What's included in the holiday treats?
The composition of the holiday cuts may vary. You can arrange separate plates with cold smoked or dried meat (sausage), fish, vegetables, and several types of cheese. Combinations of several products look advantageous - meat and cheese, for example. As a rule, thematic plates are decorated with herbs, lettuce, olives or black olives. Since slices and pieces quickly dry out, they should be covered and stored under cling film until serving.
Cold cuts with mustard
We cut three or more types of meat products onto a plate and decorate with herbs to your taste.
This could be green onions, parsley, cucumber, tomato or whatever you have on hand.
Then we fill the gravy boat with mustard and place it in the center or on the edge of the plate, as shown in the photo. Your unusual meat plate is ready!
Sliced meats on the table - festive decoration of sliced meats
In order to get thin, even slices of the same size, you can take a sharp knife, but it is much more convenient to use special tools.
Not a single table is complete without cold meat appetizers, so it’s worth working hard to decorate them beautifully and originally. It is convenient to use ready-made slices, which are sold in vacuum packages; they are chopped exactly as needed.
To serve, you will need a large flat plate or dish (of any shape). The display of products follows the shape of the dishes. The color of the dishes depends on the overall tone of the table setting.
A meat or sausage plate consists of several types of products; you can combine boiled, smoked and smoked-cooked sausage, add ham, pork or chicken balyk, boiled pork, and salted lard. If the products differ in texture, and the slices differ in shape and size, then the design will be more attractive.
Display options:
- in a circle - in layers. The bottom layer is laid out from the largest slices, each subsequent one in smaller size;
- roll the slices (they should be thin enough) into rolls and place them in a circle;
- Fold some of the slices in half or in quarters, and place the rest, small ones, on a plate.
The cutting can be laid out in the form of some kind of figure - a bird, a butterfly, a flower. Greens (sprigs of dill, parsley), lettuce, olives, thin slices of bright vegetables - carrots, sweet peppers, cucumbers - serve as decoration.
Economical meat cutting
In order to make an economical version of cutting meat, you only need one type of sausage and a little imagination.
The meat slices are shaped from the middle. Take a piece of sausage and twist it in half, and do this with several slices.
Next we draw up the second row. We take the sausage and fold it in half; we do this with several slices of sausage until we close the circle.
We do the same with the third row, and at the end we decorate the dish with herbs. This is the kind of interesting and inexpensive meat plate you can get.
Meat cuts – there is room for your imagination! Don’t be afraid to experiment and then you will definitely succeed!
Cheese slices for the table - beautiful slices of different types of cheese
An assortment of cheese would be quite appropriate on the table on New Year's Eve to see off the 2021 Year of the Rat, wishing it a safe journey and welcoming 2021.
There are several rules recommending how to lay out cheese for a banquet. Nothing prevents you from using them at home.
- The cheese plate includes several types of cheese, their number should be odd. It is unlikely that any of the guests would think of counting them, but if you do it, it will be done correctly.
- Hard varieties are placed in the center of the dish, and semi-hard and soft ones are placed towards the edges.
- The cheese is laid out clockwise from the softest and most delicate to the spicy varieties.
- Round cheeses are cut into segments (triangles), all others - into circles or cubes.
- The cheese dish should be flat. You can also use a decorative wooden board designed for this purpose.
Decorate the slices with berries, fruits, dried fruits, different varieties of nuts, and sprigs of herbs. Honey is served with some types of cheese.
Sliced meat with pomegranate
If you decide to prepare an unusual assortment of meats, then first take the meat products and cut them into a plate.
Then decorate the dish with greens and a sausage rose, which should be placed in the center of the plate. Add the pomegranate seeds at the very end, as they only serve as decoration. This meat plate will become an unusual highlight on your table!
Sliced fish on the table - beautiful design of a fish plate
Even novice housewives can decorate a fish plate. In addition to the popular and favorite herring and mackerel, you can use lightly salted red fish - salmon, trout, salmon, as well as white fish.
When collecting several types of fish in one composition, you need to take care of products that will highlight the fishy taste. These include lemons and limes, herbs, olives, and vegetables.
