Comté Christmas Cheese Board
Comté Christmas Cheese Board
Ingredients
Cheeses:
- 8 oz Comté aged 8 months
- 8 oz Comté aged 24 months
- 8 oz Comté aged 36 months
- 1 (7 oz) Dorothy’s Comeback Brie
- 1 (4 oz) Marin French Triple Cream Brie
- 1 (0.9 oz) Ile de France Petite Brie
Cured meats:
- 4 oz Prosciutto, thinly sliced
- 4 oz Sweet Coppa, thinly sliced
- 4 oz Toscano salami, sliced in rounds
- Accompaniments:
- ¼ cup Castelvetrano olives
- ¼ cup fig jam
- Heaping handful of walnuts
- Fig & Olive Crisps (Trader Joe’s) crackers
- ¾ baguette, sliced
Garnishes:
- Sugared cranberries (see recipe below)
- 2 cups sugar, divided
- 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries
- Handful of pomegranate seeds
- Blueberries
- Small Gala apple, cut vertically into rounds
- Fresh rosemary strigs
- Fresh greenery (i.e. pine or fir tree branches)
Tools/Vessels:
- Large (12”) round cheeseboard
- Snowflake cookie cutter
- 2 small bowls or mason jars (4 oz)
Instructions
For Sugared Cranberries
- Combine ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in cranberries until coated then using a slotted spoon, transfer to wire rack.
- Let dry for at least 1 hour.
- Working in batches, roll cranberries in remaining 1½ cups sugar until well coated
- Let dry for 1 hour.
Cheeseboard Assembly
- Lay the greenery branches/leaves on outer edge of cheeseboard. Place sliced baguette on top of greenery in an overlapping semi-circle.
- With three soft brie cheese, stack largest to smallest to form a small, tiered cake in the center of the board. Arrange walnuts around the base. Garnish cheese tiers with pomegranate seeds, leaves, and blueberries.
- Cut thin slices of Comté aged 8 months and using snowflake cookie cutter, cutting at least 4-6 snowflakes. Arrange in one section of the board, decorating with Fig & Olive Crisps and rosemary strigs as needed.
- Place bowl/jar with Castelvetrano olives at the bottom of the snowflakes. (See photo for placement)
- Cut Comté aged 24 months into triangles and arrange overlapping each other down the middle center of the board.
- Cut the rind off the Comté aged 36 months and then roughly cut cheese into bite sized chunks. Place rind on cheeseboard and using the rind as a “bowl,” refill it with the cut pieces.
- Place cup with fig jam between the 24 month and 30 month aged Comté cheese. (See photo for placement)
- Take thinly sliced Prosciutto and lay it out (gently folding strips to create a ripple effect) filling up the space between the 8 month and 24 month aged Comté cheeses
- Take thinly sliced Coppa and lay it out (gently folding strips to create a ripple effect) filling up the space between the 24 month and 30 month aged Comté cheese.
- Take Toscano salami rounds and lay out between the baguette and the Comté aged 8 months snowflakes.
- Place sliced apple near cup with fig jam and 30 month aged Comté.
- Finally, decorate greenery and empty spaced on board with sugared cranberries, rosemary, and additional berries and seeds as needed. Bon appétit!
The Fall 2024 edition of Comté News is now available!
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