After going out with Tom for drinks and appetizers a few weeks back — and the appetizer plate not coming as specified on the menu — I had been wanting to make my own appetizer platter as a fun and different dinner. I wanted to do a set of spreads that I could put over warm slices of a French baguette, and possibly pair with some cured meats. The first couple of recipes that I had in mind were some sort of goat cheese spread and a roasted red pepper spread — two things that I had had before and liked, but never tried making myself. The Garlic Goat Cheese Spread, was basically taken from a recipe I found on AllRecipes.com — and included a mixture of goat cheese, plain Greek yogurt, roasted garlic and herbs (I think I used basil and oregano rather than thyme).
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| Started with some roasted garlic — perhaps the second time I’ve ever done this…I should roast garlic more often! |
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| Mixed goat cheese, yogurt, roasted garlic, green onions, herbs/spices and olive oil together in a food processor — very simple! |
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| Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese Spread – ready to serve! |
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| Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese Spread – goes great on bread! |
The next recipe I wanted to make was a Roasted Red Pepper Spread. I ended up finding a great recipe for this on AllRecipes.com, as well. I think I followed all of the directions on this recipe (roasted red peppers, parsley, roasted garlic, Parmesan cheese, cream cheese) — except that I decided to try roasting my own red peppers. I found some on sale at the store and gave it a shot!
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| Very simple – just quartered peppers, roasted in a hot (maybe 500 degree) oven until skins browned; cool and remove outer skin. Stored in olive oil. |
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| Just mix all of the ingredients in a food processor and voila! |
- 2 small eggplants
- 6 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 small red onion, minced
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
- Olive oil
- 1 roasted red pepper, minced
- 1-2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
- Cayenne pepper
- Paprika
- Salt
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| The Garlic Goat Cheese Spread & Caponata paired together nicely to make a DE-licious panini! |
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| Yummy lunch, with the goat cheese/ caponata panini, pears, and salad |
And for my appetizer dinner.. we ended up with quite a nice little assortment!
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| Appetizers for dinner! |
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| Caponata, Roasted Red Pepper Spread, Garlic Goat Cheese Spread – on warm baguette slices |
At the Water's Edge 
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