Published by mel on October 7, 2008 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
Photo Credit: Agustin Sanchez
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Awhile back, the Ile de France cheese company sent me a free wheel of Camembert cheese to blog about. Since one would be insane to turn down free cheese, I accepted and made roasted fig, prosciutto and camembert “sushi” drizzled with honey. Nothing better than creamy cheese, fruit, cured meat and honey. Nothing.
I guess it was a success because Ile de France sent me some more free cheese. This time, a large piece of goat cheese and the chance to submit my recipe for a chance to win $1,000! Free cheese and a chance to win some cash? Yes please. So, I invited my photographer friend and co-worker Augi and his wife Meli (one of my homeys from high school) over for goat cheese tartlets.
Photo Credit: Agustin Sanchez
I made a simple tart crust, which I stuffed into mini-muffin tins for appetizer-sized tartlets. Because I couldn’t decide on just one filling, I made five. And it can’t hurt my chances in this contest, right? Here were the 5 finalists:
- Cracked Pepper Smoked Salmon & Dill (my favorite, I think) – #4 in photo above
- Dried Apricot, Almond and Honey (Tom’s favorite) – #1 in photo above
- Roasted Fig – #3 in photo above
- Cardamom and Mustard Seed-spiked Butternut Squash – sadly, not pictured
- Caramelized Onion & Pear (my second favorite) – #2 & #5 in photo above
The point here is that you can have fun with the fillings and the possibilities are endless. Each were tasty little bites and my guest photographer snapped away while I cooked and sipped from a Red Hook ESB. A perfectly relaxing Sunday afternoon.
Continue reading ‘Goat Cheese Tartlets, 5 Ways’
Published by mel on May 27, 2008 in recipe and sides & bites.
Everyone needs a pretty and easy hors d’oeuvre recipe. Whenever I have people over, I usually end up with one hopelessly complicated starter that takes me entirely too long to make. Whether it’s fussily topping mini toasts with cheese and fresh herbs or wrapping something together until it’s just so, I always end up in the kitchen sweating it out until the very last minute before my guests arrive.
That’s why you have to have those other make-ahead hors d-oeuvres. Like hummus or dip. The ones you can make in the morning and pull out of the fridge right when you need them. I found this recipe for simple goat cheese cylinders coated in fresh herbs and spices over at The Pioneer Woman and thought I’d give it a go for a dinner party.
That was the night I stupidly left the ravioli-making until the very last minute. Thank God I’d made these pretty little goat cheeses earlier. They saved the day and they were a total hit. My guests devoured them. Loved every last bite of them.
So, in case you missed it on the Pioneer Woman, here’s the “recipe” with the addition of a poppy seed coated cheese. Next time, I might try an aromatic curry one, or Chinese five spice. I highly recommend you make these for your next dinner party to save yourself some stress. Or maybe you’re smarter than I am and you make everything ahead of schedule, in which case, don’t rub it in…
Continue reading ‘the pioneer woman’s easy goat cheese hors d’oeuvres’
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