MORE RECIPE LOVIN' - Blackberry Fennel "Goat Cheese" Pizza + Some Booze

I know I just did a recipe post, but shmeh. Since when can you ever have too many recipes?! I ask you.

Last month, movie stars primped and groomed, waxed and exfoliated, donned their most lavish duds and were promptly shuttled over to Dolby Theatre in preparation of the most anticipated event of the year in Hollywood: the Oscars.  Meanwhile, the rest of civilization threw on their Sunday's finest (read: comfiest sweatpants), grabbed some tasty morsels, and curled up to watch the ceremony. I still say that we, the people, got the better end of that deal.

Alright, so I did (somewhat begrudgingly) manage to transcend the ratty lounge wear, throw on some suitable street attire and get my booty to a friend's viewing party; believe-you-me, that took some serious doing on the part of my will power. There was food awaiting me at said shindig, so I was up to the task.  Here's the lowdown on what I made for zee soiree:

RAW GOAT "CHEESE"

(P.S. I borrowed Cara's awesome recipe from her blog forkandbeans.com. She gets fancier than I did; check it out!)

-Ingredients-

1/2 cup raw cashews (soak for a few hours)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/3 cup water

1 tb coconut oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

pinch of salt

-Directions-

• Use a couple of small ramekins and be sure to line them with plastic wrap
• Blend all of the ingredients in a blender at high speed until the mixture is smooth
• Pour into ramekins and cover over with plastic wrap
• Let it set and refrigerate overnight

BLACKBERRY FENNEL GOAT "CHEESE" PIZZA

-Ingredients-

egg-free cornmeal pizza crust (I got mine at Whole Foods)

1 1/2 cups blackberries
1 small bulb fennel thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer)
1/2 goat “cheese” (recipe above),
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
a few sprigs fresh thyme
salt and pepper

-Directions-

• I bought a frozen vegan, gluten-free cornmeal crust from Whole Foods. If you're feeling ambitious and want to create the crust from scratch, power to you :)
• If you take the lazy way out as I did, remove crust from plastic wrap and let it thaw
• Pre-heat the over to 500 degrees
• Drizzle some olive oil over the crust and spread the goat cheese on top of that
• Sprinkle blackberries, fennel, crushed hazelnuts and sprigs of thyme on top of the cheese
• Back for 10-12 minutes
• The crust should be cooked through to the center and browned on the edges
• Remove pizza from the oven and let it cool
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• And, huzzah! There you have it

Mmmmhmmm. Slice me off a piece of that. And what's an evening of pizza without a little libation? 

TANGERINE CHAMPAGNE SORBET COCKTAIL

-Ingredients-

2-3 cups tangerine juice

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup Champagne (or your sparkling wine of choice)

WARNING: don't forget to set aside plenty of Champagne for the actual cocktail!

-Directions-

• Heat 1/2 cup of the tangerine juice and Champagne in a sauce pan on low heat
• Once warm, add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved completely
• Remove from the stove top and set the saucepan aside
• Once it's cooled, pour into a bowl and put it in the fridge to chill for the better part of an hour
• Once the mixture has been properly chilled, you have two options: you can be a fancy pants and put it in an ice cream machine OR you can do as my cheap ass did:

• Put the mixture in the freezer once it's cool
• At 45 minute intervals, remove the bowl from the fridge and, equipped with a sturdy spoon, scrape the ice chunks from the edge of the bowl and mix them into the rest of the sorbet
• Doing so will cause the mixture to get thicker with each interval
• Once the concoction is uniformly thick throughout, you've done the impossible: you've made sorbet without no stinking machines. BAM

• Now that the sorbet is done, it's time to blame it on the alcohol. Bust out your fanciest Champagne flutes or wine glasses, scoop out whatever amount of sorbet your heart desires into the glass. Pour the wine over that deliciousness and voilà!  

And, with that, I conclude this hunger-inducing tale. It's been a slice.

xx Happy munchin' (and drankin')