Makes 4-6 servings

Notes:

It’s that weird week in between Christmas and New Years when you don’t know what day it is or when you last took a shower (note: if you can’t remember, go take a shower). You’ve also likely eaten several large meals over the past few days, or you’re headed out to a party and need to bring you a dish. So, I give you the cheese plate - the OG girl dinner - which harkens back way further than the days of Lunchables.

Cheese plates do not need to be fancy - not everything needs to be perfectly sliced and arranged. But, there is an art to making them pretty and cohesive. Start with a flat surface, such as a wooden cutting board, piece of slate, or another platter - in a pinch, a rimmed quarter baking sheet also works well. Follow the rest of our tips and steps below for cheese plate success.

Pro-tips:

These quantities should feed about 4 people - if your fam are big eaters or you’re serving a crowd, simply increase the quantities proportionally.
If you are feeding a larger group and want to serve more than one cheese, we like a combination of soft vs. hard textures, and mild vs. strong flavors. For example, we may pair a manchego that is hard and salty with a brie that is creamy and soft.
Let your ingredients come to room temperature before serving.
Draping the meat - thereby exposing it to air - helps bring out the flavors.
Stick with a firm cracker that can be used as a scoop and doesn’t overpower the other flavors on your board.
Pickles and olives are controversial but cut through the richness of the cheese and meat.
Your choices are endless for garnishes, but you never want to put something on your board - or any plate for that matter - that isn’t edible. If you can find them, edible flowers - like nasturtium or pansies - are a super fun surprise.

Swaps:

Literally everything in this recipe is interchangeable:

We used prosciutto, but you can use any other thinly sliced cured meat such as serrano, coppa, guanciale, or bresaola - even roast beef. If you don’t eat meat, consider smoked salmon or oil packed tuna. Or, to keep things vegetarian, you could omit the protein entirely and opt for ~7 ounces of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes or roasted red pepper strips.
Potato chips - a fancy one, say russet browns or ruffled salt and pepper - is a nice little upgrade from your traditional cracker. Those Parmesan crisps you see by the cheese counter work nicely too.
A non-dairy cheese (we like ones from Treeline) would work fine instead of traditional dairy cheese.
Berries add a pop of sweetness and jewel tones to your board, while also serving as a palette cleanser. Other fruits - like grapes, apple slices, or clementine/tangerine sections, or even halved figs - would serve the same purpose nicely.

Add-ons:

We like to add a handful of roasted or candied nuts, some dollops of jam, or a lil caviar, etc.
Pair with a beverage of choice such as rose, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir, light beer or cider, and sparkling water or juice. Tis the season, after all.

Equipment:

A cutting or serving board
Cheese knife/tiny forks for serving

Ingredients:

~3 ounces sliced prosciutto/salty cured meat OR ~3-4 ounces smoked fish
~4 ounce block of cheese of your choice - say petite brie or camembert, manchego, etc. - something with a form
Handful of crackers, chips, or crostini of your choosing
~4-5 ounces crudités such as baby long-stem carrots, haricot verts, or endive leaves
4 ounces olives or small pickle such as cornichons
6 ounces/1 pint berries or grapes or 6 ounces dried fruit such as apricots or figs
Bundle of woody herbs for garnish - rosemary, sage, thyme, sage or some combination thereof (optional but cute)

Assembly:

The cheese is the skeleton of your board: place it in the center of your platter, then fill in the negative space around it. We like to slice or crumble our cheese just a little bit, since people generally hesitate to be the first to slice into something - though perhaps your family has no such qualms.

Next, drape your meat in 2 - 3 piles around the cheese. Mound the slices to give them some volume and texture.

Crackers: the delivery vehicle for cheese and meat! Fan them in 2 - 3 clusters alongside your meat.

Fill in any remaining large blank spots on your board with your crudités, followed by your pickles or olives.

Then, garnish your board with your berries and fruit. For some unknown reason, these look best in clusters of odd numbers - 3, 5, etc.

If using, dollop on your jam and sprinkle the nuts in clusters around your board.

Finally, finish your board by tucking a few sprigs of herbs in the corners of your board and around your cheese.

Cheese Board aka OG Girl Dinner