Laura Billington, of Graze Cheshire, brings us a festive feasting board that will dazzle all your Christmas party guests
I love to shop at Christmas time for unusual or different cheeses. I gather my favourite people and we chat, drink and indulge, making the perfect bite while playing card games and drinking champagne. I have specifically chosen Cheshire Cheese cheeses for this board, which I love and enjoy. This board would serve 8-10 people.
Gather this:
200g The Cheshire Cheese Company Traditional Cheshire
200g The Cheshire Cheese Company Cranberry, Cheshire
200g The Cheshire Cheese Company Hunter, Cheddar with Truffle
200g The Cheshire Cheese Company Smokewood Smoked Red Leicester
200g The Cheshire Cheese Company Blue Cheese
150g red grapes
300g salami Milano
155g nocellara olives
150g quality chocolate or your favourite sweets
100g mini gingerbread men or your favourite Christmas cake
1 clementine, sliced
100g cherries
60g raspberries
50g dried apricots
55g dried cranberries
1 whole figs
1 red apple, sliced
1 plum
1 kiwi
Your favourite herbs to garnish
Pomegranate seeds to garnish
Do this:
Take a lazy Susan, or a circular board, around 45cm diameter.
Place ramekins or small bowls on the board and fill with the olives and your chosen chocolates.
Remove the top from the Traditional Cheshire and, using a cheese knife, twist in a circular motion to create rustic chunks of cheese.
Next, slice the Blue Cheese, Truffle Cheese, and Cranberry Cheese and add to your board.
I like to make the board more interesting by cutting the cheese using different methods. Here I have sliced the Smoked Red Leicester into a zipper formation by cutting into triangles and then alternating them, and cut the rest of the cheeses into slices or blocks.
Take two slices of salami and fold in half, then in half again and fit them togther. Add three to five to a cocktail stick and arrange on your board. Repeat and add on the other side of your board.
Place the kiwi, apricots, clementines and apple on the outside of your board.
Arrange the gingerbread men or your Christmas cake on your board.
Arrange the grapes on opposite sides of the board.
Add the cherries, figs and raspberries into the remaining gaps on your board.
Place the plum near to the blue cheese and fill the remaining gaps on your board with dried apricots and quality chocolate of your choice.
Garnish the Cheshire cheese with pomegranate seeds and herbs and garnish the remainder of your board with your favourite seasonal herbs.
Serve with your favourite crackers, bread and chutney.
Drink Pairing suggestions
Serve with a pink Champagne such a Champagne Damien Buffet Rose, mulled wine, or even a Woo Woo cocktail.
Laura Billington is a cookbook writer and founder of Graze Cheshire, where you’ll find recipes and grazing board inspiration for every occasion.
