Pear, Walnut and Gorgonzola Bruschetta

Stephanie

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 07:33:23 GMT

I had something similar to this at a house party not too long ago. Except we also added some very good honey on top of the cheese and nuts and it was so delicious!

fx

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:28:26 GMT

Yes, a heavenly treat prepared in minutes.

Noam

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 07:07:28 GMT

so simple, so delicious! really excellent blue cheese, walnuts, pear - heaven!

Lucia

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:44:31 GMT

Ayer por la noche sorprendi a un grupo de personas con esta sencilla receta, la presentacion es un lujo y el sabor es estupendo, gracias y sigue compartiendo tus ideas.

fx

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 07:18:38 GMT

Parshu, I really don"t recommend any supermarket blue cheese, there has been one more scandal last year as to how they are made, well let me tell you that they would not be considered proper food for a brahmin!

parshu.narayanan

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:45:39 GMT

Hi Fx, it seems delicious, and i want to get as close to the appetizer as I can - I can get all the ingredients except Gorgonzola in Haryana, India where I live, could you suggest a packaged "supermarket" alternative pl. btw Angelo"s desription of asians as lactose-intolerant is mystifying to me as an Indian, perhaps he meant only East Asians (China-Japan) and not South asians (Indian subcontinent) because as we say in my part of the world, the only culture we have in (the very rustic & pastoral State of)Haryana is yoghurt:-).

fx

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 08:32:51 GMT

Poached pears in port seems decadently delicious - well done! Are you lactose intolerant because you didn"t eat any cheese in your childhood? If so, is there no bacteria colony you could take as a health supplement that would help your stomach digest lactose?

Angelo

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 09:12:40 GMT

Francois,

You are truly a man after my own heart.

I made a "variation" of your recipe a few months back. I had some really firm pears and a small bottle of port I had received a few Christmasses ago. I poached the pears in the port until tender (the way they do it in Portugal, except they serve the poached pears with a sabayon)and had it with some blue cheese (Roquefort) and walnuts. I am lactose intolerant (as most asians are) but this combination was soooooo good that it was truly worth the pain and discomfort.

Cheers!

PS. pay no heed to the nitpicky woman Maria. I like the extra shots you put in.

fx

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:31:09 GMT

Nathan, I was wondering is somebody would notice my not publishing on Monday ... and I"m glad you did! So I just published another article.

fx

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:30:15 GMT

Jen, if you believe blue cheese is harmful to unborn babies you really need to way for the birth before eating this. There is no substitute, the whole thing revolves on blue cheese versus sweet pears.

NN

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:36:13 GMT

Good day, meneer. No doubt, the lady behind that nasty comment is stuck on a dial-up connection�which explains her aversion to repetitive photos (and is also in itself a sufficiently severe punishment for her sins). NOW, it"s Tuesday afternoon, no new posts, and I"m going into FX withdrawal�

jen

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:31:11 GMT

I am wondering if there is a substitute for the bleu cheese that will be edible for pregnant women. �I am wanting to serve this, but know that it may be dangerous for pregnant women to eat any type of soft, unpasteurized cheeses. �Thanks for any help you may offer.

fx

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:21:20 GMT

Richard, I think this would best just before the dessert. In French we have an expression to say that somebody mentioned something during the second part of a meal: Entre la poire et le fromage - between pear and cheese. And then comes the dessert!

fx

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:26:03 GMT

Guys, the nutcracker in the pictures is made by http://www.take2-design.de/ and apparently they have models with a stone ball too. You can buy them off Ebay.de

Richard Hughes, M.D.

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:43:17 GMT

I enjoyed the pear, gorgonzola bruchetta. It could be a European dessert, with some cream sherry! Thanks, Richard.

fx

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:16:06 GMT

Thanks, I know blue cheese, like many fermented foods, is not something people enjoy right away. You should start with a teaspoon diluted in cream as pasta sauce and work from there. If you want to like blue cheese, of course!

ET

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:18:38 GMT

I could never appreciate blue cheeses! Always found it disgusting to have mold on your cheese. But then I"m Asian, so well. Not used to it I guess.

