I know it is only mid-October, but my brain is on planning for Thanksgiving already. You can blame it on a multitude of house projects, a few out-of-town guests between then and now, and a few other odds & ends tasks. With the flurry of activities I fear I am going to blink and find my expectant Thanksgivings guests looking back at me, wonder what is on the menu.
Hence, I am going to try to work in new ideas over the next few weeks so that come Turkey Day my preparation is smooth and stress free. First up – an appetizer – Persimmon and Goat Cheese Bruschetta.
As the weather turns colder, a common grocery store item is the persimmon. For whatever reason, I haven’t experimented much with persimmons until now. The fuyu persimmons, which are shaped like a tomato and are a vibrant orange are ripe and ready to eat when firm (basically as-is from the grocery store), unlike the hachiya persimmons which must be soft before eating. Similar to a vine-ripe tomato a fuyu persimmon can be eaten simply by slicing off the top and remove the slender core.
To keep it simple, I mixed the diced persimmon with dried cranberries, and served it over to sweet potato & cinnamon crackers topped with goat cheese that had been flavored with garam marsala and ground cloves. Even my two kiddos loved the snack, so I’m sure it will be a winner on Thanksgiving.
I chose the crackers mainly since they went with my theme (they were not sponsored) and because I didn’t want to go to a second grocery store just to find the rye cocktail bread that had been my original intent. If you decide to try my Persimmon and Goat Cheese Bruschetta on the rye bread I’d love to hear how it turned out!
Persimmon & Goat Cheese Bruschetta
2 Fuyu persimmons
½ cup dried cranberries
10 oz creamy goat cheese
1 teaspoon garam marsala
½ teaspoon ground cloves
48 sweet potato & cinnamon crackers*
Remove the stem and core of the persimmons, dice, and add to a bowl. Add the cranberries and stir to combine. In a separate bowl add the goat cheese, sprinkle the garam marsala and cloves over the cheese and stir until well mixed. Lay out the crackers on a platter, then roll ½ teaspoon of the spice goat cheese in a ball, press onto a cracker and top with a bit of the persimmon & date mixture. Repeat with the remaining crackers, cheese, and persimmon mixture. Serve immediately.
*note – if you can’t find the sweet potato & cinnamon crackers, substitute 24 rye cocktail bread squares.
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