A few weeks ago my dear friend, Jane, came to visit the AZ desert from Chicago. An impromptu swim party was thrown together in her honor and I didn’t want to show up to the gathering empty handed. It happened to be a busy weekend so slaving away in the kitchen was out of the question (although she did request that I make these for the party — sorry, Jane, next time). With limited time to put something together I raided the pantry and refrigerator to see what I could come up with. I had some Rosemary Raisin Crisps, a brick of feta and Jax’s favorite snacks – a package of imported Spanish deli meats and a tapas cheese sampler. BINGO! Charcuterie.
I did need to make a quick trip back to Tader Joe’s for some additional tasty components.
My list included:
- Something briny – marinated kalamata olives
- Something sweet – a jar of morello cherries
- Something Spicy – cherry peppers
- Something tangy – tiny cornichon pickles
- Additional crackers/bread: breadsticks and water crackers
- Additional cheese: marinated mozzarella log
This is what I came up with!
The Spanish Brand Deli Meat Selection and Spanish Cheese Tapas Sampler are perfect for a charcuteries board because they offer variety. The meats include 6-8 slices each of Salchichon (Spanish salami), Jamon Serrano (dry-cured ham) and Chorizo Cantimpalo (Spanish chorizo) and the cheese sampler includes four slices each of Iberico, Cabra Al Vino and Manchego. The variety offers more bang for your buck.
I only needed one pack of each for my board, cutting the cheese wedges in half to make them stretch farther. Best part of all they are both under $5 a package!
I broke chunks of feta off and stuffed them into the cheery peppers, making for a sweet and spicy bit with salty tang. They were the first to disappear from the board at the party!
Once I had all the components I went to work building the charcuterie board. I used a wooden tray as the base and piled and stacked things, rolling up the salami and chorizo slices and arranging the ribbons of serrano ham. I used a mini dessert glass for the cherries and a juice glass for the breadsticks. I liked the unbalanced height the use of the glasses added to the board. I also added a bowl of kalamata olives and a small bowl of regular spicy brown mustard so guests could build a perfect bite. The final touch was a touch of green from lemon leaves Jax picked off of our backyard tree.
I loved the way the charcuterie board turned out. It was a lovely and delicious show piece on the table at the get together.
