Tonight’s nod for New (to Me) Blogger on the Block Thursday goes to Nathalie Bouffe (formerly Cabbages and Kings), a blog written by Nathalie from the UK. Gorgeous pictures, purely unadulterated honesty in her posts and a sense of humor to boot. Hey, anyone who lists her mix of favorite foods as New Rivers lemon tarts, Beaufort cheese, lavender salad dressing, Berkswell cheese, quince paste and creamed leeks right along with Oreos, Easy Mac, and Krispy Kreme donuts is definitely one to watch. Check out her site when you get a chance.
My plans for dinner changed a thousand times tonight, if they changed once. Knowing it was time for my Thursday Rediscovering My Library segment, this morning before leaving for the office, I closed my eyes and picked a random cookbook off the shelf. It ended up being Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals 2
I ended up making her recipe for Roquefort, Pear and Walnut Toasts, which were delicious and very simple to make. Even better, I had leftover pears and sourdough bread from this weekend, so I only needed to buy the roquefort cheese. I had to keep grabbing the container from Nicholas, since he kept swiping it and was eating it by the handful. The other two recipes that I was planning on making tonight will become tomorrow night’s dinner, and I even have the groceries already, so I’m ahead of the game.
Roquefort, Pear and Walnut Toasts
All for tonight. Tune in tomorrow for the weekend kick-off. Until then…
P.S. One last thing … rumor has it, The Neighbor Husband might be making his very first comment on my site tomorrow (after, of course, you know, the endless comments I get in person … ;)). Anyways, I need your help with something. He thinks Sandra Lee is right up there with the “great chefs.” Although I am the first to admit that a) I have some of Sandra Lee’s cookbooks and b) everyone cooks at different levels, can y’all please tell The Neighbor Husband that we, um, might want to shoot a little higher? And geesh, the matching kitchen and tablescapes drive me a little nutty… ;)
Roquefort, Pear and Walnut Toasts
Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray
1 baguette, thinly sliced on an angle (I used leftover sliced sourdough)
1 pear, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced (used leftover canned)
Lemon wedge (skipped)
3/4 pound Roquefort, crumbled
1 cup walnut pieces (used candied walnuts)
Preheat the broiler. Arrange 12 slices of baguette on the broiler pan in a single layer. Toast bread lightly on each side under broiler. Remove broiler pan from broiler. Spread out sliced pears on cutting surface and squeeze the juice of a wedge of lemon over the slices to keep them from browning. Place a slice of pear on each toast and top with Roquefort crumbles and walnut pieces. Return pan to broiler 6 inches from heat source and broil toasts 2 or 3 minutes to melt cheese and toast walnuts.
Those toasts look delicious! I think I have some roquefort languishing in the back of the fridge somewhere … perhaps I have found Friday night’s dinner!
Great blog!
Oh no, NOT SANDRA LEE!!!!!!!!!!
I have to admit I have never seen an episode of the show, but I read some of her recipes on the food network for S&G and I was absolutely shocked.
I am very sorry if I offended anyone…..
I consider my self a way above average cook and fairly knowledgeable about cooking. I also love to buy cookbooks, maybe even as much as Sweetnicks. The only cookbook I ever returned was Sandra Lee. No offense to the neighbor’s husband, but she’s an idiot.
I just bought a pear to go with some blue cheese (couldn’t find gorgonzola, and my unrefined taste buds find them extremely similar), so now I’m going to make some of those cool toasts!
I agree with Kalyn-SL is an idiot. I cringe when I see the things she does sometimes and gets a show on Food TV to do them on!
Honey, I left the Deep South because of people like Sandra Lee.
But your neighbor might be happy…let’s hope we all aspire to eating better food (from our local farms, of course, so that we might have REAL food, and not food from boxes, filled with crap ingredients) in the immediate future.
Well, a girl can hope.
Cheers, y’all. (Please shoot on sight anyone who spells it “ya’ll.”)
Even my DH recognizes that SL is (as I like to refer to her) a train wreck. Maybe The Neighbor’s DH just likes to watch her, if you know what I mean ;-)
Sandra who? So I surfed and giggled.. is she really getting money for this? I have to admit she is smarter than her recipes…natural blond you think? … considering changing my haircolor…
Pear and blue cheese rules!
I don’t get the whole SL thing either… I can’t stand watching her at all!
As for Rachel Ray, I have the same cookbook and we love her Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss… give it a try!
patsyk (from clbb)
No comment on SL. Now, Im so impressed that nicholas likes such a strong cheese, I cant stand blue cheese.
Sweetnicks, I am going to email you something about SL that might just help. Might take a day, but I’ll get it to you.
Sandra Lee…yikes! She gives me the creeps…Her recipes might help truly busy people eat something ‘made’ in their own kitchen, but I think she’s gross.
Unlike your blog!
Ivonne – thanks for visiting. Did you make the toasts? Even better if you already had the ingredients on hand.
clare – consider yourself lucky. You’re not missing much. She changes the color scheme in her kitchen to match her outfit.
Kalyn – LOL. He hasn’t decided quite how to respond yet. ;)
Cyndi – hope you like ’em!
Tana – SL is definitely a far cry from eating local, that’s for sure! Unless the local Stop ‘n Shop counts. ;)
Patti – LOL. Could be!
Baking Soda – no worries, you’re not missing much! Thanks for visiting my site.
Pasty – I haven’t tried that one, but will definitely mark it down. Thanks for the recommendation.
Randi – he loves strong flavors … Kalamata olives, feta straight from the box, etc. I think it’s all a question of what you’re used to. House rule – gotta try it once. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. He’d be missing out on so much otherwise.
Stephanie – thanks for the e-mail. I’ll post the link with tomorrow’s write-up.
Backyard – thanks, I think. ;)