Sip & Snack - Stuffed

When I was on Shelter Island a few weeks ago, my husband and I opted to do a lot of cooking at home versus going out. This was a challenge for me as with our everyday city life usually consists of dining in our historic neighborhood or ordering take out and only honestly only cooking 2-3 times a week. While we love to cook, we are both busy and aren't always home to have dinner together. I find it difficult to think of a different meal for everyday of the week never-mind something that doesn't include 100 ingredients, because let's face it -that is annoying and also expensive. So while dinner inspiration is always a challenge, snacks are not. I love snacks and always have lots of options in my fridge for quick last minute entertaining. One thing I made while home was blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto then baked till the outside was crispy and the inside melty. To say it was delicious was an understatement. When I was thinking of a coordinating cocktail I was wondering if I could somehow create something with a vanilla date flavor but instead I was inspired with the leftover blue cheese and a jar of olives I had in my fridge - voila! The blue cheese stuffed olives dirty martini was born. Certainly not a new invention but it was easy breezy and involved existing ingredients I had on hand, always a win in my book. All the delicious details are below.



Ingredients

jar of pitted green olives with juice
crumbled blue cheese
premium vodka {the better the vodka the better the hangover}

Directions

Stuff the three olives with blue cheese and skewer on a toothpick or drop in your drink{or more if you so desire}. Mix 2 oz olive juice with 2 oz vodka over ice in beverage shaker. Pour in martini glass and garnish with stuffed olives.

Ingredients

dried pitted dates
crumbled blue cheese
thinly sliced prosciutto

Directions

Stuff dates with blue cheese, wrap in prosciutto and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or till crispy. I like to flip mine half way through to make both sides of the prosciutto crispy. Remove from oven & serve.

How easy was that??? Enjoy!