Tuesday, February 23, 2010

LWC - Blue Cheese Appetizers and Blue Cocktails

Lisa's Weekly Coffee: Thinking Blue









When thinking blue for recipes immediately blue cheese comes to my mind.


I love blue cheese and I find it to be an interesting and delighftul cheese for appetizers. I came across several recipes but I've only decided to feature three of my favorite ones: the red onion and blue cheese flat bread, the walnut, arugula and gorgonzola crostini ( my absolute favorite) and finally the asparagus appetizer.





When it comes to thinking blue for drinks and cocktails, I couldn't resist not sharing the Blue Tini, The Blue Bikini and The Blue Lagoon.


When I think of any blue cocktail I think of a very pleasing drink, simply because it looks cool and refreshing. I must add that all the credit, for blue cocktails and drinks, goes to the Blue Curacao liqueur which not only adds the color but also that orange sweetness of all curacaos





Blue Cheese Appetizer Recipes






You will love the Red Onion and Blue Cheese Flat bread source: myrecipes.com






Walnut, Arugula & Gorgonzola Crostini source: whatscookingamerica.net


Butter, room temperature
18 (1/4-inch thick) slices diagonal baguette bread slices
6 tablespoons toasted and chopped walnuts
3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled*
3 tablespoons finely-chopped arugula leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Arugula leaves

* Blue Cheese may be substituted.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spread butter over one side of each baguette slice. Arrange baguette slices on baking sheet, butter side up. Bake until golden, approximately 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. NOTE: These can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container. Be sure to let cool completely before storing.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, mix walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese, and arugula leaves. (At this point, mixture may be refrigerated until ready to use.)

When ready to serve, spread walnut-cheese mixture evenly on top of each baguette slice, pressing in to adhere. Season with pepper. Bake just until cheese melt, approximately 6 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Arrange crostini on serving platter and garnish with arugula leaves.

Makes 6 servings.







Asparagus Appetizers source cooks.com

1 can asparagus spears
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 egg
1 (3 oz.) pkg. Blue cheese
20 slices white bread, trimmed and rolled

Mix egg and cheeses. Spread about 1 tablespoon on a slice of the bread. Roll 1 spear up in bread. Insert 3 toothpicks in each slice, then cut in thirds. Brown lightly in butter. Keep warm in oven until served or they freeze well.

Blue Cocktails



Bikini Martini source; in-the-spirit.co.uk


1.5 Measures Hendricks Gin
1 Teaspoon Peach Schnapps
1.5 Measures De Kuyper Blue CuraƧao

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into glass





Blu-Tini source; bluecocktails.blogspot.com


1 part blueberry-flavored vodka (recommended: Stoli Blue)
1 part vanilla-flavored vodka (recommended: Stoli Vanilla)
Splash sweet blue liqueur (recommended: Blue Curacao)
Fresh or frozen blueberries, for garnishFill cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Add all ingredients except berries and shake well. Pour into martini glass and garnish with blueberries


Check out this video from Barschool.com and learn how to make The Blue Lagoon Cocktail











Lisa
Lisa's Weekly Coffee
ShesDaily.com



Disclosure: the above publication is for entertainment purposes. The above recipes are based on Lisa's own personal online research and credit has been given to the source of the above recipes. Images are source of google and may or may not reflect the actual recipe.