How to Make a Charcuterie Board

The term “charcuterie” refers to the preparing of cured meats, like prosciutto, bacon, salami, etc., but these days when people say charcuterie, they are usually referring to a fun, meat and cheese board.

It is a perfect way to nosh yummy goodies over a glass of wine, a cocktail, or even a mocktail.  It’s a fun way to get creative and add pops of color to your menu to impress your guests. From the board up, here’s how to make an epic charcuterie board.  Whether you are hosting a party or enjoying a family movie night, these are alway a lot of fun.

 

THE BOARD

You don’t have to get fancy here! A simple flat, sturdy surface will work—in any shape or size. You’re going to add layers of goodness on top, so any wooden cutting board, platter, or plate will do the trick.

COLOR & TEXTURE

What makes a great board pop is layers of color and texture. Think bright: reds, greens, yellows, and oranges—strawberries, cherries, olives, sliced peppers—and texture, shiny and smooth, along with rough and edgy—think figs, crackers, and dips.

START WITH DIPS

These are essential – they deliver the extra punch of flavor to each bite. Put your dips in small bowls, along with olives and pickles, cubed cheeses, jellies, and mustards, placing them on your board first, then build the rest of the ingredients around them. This will anchor your ingredients and you can use different shapes and sizes to add depth and variety.

Try:

Nacho Cheese Dip Mix – best served with tortilla chips, salsa, and sour cream

Ooey Gooey Queso Hot Dip – serve with tortilla chips, pretzel bites, veggies

CCB Dip – delicious with raw vegetables, potato chips, or crackers

MEAT & CHEESE

Have fun with the style here—serve cheese in cubes, slices, and wedges, including brie, bleu, fresh cheese, and cheddar. Genoa Salami, Italian Dry Salame, Peppered Salami, Prosciutto are great additions to your board—variety is what will make it stand out! You can even wrap Prosciutto around pickled asparagus spears and layer them on the board. Don’t forget your

CRACKERS, CHIPS & BREAD

This part is important – the delivery vehicle for all that goodness! Try to add two to four different kinds here. Get fresh baguette from your local bakery and make home-made chips and crackers to really take this over the top! We love the versatility of Whole-Grain Rosemary Crackers because you can make them with sesame, sunflower, or chia seeds in place of the flax seeds in the recipe…or a combo of all three!

Whole-Grain Rosemary Crackers – pictured

Everything Bagel Crackers

Pita Chips

FRUIT, VEGGIE & GARNISH

After you’ve stacked your board with your bread, chips, and crackers, it’s time to fill in the gaps with fresh fruit, veggies, and garnishes. There are no rules here! Just go with what you have on-hand, and what makes sense to you! Apple slices and grapes are obvious choices, but you can go nuts here—really! Add almonds, walnuts, cashews, along with apricots, kumquats, and more! The possibilities are endless. Garnish with fresh rosemary, mint, or parsley to add that festive green colour.

And, one last tip, try to add something sweet, savoury, salty, and spicy to every board to perfectly balance the experience and suit every taste in your bubble!

What are your best tips for making “boards”?  With summer coming, what will you add to yours to make it POP?  Share your ideas with us…

Have an Epic Day!

Top 5 Cooking Hacks

Kitchen hacks are clever solutions to every day kitchen dilemmas which could save you time, money and maybe even help to avoid an embarrassing situation.

If you are an avid cook, you probably know lots of them, right?  Maybe they are things you found out by googling a question.  Or, they were passed down in your family – you know like those “old wives tales”.  I have found each time I am in the kitchen making a recipe – I am googling another question and then am amazed at the results.  Sometimes it is even the same question over and over because I forgot the answer. LOL.  You would be surprised but sometimes you get different answers.

1 – Removing Eggshell Fragments

This is one of those hacks I thought wouldn’t work because it seemed too good to be true BUT I was wrong!

Simply use a larger piece of eggshell to scoop up those pesky little fragments. It’s like magic.  I am surprised how often I use this especially in the mornings when I haven’t finished my first cup of coffee  and am fixing breakfast.

2 – Evenly Portion Batter

Use an ice cream scoop to evenly portion out muffin batter or cupcake batter or anything you are using individual pans for. The kind with the trigger release makes it easy to transfer the batter to the muffin tin: no trying desperately to get the batter off of a spoon.  If it is a “sticky” batter, spray pam on the scoop FIRST, then scoop.  The batter will slide out, easy peasy.

