Blue Cheese and Rosemary Shortbread

OK, these were just soooo delicious!  A savoury shortbread with just a hint of sweet and some good blue cheese.  I hosted a Julia Child Dinner Party recently and popped these cookies into coffee mugs my hubby made for my friends to take home.  The cookies are great for an appie with wine in the summer or winter.  Bon Appetite!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  1 cup of salted butter, softened, 1/2 cup white sugar, 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup of blue cheese, 1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary.

I like to use my mixer for this stuff, so basically beat the butter until fluffy first, then add the sugar until everything is blended.  Then stir in the blue cheese and rosemary.  You are going to have to put this shortbread into the freezer to harden somewhat before baking.  Divide dough and make two logs.  Wrap in plastic wrap and pop into the freezer for about 1/2-1 hour.  Mine froze really fast.  When about to bake, take out of freezer, slice into 1/4 inch slices.  Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and put about 1 inch apart on cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Just keep checking to make sure they don't get too brown.  Then take out and cool on a plate.  Oh these are flippin delicious!  Makes about 3 dozen.

Meatball Lunch with Chucky Tomato Sauce

I go to a pub here in Vancouver and can't get enough of this lunch.  I absolutely love the simplicity of dish because it is not overpowered by too many spices.  It is just an easy and sublime marriage of three good meatballs and a basily summer sun tasting chunky tomato sauce.   I usually make my own tomato sauce, but in this case, I used just two cans and one jar to cover lunch.

Obviously you can go more fresh using fresh basil, garlic, oregano, Parmesan.

1 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef, 2 eggs, 1 cup of panko, 1 cup of Parmesan cheese (I just used your basic pantry powder), 1/3 cup of melted butter (I've seen butter put into THE BEST BURGERS), 2 tbsp. of onion, 1 tbsp.  1 Tbsp. garlic powder, 2 Tbsp. of any Italian spices, or just oregano.  Mix well.  Form about 12 medium-sized meatballs in a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Now for your easy peasy tomato sauce:  2 small cans of diced tomatoes with Italian spices (or just plain if you like) and then one jar of Paul Newman's tomato basil.  Put all three in a pot, warm and stir.  Arrange meatballs in a beautiful serving dish and pour the tomato sauce over.  Garnish with parsley and serve.  Easily warmed up if you bring it to a pot-luck.

Cucumber Feta Cheese Crostini - Delish!

Summer is smoky here in British Columbia but prior to being smoky I managed to make a few appetizers in the great outdoors for a few glorious summer parties.  Here is an appetizer that is so delicious, so addictive and so easy to make.  If you are going to a party or having one, these babies are easy to whip up in advance and are a hit!

1 baguette, 8 tsp. olive oil, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1 small package of feta cheese, 1/2 tsp. of lemon juice, salt and pepper, 1 small cucumber thinly sliced.

Slice baguette into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces.  Brush one side of each baguette piece with the olive oil and sprinkle with little bit of salt and garlic powder.  Put into a 400 degree oven on a cookie sheet and bake for about 5-8 minutes (or until you like the crispness of it).

Take out and cool down.

In a bowl mix together feta cheese, lemon, salt and pepper and a little more olive oil if you like.  Spread over each baguette and top with cucumber and a bit of salt if you like.  Always make sure you taste your concoction to add whatever more you might like.  XO