Blackberry Goat Cheese Tart

 Here's another quick, yet tasty appetizer that doesn't take long, but looks and tastes amazing when you serve it.

Blackberry Goat Cheese Tarts.

I found the original recipe here, however I didn't want to work so hard as to make my own tart and everything.

Also, I wanted only "mini" appetizers, so I bought the pre-made mini phyllo shells to use as the tart base.

Goat Cheese Filling 

5 ounces goat cheese, softened
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1/4 cup honey

In a small bowl, stir together the goat cheese, sour cream, egg, and honey until absolutely smooth. Pour mixture into large tart shell or divide evenly between individual tart shells. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until filling is puffed and golden. Allow tarts to cool completely.

Topping
12 ounces fresh blackberries
2-3 tablespoons honey, warmed
Fresh basil leaves, shredded

Once tarts are cooled, top with blackberries and drizzle with warm honey. Garnish with shredded basil leaves, if desired. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

So quick and simple, there's really no reason not to try them.  As an added bonus, the sour cream helps alleviate the "goat" flavor that some don't like. 

Can-Do Attitude: Black and Red Jam

Ginormous blackberry!

My signature jam?  Black & Red, combining blackberries and raspberries into a wonderfully jammy goodness!

Next to apple sauce, a simple jam is a piece of cake.  Jelly is difficult because you have to strain, but a jam is is just mash, solidify, and jar!

Black & Red recipe:
1 quart crushed blackberries and raspberries
1 pouch of liquid pectin
6 1/2 cups of sugar (yikes, right?!  substitute splenda or sugar equivalent at will...)

First, put your quart of fruit in your pot.

Then, use a potato masher (or whatever you have) to mash the fruit.  I leave it fairly coarse since it'll cook out nicely as you go through the process.

Then, add your 6 and 1/2 cups of sugar.  All jam recipes require a boat load of sugar.  I like using the Splenda Sugar Blend because it cuts the requirement in half, but it's still a lot sugar.  If you want it to taste nice, then you do it.

Once you have it mixed together, bring to a boil until all of the sugar dissolves.  Then, add one pouch of liquid pectin, and bring to a hard boil for one minute.  Be careful because you can easily foam up and boil over.


Skim off any extra foam from the top of the pot to keep your jars clean. 

Turn the heat off the pot after a minute of boiling.  Then, load into your hot jars with at least 1/4 inch of space before sealing with your vacuum sealing lids.

To process, place your jars in a large boiling pot of water, covering the jars by at least one inch of water.  Leave in the boiling water for 10 minutes, remove, and cool. It takes about 24 hours or so to set up the jam, but after that, serve up and enjoy!

Chunky delicious-ness!!