Pairing Raw Honey and Cheese For Your Charcuterie Board

by Maggie Frank
In the bright dawn of trendy charcuterie and cheese boards, I think people are finally starting to appreciate the silent hero of savory appetizers, honey! The subtle sweetness paired with powerhouse ingredients like goat cheese and hot peppers makes a dreamy combination! Mix the honey into your appetizer as an ingredient, or just drizzle it on top. Either way, you won't be disappointed!

How to Pair Honey and Cheese

To start easy, include a small dish of honey on your cheeseboard for you and your guests to enjoy! Here are some rock star combinations to help you get started. Just layer any of these onto crackers for a quick and delicious appetizer.

● Goat cheese with Whipped Cinnamon Honey and crushed pistachios
● Blue Cheese with Black Locust Honey and toasted walnuts
● Cheddar with Tupelo Honey and sliced salami
● Swiss with Sourwood Honey and prosciutto
● Gruyere with Orange Blossom Honey and green apples

Goat Cheese and Apple Flatbread with Hot Honey

About the Recipe

Suppose you are looking to wow your crowd, go ahead and give this recipe a try. It's a delicious flatbread that can be made in under 30 minutes. You can even do the prep work ahead of time and pop it in the fridge until it's time to warm it up and serve! To top this recipe off I'll include a recipe for hot honey that you can drizzle on other appetizers as well. I love it on pizza and wings!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon of sugar½ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Store-bought flatbread or naan
4 oz goat cheese
1 green apple
1 oz olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon cayenne
⅛ teaspoon chili flakes

Sprinkle of fleur de sel for garnish

Directions

1. First, we need to quickly caramelize the onions. In a small saucepan melt your tablespoon of butter over low heat. While that melts, cut the onion into thin and long slices.

To do this cut the steam side off but leave the root side on to help keep the onion closed while you cut. Stand the onion up on its cut steam side and cut straight down thru the root cutting the onion in half. Lay the cut halves' sides down on the cutting board then, you will be able to slice thinly from the exposed steam edge over to the root side.

2. Once your onions are cut throw them into the butter and season with salt and pepper give it a quick stir then cover with a lid and let sweat for 5 minutes.

3. This is a quick caramelization technique and you can take the extra time to do it the traditional way if you please, but you don't have to. So we are going to cheat by turning the heat up to medium-high and adding the sugar.

4. Stir constantly until your onions reach the caramel color you desire and then remove them from the pan into a small bowl and set aside

5. Next, you will want to slice your apple thinly as well, as you would for apple pie. Set aside. Also, at this time, start warming up the broiler in your oven. We are going to cook this hot and fast.

6. On a foil-lined baking tray lay out your prebaked naan or flat bread. Open the goat cheese and distribute crumbles of it evenly across the flatbread. Using a knife or the back of a spoon smear it around evenly.

7. Next, add half of the caramelized onions over the goat cheese and spread evenly.

8. Fan out the sliced apple over the top covering the cheese and onions. Then distribute the remaining onions on top of the apples.

9. Then pour a light drizzle of olive oil over the top to prevent the apples from drying out too much

10. Broil for about 5 minutes.

11. While the flatbread cools, mix together honey with cayenne and the dried pepper flakes. Once it’s mixed give it a quick taste to make sure you’re comfortable with the heat level. Adjust if needed. When the flavor is to your liking you can drizzle the hot honey right over the top of the flatbread. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and serve.