutmeg ( I use 1/4)

2 beaten 🥚 Eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed 🍌 Bananas (5 medium)

1 cup of Sugar

1/2 cup Cooking Oil or melted butter or Margarine ( I use butter)

1/4 cup of chopped Walnuts ( I do not use them)

1 recipe of Streusel Nut Topping

Streusel Topping 

In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup of packed brown sugar and 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour (or gluten free flour). Mix in 2 tablespoons of butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts if desired. 

Directions

Grease bottom and sides of one 9x5x3 inch or two 7 1/2x3 1/2x2 in loaf pans; set aside. 

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together

In a medium bowl combine eggs, bananas 🍌, sugar and butter. 

Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix then add the other half and mix until combined. If you are adding the nuts now is the time to put them in and then fold till combined. Pour this into your loaf pan(s). If desired add streusel topping to the top of the bread mixture. 

Bake in 350 degrees oven for 55 to 60 minutes for the 9x 5x3 in pan or 40 to 45 minutes for the 

7 1/2x3 1/2x2 in pan, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 min. Remove from pan. Cool complet;y on wire rack before making it to your bread 🍞 area. 

Bon Appetit

Cheesy Dutch Oven Bread

 This is a favorite of mine. My family and friends love it and my best friend always asks if I have any made when she comes over. Lol. It is a go to and can be used with many things!

Ingredients

8 servings

3½ cups bread flour (445 g), plus more for dusting

2 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (250 g), divided

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 cups warm water (480 mL)

1 package of instant yeast (2 1/4tsp)

(if active yeast, just use warmer water and let it sit 15-20 min longer)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation

Combine the bread flour, 2 cups (200 g) of cheddar and salt. Stir well.

In a separate large bowl, combine the water and yeast. Pour the flour mixture on top of the water and use a silicone spatula to stir until the dough comes together.

 With the spatula, fold the dough around the edges of the bowl toward the middle, rotating the bowl whenever and folding a complete of 8 times. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm place for hour, or until almost doubled in size.

 Using the spatula, fold the dough toward the middle again 8 more times. Cover with the towel and let rest for half-hour.

Add the Dutch oven and lid to the oven, with water in it, and preheat to 450˚F (230˚C) for half-hour.

 Lightly flour a clean surface and your hands. Carefully peel the dough out of the bowl and onto the floured surface. Fold the sides of the dough towards the middle 8 times, then flip the dough and transfer to parchment paper.

 Brush the dough with the vegetable oil. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup (50 g) of cheese on top. Slit the bread for steam

Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven, dump the water and use the parchment and lift the bread into the pot. Cover with the lid and bake for half-hour, then remove the lid and bake for 20 more minutes, until the bread is golden brown.

 Pull the parchment out with the bread out of the pot and onto a wire rack. Remove the parchment paper and let the bread cool for a minimum of 1 hour before slicing.

 Slice the bread and enjoy

Great used with Grilled Cheese

Bon Appetit