Tag: Food

What is charcuterie?

Those pretty meat and cheese boards you see all over social media are a trend that actually originated with meat spreads in 15th-century France. The definition of charcuterie is “the culinary art of preparing meat products,” according to The Organic Kitchen. Charcuterie was actually developed out of necessity — it’s the way meats were preserved long before refrigeration came about.

How is charcuterie pronounced?

Pronounced shahr-ku-tuh-ree, the word “charcuterie” is French for “pork butcher shop.” The more you know!

Charcuterie boards are trending online and on social media, and for good reason: They’re pleasing to look at and even more satisfying to eat. As a party appetizer option, meat and cheese boards are extremely versatile. (For vegetarians and vegans, charcuterie boards these days don’t necessarily have to include meat or cheese, FYI.) 

What makes charcuterie boards so ideal is that they can be completely customized for any occasion or celebration, big or small, and you can put virtually anything on one. Here, you’ll find answers to all your charcuterie questions, plus tons of unique charcuterie board ideas for you to try out the next time you host — from festive platters that will feed a crowd at Christmas, to simple spreads for two that make the perfect starter for a romantic date night dinner.

Craving even more inspiration? Check out our picks for where to buy the best charcuterie boards and serving accessories online, plus Instagram accounts to follow for step-by-step tutorials, fresh ideas, and pictures that will have you making heart eyes for days. What are you waiting for? Let’s get into it.

YIELDS:8 – 10 servings PREP TIME: 30 mins TOTAL TIME: 30 mins

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz.  Gruyère cheese, sliced

8 oz. Roquefort cheese, sliced

1/4 lb. sliced mortadella

1/4 lb. sliced Genoa salami 

1/4 lb. thinly sliced prosciutto 

1 apple, thinly sliced 

4 oz. caramelized pecans 

1 package thin breadsticks 

1 bunch Concord grapes 

1/2 c. Castelvetrano olives 

1 recipe marinated mushrooms 

1 recipe spinach-artichoke dip

Dried mangoes

Dried cherries

Dried peaches

Dried plums 

8 oz. feta cheese

Garlic chile oil, for drizzling over feta 

6 oz. Gouda, sliced 

1/4 lb. soppressata, sliced 

1 bunch Champagne grapes 

1 package Lesley Stowe Raincoast Crisps Cranberry and Hazelnut Crackers  

4 oz. Fig spread 

6 oz. manchego cheese, sliced 

1 package Everything crackers 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Arrange cheeses on 3-4 medium-sized serving boards.
2. Set out small dishes for olives, marinated mushrooms, spinach-artichoke dip, spicy feta, and fig jam.
3. Arrange meats alongside cheeses, folding some slices and fanning out others.
4. Fill in the empty spaces on and around your boards with fresh and dried fruit, pecans, breadsticks, and crackers.
5. Don’t forget to set out toothpicks, serving spoons, and cheese knives for guests to serve themselves.

What should be on a charcuterie platter?

Along with the traditional cured meat, the addition of paired cheeses and accompaniments like fruit, nuts, olives, and spreads are common in restaurants that serve charcuterie boards. Here’s what you’ll find on a traditional charcuterie board:

• Cured meat
• Cheeses
• Olives
• Nuts
• Fruits and Veggies
• Crackers
• Jellies and jams

Pro tip: Using a bunch of smaller boards instead of one big one means you can move servings around to feed a crowd.

Brunch Charcuterie Board

Keep the party going in the morning with a next-level brunch! Arrange mini pancakes and waffles, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, sliced avocado, sausage, and fruit on a platter; blueberry sauce and cinnamon maple butter spread (combine 1 stick unsalted butter at room temp with 3 Tbsp maple syrup and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon) round out the tray.

Article by Jamie Kravitz for Women’s Day. There are more boards to browse at the link below:

Source: How to Make the Perfect Charcuterie Board – Charcuterie Board Ideas (womansday.com)

Layered Sun-dried-Tomato-and-Basil Spread. Make this festive top-rated holiday dip recipe up to 3 days before the party. The colorful layers make it a fun addition to any appetizer buffet.

Layered Sun-dried-Tomato-and-Basil Spread Recipe | MyRecipes

Beer-Cheese Spread. Serve this spicy beer-cheese spread with crackers for a tasty game-day appetizer or spread on buttered bread and cook in a nonstick skillet for a twist on the traditional grilled cheese sandwich.

Beer-Cheese Spread Recipe | MyRecipes

Cranberry Meatballs. Try a unique twist on a classic recipe by cooking meatballs in a decadent, cranberry, orange marmalade and soy sauce mixture.

Cranberry Meatballs Recipe | MyRecipes

22 more recipes can be found here:

Source: 25 Absolutely Amazing Appetizers | Southern Living

Growing up, cheese dip wasn’t a condiment you’d generally find in my pantry or fridge, so my early memories of queso are both few and fairly specific. The first involves my older sister and me watching Clueless on the floor of our living room, with a freshly microwaved bowl of cheese dip and a bag of Fritos between us. The others include visions of dunking cafeteria soft pretzels in plastic cups of orange goo. Ah, childhood.

