English Fruits For Cheese

I am fascinated by food pairings. This fabulous pairing is a Danish Blue Cheese with an English Lime & Chilli Fruit Puree on toasted Italian Ciabatta.


The cheese is triple-cream, soft blue-veined Castello Blue. It has a Brie-like texture, a taste that is delectably rich and buttery, with mild spicy accents of blue veins and the aroma is of mushrooms.

The fruit puree is by The Fine Cheese Co. in Bath, England. This is Lime & Chilli puree, which they make specifically for blue cheeses. Ingredients: bramley apples, cane sugar, lime juice and fresh chiles.

They also have the classic Quince to pair with Spanish Manchego, as well as a Gooseberry puree to pair with aged Gouda. And I love this – they make a cheese wedding cake (not cheesecake!) a tiered cake of cheese with fruits and nuts!

Crab & Lobster Ravioli, Tarragon Lemon Cream


This is Nuovo Pasta crab and lobster ravioli. Crabmeat & steamed lobster are coarsely ground and tossed with drawn butter and herbs. This mixture is folded into a crab mousse then piped into a striped square ravioli with red and yellow pasta.

Serve with a lovely green salad and crusty Italian bread…MANGIA BENE!

For the sauce: Saute minced shallots in butter, then add white wine and reduce. Add chopped tarragon and lemon juice. To finish, whisk in creme fraiche and season to taste with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Roasted Turkey Barley Soup


Cooking the carcass for soup the next day makes the kitchen smell like Thanksgiving all over again. The broth is rich and flavorful, and the soup is delicious and not too heavy, just right for after the holiday.

This recipe is All Leftovers from Thanksgiving plus a couple pantry items.
Saute onions, leeks, celery, and carrots until soft, then add garlic and cook for another couple minutes.
Meanwhile add 2 bay leaves to the turkey broth and add pearl barley.
Cook for about an hour until the barley is tender.
Add the vegetables and diced turkey. Simmer for about 10 minutes more.
To finish, add chopped parsley and low sodium high-quality soy sauce.
Salt and pepper to taste.


The 25 lb. beauty, pictured here.
My “Do Nothing” recipe for cooking a turkey:
1. Loosely stuff the cavity with roughly chopped onions, carrots, and celery, lots of butter and salt and pepper.
2. Rub the entire outside of the bird with soft butter and salt and pepper.
3. Put more roughly chopped onions, carrots and celery in the bottom of the roasting pan with enough chicken stock so that the pan does not dry out.
4. Roast at 325 for about 5 hours and leave the bird alone, don’t baste, don’t cover, just “do nothing” and then marvel at the beautiful bird when it reaches 165 to 170 degree internal temperature.

I believe the secret is to start with a great turkey. This is a fresh Diestel Turkey Ranch Premium Range Grown Broad Breasted Young Hen Turkey.

Barbecued Oysters


It’s our tradition to serve oysters on Thanksgiving.

This year, we have Tori & Tom’s special recipe: Pacific oysters on the grill with a pat of butter, minced garlic, smokey barbecue sauce, a dash of Crystal Hot Sauce, and freshly grated horseradish.

Ooooh! Were these ever good! We could have eaten another 3 dozen…

A special thank you to Tori, Oyster Shucker Extraordinaire!

These oysters are from Hood Canal, Washington.“Oysters adore Hood Canal. The water is kept brackish, cold, and oxygenated by the Olympic rivers.” Rowan Jacobsen

Cook’s Tip: Barbecuing the oysters takes one dish and guests out of the kitchen while you’re preparing the big meal 🙂