Meat and Cheese Platter

It seems that I am always making someone a meat and cheese platter.  In fact, I am making three today.  I thought I had these down pat until I ordered one recently in a local restaurant and was blown away. I had to duplicate it immediately.  The Blog Tech and his fiance were having a guest over so it was perfect timing for me to test it out.

I made a fresh tomato pasta to accompany it and baked some French bread.

 I made some tasty Italian meatballs to put on the platter.  An unexpected addition to a meat and cheese platter but one that went over very well.

And I made some whole grain mustard. It's simple to make and delicious. This is what made the cheese platter at the restaurant so special, all the condiments were homemade.

I pickled some carrots.  These are raw, local, organic carrots which are sliced in half and placed in a jar.  A simple pickling brine is poured over them and they are refrigerated for 24 hours.  They are crisp and briny and oh so good.  Perfect for a platter like this.

I made Amish mustard eggs too.

And this...OMG is this good.  It's raspberry and jalapeno compote.  It might sound strange, it did to me.  However, this is so good you could eat it with a spoon.  It's just 2 cups of raspberries cooked with 1 jalapeno (remove the seeds and veins if you don't want it spicy) and 3/4 cup of sugar.  Bring it to a low boil, turn it to a simmer and cook breaking up the berries.  Add 1 tablespoon of butter and a pinch of salt and refrigerated it until it thickens.

 The finished platter had shaved rosemary ham, pate', salami, Spanish chorizo, meatballs and Double Gloucester, Havarti and Graskaas cheeses. Along with all of the homemade condiments, it made a perfect platter.

 I made them dessert too.  Walnut brownies with ganache frosting.

 Dense, chewy and nutty.

 And I surrounded them with my chocolate chip cookies.