These days, queso is a quintessential element of my regular burrito bowl order. But while I have opinions on which Mexican fast-food joint has the best (Chipotle and Moe’s are top contenders), it was high time I crowned the best jarred cheese dips on grocery shelves, in case I ever need to curb a craving.

5. Stonewall Kitchen Chile Con Queso

Per 2 Tbsp (33 g): 20 calories, 1 g fat (0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 190 mg sodium, 4 g carbs (0 g fiber, 1 g sugar), 0 g protein

Spice, spice, baby! Stonewall Kitchen’s Chile Con Queso is packing heat, and I’m still deciding whether or not that’s a good thing. Though the ingredients list includes things like dehydrated cheese mix and veggies like tomatoes, onions, sweet green peppers, and sweet red peppers, all that comes through the flavor profile is jalapeño and chipotle pepper. In other words, the cheese in this cheese dip was sorely lacking, which makes me question its high price point. $7.49 at Instacart

4. Siete Foods Spicy Blanco Cashew Queso

Per 2 Tbsp (30 g): 25 calories, 1.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 170 mg sodium, 2 g carbs (1 g fiber, 0 g sugar), 1 g protein

As far as dairy-free cheese dips go, Siete Foods is a solid contender. The brand’s Spicy Blanco Cashew Queso is made with cashews (obviously), tomatoes, nutritional yeast, onion, green bell peppers, white vinegar, jalapeños, and coconut milk powder, plus spices that, when blended together, somehow taste close to actual cheese dip. But while it’s delicious, you can tell it’s not actually cheese, which is why it doesn’t take a top-three spot on the list. (It’s still a great alternative.) $5.99 at Instacart

3. LOCA Mild Plant-Based Potato Queso

Per 2 Tbsp (32 g): 50 calories, 3.5 g fat (0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 250 mg sodium, 4 g carbs (0 g fiber, 0 g sugar), 1 g protein

I was a little skeptical when I unscrewed the top of LOCA’s potato queso jar for the first time. Its contents looked like creamy, mashed sweet potato, only yellow, and it didn’t smell very appetizing. But none of that mattered after I heated a few spoonfuls up in the microwave for a minute or so and took my first bite.

You’d never know this queso is completely void of cheese—it gets all of its cheesy-goodness from plant-based ingredients, like potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, green chile, nutritional yeast, and various spices. The mild flavor isn’t spicy but is still rich with flavor, and, when warmed, it has the consistency of traditional queso. Drizzle this over nachos, and carnivores will never know the difference.

$25 for 2 jars at Loca

2. Good & Gather Salsa Con Queso

Per 2 Tbsp (31 g): 40 calories, 2.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 280 mg sodium, 3 g carbs (0 g fiber, 1 g sugar), 1 g protein

Target’s Good & Gather Salsa Con Queso looks like light orange queso but tastes like white queso. It’s very creamy and solidifies at the top when left alone for a few minutes (and when I say “few” I mean two or three at most), which had me reminiscent of the cheese cups school cafeterias serve with soft pretzels.

Though it’s mild, the cheese dip does have a spice that hits the back of your throat after the fact and makes your breath feel like a kind of jalapeño-zested smoke. It’s also marketed as a “salsa con queso,” but it’s definitely the other way around. It has a cheese base, with subtle flecks of vegetables like bell pepper throughout. This is an overall solid pick for chip and pretzel dipping.$2.49 at Target

1. Tostitos Salsa Con Queso (Medium)

Per 2 Tbsp (33 g): 40 calories, 2.5 g fat (1 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 280 mg sodium, 5 g carbs (1 g fiber, 1 g sugar), 1 g protein

When I think of jarred cheese dip, I instantly think of Tostitos, and there’s a reason for that: It’s delicious. Not too thick and not too runny, Tostitos Salsa Con Queso boasts a bright orange hue. It’s made with a Monterey Jack Cheese base (already starting off with a kick), and additional ingredients like jalapeño peppers and chili peppers really bring home the spice. The sauce itself is smooth and rich, but it does contain chunks of veggies that add to the heat. It’s not what I was imagining: a cheese sauce with globs of salsa incorporated into the recipe, like Smucker’s Goober Peanut Butter and Jelly. It’s better. $4.99 at Amazon

So, what’s your favorite?

Article by Julia Guerra for eatthis,notthat.com

Source: We Tasted 5 Queso Dips and This Is the Best (msn.com)

By olito@businessinsider.com (Frank Olito)  for Insider©

• My air fryer changed my cooking for the better, but there are some things I wish I knew before buying it. 
• The air fryer is small, so you can’t cook for many people, and you can’t cook multiple foods at the same time.
• I find that you will need a cookbook and olive oil to successfully use an air fryer. 

