Comté Christmas Cheese Board
 
 
Author:
Serves: Up to 12
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
  1. Combine ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, about 2-3 minutes.
  2. Stir in cranberries until coated then using a slotted spoon, transfer to wire rack.
  3. Let dry for at least 1 hour.
  4. Working in batches, roll cranberries in remaining 1½ cups sugar until well coated
  5. Let dry for 1 hour.
Cheeseboard Assembly
  1. Lay the greenery branches/leaves on outer edge of cheeseboard. Place sliced baguette on top of greenery in an overlapping semi-circle.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Place bowl/jar with Castelvetrano olives at the bottom of the snowflakes. (See photo for placement)
  5. Cut Comté aged 24 months into triangles and arrange overlapping each other down the middle center of the board.
  6. 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.
  7. Place cup with fig jam between the 24 month and 30 month aged Comté cheese. (See photo for placement)
  8. 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
  9. 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.
  10. Take Toscano salami rounds and lay out between the baguette and the Comté aged 8 months snowflakes.
  11. Place sliced apple near cup with fig jam and 30 month aged Comté.
  12. Finally, decorate greenery and empty spaced on board with sugared cranberries, rosemary, and additional berries and seeds as needed. Bon appétit!
Recipe by Comte USA at https://comte-usa.com/comte-christmas-cheese-board/