Gorgonzola Canapes Recipes

MISSY'S CANDIED WALNUT GORGONZOLA SALAD

Steps:

• Place walnuts and sugar in a skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves into a light brown liquid and coats the walnuts. Remove walnuts from skillet, and spread them out on a sheet of aluminum foil to cool.
• Place in a large salad bowl the mixed greens, cranberries, cheese, vinaigrette, vinegar, and olive oil. Toss gently; add candied walnuts, and toss again.

GORGONZOLA CANAPéS WITH WALNUTS

Steps:

• In a medium-size bowl, toss the Gorgonzola and walnuts. When tossing, be gentle, as you don't want to end up with big clumps.
• Top each cracker with a small mound of the cheese mixture, pressing the mixture lightly onto each cracker to keep it from slipping off. Top each cracker with 3 or 4 cranberries, and sprinkle a touch of chopped parsley on top of each.

GORGONZOLA CANAPES

Steps:

• Combine cheese, butter, celery salt, and pecans.
• Spread mixture on untoasted side of bread cut outs.
• Sprinkle with paprika and broil until bubbly.

TOSI GORGONZOLA CANAPéS , ICE CREAM, BURGERS AND WARDORF SALADS

Steps:

• Gorgonzola ice cream Despite my assurances in the story above that this is indeed a tasty ice cream, I can't imagine anybody wanting to make it - except perhaps commercially, in which case I am happy to provide the recipe for a fee. If you are determined you can cheat (as I did the first time I made it): allow a tub of ordinary dairy ice cream to soften, add cheese, puree, honey and nuts to taste, re-freeze. Otherwise, follow a recipe for strawberry ice cream and replace strawberry puree with apple and then add the other ingredients to taste and freeze. Making the ice cream from scratch has the benefit of amalgamating melted cheese into the ice cream mix. Mini gorgonzola burgers These are brilliant. Blue cheese goes with steak. They share a certain tang and minerality - each element balances the other so that the cheese does not become cloying and the steak does not become overwhelmingly rich and meaty. If you do not want to make your own brioche mini buns, cut rounds of bread. You could cut ready-made burger buns but make sure you turn the scraps into breadcrumbs for later use to avoid waste. For the brioche I used half a recipe. The trick is all in the shaping of dough before the final raising - not straightforward as the dough for brioche is wet and sticky. I tried several methods, all started with making quenelles of dough using two spoons. Some I left as they came off the spoons, for others I molded into small balls using wet hands and with others dry floured hands. Some I tried billowing into puffs of dough with my fingers, rather like making mozzarella. Floured hands work best but leave a slight texture on the bun - blow or brush off as much as possible before adding the egg wash. Otherwise, try a piping bag - but it should be noted that little flicks and tufts of dough may not smooth into uniform domes. For the fillet, fry evenly on a very hot pan (cloths, lids and fire extinguishers at the ready). When well-browned - if not charred - reduce the heat to let the internal parts of the meat cook slightly (we are after a very rare piece of meat). Prod the fillet with your finger, when it begins to show a little resistance, take off the heat and wrap tightly tin foil and allow to cool, before storing in the fridge. To assemble cut the buns in half, add mayo to the bases, add slices of beef, season and top with cheese. Serve with a little stick, cut down by hand. Mini Waldorfs Well, not strictly a Waldorf but but the concept is simply to place something like a Waldorf in lettuce or chicory leaves and serve as a canapé. Essential is gorgonzola, apple or pear, hazlenuts or walnuts. Chop and slice ingredients to suit, dress, mix and place in chicory leaves. Although these are a little fiddly, they are not hard and would work well for any kind of dinner party. Chefy types may want to improve on my presentation - fewer elements in a stricter pattern would be more creative. Other recipes: Tosi Gorgonzola Canapés with Pumpkin and Mushroom, Tosi Gorgonzola Tuna and Bresaola Canapés, Asparagus and Tosi Gorgonzola on Polenta and Gnocchi with Tosi Gorgonzola Cheese Sauce

GORGONZOLA, FAVA BEAN, AND PURPLE POTATO CANAPES

Steps:

• Finely chop walnuts. In a small heavy skillet cook walnuts in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until golden and transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
• Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. In a kettle of boiling salted water blanch beans 1 minute and immediately transfer with slotted spoon to ice water to stop cooking. Drain beans and gently peel away outer skins.
• Return kettle of water to a boil and cut potatoes into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Cook potatoes 8 minutes, or until just tender, and transfer with slotted spoon to ice water to stop cooking. Drain potatoes in a colander and pat dry with paper towels.
• In a small bowl stir together Gorgonzola and cream cheese until combined well. (Canapé ingredients may be prepared up to this point 2 days ahead. Keep toasted walnuts in an airtight container at room temperature. Chill beans and potatoes separately in sealable plastic bags and chill Gorgonzola cream covered with plastic wrap.)
• To assemble canapés:
• Spread about 1 teaspoon Gorgonzola cream on each potato slice and top each canapé with a bean, pressing down gently. Sprinkle canapés with walnuts. Canapés may be assembled 6 hours ahead and chilled, covered.

PEAR & GORGONZOLA CROSTINI

Steps:

• Halve and core the pears, then cut each one into 12 small wedges. Place in a heavy-based saucepan with the honey, port and wine. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until the pears are just tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife (they shouldn't be soft).
• Carefully tip the pears into a sieve set over a small saucepan and allow them to drain thoroughly.
• Reduce the liquid in the saucepan by two-thirds - it should have a syrupy consistency like runny honey. This will take 10-12 minutes. Pour the syrup into a small bowl and allow to cool while you prepare the bruschettas.
• Preheat the grill to hot. Cut the bread into 24 slices and brush both sides of each slice with olive oil. Grill until the bruschettas are golden on both sides. This only takes a minute, so keep watch.
• Spread each bruschetta with a little gorgonzola and top with a poached pear wedge. Arrange the bruschettas on a serving plate and drizzle with the port syrup using a teaspoon. Sprinkle over a little mustard and cress.
• Prepare ahead: you can poach the pears the day before and serve them cold - they're just as nice. Take them out of the syrup and reduce, then store the pears and syrup in separate plastic containers in the fridge. If the syrup is too thick the next day, add a little warm water, and if it is too thin, you can reduce it by simmering for a minute or two.