A Jerry James Stone Recipe
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Categories
AppetizerIngredients
- ½ pound cheese, cheddar, pepper jack, colby
- 4 ounces mixed nuts
- 2 ½ ounces crackers
- 4 ounces olives, green and black
- 8 ounces grapes
- 1 ounces fresh rosemary
- 1 ounces breadsticks
- ½ pound cherry tomatoes, on the stem
Instructions
- Cut off the 1 persimmon’s top and bottom, and slice it width wise. The size of the persimmon will dictate a lot of this but ideally you want at least 3 slices.
- You will want 2 star-shaped cookie cutters. One larger one for the tree topper and one smaller one as decor for the tree. Of course, you can use any ornament shapes you want. You do you. I love stars.
- Cut the cheese (hehe), the ½ pound of cheese, into cubes. I listed the types I used. I chose them for flavor and color but again, there is a lot of flexibility here.
- Now we can start building out the tree! I used a serving board that is 10 inches wide and 15 inches tall.
- I started with the persimmon star. Then some cheese.
- I added some of the 4 ounces of mixed nuts. I used a few different kinds. I had a nut and dried fruit mix but also almonds that I used. Pistachios, walnuts, and others would also work.
- For the 2 ½ ounces of crackers, I used beet crackers, pretzel chips, and other styles. Different varieties of crackers, in different colors and textures, I think really adds to the texture of the tree.
- I put the 4 ounces of olives in a cup to prevent the crackers from getting soggy but also to prevent the juices from mixing with the other items. I don’t think people want olive tasting grapes.
- For the 8 ounces of grapes, I used red and green. I almost only used green and instead of bunching them, dispersed them across the tree for a more accurate color Christmas tree. Lots of options!
- Then I started outlining the edges with 1 ounce of fresh rosemary, just some of it, we still have a tree to build. I find when building the rosemary branches, it is easier to start from the bottom and build up to the star. Once you have the rosemary down, you can also scootch the items more into a tree shape.
- Rinse and repeat with the cheese, crackers, grapes, and nuts.
- I added the 1 ounce of breadsticks at the bottom but you could really mix them in anywhere. I thought with them being longer, they would provide a nice visual as the bottom of the tree.
- Follow up with more rosemary around the edges.
- And then use more crackers as the trunk of the Christmas tree. You could also use breadsticks here.
- Now my favorite part. Cherry tomatoes on the stem as the lights! You will need about ½ pound.
- You can definitely make this ahead. While I try to avoid using plastic, depending on how far out you want to create it, the cheese cubes will dry up in the fridge. So you would have to wrap it very tightly in plastic wrap to prevent that. A day ahead should be fine.
- Enjoy!
