A blog dedicated to cooking, knitting, and homeschooling.
Showing posts with label appetizer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label appetizer. Show all posts

Monday, August 9, 2010

Spinached Eggplant, ButterHerb Grilled Chicken and Stuffed Tomatoes


This is a variation of the awesomely eggplant recipe I posted here. Add some baby spinach in between those layers of eggplanty-goodness. That's the only variation, but it was too good not to share.








Next, I'd like to give a little shout out to my favorite farm. Tendercrop Farm. These are four of their own chicken breasts stuffed with my very own herb butter and some lemon slices. Make sure the butter is cold when you put it between the meat and the skin, it melts slowly and stays on your chicken longer. I grilled these on low for about 30-45 minutes. Be careful about flare-ups that may be caused by the butter. When the juices run clear, or it reaches the right temp, it's done.


Tomatoes Provencal a la greque?
Alright, so I was trying to use up these tomatoes and I came up with this. Then I saw it in a recipe book, though slightly different and I felt really stupid.

Core the tomatoes, scooping out the seeds. Mix about 4 tbsp of feta, with a tablespoon of parsley, a small clove of garlic chopped finely, and just enough breadcrumbs to make a stuffing that loosely holds together, probably not more than a handful. Stuff the tomatoes and bake on 350 until they begin to soften. Another variation would be to use Parmesan instead of bread crumbs or feta.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Cranberry-Pecan Goat Cheese Log




Ingredients:
1 log goat cheese (I bought the 1lb log at Costco) Keep this refrigerated!
3/4 c pecans, chopped
1/2 c cranberries, chopped (a heaping cup, not a level cup)
1/4 tsp sea salt (or a pinch)

Toast pecans on rimmed cookie sheet at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Allow pecans to cool. I went upstairs and took a shower while they cooled, you could choose another activity. Chop pecans and cranberries finely and mix together in a bowl. I used a food processor and pulsed the pecans and the cranberries separately to the right size. Season mixed cranberries and nuts with salt to your taste, I used about 2 pinches or so. Spread mixture on cooled baking pan or cutting board. Open the goat cheese log and roll in the mixture, making sure to press hard and coat the ends. Serve right away with crackers, crostini, or wrap in plastic and refrigerate until you are ready to enjoy.

The picture is the log all wrapped up and ready to chill. I was too busy to get a picture of it served on an actual plate and it would have looked slightly egotistical to take the picture in front of the guests.