Baked Camembert With Figs, Peaches, Passion Fruit, Pomegranate & Pistachio Nuts

 The kids have finished school for the summer, and August has arrived bringing the hot weather for the holidays. Well supposedly!!
As always, in England, we have a few hot, sunny days and get all excited, and then the clouds, wind and rain burst through again.
Remaining optimistic for hot weather this week I have put a light bite meal of baked camembert on the menu. 
Baked Camembert has become quite a popular dish the past few years in pubs and restaurants.
Easy and quick to prepare, the camembert is placed in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 180° and served with crusty bread, usually on a slate or wooden board.
This is usually it, however, I spotted a gorgeous photo on pinterest this week with figs, pistachio nuts and pomegranate on top of the camembert and knew that was perfect for the café menu!
I was right, already it's been a great success, with 2 alternative toppings being served.

One version was topped with fresh, juicy peach, pistachio nuts, pomegranate seeds and my raspberry & strawberry ketchup served with crusty white baguette.

Is your mouth watering??

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second version was with fresh figs, passion fruit, pomegranate seeds, pistachio nuts topped with my tasty raspberry & strawberry ketchup.

Served on a rustic, wooden board with warm crusty baguette. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which version is your favourite?  

 

Linking up this week with:
Tasty Tuesdays
Foodie Friday and Everything Else

The Alternative Caprese Sandwich

Enter into any eating establishment and ask for a sandwich and you would expect to receive your chosen filling in between two slices of bread, and rightly so.
This week we had on the cafe menu mozzarella, basil, tomato and pesto on warm ciabatta as our sandwich of the day, as shown below.



Mozzarella, Basil, Tomato and Pesto on warm Ciabatta

One customer's order I received this week had the strange request of the sandwich but with the filling on the side. It's always hard when customers request changes as a chef serves any dish their own way and it's not always easy to interpret exactly what the customer is asking for, if that makes sense.

Charging the same as the sandwich on the board I also had to ensure I didn't get carried away putting more ingredients on the plate. Good for the customer but not good for the business profits. As one of my previous managers always stated "we are a business not a charity".

So, using the same amount of ingredients but spreading them out to fill the plate, I placed the mozzarella and tomatoes in layers on a small bed of rocket with basil leaves tucked in between, and the pesto in a small dish on the side. The oven warmed ciabatta was sliced and placed on the side.
 

Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil and Pesto with Ciabatta

The result looked lovely and the customer was happy that her request had been executed to how she wanted it.
For me I thought what a novel and alternative way to serve a sandwich this way in a cafe. I do love doing things differently, and with a twist.

The Alternative Caprese Sandwich

I wonder if all customers would be happy with this alternative way of  serving the cafe sandwich.

Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil, and Pesto with Warm Ciabatta.
The Alternative Caprese Sandwich