Another So So Bachelor Performance

I am not sure how many of you watch “The Bachelor” anymore, but Emily, Elizabeth and I have all decided that it each season gets a little trashier than the previous. So, we’ve started talking about maybe finding a new show to replace “The Bachelor” for our get togethers. Much like the show I feel like Russ and my food contributions have also gone downhill over the seasons too. You might remember a few of our not so great contributions like the Stuffed Chicken Breasts that took forever and were just okay, or the Shish Kebabs that got a little over cooked, or there was another recent Bachelor that didn’t make it to the blog where I made the Roasted Broccoli (that I raved about here) only to under cook it and that is just naming a few... So, tonight Russ and I are in charge of the appetizer and dessert. I decide to try a new recipe for the appetizer and go with a fool proof dessert recipe repeating the Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip Cookies that I made here. Well, despite the fact that the appetizer featured two of my favorite foods – roasted red peppers and goat cheese – the recipe as a whole fell flat and was didn’t take advantage of these amazing ingredients. Oh, the cookies you ask… well I forgot to soften the butter and I was running late, so I picked up some ice cream sandwiches at the store… at least they were tasty!

The appetizer I made tonight is Goat Cheese Spread with Roasted Red Peppers from the Birmingham Junior League "Food for Thought" cookbook (which is one of my underused cookbooks and counts towards my New Year's Resolution!). To make it you start by combining the goat cheese, cream cheese, and thyme. I did this in the food processor, but if you don’t have one you could do it by hand. Spread this evenly in a serving dish and set it in the fridge to chill. Next you roast the red peppers. You can do this several ways, but tonight I decided to just do it on the stove top (must be gas). You just lay them over the flame and turn them periodically until they are fairly black. Then toss them in a zip lock bag and let them hang out for a few minutes. Once they have cooled, pull them out, and peel off the outer peel. Then cut them into pieces and puree them in the food processor. Pull out the cheese spread and pile the red pepper puree evenly over the top. The recipe instructs you use plastic wrap to pull the cheese spread out and put it on a plate and then top it with the peppers. While this may be a little more appealing as far as appearance I didn’t find it necessary so I just left it in my container. I served it with crostini (slices of baguette that Russ grilled lightly on both sides).

As I mentioned earlier roasted red peppers and goat cheese are two of my favorite foods (hence why I selected this recipe to try). Despite having these two ingredients the recipe just didn’t add any extra flavor to them and didn’t do a good job in bringing the flavors together. To be honest it would have been just as tasty and easier to just take the crostini and spread some goat cheese on it and top it with a roasted red pepper. The thyme didn’t add much flavor and the cream cheese while it added some creaminess to the dip it really wasn’t necessary. All in all it was just okay and with a combination of goat cheese and roasted red peppers you could definitely come up with a better way of pairing them. Russ rates the dip a 7. In case you are wondering what show we are going to start watching after this season of The Bachelor... well we just discovered that they are doing another Bachelorette season - so we have to watch that!

Goat Cheese Spread with Roasted Red Peppers, Food for Thought
Makes 2 Cups

Ingredients:
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
8 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
3 sweet red peppers

Combine the first 4 ingredients in the food processor, and blend until smooth. Press mixture into a ramekin or mold lined with plastic wrap and chill. Roast peppers over gas flame or under broiler, turning until the skins are charred all over. Place peppers in a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside for 20 minutes. Halve the peppers and remove the cores; peel off skin. Cut peppers into 1 inch strips, and place strips in the food processor; pulse 3 or 4 times. Unmold chilled cheese mixture; top with red pepper puree. Serve with crostini or melba toast.