Design.Wine.Dine.

Fig & Chevre Ciabatta Toast

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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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Brie + Fig + Walnut Cups

Brie-Fig-FeatureIf there is anything in the world that I absolutely love, it’s great food and wine.  Some of my fondest memories are with friends and family sharing a great bottle of wine and a simple cheese platter or dishes to pass.  The art of food and wine pairings is one that I’m slowly trying to master since so much of my life revolves around wine.  It can be really intimidating, but a quick google search and reading the tasting notes on the bottle get you halfway there already.  The rest is acquired over time with drinking more wine and experimenting – not a bad deal 😉

For our Pink Party, I was on the hunt for some great simple recipes that would pair well with Chardonnay and this was was such a winner.  The combination of brie, candied walnuts and figs all wrapped up in buttery, flaky phyllo dough was so delicious with a well balanced Chardonnay (lightly oaked with a slightly sweet/caramel finish).  I’m dying for an excuse to make these again.  Enjoy!

Prep: 20 minutes
Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 package phyllo dough sheets (available in the dessert freezer aisle)
4 tablespoons butter (melted)
1 – 10-14 oz. wheel of brie cheese (cut into 12 wedges)
Fig spread (available in this set)
Walnuts (I use Fresh Gourmet Glazed Walnuts)

Instructions

1.  Allow phyllo dough to thaw for time designated on the package and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough on wax paper and brush with melted butter.  Layer another piece of phyllo dough on top and repeat until you have 6 layers.

3.  Cut the phyllo dough into 12 sections.

4.  Butter the bottoms and sides of each well of a cupcake pan and place each section of 6 layers of phyllo dough into individual wells.  You need to have enough phyllo to wrap around the contents and close on the top so it’s sometimes easier to save one of the 6 layers for covering the top.

5.  Place one wedge of brie into the bottom of each cup and layer 3 tablespoons of fig spread and 1 tablespoon of walnuts into each cup.  You should use all of your fig spread so if you have extra, add it to your pastries.  If you prefer to remove the rind from the brie, do that at this time.

6. Close each cup and brush the tops with melted butter.

7. Place on bottom rack of oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until phyllo is slightly browned and crispy.

8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Gently scoop each cup out being careful not to tear the layers and place on serving dish.  Serve while warm with ONEHOPE Chardonnay – DELICIOUS!

Recipe inspired by this.

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Wine Wednesday – Cookies & Corks

Alright… two loves of my life?  Cookies and wine.  Put them together and magic happens. Enter Cookies & Corks – an amazing company based out of Virginia that recognized there is nothing better in life than the above two paired together.  YES.  Gimme, gimme, gimme!  As part of this project that I’m working on, Cookies & Corks sent us some of their amazingness to try and I’ve got to say, they’ve hit the nail on the head.  Anyone who loves wine needs to give this a try immediately.  Seriously.  Now.  Lucky for me, I recently had the chance to try both the red and white wine pairing boxes, but today, I’ll chat about the white because the pairings were so delightful that I couldn’t wait another moment to share.

First and foremost, there are three types of cookies in a box.  The White Wine box consists of Apricot Sage, Peanut Butter Chocolate and Ginger Molasses which pair well with Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc.  Since I didn’t have the middle two, I gave these a try with ONEHOPE Chard and Sauv Blanc and was blown away.

  1. Sauvignon Blanc + Apricot Sage = I was a little skeptical about this one.  The ONEHOPE Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorite wines ever with its crisp, citrus finish and I was worried that the combination with the Apricot would make the pairing overwhelmingly citrusy.  Thankfully, I was wrong.  The lightness of the Sauvignon Blanc was just enough to create a more full-bodied citrus flavor with the Apricot (without being overpowering) while enhancing the savory sage to a level I never thought possible.  I like sage?!  I guess so.  Delicious.
  2. Chardonnay + Apricot Sage =  What a great combination.  While there was no over-the-top, spectacular or surprising finish, the two together were still extremely well balanced and enjoyable.  I tasted much more Apricot in this pairing than the Sauvignon Blanc + Apricot and a little less sage.  Scrumptious.
  3. Chardonnay + Peanut Butter Chocolate = AAAMAZING.  Wow.  Tasting this together was like putting a piece of chocolate covered fruit in my mouth, enjoying every last second of it and then, BAM!  Peanut butter with a tiny hint of salt.  There is so much perfection going on in this 5-10 seconds of flavor that I ate another.
  4. Chardonnay + Ginger Molasses =  This pairing actually wasn’t recommended on the box, but I’m so glad I decided to give it a shot.  The Ginger Molasses wine pairing suggestions were Gewürztraminer and Pinot Grigio, neither of which I had, but I did have some leftover Chardonnay in my glass.  Since Ginger Snaps are one of my favorite cookies, I gave it a whirl and fell in love.  The ONEHOPE Chardonnay is really well balanced (not too sweet, not too buttery, not too oaky) so it allowed the flavor of the ginger to magnify tenfold without any other obtrusive favors.  Being that I LOVE ginger, I loved this combination.
Bravo, Cookies & Corks!  Can’t wait to try some more for next Wine Wednesday 🙂

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