The charcuterie trend is all the rage this holiday.

Salty meats, crispy crackers, creamy cheeses and a pop of sweetness, gathered in perfect harmony on a beautiful wood board has always been a crowd-pleaser, but this year, charcuterie boards are likely to be a staple at Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings.

Online searches for charcuterie are up nearly 300% in the past 12 months, according to TrendKite.

Vince & Joe’s Executive Chef Angelo Loria (winner of Hour Magazine’s 2021 Best Virtual Chef and 2020 Best Chef) is getting a lot of attention for his holiday charcuterie boards. In fact, the Hand-Carved Butcher’s Board, featuring premium meats such as prime rib, beef tenderloin and miso chicken thighs, made the front cover of Macomb Now Magazine. Chef Loria’s glammed-up charcuterie boards were also featured on Fox 2 Detroit and WXYZ Channel 7.

FOX 2: Holiday Charcuterie Boards 

To order the boards featured on TV, click here.

Charcuterie boards are great for many occasions because they’re versatile and easy to tailor for occasions and diet preferences.

If you’re putting together a board of your own, have fun with the possibilities and remember Chef Angelo’s golden rule: every item on the board should have a “wingman or woman” with it.  If it’s prosciutto, you should have some parmesan and fig jam, if it’s grilled steak it could be roasted potatoes and pesto, if it’s a BBQ board and you’ve got smoked brisket, crispy onions, BBQ sauce and cheddar cheese make a great team.

Here are some more general rules to live by when constructing your charcuterie board.

• Apples – pair well with most cheeses
• Grapes – pair well with mozzarella and hard cheeses
• Strawberries and blueberries – pair well with creamy, soft cheeses

You know it’s officially fall when winter squash starts arriving by the truckload.

There are two main harvests for squash: summer and winter. The most familiar summer squashes for cooking are zucchini and yellow squash and the most popular winter squashes for cooking are acorn, butternut, spaghetti and pumpkin.

Although we call them winter squash, they are harvested in the late summer and fall, then “cured” or “hardened off” to toughen their exterior skin.

Winter squash is a great source of fiber, potassium, as well as vitamin A. Orange and yellow vegetables (although they’re technically a fruit because it produces a seed) contain beta carotene, which supports healthy eyes and a strong immune system.

Although the large vegetables can be a little intimidating to cook with, each has a unique and delicate flavor and loads of cooking uses.

Vince & Joe’s Executive Chef Angelo Loria shares his favorite winter squash dishes and secret uses.

Follow Vince & Joe’s on Facebook and Instagram for exclusive videos and recipes. Chef Angelo posted his favorite Spaghetti squash dish, prepared Aglio e Olio.

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The perfect combo between savory and sweet, this is one salsa that makes it hard to not double-dip. It also goes great on grilled seafood, grilled chicken or BBQ meats.
Makes enough for 4 to 6, about 3 1⁄2 cups

 

 

As seen in Real Food Magazine, Summer 2017

 

Ingredients