Cheese and Charcuterie Edition
You’ve loved our food and wine pairings, so we’re expanding them. Starting today, with how to make the easiest dinner ever, based around cheese and charcuterie. Missing earlier pairings? Checkout past pairings here.
Celebrate National Pâté Day
(11/01/2024)
We start November with a tribute to #girldinner, as a full cheese and charcuterie meal. Which pairs perfectly with National Pâté Day, because it’s a key ingredient. And pâté (pah-tay) is just a French word for a savory blend of meat and fat (delicious, am I right??). Plus, it sounds like “party”….so this is the easiest party you’ll ever throw.
You know it always works – pâté, cheese, charcuterie – a valid dinner any night, any time. Now #girldinner, it was a standby long before that. Don’t want to cook? Want to be fancy (but while sitting on the sofa with your shoes off)? This is your meal. You can find all kinds of instruction on creating a board, but we say keep it simple.
ABR Cheese and Charcuterie Board Tips
- Use a pâté as your base, building the rest of the food around it. We used 2 -a spicy smoked tuna tinned pâté and the country-style pâté. Because the smoked tuna pâté came tinned, we paired it with crackers. And the sturdier country-style pâté with baguette. No one will leave this meal hungry.
- Pick 2-3 cheeses you like. If you are doing this for a larger group, select a mix of colors and hard or soft cheeses. Today though – it’s your dinner, so only use cheese you’ll actually eat. That way if you have leftovers for more snacks, you’ll finish it off.
- Add 1-3 types of charcuterie to fill out the plate, again picking what you like.
- Everything else is your finishing touches. I like olives and cornichons (aka tiny pickles). These add salt and bite to the meal. You can add a sea salt butter to finish off the baguette. If you are like me, you can eat baguette and butter every day.
The full list for today’s clip: Spicy smoked tuna pâté, country pâté , hot coppa, salami, kalamata olives (pitted!!), tiny pickles, sea salt roasted chickpeas, gouda, brie, and a cow’s milk cheese with pistachios. Oh, and baguette, crackers, and some dark chocolate just because. Let this inspire your dinner.
Wine Pairing
It works best with any wine. The choice depends on your taste. With the rich food you can choose a bigger wine, but open something you love. What do you want? We chose a plush Merlot. It was wonderful with the rich brie and pâtés, but equally lovely on its own. It’s fruit and round flavors meant it was perfect for after-dinner lazy sipping.