When we go on vacation, I’m always sure I’ll post at least something short at Notes on Dinner, but it never really works out that way. I took pictures on the trip though and now I have something very easy for August: figs and blue cheese for an appetizer, although it might also be dessert. Oozing creamy cheese shot with threads of sharp blue underscores the sweetness of black figs, sticky with juice. An old wooden board, a knife, a little glass of crisp mineral-y wine. It might seem off the cuff, even haphazard, but it’s not. This is laid back yet composed; some might even say elegant. (That might be me!)
I won’t call this a recipe and it seems silly to write it all out but here’s how it works:
- Buy a basket of Black Mission figs and a wedge of Blue Castello or a similarly rich mild blue.
- Rinse figs.
- Unwrap cheese.
- Get knife.
- Serve on a cutting board. I like to let people cut the figs and cheese themselves.
That’s it. The only little nicety you might add, if you get to the market in the morning, is to pull the cheese from the icebox an hour before you eat. You could also put a few almonds or walnuts out – they’d be even prettier served in the shell with a nut cracker. We had a glass of chilly rosé with our figs, blue and almonds and that was just right.
