Blue Cheese And Fig Puffs Food

FIG AND BLUE CHEESE BRUSCHETTA

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the baguette slices and toast on both sides until golden and crisp, about 8 minutes. Allow to cool, then spread with a little fig spread/preserves. Top with blue cheese chunks. Sprinkle on some basil.

BLUE CHEESE PUFFS

Steps:

• Bring butter and water to a boil in a saucepan.
• Take pan from heat; add in flour and pepper, beating with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a smooth ball.
• Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Stir in cheese; let mixture stand for 15 minutes.
• Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto buttered baking sheets.
• Bake in a 400° oven for 30 minutes or until golden.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

BREAKFAST QUICHE

Steps:

• Combine flour and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add 3-5 tablespoons ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour., Preheat oven to 450°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to an 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Line unpricked crust with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake 5 minutes; remove foil. Bake 5 minutes longer; remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 375°., Sprinkle bacon, cheeses and onion over crust. Beat remaining ingredients until blended; pour over top. Bake until a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

FIG & BLUE CHEESE TART

Steps:

• First make the pastry. Tip the flours into a food processor with ½ tsp salt and the diced butter. Pulse until you can't feel any lumps, then tip in the walnuts. Mix the egg yolks with 3 tbsp cold water, then dribble this into the machine while you pulse again until the pastry comes together. Tip the pastry out onto a floured surface, lightly bring it together into a ball, then roll out and line a deep 20-23cm tart tin with overhang. The pastry may crack, but just patch it back together, then cover and chill for 1 hr.
• To make the filling, melt the remaining butter in a large pan, then add the shallots and soften for 10-15 mins, until golden and squishy. Stir in the thyme for 1 min, then remove from the heat. Beat the eggs in a jug with the crème fraîche and cream. Crumble in the cheese and season with pepper and a small amount of salt.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Blind bake the pastry for 20 mins, remove the baking beans and paper, then bake for a further 15-20 mins until golden and sandy. Reduce the oven temp to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Add the cooled onions to the cream mixture and pour into the case. Sit the fig halves on top, cut side up, sprinkle with some more thyme and bake on the middle shelf for 1 hr-1hr 10 mins until the tart is browning and has a slight wobble - the cheese middle will firm up on sitting. Cool for about 15-20 mins, then remove from tin and serve with a green salad.

BAKED BLUE CHEESE WITH FIGS & WALNUTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cut a cross in the tops of the figs nearly, but not quite, all the way down to the bottom, and pinch the bases. Sit in a baking dish or roasting tin (big enough so the figs can sit in a single layer with the whole cheese) cut-side up, but don't put the cheese in yet.
• Mix together the vinegar and wine or grape juice with some seasoning, and pour all over the figs. Scatter over the walnuts and thyme. Finally, drizzle over the honey. Bake for 15-20 mins until the figs start to become soft and sticky.
• Tuck the whole cheese in among the figs and put back in the oven for a final 5 mins. Lift the dish straight to the table and serve with lots of crusty bread to scoop up the molten cheese.

BLUE CHEESE AND FIG PUFFS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°; line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a small custard dish mix the egg yolk and water with a fork (this is the egg wash); set aside.
• Break or cut the blue cheese into 24 small pieces (about ¼ inch); let stand at room temperature to soften.
• Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface; with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out pastry to a 10-inch square.
• Using a 1 ½ inch round cutter, cut out 24 pastry rounds from pastry sheet.
• Place rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheet; brush tops of rounds with egg wash.
• Bake rounds in the middle of oven for about 12 minutes, until puffed and golden brown (rounds will puff unevenly).
• Transfer rounds with a spatula to a rack; cool slightly; trim bottoms of rounds, if necessary, to create level pastries; cool completely on rack.
• Top each pastry round with 1 piece blue cheese and ½ teaspoon jam; serve at room temperature.