Marinated Goat Cheese with Roasted Grapes

Here's another winning dish that Al made for us that we absolutely loved, I've never had roasted grapes before and mixed with the marinaded goat cheese they are great - he changed a couple things and I'll share his notes after the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. goat cheese, cut into 1/4" pieces
• 2 cups seedless red grapes
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 t. coriander seeds
• 1 star anise pod
• 1 strip of orange zest
• 1/2 cup olive oil (orange flavored if you have it)

Instructions:

Step 1:

• Preheat oven to 350'
• Arrange grapes on a baking sheet and toss with 2 T. olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Roast for 45 minutes until the skins are wrinkled. Let cool.

Step 2:

• make the marinade by placing the thyme, bay, garlic, coriander, star anise, and olive oil in a saucepan and cook for 15 minutes on low heat. Let cool. 

Step 3:

• combine the cheese and grapes with the marinade in a glass bowl; cover and let marinade overnight at room temperature. 

To serve, arrange on a plate or platter and serve with sliced baguette. 

Al's changes: he used 3 cups of grapes, left out the star anise, and used ground coriander instead of seeds. He also mixed it all together and served in a bowl instead of a platter. 

original recipe found here