I love cheese

One thing that gets looked over on Thanksgiving is appetizers. I love appetizers, especially the kind that gets passed on a little tray. I think that's cute and elegant at the same time. This would be a great recipe to make for holiday parties (hint, hint). My blog is so functional.

I got this recipe from Gourmet - gotta love it.

Pecan Goat Cheese Balls

1 cup pecans
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 (11-oz) log soft goat cheese
1 teaspoon minced rosemary
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed with side of a large knife, then chopped (or, you know, ground coriander. That's what I used)
About 50 to 60 large flat-leaf parsley leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the pecans with butter, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Toast them in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Careful not to burn them. Then it's no good.


2. Pulse the pecans in a food processor. My mom doesn't have one of those, so I used her blender. It was not perfect, but one must make do.


3. Mix the goat cheese with the rosemary and coriander and 1/2 tsp pepper.


4. Roll the cheese mixture into little balls, using your palms. You want each ball to have about a tsp of mixture in it. Mine were a little too big. You want them to be one bite, not two (at least, I did). I had pictures of this - but my computer won't process them correctly. Oh well.

Then roll them in the pecan mixture and roll them between your palms again.


That's pretty much it. Spear each one with a toothpick and put them on top of the parsley leaves. I don't normally do things like that, but I figured, hey, why not? It's Thanksgiving. They were really good. Nice and creamy with a crunch outside...yum.