Fruit And Cheese Tray Food

FRUIT AND CHEESE BOARD

Steps:

• On a large platter or cutting board, arrange fruit, almonds and cheeses. Place honey in a small jar; tuck jar among fruit.

FRUIT AND CHEESE TRAY

Steps:

• Arrange ingredients on tray or wooden board.

FRUIT AND CHEESE PLATTER

Steps:

• Line a wooden board or flat dish with fig leaves and artfully arrange the goat cheese, grapes, preserves and crackers on top.
• Place the orange zest and orange juice in a medium (10-inch) heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset. Add the sugar, vanilla bean, and figs to the pot. Cover and bring to a full boil over medium heat. (Don't worry; it may look dry.) Stir the mixture and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Lower the heat, and cook uncovered at a full simmer for 50 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the little bubbles to be throughout the pot, not just at the edges. After 45 minutes, refrigerate a small amount of the liquid to see if it becomes syrupy. It should be like a soft fruit preserve. Keep cooking just until the liquid starts to gel when cold. If the liquid is too firm, add a little orange juice or water, cook for a minute, and test it again until it's right. Depending on how ripe the figs are, they will probably keep their shape, but it's fine if they don't. Discard the vanilla bean and serve or refrigerate.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
• Place the oats, flour, brown sugar, and kosher salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse for 45 to 60 seconds, until the oats are coarsely ground. Add the butter and pulse 15 to 20 times, until the butter is the size of peas.
• Dissolve the baking soda in the lukewarm water and drizzle it over the crumbs in the food processor. Pulse until the mixture is evenly moistened and can be pressed into balls that will hold together.
• With a medium (1 3/4-inch) ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop the dough into your hands and roll them into round balls. Evenly space 12 balls on the prepared sheet pans. Flour the bottom of a flat-bottomed 3-inch-diameter drinking glass and use it to flatten each cracker to 1/8 inch thick and about 3 inches in diameter. The crackers will not be perfectly round. If there is a lot of flour on the crackers, turn them over with a metal spatula. Sprinkle with the fleur de sel and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown on the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• "Cooking for Jeffrey" by Ina Garten © Clarkson Potter 2016. Provided courtesy of Ina Garten. All rights reserved.

THE ABSURDIST (FRUIT AND CHEESE PLATTER CUPCAKES)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin pans with 18 to 19 cupcake liners.
• Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and orange zest in a medium bowl.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the eggs, orange juice, butter, and vegetable oil on medium speed until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Turn the mixer to medium-low speed, and add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Mix until just combined.
• Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes completely.
• To assemble: Peel the cupcake away from its liner, and place upside down on the top of a new, fresh liner. The narrow end of the cupcake should be facing up at this point. Pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of the Brown Sugar Fig Sauce on top of each cupcake, allowing the sauce and figs to drip down the sides. Fill a piping bag equipped with a star tip with the Honey Goat Cheese Frosting, and pipe stars on the top of each cupcake. Sprinkle the tops of the cupcakes with the Parmesan.
• In a medium saucepan, bring the brown sugar and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, stir in the figs, butter, and orange zest, and heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow to cool.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the goat cheese, cream cheese, and butter on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, and gradually add the powdered sugar until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the honey and beat until incorporated.

CHEESE PLATTER

Steps:

• Go to the best cheese shop in town and ask the person at the counter which cheeses are ready to serve. Taste everything; they expect you to. We all know that the Brie may look terrific, but it can be underripe and tough or overripe and ammoniated. You want only the freshest cheeses that are perfectly ripened. Take them home, refrigerate them, and then bring them to room temperature a few hours before serving.
• Second, be sure to have a platter or wooden board that is flat and large enough to hold the cheeses without crowding them. Arrange the cheeses with the cut sides facing out, and with several small cheese knives, maybe one for each type of cheese.
• Third, to finish the platter, add sliced breads or crackers, and green leaves. I use either lemon or galax leaves, which you can get from your florist. If you have a garden, any large flat leaf like hydrangea looks beautiful, but be sure they aren't poisonous and are pesticide-free!
• Overall, the simpler the design, the better the platter looks. Group each kind of cheese together and add one large bunch of green or red grapes in the center to create a visual focal point. Fill in the spaces with lots of crackers or small slices of bread.

AMERICAN FLAG FRUIT AND CHEESE TRAY

Steps:

• Plan and purchase what fruits and cheeses you want to use. Think about whether you are going to prep this ahead or serve it immediately as that may change what fruit you would use or how you would prepare them. Ie. I would'nt put bananas on this if I wanted to prepare it ahead of time etc.
• Prep fruit as needed. I hulled and halved the strawberries, chopped the honeydew, but I left the grapes and blueberries whole. Do what works for you.
• Cut cheese into cubes.
• Line tray with foil or plastic wrap if desired.
• Place blue fruits in a square bowl or platter and place at the top left corner of your tray. If you don't have a square bowl etc. just lay the blue fruit in the top left corner in a square pattern.
• Lay the red fruit out in stripes across the tray. You could do a stripe of just one fruit or mix the red fruits together and lay them out.
• Fill in the white stripes with white cheese cubes and/or white fruits.
• If not serving immediately, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

FRUIT AND CHEESE PLATTER

Steps:

• In a small bowl mix spread ingredients. set in the middle of a decorative platter. Arrange the wedge of rouqefort, the wheels of brie and the port du salut on a decorative platter. Surround with the fruits. Serve the pears and peaches whole, the oranges segmented. Leave the tops of the berries on. Have dessert plates for all, and knives, napkins etc. Put the baguette on a bread board. Arrange the cracker on their own plate. Serve with a good dessert wine or Champagne!