I am SO excited for my friends and I to get together over Thanksgiving break. We all love food and have been working on new recipes to share with each other; I’m a huge fan of charcuterie plates in group settings since they’re so much easier for multiple people to munch off of casually, no utensils needed. I love the flavors and feelings associated with Thanksgiving, so I knew I had to create a charcuterie plate that embodied all of those flavors.
I started with my favorite piece of any charcuterie tray — cheese! I wanted to bring in the warm feelings of fall, so I chose to make a baked camembert cheese with cranberry orange jam. The jam was pretty easy to make from scratch (Google has tons of great recipes!), but store bought also works. Cranberries always remind me of Thanksgiving, so I knew I had to include them. The addition of the orange to the jam brightened up the recipe, and the little flakes of the peel looked gorgeous over the camembert. I paired mine with rosemary crackers to scoop it up; the flavors complimented each other wonderfully. However, I think a multigrain cracker would also pair well, so just go with what’s available!
Next up, I had to get some protein onto the charcuterie plate. I typically add different cold cuts to mine, but I decided to go a different, more festive, route this time. I made mini turkey meatballs! My friends and I aren’t huge fans of gravy, so I opted to create a parmesan dipping sauce for them instead. I put the parmesan sauce in two containers on the charcuterie plate, because that sauce doubled as a dipper for the veggie on the tray — brussel sprouts!
Not everyone is a huge fan of brussel sprouts, but done correctly, they’re fantastic. I halve mine, coat them with some olive oil, toss them with a couple seasonings on the cooking sheet, then pop them in the oven. They come out gloriously crispy and flavorful without being watery (and no bad smell in your kitchen!). Traditionally, I sprinkle some parmesan on mine straight out of the oven, but I held off this time, since the dipping sauce included plenty of parmesan (and some garlic, and some cream cheese).
Of course, I couldn’t forget about stuffing — it’s an iconic part of any Thanksgiving meal. However, stuffing isn’t very charcuterie plate friendly. So, I decided to pick up a fresh french loaf, toast it, and top it with “stuffing butter”, very similar to a pȃté, made of butter, thyme, poultry seasoning, and cooked down onions, garlic, and celery, all blended together in a food processor. To figure out that mixture I went off my family’s stuffing recipe, but I adjusted the quantities to make a spread for the toasts, instead of a sauce for a dish of stuffing.
Lastly, I needed some potatoes! I decided to make roasted sweet potato cubes. I went the sweet route with these, so I added some cinnamon sugar and broiled a marshmallow atop each cube when they came out of the oven, reminiscent of a sweet potato casserole. However, you can also go the savory route with these, by roasting them with rosemary, olive oil, and seasoned salt. Both options are delicious, I just wanted to add a little more sweetness to my charcuterie board.
As a final touch, I sprinkled in some walnuts, dried cranberries, and pumpkin seeds around the board, but that’s completely optional. I hope this inspires you to create your own Friendsgiving charcuterie plate; have a restful break!