3 – Freeze Flat 

OMG!!! I wish I knew this when we lived in the condo.  Our freezer was small and when I pulled one thing out, it all could come tumbling.  LOL. Whether it’s soups, stews, or ground meat, the flatter and wider you can get them, the faster they’ll freeze and defrost.  Place foods in heavy-duty freezer bags, squeeze out all the air, lay the bag flat, and use your hands to work the contents into as flat and even a shape as possible.

4 – Dry Bean versus Canned Beans

It has taken me awhile to learn this AND I usually google it every time I get ready to make something just to be sure.   REMEMBER…. 16 oz of canned beans DOES NOT equal 16 oz of dry beans. Dry beans DOUBLE in size when cooked. Yup, I have made this mistake more times then I can count.  LOL. If I am using the crockpot, I just rinse the dry beans off and throw them in – no pre-soaking here.

5 – How To Reduce Bacon Shrinkage

I was skeptical of this one too!  I had heard rinsing the bacon would cut out some of the salt BUT was surprised to find out it did even more.  To reduce bacon shrinkage, I first trim off the excess fat, then I rinse it off with cold water.  I used to cook bacon in the fry pan just like my mom and grandmother BUT not any more.  With smaller quantities (just for hubby & I) I put it in the air fryer for 10 minutes, turning it half way through.  If we have company, I cook it in the oven at 375F for 10 minutes or more until crispy.

Want more tips and tricks?  Check out Hope’s Healthy Kitchen on Facebook.  Have a hack you want to share…….comment below or send me an email.  If I use it in my blog post, I will send you a free gift as a thank you.

Have an Epic Day!

 

 

 

 

 

Tasty Tuesday: Bacon Wrapped Pineapple

 

Thank you Wicked Good Spice Mixes for today’s recipe.  Try their pineapple balsamic vinegar to make this easy appetizer.  I love this and the peach vinegar on my salads!

Ingredients:

• 1 pineapple, cut into bite size pieces
  
• 1 lb of thick cut bacon (Look for the nitrite and nitrate free bacon)
  
• 1/3 cup of Honey
  
• 2 tsp of Wicked Good Spice Mixes Pigs Can Fly
  
• 1/4 cup of Wicked Good Spice Mixes Pineapple Balsamic Vinegar
  tooth picks
  

Instruction:

1. Preheat your oven or grill to 400 degrees
   
2. Line a baking sheet with foil for easier cleanup.
   
3. Cut up pineapple into bite size pieces and cut each bacon strip in half.
   
4. Wrap each piece of pineapple with bacon strip and secure with a tooth pick.
   
5. Put honey, Pigs Can fly and Pineapple vinegar in a food processor until blended.
   
6. Separate into two bowls. (Put one bowl aside to brush on after bacon wrapped pineapple is cooked.)
   
7. Dip a pastry brush in one bowl coat bacon wrapped pineapple.
   
8. Bake or grill about 20 minutes until bacon is crispy.
   
9. Transfer to a platter and using a clean pastry brush, use reserved bowl of glaze to brush on cooked bacon wrapped pineapple and serve while warm.

Also works well with shrimp or scallops! Yum!

A Wicked Good Idea is Born

The main reason the company was started was to show people how easy, healthy and fun it can be to make a delicious meal at home!  Rachel always thought the hardest thing about cooking is how much of this spice and how much of that spice you should add.  So go ahead and throw all of those spices you use infrequently and start using our spice blends! They are fresh and economical!  Our blends are perfectly formulated to use for just about everything you like to cook.

502 Baking Company, 502 Brick Blvd, Brick, NJ 08724 (732) 477-4502

Berry Fresh Farms, 151 Brick Blvd, Brick NJ 08723  (732)477-0606

Be sure to check their website for more locations on where you can find these AMAZING products.

Have a blessed day!

 

Tasty Tuesday: SWEET POTATO SALAD WITH BACON

As many of you know, it has been recommended I try several different things in an effort to reduce MS symptoms and deal with my gastro issues.  Hubby came across a book by Terry Wahls, MD who has lots of success with this eating plan in reducing and in some cases getting rid of MS symptoms.  I have talked to several who are on this plan, and it works for them.  I am doing most of it anyway, so I figured I would go all the way.  The only change is that I will add some meat back into my diet, eliminate eggs and sugar while I increase fruits and veggies.  Hopefully, this will help with some of the new MS symptoms cropping up.  Thank you Naomi Wahls and Heather Christo for this yummy recipe.  This is from Wahls Protocol Recipes.