Throughout 2020, I heard many friends and people all over social media raving about their air fryers. When the holidays came around, I decided to finally find out what all the fuss was about. Instantly, I understood why so many people have fallen in love with the kitchen appliance. The air fryer became a game changer in my kitchen, allowing me to cook dinner in minutes and fry chicken, vegetables, and other foods without submerging them in unhealthy oil.

Even though the appliance changed my cooking lifestyle for the better, there were still a few things about the air fryer that surprised me and that I wish I knew before I made the purchase. 

There are many different types of air fryers, and the one you choose is important.

There are a ton of air fryers on the market, but they mostly boil down to two models: a convection-oven air fryer and a basket air fryer. The first one resembles a mini toaster or convection oven. On the other hand, the basket air fryer is the more traditional air fryer that uses a drawerlike compartment to cook food.

I was not expecting there to be so many options, so I had to do a lot of research to make sure I was making the right decision. In the end, I decided to buy the Cuisinart convection-oven air fryer for $100 because it has more capabilities, like broiling, toasting, and roasting.

Air fryers can take up a lot of counter space.

Though some are small enough to fit in a cabinet, the air fryer I bought could not easily be stored away. Measuring 11.75 inches by 12 inches, my air fryer needed plenty of counter space, to my surprise. When I unboxed the new appliance, I needed to find 2 feet of counter space in my small Brooklyn apartment. Eventually, I found a spot next to my microwave that has become what I call the appliance corner.

Everything cooks so fast — sometimes too fast.

When cooking in an air fryer, most foods take less than 15 minutes to fully cook, which is always a surprise for me. Typically, I’m used to waiting 20 or 30 minutes to bake chicken breasts in the oven. While the chicken breasts bake, I typically wash the kitchen and tidy up.

Sometimes, things cook so fast that I don’t even realize they’re done. One night, I cooked a meatloaf, and it was finished in under 15 minutes. I was expecting it would take closer to 20, so I left it in there too long. That night, I had burned meatloaf for dinner.

You have to flip most foods halfway through the cooking time for an even cook.

In my air fryer, it’s difficult to get an even cooking texture. Most times, the top of the food becomes crispy and delicious, while the bottom remains soggy. For example, when I made breaded chicken cutlets, one side of them was crunchy, while the other looked mushy. 

I learned quite quickly that I had to flip the food halfway through to get the underside crispy as well. It’s not something I was used to doing with a regular oven.

Some air fryers come with a basket and a tray, and it’s confusing when you should use which.

My air fryer came with a basket and a tray. Some recipes I’ve used told me to use the tray and others told me to use the basket. When I’m not using a recipe to cook dinner, I often struggle to decide which is best to use — something I never had to struggle with before I had an air fryer. I tend to lean toward the basket when I’m attempting to fry something and the tray when I’m roasting.

Following an air-fryer cookbook — especially in the beginning — is a lifesaver.

Since my air fryer looks so much like an oven, I’ve caught myself using it like one. Instead of following a recipe, there have been a few times where I’ve just thrown food in and set the temperature to 375 degrees. In these incidences, the meal never turns out great because it’s not a typical oven. It’s an air fryer that relies on temperature and timing controls that I’m not familiar with just yet.

When I follow an air-fryer-specific recipe that tells me what to put the temperature on and how long to cook it for, the food always turns out much better.

Many air fryers are best for one to two servings and can’t really be used for big dinners.

Though the air fryer was bigger than I expected, and I struggled to find counter space for it, the space where food is cooked is quite small. I can’t imagine you can cook for a large group of people with this appliance — at least not in the model I own. You’d have to cook in batches.

For instance, some recipes I’ve followed said I should put in only two strips of chicken breasts at a time to ensure even cooking and then do a second batch.

I’d recommend staying away from the air fryer if you’re cooking for more than two people.

Similarly, you can’t cook the meat and the vegetables at the same time.

I’m used to baking chicken and vegetables on one giant sheet in the oven. That’s not possible in an air fryer because of its size.

One night I was cooking chicken, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, and they all needed to go in the air fryer, according to their recipes. Instead of putting them all on one tray, as I would have with a traditional oven, I had to cook the chicken first, then the vegetables. By the time everything was finished cooking, the meat was cold. 

Olive oil is still necessary when cooking with an air fryer.

A common misconception is that air fryers completely eliminate the need for olive oil. The truth is that most recipes I’ve used still want me to drizzle olive oil on my food so that it will crisp up in the air fryer. But it is important to note that I’ve used significantly less olive oil with the air fryer than I would have if I traditionally fried my foods.

When the food is cooking, it’s difficult to check if it’s done.

Though my air fryer has a window, the space inside is so small that it’s difficult to see if something is cooked or not. With basket air fryers, there is no window, so it’s impossible to see how your food is doing. Instead, you have to rely solely on the timer.

Many times I’ve had to open the door, let out the precious heat, and pull out the tray just to see if something is cooked through.

Source: 10 things I wish I knew before buying an air fryer (msn.com)