By the way, thanks fx for always tagging vegetarian food! Vegetarian me appreciates it :)

fx

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:53:08 GMT

Lynn indeed this nutcracker is about being fun to use, a playing piece and conversation starter, but definitely not a production tool. I love Berkeley and visited the Mark Twain room in your library when doing some research years ago. Love the Bone Room, a shop that sells all sorts of zoological specimens for still life photographers. Nice place!

Lynn

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:03:09 GMT

Hi FX,

This recipe is sure to be on my menu this weekend. We"re lucky to have good bread in Berkeley, as well as good pears. I envy your nutcracker collection, although I"m much to cheap to buy one so beautiful if it doesn"t work so well. I guess that one"s more like an entertainment than a really cooking tool. Looking forward to seeing your other nutcrackers.

fx

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:55:51 GMT

Judy, it is certainly not very efficient and you need a very hard nut to crack it efficiently, otherwise you"ll have to do this 4 times before you can eat. And it"s not especially cheap either! But nothing you can do yourself with a piece of wood, a string and a p�tanque ball!

fx

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:54:46 GMT

Don, I think I"ll stick to the hammer and flat stone!

don siranni

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:46:19 GMT

Fx,the way real nutcrackers do it:an egg-crate style conveyor belt moves under a fine saw that slices a small hole in the top of the nut.Then a synctonized nozzle injects propane into the hole.The belt then drops the nuts down thru on open flame,whereupon they explode and the results fall into a water pool,which flows over a weir.The shells sink and the very perfect halves float over the weir into a dryer.
Sorry about this windy email-just couldn"t resist having some fun with you,and your entertaining cracker-but mines" even more fun!

Judy

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:01:09 GMT

Great article; I can hardly wait for the article about nutcrackers. Did you imply that this beautiful device is, perhaps, not terribly efficient? If it is efficient and doesn"t cost an arm and a leg, I would love to get one. I have friends in Germany. . .

Thanks for your entertaining and inspiring recipes.

fx

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:46:03 GMT

Marina, thanks for your appreciation! Yes the particles scattered across the rooms tend to drive me nuts, but hey, that"s what it said on the package. Soon I hope to include two other walnut screws / nutcrackers that are quite unique. You could try this with Stilton and port or figs as well. Let me know how I should change the site"s interface so that it is easier to switch between high/low resolution and Priting mode. Seems many people have problems with it despite many changes I tried.

fx

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:42:28 GMT

Thanks Pete, when I saw it in the shop, seeing how well made it was, I knew that was one for the blog!

peteformation

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:13:01 GMT

Love the nut cracking device!

Meramarina

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:03:19 GMT

Well, FX, I enjoyed your smashing photos, and personally, I"d love to play with such a device. It seems to be a little bit like having your own personal, low-tech particle collider, to be used in the creation of new, fresh and delicious states of matter! Of course, one inconvenience might be cleaning up all those fundamental but not-so-fun nutshell particles. I hope your guests help!
,
As for the recipe, my impressions were: "Huh?" then "Hmmm . . . " and then "Mmmmm!!!" Somehow, the pear slices on top make the flavor combination very interesting; the result must be sweet, tart and crunchy all at once, nutty and nice.

MORE photos, please! Even office equipment loves them. I forgot to switch to text-only for printing, and the printer ate the paper. It had good taste, at least!

Best regards from New Jersey, USA

fx

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:41:16 GMT

Charlie, no problem, such comments say more about the person that makes them than about their subject I guess!

fx

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:40:18 GMT

Kimberly, thanks for trying this and glad it worked for you!

Kimberly in Medford, NJ

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:07:46 GMT

Wow! This was outstanding. I used Stilton and we drank a bottle of Eroica 2006 Riesling Columbia Valley Washington State. My palate sure appreciates your genius.

Charlie

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:42:31 GMT

Hey! You do fantastic work with this website, so don"t let silly comments get you down. Thank you for all your efforts.

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:29:03 GMT

Jason indeed proper bruschetta should be so crumbly that as you bite it should explode in a thousand crumbles!

