July 18, 2010

Hello again! We're back from yet another vacation, this time a family reunion in Tennessee and then visiting the grandparents in Athens, Greece! We all had a great trip, but were definitely ready to get home. Anyways, since my sisters and I have our church girls' camp this coming week, mom and I figured we should do a couple new recipes before I leave.

So we got home, slept some (oh the joys of jet lag), and I flipped through the Rachael Ray book and put my finger on a random page. It landed on the page of Roquefort, Pear and Walnut Toasts, Chicken Paillard on Baby Greens, and the Citrus White Wine Spritzer.

The Roquefort, Pear and Walnut toasts were my mom's favorite. She's already talking about making them for a dinner party sometime. This appetizer was so out of the ordinary that even my little sister's curiosity got the better of her and she tried it. The sweetness of the pears perfectly balanced out the sharp taste of the blue cheese. Even though it's not 5 stars, we think it's worth listing here:

Roquefort, Pear and Walnut Toasts
1 baguette, thinly sliced on an angle
a wedge of lemon
1 pear, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
3/4 lb Roquefort cheese, crumbled (we used regular bleu cheese)
1 c. walnut pieces
Preheat broiler to high. Arrange 12 slices of baguette on broiler pan in a single layer. Toast lightly on each side. Squeeze lemon juice over the pear slices to keep them from browning. Place a slice of pear on each toast and top with cheese crumbles and walnut pieces. Return pan to broiler 6 inches from heat and broil toasts 2-3 minutes to melt cheese and toast walnuts. Be careful! Walnuts burn so easily! Transfer to plate and start snacking!
4 1/2 stars



The Chicken Paillard was very tasty. The sauce needed some salt, but together with the baby greens and the chicken was a great main dish. If you ever make this, definitely try a piece of the chicken with the salad and sauce together. It was a strangely good combination.

4 1/2 stars



Now for the Citrus White Wine Spritzer, obviously we had to do a little substituting for the Wine Spritzer . . . but everyone liked it with white grape juice. In glass goblets it looked really pretty.

4 3/4 stars (we're getting a little picky here, mom thought it wasn't very interesting)

CITRUS WHITE WINE SPRITZER
(makes one serving)

2 thin lemon slices
2 thin lime slices
1/2 cup Pinot Grigio, other dry crisp white wine, or white grape juice
1/4 cup lemon-lime seltzer

In a large stem glass, arrange slices of lemon and lime among ice cubes to fill the glass. Pour the white wine (or white grape juice!) and seltzer over fruit and ice. Stir with straw and serve.