A tale of two bruschetta:
I wanted to participate in this event after seeing the lovely photography on Bron Marshalls site. I have been bugging the Cream Puff about her photographs and come to find out that her and I have similar cameras(she has the better version of mine). This gave me hope. So after seeing the lovely bruschetta I knew I wanted to join in. Right away I knew what I wanted to make…and then I read the rules….you must make 2 types of bruschetta. Hmmmmm, that made things tougher.
So I shall start with the one I wanted to do right away. It is an adaptation of a salad that I make a lot and thought it would be quite interesting as bruschetta. I had REALLY wanted to make it on Cinnamon Brioche, but alas it is way too hot here still to fire up the oven. So I had to improvise a tad…but isn’t that half the fun of cooking?

Drunken Melon and Raspberry Bruschetta with Chive Scented Cream Cheese

Bruschetta:
I just bought a baguette from the bakery(no baking for me this week). Instead of olive oil I used clarrified butter. I also put in 2 tsp of cinnamon and 3 tsp of sugar. Mixed it together and buttered both sides and put on my grill pan.

Chive Scented Cream Cheese:
1/4 pound of cream cheese
1 TBSP chopped fresh chives

Place the cream cheese in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat on high speed for 1 minute, until smooth. Add the chives and beat on high for 3 minutes until combined. Set aside.

Drunken Melon and Raspberries:
1/2 cup orange flavored vodka
1/2 cup orange juice
1 TBSP sugar
1 small ripe honey dew melon, peeled, seeded and cut into small pieces
1 TBSP finely minced fresh mint
1/2 cup fresh raspberries

In a large bowl, whisk together the vodka, orange juice, and sugar. Add the melon and the mint and use a spatula to combine the ingredients. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour. Fold berries in at last minute when ready to assemble.

To Assemlbe:
Take bruschetta and place a thin layer of cream cheese spread. Top the bruschetta with the Drunken Melon mixture. Enjoy.

Since I had already done a more sweet bruschetta, I decided that my next one would have to be savory. I had a lot of cauliflower so I decided to do something with that.

Marinated Cauliflower, Celery and Red Onion Bruschetta:

Bruschetta:
Same bakery bought bread, just this time no cinnamon and sugar…just butter.

Marinated Cauliflower, Celery and Red Onion:

1/2 head white cauliflower, trimmed, cored, cut into small pieces
2 stalks of celery, trimmed and cut into strips about 1/4 inch thick
1/2 large red onion
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 lemon, cut into 1/2 inch pices, seeds removed
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place the cauliflower, celery and red onion in a saucepan and set aside. Heat the wine, vinegar, garlic, lemon pieces, peppercorns and bay leaf in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the marinade to a boil, then adjust the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the marinade and pour over the vegetables. Heat the vegetables in the marinade over medium-high heat. The minute the marinade begins to boil, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Add the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Immediately cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

To Assemble:
Simply place the cauliflower mixture atop the bruschetta.

I’m coming into this with just one day before the deadline but just stumbled across the food blog and thought it seemed like such a fun idea that I didn’t want to pass it up. It was a little tricky since I had no oven and had to think of something I could make that would not involve that appliance.
Since I lived in Arizona for much of my life I chose Mexico as my first influence. But since I now live in Seattle I decided to add a Pacific Northwest twist to it.

Tostadita De Salmon

2 ounce smoked salmon
4 corn tortillas, mini about 4″
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup tri-color bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon horseradish, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely minced
1 cup crumbled goat cheese
3 cups oil, for deep frying

1. Heat oil to 212 degrees.
2. Deep fry corn tortillas until golden brown. Place on paper towel to absorb extra oil. Lightly salt. Set aside.
3. Mince a mixture of tri-colored bell peppers. FIne mince the jalapeno and add to the bell peppers. Mix well.
4. Add horseradish to sour cream and finish with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Spread cream mixture evenly on a tostadida shell
6. Spread a layer of bell pepper mixture evenly over the cream mixture.
7. Lay a thin layer of smoked salmon over the top of the pepper mix.
8. Garmish with a light touch of goat cheese

I was going to make raspberry Margartias to keep with the Mexico theme but it is late here and I don’t think the downstairs neighbors would appreciate the blender running at 2am. So I had a bunch of key limes from a frozen souffle I made(for SHF…recipe will be up in a week and a half) and decided to make something with those. Key limes though often thought of as being a Florida “thing” actually has it’s orgins in Southeast Asia.

Key Lime Gimlet

3 oz Citrus flavored vodka
- 3/4 oz Key Lime Juice
- 3/4 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker, strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Oven or not I still have to make something to bring to Book Club. So given that I always make dessert I am going to have to branch out. So I tweaked a recipe for Goat Cheese and Pistachio Spread from Gourmet Magazine(Nov 92).

Goat Cheese and Pistachio Spread
two 4 ounce logs of mild soft goat cheese
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature
1 large garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste
1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts, toasted lightly and cooled
1/8 cup thinly sliced chives plus chive blades for garnish

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together the goat cheese, the butter, the cream cheese, the garlic paste, the pistachio nuts, the sliced chives, and salt and pepper to taste until the mixture is combined well. Spoon the spread into a serving dish, and chill it, ist surface covered in plastic wrap, overnight. Garnish the spread with the chive blades and serve it with crackers or french bread.