Grilled Nectarine and Goat Cheese Appetizer Recipe

I love grilling fruit. The natural sweetness creates a caramelized crust while slightly softening the texture of the fruit. Stone fruits in particular work very well. And since I just bought a bunch of white nectarines, I decided to have some fun with them and make sweet and savory appetizers.

I chose nectarines that were ripe but still a little firm, and threw them briefly on the grill. I wanted to make sure they didn't become watery and mushy. Fruity, sweet flavors pair incredibly well with goat cheese, so I nestled the grilled nectarine wedges on thin slices of chèvre and a slightly toasted brioche.

To finish the appetizers, I drizzled the nectarines with date syrup and added a sprinkle of finely chopped garlic chives and flat-leaf parsley. They're very easy to assemble and would make beautiful appetizers for your next summer party!

Mango Stilton Cheese Muffins

Making savory muffins is one of the easiest fancy, light accompaniments you could prepare. The batter can even be prepared in advance. This time around, I flavored the muffins with mild stilton cheese, dried mango and fresh ginger.

I prepared a full platter of mini muffins and served them with a salad of mixed greens and another platter of rolled smoked salmon (cold sliced meat would work fine as well), crème fraîche and slices of lemons. The weather is getting warmer, so a light lunch along with sweet treats and fresh cold drinks was really satisfying.

Stuffed Potato Appetizers (Bolognese Potatoes)

Our family loves potatoes, any kind of potatoes. They're filling and delicious, especially when they're baked. Personally, I love the crunchy exterior and creamy inside. Today, I played with white-fleshed sweet potatoes (Japanese sweet potatoes), purple-fleshed potatoes (Okinawan sweet potatoes) and regular Yukon Gold potatoes, respectively from the sweetest to the least sweet variety.

I wanted to make sure that the entire family could enjoy the trio of bite-sized potato appetizers I made, so I filled them with soy chorizo. If you're a meat lover, you could replace it with ground beef. I topped the potato bites with a cheesy crust. They took some time to assemble, but it literally took half a second for our family to inhale them all!

Savory Muffin Recipe: Mushroom Cream Cheese Muffins

This morning, I prepared a batch of savory cake batter. I flavored it with fresh herbs from the garden, goat cheese, cream cheese, garlic and shiitake mushrooms. I baked them later in the day and had already prepared a garlic herb goat cheese spread to go along with the savory treats. It was "un délicieux en-cas", which literally means in French a "delicious in case of [I get hungry]"!

Cheddar Cheese Muffins (Savory Cake Recipe)

Cheddar cheese muffins are one easy appetizer. I followed a usual cake batter recipe but instead of making it sweet, I flavored it with both jalapeño Cheddar cheese and smoked cheddar cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped walnuts. As a reminder of the flavors, I topped each muffin with sun-dried tomato pesto.

Today, the girls were in charge of the barbeque lunch. They grilled several vegetables, sausages for hot dogs and finally placed a few sweet potatoes in the ashes. I didn't want to interfere with their menu, so all I did was a few of these easy, cheesy appetizers. I'm sure they didn't mind!