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Red Wine Cranberry Goat Cheese Dip & Holiday Spiced Nuts

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a festive Christmas spread of red wine cranberry goat cheese dip & holiday spiced nuts

serves: 10-12 (appetizer servings)

  • Author: Kayla Howey

Ingredients

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Red Wine Cranberry Goat Cheese Dip

  • 12 oz (1 bag) fresh cranberries, rinsed
  • 2/3 cup red wine
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 18 oz goat cheese
  • ¼ cup hot water
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp chopped rosemary
  • kosher salt, as needed
  • freshly cracked black pepper, as needed
  • chopped pistachios, to garnish
  • toasted bread or crackers for serving

Holiday Spiced Nuts

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp anise seed
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 ½ cups raw pecans
  • 1 ½ cups roasted & salted cashews
  • 1 ½ cups roasted & salted pistachios

Instructions

Red Wine Cranberry Goat Cheese Dip

  1. Combine the cranberries, red wine, sugar, and rosemary in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15-18 minutes until thickened and syrupy. Let cool (the mixture will thicken more).
  2. Combine the goat cheese, hot water, olive oil, lemon juice, and honey in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Pulse in the rosemary. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
  3. Serve the goat cheese dip with the red wine cranberries and pistachios over top, alongside some toasted bread and crackers.

Holiday Spiced Nuts

  1. Add the water and brown sugar to a large saute pan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Whisk in the salt, cinnamon, anise seed, and cayenne pepper. Let boil for a minute or two until the bubbles become larger (the goal is to allow a good amount of water to evaporate before adding the nuts).
  2. Stir in all of the nuts until fully coated. Let cook for another 30 seconds.
  3. Pour the nuts out into one layer onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Let cool.