I was relieved of my cooking duties for Monday evening so yesterday was my first meal of the summer season. Lunch was a beautiful bisque of Asparagus and Crab paired with a salad of Frissee, roasted Walnuts, French Green Lentils, crumbled Goat Cheese and Sherry Vinaigrette topped with a poached Egg. Dessert was a simple plate of sliced Pineapple topped with Strawberry Whipped Cream.
After a long, long nap, dinner prep started. We enjoyed Herb and Whole Grain Mustard crusted Rack of Lamb served with Bacon braised Cabbage and Garlic roast Yellow Potatoes, finished with a Rosemary Lamb Jus.
Our chilly weather (lows in the 40's...brrrrrr) paired perfectly with our dessert of hot from the oven Fiji Apple Crisp topped with Blue Cheese Caramel (recipe below) and sweet whipped Cream.
A few of the guests questioned my Blue Cheese Caramel, but the pairing of the sweet, thinly sliced apples with the salty bite of the caramel quickly reassured them that this pairing was a classic for a reason. Many a slice of Apple Pie has been graced with a slice of Cheddar, so the leap to Blue Cheese wasn't a long one. 
Blue Cheese CaramelYields: about 1 1/2 cups
1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Water
1 1/4 cups Heavy Cream
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
2-3 ounces crumbled Blue Cheese
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix the water and sugar. Cover and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a medium brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Gradually, and with great caution, add the cream and the vanilla extract. Simmer until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the blue cheese. Serve warm, or add another 1/4 cup of heavy cream and serve room temperature.
**I like to transfer the warm, prepared caramel to a glass Pyrex measuring cup, and place it in a bain marie over low heat (see the first picture above). I place a paper towel in the bottom of the pot to protect the Pyrex cup and keep the caramel warm.
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