“A Dream Come True” Cheese Board with cheese, charcutrie, gherkins & Spanish almonds and savoury something baked

By Jackie DeKnock  , , ,   

December 30, 2015

This cheese board is a dream come true…he’ll know that the minute he graces your doorstep and smells your Parmesan Thyme Shortbread!

Kitchen Confidence Rating Scale:

Budget Rating Scale:

  • Yields: Serves 2

Ingredients

Cheese

White Cheddar, Gouda, Swiss, Blue (or your favourite hard & soft cheeses)

Charcuterie

Jamon, Prosciutto, Salami (or your favourite cold cut)

Gherkins

Pitted Olives

Sliced Granny Smith Apple

Arugula

Organic Honey

Whole Grain Dijon Mustard

Sweet Marmalade or Red Pepper Jelly

Toasted Spanish Almonds

Spanish almonds (whole/skin on)

Sea salt

Parmesan & Thyme Shortbread

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup butter, softened

Sea salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

½ tablespoon dry thyme leaves

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese for top

OR: Sliced baguette if you’re short of time – yep, pun intended (you can slice and toast it slightly if you want to go the extra mile)!

Method

Toasted Spanish Almonds

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Soak almonds in water for 1 hour, drain and pat slightly to dry.

Lightly sprinkle almonds with sea salt (if you prefer more salt, then go for it).

Spread almonds on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until they are golden brown and fragrant. Note: the almonds will continue to roast after you remove them from the oven.

Parmesan & Thyme Shortbread

Preheat oven to 320 F/160 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place flour in a bowl and add butter, gently rubbing it into the flour. Season flour lightly with salt and pepper.

Add Parmesan cheese and thyme and continue rubbing together just until larger clumps form and then come together to form a dough. Note: Don’t ‘overmix’ otherwise dough will become ‘tough’ (and that’s never good)!

Roll dough to form a 2-inch cylinder shape (the size of your shortbread biscuit), wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes until firm.

Slice ½ inch thick rounds and place on baking sheet.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes until edges are golden. Enjoy with your cheese board and your Valentine!

Cheese Board Prep:

Prep all of the above, artfully place on a large wooden or bamboo chopping board and you’re ‘good to go’!

Gourmet Safari Rating Scales

Kitchen Confidence Rating Scale:

We’ve designed a handy ‘from the heart’ kitchen confidence rating scale for you to guide you through the recipes (yep, we think of everything)!
= Everyday deliciously simple. Pretty quick, just get the food on the table pronto!
= Put your heart into it! Takes a little more time ‘n TLC!
= Go the extra mile! Gourmet – takes time and/or special ingredients and/or technique – worth the extra effort for the impressive WOW factor!
= You walk on water! You must be a Chef!

Budget Rating Scale:

We’ve designed a handy budget rating scale for you to guide you (and your wallet) through the recipes. Recipes are graded from the ‘high-end caviar-type budget’ to the ‘lower-end spam canned meat type-budget’.
= Spam (aka low budget)
= Mac ‘n Cheese (aka mid budget)
= Filet Mignon (aka higher budget)
= Caviar (aka expensive…but you’re worth it!)

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