Party Platter Planning

So I was drooling over this post about making your own charcuterie platters on Tasting Table at the airport the other day, and I flashed back on a seafood-focused “charcuterie” platter that I enjoyed in Boston a few years ago…

I can’t even remember where it was, let alone what was on it (I blame that on the Boston Seafood Show) but I do remember being wowed and swearing that I’d make my own the second I got home.

Flash forward 2.5 years and here I am again swearing that I will make one for our New Year’s Eve celebration!  What am I going to put on it the platter? Good question.  Here’s what I am thinking right now (but am open to hearing your suggestions).

First here’s some advice from Kris Morningstar (chef/owner of Terrine) from the Tasting Table piece: “When I'm building the perfect charcuterie plate, I want to get sweet, salty, a little spicy and some creamy all on the same plate.”  Sounds like good  advice to me. 

• Creamy - Smoked salmon mousse. Luckily David has been smoking coho like crazy here at home, so I have awesome product to work with.  I’m going to make my mousse SUPER fresh and creamy with lots of dill and lemon zest. That way I can serve some of his smoked coho salmon straight up and it won’t seem like two versions of the same thing.
• Sweet - This one is easy - pickled herring. I am such a fan of this jarred treat. My family is Polish and both herring in wine and herring in cream sauce were staples on our holiday table.  Plus it's easy - I can pick it up at our local City Market!
• Salty -  This one is easy - it’s New Years Eve… caviar!  I’ll keep it simple with salmon roe, but feel free to splurge!  Check out my friend Rachel’s amazing company if you’re looking for a wide selection of hand crafted roes.
• Spicy - I’m going to go with some spicy pickled shrimp. If I wasn’t already serving our coho as a smoked option I’d probably do a pickled coho w/ hot peppers. But one cannot live on coho alone!

I’m going to add some crunch with a bowl of some fun Hapi snack mix, and plenty of crackers, sliced and seasoned cucumbers (or maybe some refreshing Sunomono), and a seafood-friendly dip or two. 

I’ll let you know how it turns out!