I was looking for an easy appetizer to make for a party and wanted to use some Honeycrisp apples (my favorite!) that are now in season. I decided to stuff dates with bits of the apple, add some good bleu cheese and then wrap it all up with bacon.
These things are so addictive – I eat them like candy! I love the mixture of the savory dates, sweet apples, creamy bleu cheese and of course, the crispy, smoky bacon. Everything is better with bacon. Make extra – they will fly off the plate!
Do you love potato salad but don’t care for the mayonnaise that most recipes call for? Here’s a great one for you to try. I have to admit that I love mayonnaise in my potato salad and was skeptical to make this salad earlier this summer, when I went on a vegan diet for several weeks. Well, I’m a skeptic no more – this stuff rocks! And now that it’s football season, it makes a great tailgating dish, especially here in the south where it’s still hot outside on game day.
Here’s yet another burger recipe, this time made with grass-fed bison, which I love for its taste and low fat content. I kind of blow the low fat thing by adding bacon and two types of cheese, but the addition of these ingredients makes this a cheeseburger in paradise, wherever you are. Jimmy Buffet would approve!
The sautéed onions-with-red-wine topping is from a Bon Appétit Magazine recipe and is so easy to make and tastes fantastic. Brad prefers the crunch of sliced raw onions, so you may want to go that route instead. Also, you can replace the more expensive smoked Gouda with sharp cheddar – both work great. This burger absolutely rocks and it’s a nice change from ground beef. Beware – it is quite filling since bison meat is dense.
When is the last time you enjoyed a great Crabmeat Newburg? Well, now’s the time to do so if you want to celebrate National Crabmeat Newburg Day, which is Sept. 25th. When I was selecting my food of the month, I wanted to go with something I’ve never made before. The fact that I love crabmeat was also a deciding factor. What I like about this easy recipe is that it works well as an appetizer served with toast or crackers or as a main meal over rice or noodles. It also reminds me of my Dad, who occasionally made a wonderful Seafood Newburg on New Year’s Eve. I think he would approve of my version, but I will probably add some shrimp next time to make mine more like his.
Looking for a salad that’s just as good in the fall and winter as it is in the warmer months of the year? Then try this easy-to-make and hearty garbanzo bean and assorted olive salad, which is great as a stand-alone meal or side salad, especially with Mediterranean food. The garbanzo beans have a wonderful nutty taste and buttery texture that pair well with the saltiness of the olives and the tanginess of the lemon and vinegar. It’s a fantastic combination of flavors.
Garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas, are low in fat and a good source of zinc, folate and protein. Pair them with your choice of olives (which have a high monosaturated fat content that has been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease) and you have a tasty salad that also is good for you!
I had a Living Social coupon that was about to expire to the Aviator Brewing Company so Brad and I made the 1/2-hour or so trek to Fuquay Varina last weekend to check out the place. The coupon included a tour of the brewery, two Aviator pint glasses, some stickers and a growler of Aviator’s HotRod Red. I am so glad I bought this coupon – I learned quite a bit from the tour and the beer I tried was great! I also like that we were supporting a local business.
The other day I picked up some ground lamb that was on sale to make some burgers. I also had some leftover goat cheese that I wanted to put to good use. Now that football season is here (let the tailgating feasts begin!) I remembered seeing a recipe for lamb burgers stuffed with goat cheese that sounded great to me. I couldn’t recall where I saw the recipe, so I searched the Internet and ran across a recipe on Allrecipes.com by LeeleeCooks that I tweaked some for my taste.
This is by far the best lamb burger I have ever had. I’ve used feta cheese in lamb burgers before, but I have to say — move over feta; hello goat cheese (actually I guess you could use feta cheese as a topping, because like shoes and chocolate, you can’t ever have enough cheese!) Anyway, what a fantastic combination of flavors with the distinct taste of the lamb, the tangy creaminess of the goat cheese and the infusion of fresh herbs and garlic. Heaven on a bun (or a pita)!
I love when fall rolls around because it means football (NFL and college) is finally here! It also signifies the end of the growing season of some of my favorite crops, tomatoes being at the top of my list. Luckily, you can still get fresh ones around Raleigh through the end of September and even into early October.
The other day I saw that Harris Teeter had Ile de France garlic and herb chèvre (goat cheese) on sale for $7.99 (normally $14.99 for 10.5 ounces.) Naturally I had to buy some – I love its rich, creamy and tangy flavor and like to add it to salads since it pairs so well with tomatoes. Since that’s quite a bit a cheese, even for me, I decided to make my tomato and goat cheese tart and headed to Farmer’s Market to get some fresh red and yellow tomatoes and sweet basil.
You cannot beat the combination of flavors in this tart – it’s heaven in your mouth and definitely tastes as good as it looks! I used one of those store-bought crusts found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store to save some time, but will go back to the homemade dough I make in my bread machine when I make this again. I’ve also seen recipes that call for puff pastry, but I haven’t tried it with this particular tart.
It’s been a great summer for bell peppers in the Raleigh area. However, pepper season is slowly winding down with fall fast approaching and now is the time to take advantage of these wonderful and crunchy treats while they are fresh and local.
I recently posted about stuffed bell peppers with mushrooms, wild rice and habañero cheese and promised that I would share this recipe. This time I’ve taken red bell peppers and stuffed them with black beans, corn, rice and tomatoes, topped with shredded cheese. I’m not sure which recipe I like better – I’ll let you be the judge.
What an incredible city; what an exceptional conference. That is what I’m taking away from my visit to Portland, where I traveled to the International Food Bloggers Conference this past weekend, presented by Foodista and Zephyr Adventures. This is by far the best conference I have ever attended! I was wowed by the conference hosts and presenters, enticed by the vendors and befriended by other bloggers who all shared a common love: food (okay, and maybe some wine!)
Kel's Cafe of All Things Food 