Wednesday, April 27, 2011

G is for Goat Cheese and Guacamole

Getting hungry?
I hope that you all had a Grrrrrrrrrrrrreat week and weekend. With Easter season for a bakery and it being wedding season for the wedding coordinator it has been a little busy. On top of that we had several family members in town for Easter and we traveled to see a few as well. Boy did we work up an appetite!

One funny thing that I wanted to share with you though, when we went to see my family everyone kept telling me how skinny I looked. Skinny?...me? I have gained weight since I saw most of them last... where is this all coming from? It turns out since I have been working at a cupcake bakery and I have been working through the alphaBITE they figured that I would be as big as a house.
I have been laughing about this for days! I love those crazy people!

Okay now the food. I have been working on some easy to eat party foods lately because of an event that I am doing for a friend's sister, and this is one of the things that I am doing for her.

Goat Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Crostinis
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 4 oz. herb infused Goat cheese
  • 1 leek (finely chopped)
  • 1 baguette
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
Place the bell pepper on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, and roast in a 425 degree oven for 30-45 minutes turning the pepper every 10-15 minutes so that it evenly browns. Set it aside to cool still on the sheet pan. After the pepper is cool to the touch, pull out the core, peel off the skin and take out all the seeds. Chop the pepper into small cubes, put them in a bowl and reserve.
Slice the baguette into small slices. I was able to cut my baguette into 30 pieces, but it really depends on the length of your bread. Place the slices on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and brush the tops with olive oil and then sprinkle all of them with salt and pepper. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the tops are browned and then flip them to brown the other side, ~12 minutes per side.
In a small skillet, saute the leeks in a bit of olive oil. You can use onions as a substitute but the leeks have more of a crunch after they are cooked than an onion has, but if you prefer onions- go for it! Place them in a bowl after cooking and reserve.
Now it is time to assemble. Spread a bit of goat cheese on the crostinis with the back of a spoon. It is gentler than using a knife and your are less likely to break them. Next, place a cube of roasted red pepper and then top with leeks. Finish with a little freshly ground black pepper and you are ready to serve.


Guacamole

Before I share this recipe I have to warn you of how addicting it is. Every year my family goes to the beach and while we are there, I make TON! Someone will come up to me every day and ask me to make more guacamole, most of the time it is twice a day. This is what you will need.

  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 2T olive oil
  • 4 ripe avocados
  • 4T cilantro
  • 1/2 cup of freshly diced tomatoes
  • 1 lime
  • 3T Balsamic vinegar
  • 2t salt
  • 2t black pepper

Saute the onions in 2T of olive oil until they are slightly brown, but not burned. Take them off the heat and place them on a plate. Refrigerate the onions until the next steps are complete. Peel and pit your avocados, and place them in a large mixing bowl. Dice your tomato and add to avocados. Finely chop the cilantro, add it to the avocados, and squeeze the lime juice into the mixture as well. Mash them all together. You can use your hand, but it gets messy. I have found that using a beater from the electric hand mixer works very well. It doesn't matter really how you do it, as long as it gets mashed. Next stir in the Balsamic vinegar, salt, black pepper and chilled onions.

Taste, and see if you need to modify the recipe to your taste buds. Depending on who in my family asks me to make guacamole, I will make adjustments to what I know they like. One person likes a lot of cilantro, one person likes it spicier so I'll add more black pepper, you get the point.

Now it is on to H! Does anyone Have and suggestions or requests? Post a comment and I will see what I can do. I Have ideas, but Hearing from you is always fun.

-J

3 comments:

  1. This is one of my favorite appetizers from a wing joint called Pluckers. They call it Holy Macaroni (hence the H) but it's essentially macaroni & cheese that's been frozen then fried. It's kind of amazing! Here's a link to a how-to video/interview with one of the owners of Plucker's.

    http://www.kxan.com/dpp/entertainment/food_and_dining/Fried_Macaroni_and_Cheese

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  2. Oh I think that the Mrs. is going to insist that I make this one! She is all about some Mac-N-Cheese. Thanks Landry!

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  3. Know that Guacamole is good! Thanks for making it on Easter!

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