Bleu Cheese Martini

As a lover of all things cheese and all things gin, upon discovery of this bleu cheese martini, I found my new favorite beverage, and snack. Making the perfect martini takes precision, quality ingredients and a the right equipment.

You can either use gin or vodka, depending on your preference: either way, make sure to use decent quality alcohol as the taste is evident. With vodka, most people would immediately assume that Grey Goose is the best quality, but really there are just as high quality vodkas, without paying the inflated cost. Less expensive vodka brands include Polar Ice, Svedka and a personal favoite, Rain which is organic.

Gin drinkers would first go for Tanqueray or Bombay, however there are many less expensive brands that are just as quality in taste and smoothness. Some of these brands include Beefeater, London Dry Gin and Seagrams.

Ingredients

• Dry Vermouth
• 2 ounces gin, chilled
• Bleu cheese stuffed olives
  

Directions

Pour a little bit of dry vermouth in a chilled martini glass and swirl to

coat the inside of the glass. Dispose of excess vermouth. In a shaker full of ice,

gently swirl or stir the gin before straining into glass.

Add two bleu cheese stuffed olives and enjoy with some Frank Sinatra tunes!

Spinich & Artichoke Dip... With a twist!

I am back! This time, I make a sure commitment to blog on a more regular basis, my apologizes to those millions of fans who read this blog. I have continued to eat and make new dishes for the last 6 months, however, nothing has jumped out at me more than the creation I invented last night. As a person who loves to buy in bulk, I purchased about 50 ounces of spinach which resulted in the excessive amounts of spinach recipes. One of these is my new favorite appetizers, spinach, artichoke and muenster crostinis, which I adapted.

Ingredients

1/2 cup grated Parmesean cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

10 ounces frozen spinach

6 slices muenster cheese

1 14 ounce can artichoke hearts

6 wedges Laughing cow cheese

1 french baguette

3 Tbs butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

First, you combine all ingredients except for muenster and baguette in a bowl. Make sure all ingredients are evenly distributed throughout.

Place contents into an oven-safe dish and put into the oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Slice baguette into half-inch rounds and place on baking sheet and lightly brush with butter.

Once the dip is bubbly, take it out of the oven and turn the oven to low broil.

Place baking sheet with baguette rounds into the oven for about 5 minutes. Place a tablespoon of dip on each toasted round and a part of a piece of muenster cheese on each and broil for 5 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!!