California Inspired Appetizers

On Sunday my sister and her husband came over so we can plan our Napa vacation. I figured what's better than wine and cheese while you are planning a trip to wine country.

Menu
Fig and Goat Cheese Crostini
White Stilton and Apricots
Crab, Avocado and Mango Salad with a Citrus Twist
Cantaloupe, Speck, Shaved Petit Baque with a Balsamic Glaze and Mint

Fig and Goat Cheese Crostini
I found this recipe on Epicurious.com and just made a few tweaks to it.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons minced shallot
• 2 (3-inch) fresh thyme sprigs plus 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 1/2 Turkish or 1/4 California bay leaf
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 lb dried Black Mission figs, finely chopped (3/4 cup)
• 3/4 cup Port
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 12 (1/2-inch-thick) diagonally cut baguette slices
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 oz soft mild goat cheese at room temperature
• 2 fresh ripe figs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Garnish: fresh thyme leaves

Make savory fig jam:
Cook shallot, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf in butter in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Add dried figs, Port, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, until figs are soft, about 10 minutes. If there is still liquid in saucepan, remove lid and simmer, stirring, until most of liquid is evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes more. Discard bay leaf and thyme sprigs and transfer jam to a bowl. Cool, then stir in minced thyme and salt and pepper to taste.

Make toasts while jam cools:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350°F.

Halve each baguette slice diagonally, then arrange on a baking sheet and brush tops lightly with oil. Bake until lightly toasted, about 7 minutes. Cool on baking sheet on a rack.

Assemble crostini:
Spread each toast with 1 teaspoon fig jam and top with about 1 1/2 teaspoons goat cheese and 2 pieces fresh fig.

Cooks' notes:

•Fig jam can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.
•Toasts can be made 1 day ahead and cooled, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

My additions:

* I added about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar to the savory jam once it began to boil

* I drizzled the toasts with a little olive oil before I put them in the oven

White Stilton with Apricots
This was a cheese that I purchased from Costco and just served it with assorted crackers and some Champagne grapes as a garnish.


Crab, Avocado, Mango Salad with a Citrus Twist
The saw a recipe for Crab, Mango and Avocado Salad with Citrus Dressing on Epicurious.com and then came up with the following:

In a mixing bowl I combine the ingredients below:
1 fresh mango, peeled, pitted and diced
1 1/2 avocados, halved, peeled, pitted and diced
approximately 1/4 cup of diced red onion
approximately 1 1/2 cups lump crab meat
Be sure when you peel the avocado to keep them intact as you will use them as a serving bowl.

In a separate bowl combine the juice of 1 large orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 tablespoon of honey and approximately 2 tablespoons of good olive oil. Whisk together and pour over the other ingredients. Once everything is combined you can fill the empty avocado halves with the salad.  You can serve with toasts or crackers or its good by itself.

Cantaloupe, Speck, Shaved Petit Baque with a Balsamic Glaze and Mint

On a platter place sliced fresh cantaloupe, thin slices of La Quercia Speck Americano, shaved Petit Basque Cheese (Sheep's milk cheese), drizzle with Balsamic Glaze and top with slices of fresh mint.

Add 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar to a pan on medium-low heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer until the vinegar thickens. Let cool before adding to the salad.

On a side note, my foodographer criticized a few of my photos last week however a couple of the photos from this meal were underwhelming.  We may just need to add a photo rating scale...ha,ha!