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Fig & Chevre Ciabatta Toast

October 8, 2015

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Toast is really having a moment.  I’m fairly certain that avocado toast opened the toast door and now it’s everywhere in every shape, size and ingredient combination.  And honestly, what isn’t there to love about toast?  Growing up, I ate toast almost every morning (peanut butter was my favorite) and I don’t really know when or why I stopped, but I’m a big fan of this new toast trend and exploring new ways to enjoy it.

With a leftover loaf of ciabatta and a a handful of figs remaining from our fig frenzy at the office, I decided to try a combination of flavors that I’d been wanting to explore. This crostini was a huge hit so I decided on a toast and whipped these up in almost no time. The end result was pretty incredible.  They were easy enough to throw together in under 15 minutes, but felt a little fancy with the drizzled honey and sprinkling of thyme.  AND, with the perfect wine pairing, they were certainly something that you could eat anytime during the day or night. Toast isn’t just for breakfast anymore, people!  Cheers!

Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

I N G R E D I E N T S

6 slices of fresh ciabatta
1 tbs. butter (melted)
8 oz. chevré
3 figs (thinly sliced)
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2-3 tbs. honey

D I R E C T I O N S

  1. Preheat oven to 350 and butter both sides of each slice of ciabatta.
  2. Place slices on baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes (until bread starts to toast).  Remove from oven and carefully flip toasts.  Bake for another 3-4 minutes being careful not to let the toast burn.
  3. Remove from oven and allow toasts to cool slightly.
  4. While toasts are still hot, but cool enough to be handled, spread each piece with chevré and top with 3-4 slices of fig.
  5. Garnish each toast with a few small pieces of thyme and drizzle honey over top.
  6. Serve immediately and serve with Chardonnay (for white lovers) or Pinot Noir (for red lovers) – my recommendation is the Pinot which is known to pair wonderfully with chevré.  Cheers!

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Dine, Fall, Wine Tagged With: autumn, chardonnay, chevre, fall, fig, figs, goat cheese, pairings, pinot noir, toast, wine

Wine Wednesday | Pear + Goat Cheese Crostini

October 29, 2014

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Happy Wine Wednesday!  We’re halfway through the week, y’all!  The past 7 days have been exceptionally exciting and I’m thrilled to be feeling the most inspired that I have in a very long time.  Jake and I spent last weekend in Napa and we’re heading back tomorrow for a big project that we’re working on together for our company (more details on that later), but there have been a lot of exciting changes in the works 🙂  In the meantime, for Wine Wednesday, I wanted to share one of my absolute FAVORITE appetizer recipes that we whipped up for our Pink Party.

Inspired by one of my favorite salads, this Pear + Goat Cheese Crostini is basically an easier-to-eat/one-hand-required version that is perfect for a party or wine tasting.  The creaminess of the goat cheese combined with the slightly sweet balsamic vinaigrette and pears are LEGIT with a well balanced Chardonnay (light on the oak, but not overly sweet). Get in my bellyyyy!  Check out the recipe below and bookmark it for your next party so you can wow your friends and thank me later 😉

Prep: 20 minutes
Serves: 10-15

Ingredients

1 loaf French bread
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic (minced)
5 oz. arugula
3 oz. Goat Cheese
1 Pear (diced)
1/2 cup Glazed Walnut Pieces (I used Fresh Gourmet brand – available in the salad or crouton aisle)

Ingredients for Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  While oven is preheating, slice bread into ~1/4″ slices.

2.  Combine olive oil and minced garlic.  Brush mixture onto bread slices.  Place bread on baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes on lower rack or until bread has started to toast.

3.  While the bread is in the oven, combine all ingredients for dressing until thoroughly mixed. I like to put everything in a mason jar and shake it up to get an even consistency. This also makes it easy to save leftovers

4.  Remove toasts from oven.  When they have cooled enough to handle, spread each toast with goat cheese.  Return to oven for 2-3 minutes or until goat cheese has softened.

5.  Remove toasts and transfer to serving platter.  Garnish each toast with a few sprigs of arugula, diced pear and walnuts. Drizzle dressing over top and serve with a glass of Chardonnay.  This one is awesome 🙂

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Dine, Wine Tagged With: baking, balsamic, chardonnay, cooking, crostini, goat cheese, in the kitchen, pear, recipe, wine, wine pairings, wine tasting

Pear Salad

December 2, 2013

Following a weekend traditionally made up of non-stop eating, I figured we could all use a salad 😉 Exhibit A:

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Believe it or not, until a few months ago I “hated” pears. I’d tried them as a little girl, decided they were “gross” and then never tried them again for probably 15+ years.  I can not believe what I’ve been missing!!!  When searching around for cocktail ideas for work, I kept coming across pear recipes and decided to overcome my ridiculous fear of pears and surprise, surprise… I completely fell in love with them!  You guys, I’m SO happy about this… I think they might be my new favorite fruit and I crave them constantly.  When I had a few left over from shooting this, I decided to put them to work in a new salad and figured it would be a nice change of pace from my go-to greens.  I found this recipe for a Honey Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette (yes, it’s even better than it sounds) and knew that the flavors would pair insanely well with pear.

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Prep time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients

5 oz. Mixed Greens (I used spring mix + arugula)
3 oz. Goat Cheese
1 Pear
1/2 cup Glazed Walnut Pieces (I used Fresh Gourmet brand – available in the salad or crouton aisle)

Ingredients for Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions

1.  Combine all ingredients for dressing until thoroughly mixed. I like to put everything in a mason jar and shake it up to get an even consistency. This also makes it easy to save leftovers 🙂

2.  Combine spring mix, walnuts and goat cheese. Drizzle with dressing and mix. Top with sliced pear and serve with a crisp chardonnay. This and this are both great options for Chard 🙂

Cheers!

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Dine, Wine Tagged With: arugula, dinner, goat cheese, healthy, healthy eating, healthy living, holiday, life, pear, salad, thanksgiving

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