Outstanding Summer Platter
Outstanding Summer Platter
Everyone loves grazing on a platter that’s a feast for the eyes and the senses. Kathy Paterson has taken a few Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards medal winners and created a platter to win hearts and minds this summer.
Our inspiration;
Proper Hand Cooked Chilli Lime Tortilla
Proper Hand Cooked Crisps Sweets & Beets
Proper Hand Made Cracker Bread
Akaroa Salmon
Pinoli Pine Nuts
L’Authentique Chicken & Sage Paté
Augustines of Central Picked Asparagus (refer to recipe suggestion for ingredients)
Augustines of Central Rhubarb and Rosé
Nieuwenhuis Farmstead Cheese, Marinated Cloud (Fresh Goat Cheese in oil)
Salami
Cherry Tomatoes (we used Curious Croppers)
Fresh seasonal vegetables (we used green beans and snow peas)
Fresh herbs for garnish
Platter Tricks:
Allow your platter creativity to flow with a little planning and some simple tricks.
Texture and mouthfeel
- creamy, silken, melt-in-the mouth textures combine with bite-tender and crunchy textures to add interest and excite the palate.
Flavour
- cover off, mellow and strong along with savoury, spicy and sweeter flavours. Keep seasonal.
Colour
- we all eat with our eyes so try topping dips with herbs, baby vegetables, seeds and nuts along with a splash of oil to ensure they are so much more appealing.
Freshness
- assemble platter just before serving so everything is as fresh as it can possibly be.
If you’re entertaining a lot of people then make up smaller platters and make more so everyone can get to them easily.
If seated, offer small plates and a knife to each person so they can help themselves to more than one thing at a time.
Don’t forget to place a knife, spoon or small tongs beside each offering on your platter. e.g. a spoon or small knife for each dip.
Remember to have plenty of napkins for sticky fingers.
You may need to replenish a platter if it’s starting to look bare and overly messy.
Lastly and probably most importantly - it’s so easy to get carried away when making up a platter – try and stick to a few ideas and do them well. Or make up a series of platters e.g. cheese and fruit platter or vegetable and dip platter.
Getting started
1. Choose your base – bread board, chopping board, large flat plate or tray or you can even use a shallow baking tray lined with baking paper.
2. Have interesting coloured and/or shaped bowls for your dips.
3. Choose larger and hero offerings to put on the platter first.
4. Fill the gaps so the platter is and looks abundant.
To assemble the Outstanding Summer Platter in our photos
Proper Hand Made Crackerbread, each piece broken in half
Nieuwenhuis Farmstead Cheese, Marinated Cloud (Fresh Goat Cheese in oil)
Augustines of Central Rhubarb in Rosé (You could drizzle a smidgen of runny honey over each piece of rhubarb). Spread crackerbread with goat’s cheese and top each with a piece of rhubarb and an edible leaf.
L’Authentique Chicken & Sage Pate - Leave pate in it’s gorgeous jar. Top with 1-2 fresh sage leaves and a sage flower.
Akaroa Smoked Manuka Salmon - Remove from packaging and put directly on to the board. Top salmon with a few rocket leaves and snow pea shoots.
Add a few red vein sorrel leaves, micro greens, baby rocket leaves or pea shoots
Fill the gaps – use herbs, green leaves, raw or blanched seasonal vegetables and edible flowers.
Have extra bowls of Proper Hand Cooked Chilli Lime Tortilla, Proper Hand Cooked Crisps Sweets & Beets and Proper Hand Made Crackerbread for eating with the dips, as you will never be able to put enough on a platter!