I love potato salad, but mayonnaise is not my friend.  So, this one sounds YUMMY!  The color and crunch from sweet potatoes, celery, and a bit of bacon sounds like the perfect combination. Serve this at your next backyard BBQ and no one will be missing the goopy white old-fashioned potato salad. 

PREP: 15 minutes     COOK TIME: 15 minutes     SERVINGS: 4 TO 6

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE:

• 1 red Fresno chili, seeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1⁄4 cup rice vinegar
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 4 uncured bacon slices, cooked until crisp and crumbled
• 1 cup thinly sliced celery hearts
• 1 cup thinly sliced green onions

Directions:

1. Bring a medium-large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the sweet potatoes and simmer until just fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and briefly and gently rinse them with cold water. Set aside.
2. To make the mustard vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together the chili, mustard, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil. Season with salt.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, bacon, celery, and green onions and toss with the mustard vinaigrette. Season with salt. Serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate and serve chilled.

Did you know????  SWEET POTATOES are one of nature’s best sources of vitamin A and a great source of vitamin C. One 8-ounce sweet potato will give you 100 percent of your recommended daily vitamin A. If you consume a little fat with the sweet potatoes (like the olive oil in the recipe here), it helps your body utilize all the vitamin A even more efficiently.

Want to take this YUMMY salad to you to work for lunch or maybe to the next barbeque???   Check out Thirty One’s Thermal Tote….  One of our most popular items, the Thermal Tote is the perfect-sized lunch bag for work, school, play dates, sporting events, golf outings, fishing trips or travel. The thermal lining and zipper closure help keep your food cool or warm, while an exterior pocket is the perfect place to keep your cell phone, wallet or other important small items. Also makes a great gift for your kids’ teachers, tutors and babysitters, or your coworkers, neighbors and friends!

The best part is…. they are on sale this month along with all of the thermal totes for either $10 or $15 with a $35 purchase.  This is a great time to stock up for the school year.  A size for everyone in the household.  Which one will you pick????

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day

 

Tasty Tuesday: Summer Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder

Thank you Weight Watchers for a YUMMY, gluten free recipe..  Sweet summer corn can’t be beat. Highlight it in this chowder along with buttery Yukon Gold potatoes and smoky Canadian bacon.  I can’t wait to pick up some corn from the farmer’s market this week.  Thompson Farms has the BEST, non-GMO corn around.

Prep Time: 20 minutes    Cooking Time: 20 minutes     Servings: 4    SmartPoints™ value: 3     Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium uncooked Yukon gold potato(es) 1 spray(s) cooking spray
• 4 piece(s) corn, kernels removed with a knife
• 1 small sweet red pepper(s), diced
• ½ cup(s) uncooked celery, chopped
• ¼ cup(s) uncooked onion(s), chopped
• 4 oz uncooked Canadian bacon, diced
• 2 cup(s) fat free skim milk
• ½ tsp table salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ⅛ tsp hot pepper sauce, or to taste
• 2 medium uncooked scallion(s), thickly sliced

Directions

1. Pierce potato in several places with a fork; microwave on high power until tender, turning over once, about 8 minutes. Allow to cool; peel and mash.

2. Meanwhile, coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Add corn, red pepper, celery and onion; sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.

3. Stir bacon and milk into saucepan; stir in mashed potato and mix well. Season with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce; stir to combine. Cover and simmer 10 minutes (do not allow to boil); serve garnished with scallions.

Making a batch and don’t have 4 people to share it with?  Why not take it for lunch?  ThirtyOne’s lunch thermals are on special this month… One of my favorites it the Crossbody Thermal Tote.    Thirty One turned one of our most popular personal lunch thermals into a crossbody! Stay on-trend at the office or school with our fashionable and functional Crossbody Thermal Tote. Webbed handles plus a long, adjustable strap give you three ways to carry your snacks and drinks in style. Or give it as the perfect teacher’s gift! Choose personalization to make it even more special. You can get yours before the end of the month for just $10 with a $35 purchase.  Stock up for school.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!