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:27:47 GMT

Laura, thanks for your support! I have to eliminate so many nice pictures to avoid repetition that it feels like cutting my little fingers over and over again. So when some person creeps out of the woodwork to say that there is one too much, I wonder if the nitpicking does not hide something else.

Laura D.

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:16:03 GMT

I like ALL your photos, FX. And I like that word, "pleonastic." I"m a proofreader, but I had to get my dictionary out for that one!

Jason Sandeman

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:09:55 GMT

I love the pictures that you have for your site, and you just can never have too many pictures of a cool nutcracker. I love that you captured the essence of the bruscetta as well, while you were photographing it after you had cut it. You had crumbs all over the table, which makes me feel as if it were an authentic Italian preparation. Indeed, something is wrong with your fare if there are not a thousand small little breadcrumbs all over after you have started your first round in antipasti. That is what Nona said so, at least.

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:27:59 GMT

Rosa thanks for visiting! Yes I love my nutcracker too, but I have more crackers to share for future articles about nuts!

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:27:17 GMT

Sounds like a great recipe Xavier, a fine way to honor the spirit of each cheese and let it impart its personality to the dinner!

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:26:17 GMT

Stephan, I know finding good bread can be an ordeal in many parts of the world. Although we are spoiled for choice where I live (5 artisan bakers within walking distance), Germans are great about baking their own bread. There are some many beautiful flour mills and breadbaking books you can buy in Germany, this might be your solution!

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:24:36 GMT

Cris, I also love Stilton with Port, you could certainly use Stilton for this dish but you"d serve the Port in a glass on the side. This would really work great I think, and very much in line with the original character of this dish which is about finding a perfect match amongst ingredients available in your kitchen.

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:22:13 GMT

Oh yes this sounds like a great gourmet pizza, although maybe the Rucola might be slightly too much for me!

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:21:22 GMT

You can do your own bruschetta with whatever fine ingredients you have around the kitchen!

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:20:56 GMT

Johnny, this particular blue cheese has very muted flavors, nothing like Roquefort. You can definitely use an even softer blue cheese since there are no other strong flavors to stand up to in this dish.

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:19:41 GMT

Angela, glad you decided to move on with the lighting! You should subscribe to the Flickr group called Strobist and use some large shoot through umbrella, they go for about 25$ nowadays, great stuff!

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:18:38 GMT

Indeed!

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:18:28 GMT

Helena, there are as many bruschette as there are cooks. The common southern ones are made with olive oil, fresh tomatoes and oregano, but in the North they are often garnished with melted cheese.

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:16:59 GMT

You certainly seem to dig earthly pleasures for a taoist, albeit a wandering one! There are many sorts of honey under the sky, usually the one used with such dishes would be the very soft Acacia. It is very liquid but if you try another less soft honey it might work better.

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:14:56 GMT

Jutta, I bought it in Cologne from a cookery store where I spent the better part of the afternoon.

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:10:58 GMT

Well Traci, in fact I got this one from the get go. The timing between dropping the ball to shutter release seemed well in sync for some reason. Unfortunately I did not have enough light to be able to increase the shutter speed, which would have resulted in a clearer picture of the steel ball complete with reflections, and maybe little fragments of walnuts exploding. I"d need to work with a high-speed sync box and in a dark room with a flash to get this. Will try soon!

fx

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:08:39 GMT

Maria (or Lina), wow, for one extra picture I get a nasty comment. Let"s see. I start from about 600 pictures for one article, then select about 50 for the article. Finally about 30 make it to the finished article. In this article I have only 17 pictures on one page. Sure, the two pictures of the walnut cracker look similar, but I"d have a rather long paragraph should I have eliminated #8. Yes it could have been omitted and not hurt the story, but you make it sound like most of my articles are long-winded and visually pleonastic. Is that really so?

maria

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:48:44 GMT

I love your website, recipes, experiences, etc. Your photography is great as well, but there are times when your shots are repetitive and superfluous. For example: one photo of a walnut being cracked would be enough.