Cheese, Apple, and Nut Mélange

Mélange

The combination of flavors here—cheese, nuts, and apples that have been rolled in lemon juice and sprinkled with black pepper—is delicious. Although I usually serve the mélange as a dessert, it also makes an ideal brunch or light lunch main dish. To crush whole peppercorns coarsely (creating what the French call a migonette), spread them on a clean, flat work surface, and press on them with the base of a saucepan until they crack open. Pepper crushed this way is much less hot than pepper ground conventionally. If you must use a peppermill, however, set it to grind the pepper as coarsely as possible.

Yield

4 servings

Total Time

About 15 minutes

Nutritional Analysis Per Serving

Calories 303
Protein 10 g
Carbohydrates 18 g
Fat 23 g
Saturated fat 8 g
Cholesterol 27 mg
Sodium 511 mg

2 large apples (russet, Golden Delicious or Rome Beauty)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
(see introduction above)
2/3 cup pecans (about 25 halves)
5 ounces blue cheese (Gorgonzola, Stilton, or Roquefort),
cut into 4 pieces 4 sprigs basil or arugula (about 5 ounces)
French bread

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cut the unpeeled apples into quarters, remove and discard the cores, and roll the quarters in the lemon Juice. Sprinkle the apples with the pepper.

3. Spread the pecans on a cookie sheet, and bake them for 8 minutes.

4. To serve, arrange two pieces of apple, one piece of cheese, and a few pecans on each of four plates. Arrange a few basil leaves or arugula sprigs around the apples. Serve with crusty French bread.

Buy the Book!

from:
Sweet Simplicity
Jacques Pépin's Fruit Desserts
by Jacques Pépin
Bay Books
$29.95 (U.S.) Cloth
ISBN: 0912333987
Recipe reprinted by permission.