A berry dinner menu for Book Club

for the book - The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

This month our book club gathered at my home to discuss the book “The Berry Pickers”. For a bit of fun I decided to go for a berry theme! Which was easier than it might seem at first and gave the menu a fresh vibrant touch.

The Menu:

Appetizer: Baked brie on crostinis, drizzled with honey and topped with a blueberry.

Main Course:

Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Blueberries, Crumbled goat cheese with a respberry vinaigrette.

Baked salmon fillet served with a Blackberry Citrus Salsa.

Wild rice mixture with pecans and cranberries.

Recipes:

Baked Brie - a simple no fuss app. Slice a baguette into slices ( as many as you need, I allow two per guest). Arrange on a cookie sheet . Place under the broiler and watch closely, remove when golden brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool (you are just toasting the one side). While they are cooling slice the brie cheese 1/4” thick to fit each crostini. Now turn the cooled crostini over and place a slice of brie on each one. Cover until ready to serve.

Place the crostini under the broiler and watch for the cheese to melt, approximately 2 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle lightly with honey and top with a blueberry.

Blackberry and Citrus Salsa

2 cups of fresh blackberries (if large cut them in half)

1/3 cup red onion finely chopped

1 pickled jalapeno pepper seeded and finely diced (may susbstitute a fresh jalapeno)

2 T fresh mint finely chopped

3 T cilantro chopped

1 T canola oil

juice of half a lemon

1 tsp sugar

1 t of tajin spice mix (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together and set aside until ready to serve with the salmon.

Spinach salad with berries

• 1 6oz bag of baby spinach - if you have the time remove the stems, it makes it so much easier to eat.

• 2 cups of sliced strawberries

• 1 cup of blueberries

• 4 oz crumbled goat cheese

• 1/2 cup of candied pecans

Raspberry vinaigrette:

• 2 1/2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar

• 1/4 cup honey

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 6 tablespoons neutral oil

• 1 tablespoon finely minced shallots (about 1 small shallot)

• 1 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and shake well to emulsify. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Wild rice mix with cranberries and Pecans

• 1 cup of wild rice

• 1 cup of brown rice

• Chicken stock

• 1/2 cup dried unsweetened cranberries

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 medium red onion finely chopped

• 3 stalks of celery finely chopped

• 4 sprigs thyme

• 2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems

• 1 tablespoon minced chives

• 1 cup of pecans toasted then roughly crumbled

Make up a batch of wild rice and a batch of brown rice separately using chicken stock. While this is cooking soak 1/2 cup of dried cranberries in boiling water, set aside. Now melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the celery and red onion and thyme, just until they are soft but not browned (about 4 minutes) Remove the thyme springs and discard. Set aside.

In a large bowl mix the cooked wild rice and brown rice together, drain the cranberries and add to the rice mixture along with the sautéed celery and red onion. Next add the pecans, chives and parsley. Mix well and taste for seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Can be made ahead of time and reheated.