Plates with fish of different cooking methods combine well and look great on the table: salted, smoked, dried. The main thing is that there are no bones in the pieces, which would be awkward for guests to take out in public.
Cold cuts for beer
Now we will decorate a lazy meat plate for beer.
Cold cuts for beer are most often made with jamon, bastrum, smoked sausages and bacon. We prepare the assorted meats for beer: thinly cut the meat delicacies we need, place them evenly on a plate and complement the composition with parsley. Such a simple meat plate is simply created for lazy people.
Sliced vegetables for the table - a bright and satisfying vegetable plate for the holiday table
The most important rule: for assorted vegetables you need fresh products, juicy, elastic and bright. The simplest combination - cucumbers and tomatoes - is already winning, but for the holiday table it is worth diversifying it.
- The sweet pepper needs to be washed, cut off the tail and cut out the core with seeds, then cut lengthwise into strips or across into circles of the same size.
- Large carrots need to be peeled, washed and cut into strips.
- Large tomatoes are washed and cut into slices or circles, cherry tomatoes are served whole.
- According to the rules, the cucumber needs to be washed and peeled, the seeds removed with a small spoon, and the pulp cut into strips.
- A large onion is cut into rings or half rings.
When laid out, the color of vegetables can contrast or transform into one another according to the spectrum. For the New Year's table, vegetables can be laid out in the form of a Christmas tree or Christmas tree decorations.
Those who master the technique of carving - artistic carving on vegetables - will not have any difficulty decorating the dish with roses, Christmas balls, and other original decorative elements.
Assorted holiday cuts
Single plates are wonderful, but a combination of not just different varieties, but different products will help diversify the serving. In addition, a large table will be more comfortable for guests.
However, you shouldn’t overload the dish: it’s enough to put meat and cheese together, for example, and use vegetables as an addition and decoration.
If 5-7 types of cheese are placed on a “clean” cheese plate, then 1-3 is enough for assorted cheese. The same applies to meat. Fish is combined with vegetables.
Each type of food is served with sauce. For example, for vegetables - sour cream and garlic, mustard, from natural yogurt. For meat - horseradish, tkemali, adjika. The sauce is poured into small cups or gravy boats, equipped with special spoons.
You can make artistic compositions from the products: “tulips” from tomatoes and herbs, “fish” from pieces of fish and vegetables.
Sliced meat in the shape of a fish
To prepare cold cuts in an unusual fish shape, you need to use patience and imagination.
We make the head from cheese, the eyes from a boiled egg, and the lips from a tomato. We carefully lay out the scales from various sausages, and make the fins from halves of tomatoes and cheese.
For the tail, take another sausage and carefully place everything on a plate. This fish-shaped cut of meat, like in the photo, will work for you too!
Sliced fruits for a festive table
Fruit slices are a real extravaganza of colors and taste. It looks bright, attracts attention and is popular, because everyone loves fruits. Berries and fruits are appropriate as sweets, snacks for light wines, and even for meat, cheese and fish. Therefore, its preparation must be approached with all responsibility.
Fruits and berries should not be purchased in advance so that they do not lose their presentation during storage. When choosing, you need to pay attention to the absence of wormholes, juiciness and elasticity.
You need to cut food shortly before guests arrive so that they do not have time to weather and dry out. In addition, it is worth sprinkling the slices with lemon juice, so the apples and pears will not darken in the air.
Features and secrets of design
An interesting and original plate is the key to a beautiful presentation. However, you need to take into account the secrets of preparation:
- The products do not need to be cut in advance, the slices will lose their appearance and dry out. As a last resort, cover the dish with cling film and place it in the refrigerator;
- To prevent the fruit from darkening, sprinkle it with lemon juice and sprinkle with powdered sugar;
- sauces and butter are served separately, in small gravy boats with dessert spoons;
- Sliced vegetables require bread cut into pieces;
- on cut meats and fish you need to make bright accents with vegetables, fruits, and herbs;
- You can place lettuce leaves under the meat or fish so that they overlap each other, sprinkle them with lemon juice.
