Charcuterie Board
Recipe by: Fifi Mokotedi
Crackers
Ingredients
1½ cup wholewheat flour
1½ all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup water
Optional topping: 1 tablespoon sesame
Seeds, 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon sea salt
Method
- Heat the oven to 200 ° C. Sprinkle a baking sheet lightly with flour and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Add the oil and water to the flour mixture. Stir until a soft, sticky dough is formed. If a lot of loose flour remains in the bottom of the bowl and the surface of the dough, add more water a tablespoon at a time until all the flour is incorporated.
- Divide and shape the dough into a square: Divide the dough into two halves and set one half aside. Sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour and set the other half on top. Pat it into a thick square with your hands.
- Working from the center of the dough out, roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 1/8-inch thick or thinner. If the dough starts to shrink back as you roll it, let it rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes and then continue rolling.
- Sprinkle dough with topping. Brush the surface of the dough very lightly with water. Combine the seeds in a small bowl and sprinkle half of them (roughly 1 1/2 tablespoons) evenly over the surface of the dough.
- Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the dough into individual crackers roughly 1-inch by 2-inches. Alternatively, cut the crackers into squares, diamonds, or use cookie cutters.
- Transfer crackers to baking sheet and prick with fork: Transfer the crackers to the baking sheet using a metal dough scraper or spatula. It’s fine to crowd the crackers very close to each other. Prick each cracker with the tines of a fork to prevent them from puffing during baking.
- Bake the crackers in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are browned. Thinner crackers will bake more quickly than thicker ones; you can remove the crackers as they brown to your liking and continue baking the rest. While the first batch of crackers is baking, roll out and cut the remaining dough.
Blue Cheese Dip
Ingredients
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp buttermilk
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Method
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, preferably a couple hours before you want to serve the dip.
Pineapple Chutney
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 inch chunk of ginger (about 2 tbsp chopped ginger)
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup red wine
1 cup crushed pineapple
1/2 tsp salt & pepper
Method
- First, peel and roughly chop up the onion, garlic, ginger as well as the pineapple, and set these aside.
- Add olive oil to a pan placed over a stovetop set to medium heat.
- Add in the chopped onion, ginger, and garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes.
- Then add in the smoked paprika, cayenne, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, red wine vinegar, maple syrup, and pineapple.
- Let simmer for about 7-10 minutes, stirring often. Then remove from heat and let cool slightly. As it cools, it should thicken up some.
- This chutney should be quite chunky, so you can pour it into a blender or food processor and pulse it a bit until it is a smoother consistency, or use an immersion blender and blend up the chunks a bit, so this is smoother.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy
Tapenade
Ingredients
1 ½ cups pitted, brine-cured olive
1 teaspoon anchovy paste or 2 anchovy filets, minced
3 tablespoons capers rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoons parsley coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic roasted
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Method
- In a food processor, combine olives, anchovies, capers, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Pulse 2 to 3 times until coarsely chopped.
- Drizzle in olive oil and pulse a few more times until a chunky paste forms, scraping down the sides as needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Baked Camembert
Ingredients
250 g 1 Camembert
1 clove garlic
2 tsp honey
2 tsp olive oil
sea salt
pepper
thyme, rosemary or oregano
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180° C. Arrange a baking tray onto the middle shelf.
- Remove the plastic packaging and arrange the Camembert back in its wooden box, or in a small baking pot.
- Score a deep cross or a crosshatch pattern on the top rind of the cheese. Drizzle with honey and extra-virgin olive oil, and insert the leaves of one sprig of rosemary and garlic into the gaps.
- Season with sea salt flakes and optional black pepper.
- Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, and serve with with your cracker
