Winter Bosc Pear and Roquefort Salad with Spiced Red Wine Figs

 Winter Bosc Pear and Roquefort Salad with Spiced Red Wine Figs

from the just-published book The Magic of Spice Blends by Aliza Green, p. 80

(picture from the book, below)

 

A trip to Whole Foods, along with a previously-purchased Pinot Noir, gave us a nice salad for about $4.50 a serving (PLENTY of left-overs !)

 

 From right to left in my final plating - A fanned-out Bosc Pear (with a bit of lemon juice and some of the vinaigrette); about 1 oz. of wonderful Roquefort; radicchio; endives; spiced red wine figs; and walnuts. 

 

 The book instructs how to make Quatre Epices (in case you're not familiar with it, it's a French blend of four ground spices, in a rough ratio of White Pepper:Nutmeg:Ginger:Allspice of 4:3:2:1). 

 

That blend is used, along with the red wine, to poach the dried figs. 

 

The straight-forward vinaigrette uses neutral oil and cider vinegar (2:1).

 

Gabriel Coulet Roquefort !