The Ultimate Charcuterie Board

The Ultimate Charcuterie Board

INGREDIENTS

Cheese:

• 1 wheel of Camembert
• 1 Brie cheese
• 1 goats cheese
• 1 Semi Soft Blue Cheese
• 1 Sweet Milk Cheese

Charcuterie, to your preference:

• Salami, Prosciutto, Parma Ham

Crudités & Dips:

• Olives
• Mange Tout
• Baby Corn
• Roasted Peppers
• Rainbow Carrots
• Celery Sticks
• Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Dip
• Roasted Red Pepper Dip
• Crackers to serve

For the Gooseberry Chilli Chutney:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 onions chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 2 punnets cape gooseberries
• 1 whole Thai green chilli
• 1 thai green chilli, chopped
• 1 cup sugar4 sprigs of thyme
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• salt & pepper to season

For the Pork Belly cubes:

• 1kg pork belly
• 500ml Vegetable Stock
• 5 Pepper corns
• 5 Cloves
• 1 Bouquet Garni
• 1/2 cup soy
• 1/2 cup ponzu sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 finger of ginger, peeled & grated
• 3 garlic cloves, grated
• Salt & pepper to season

For the Bacon Chicken Mayo:

• 12 strips of shoulder bacon
• 300g sushi rice, cooked
• 300g shredded chicken
• 1/2 cup sriracha mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
• 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
• 15ml sriracha
• salt & pepper to season

METHOD

To make the gooseberry chilli chutney:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan and cook the onions until they have become translucent and are slowly starting to brown. Once browned, add in the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add in the chillies and thyme. Next, add in the gooseberries and slowly cook until the gooseberries start to break down.
2. Next add in the sugar & vinegar and allow to good until it reaches a jammy stage. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To make the pork belly cubes:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Score the pork belly skin, drizzle with oil & season with salt. Place the pork belly into a casserole dish place into the oven for 45 minutes, the skin should begin to crisp.
2. Turn down the oven to 160°C & place the stock and aromatics into the casserole and cook for a further two hours, you should now have a beautifully crisp skin & tender meat.
3. Remove from the casserole dish & rest. Flip onto a chopping board, and cut into cubes.
4. While the pork is roasting you can make the sauce, place all the ingredients for the sauce into a saucepan & reduce until thick and sticky. When the pork cubes are ready toss them through the sauce & set aside to put onto your charcuterie board.

To make the bacon chicken mayo cups:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray, place a strip of shoulder bacon into the muffin tray and weigh down with a ball of foil. Cook for 10-15 minutes until crispy but not too hard.
2. Mix together the chicken, mayonnaise and wholegrain mustard.
3. To assemble, fill each bacon cup with rice, top with the sushi rice, followed by the chicken, and top with sriracha & black sesame seeds. Season to taste.

To assemble the board:

1. Arrange the meats & cheese on a large board. Place the chutney into a bowl or top on your favourite cheese. Place the pork belly cubes into a little bowl including some of the sauce. Put your Bacon Cups onto the board and fill the gaps with the crudités & dips.
2. Enjoy with your favourite crackers & a glass of wine/bubbly/sparkling juice.

RECIPE NOTES

Recipe Inspiration:

• These recipes were inspired by the perfect wedding day, celebrating our guest who creates over the top weddings and makes it look effortless, in the same way, we’re creating an over the top charcuterie board, with the idea that if something looks amazing it doesn’t need to be complicated.
• The board is also inspired by a harvest table, which Precious has mentioned is quite the trend amongst weddings.

Chutney:

• Chutney’s taste better when they’ve had time to mature, once you cook your chutney, bottle it whilst piping hot, the longer you allow the flavours to marinade & mature the more intense the flavour of your chutney will be.

Pork Belly:

• Place pork belly in the fridge overnight, with the skin exposed, this well aid in creating that delicious crackling finish.
• Scoring the skin before cooking also helps with creating the perfect crackling, be careful not to score too deep because it will make the fat bubble up and create a soggy skin.
• To Carve pork belly into cubes, flip it so the meat side it up, this makes it easier to cut through.(Rather than trying to cut through the crispy skin).

Bacon Chicken Mayo Cups:

• These cups can be adjusted to preference, swop out the chicken for steak, or even salmon cubes, you can add avocado to the finishing touch too.