Who signed up to live in New England?? I certainly didn't! But it seems like this winter is turning out to be not that different from a New Hampshire winter...I thought I left Hanover for a reason!
Thinking about snow and snow flakes falling, my mind turned in a variety of different directions when deciding what to write about today...at first I thought about grated cheese as being somewhat reminiscent of snow flakes or like the way in which a topping of pecorino or parmesan would top a Cacio e Peppe (a traditional Roman dish with cacio - cheese and peppe - pepper, homey, comforting, simple and delish), just like the way in which snow blankets a mountain top..Then my mind drifted to panna cottas and the such which as edible representations of snow banks in Central Park...then I settled on a goat's cheese snowy dusting of a salad for an end of winter salad recipe..
Yes I know that I let my mind drift to far off places when thinking of cheese and snow and how we could tie them together...but why not let your mind wander? Broaden your horizons people!
Ok with that said, lets get going with our recipe, a bit along the lines of yesterday's blog, I thought I would take a classic recipe and turn it on its head just to get you all in the practice of thinking outside of the box when it comes to cooking. What is the one goat cheese salad that you tend to see on most restaurant menus?! Does it include beets, walnuts, some sort of green, typically arugula and a balsamic? I know the salad I am thinking of does. It is a tried and true flavor pairing, yes. The other version of this is taking a goat cheese disk, coating it in bread crumbs, placing it over mixed greens, maybe adding some nuts here and there and a dressing and calling it a warm goat cheese salad..Let me suggest to you my version of a winter goat cheese salad:
Instead of using beets, lets use a different winter vegetable, how about gold ball turnips? I know your first thought is turnips, ick! But no no, gold ball turnips have a very delicate but yet somewhat sweet and rooty sort of taste. They actually, in my opinion, do not need to be cooked, just wash, dice, and place in your salad bowl. The turnips will also give you a nice crunch to replace the crunch of the nuts..With the gold ball turnips, I recommend using some steamed peas to look towards future seasons unlike the gold ball turnips which are celebrating the now..Keeping the salad to a minimal number of ingredients, just as the classic version does, we'll take these two vegetables and toss them with some arugula and some sauteed shallots and then some crumbled goat cheese for our salad's snow..I like to use either crumbled alouette cheese or crumbled montrachet or a young crottin goat cheese or if you feel like going the more expensive route, crumbled boucheron would be fantastic! To dress this salad instead of making a balsamic vinaigrette, I'd probably make a lemon, herb, olive oil, a drop of white wine, a drop of mustard and some basil oil vinaigrette, keeping it lighter in flavor and bouncier in a way than its balsamic counter part. You're ready to serve!
Now now guys I know this may sound like a weird mixture of ingredients but the crunch of the turnip, with the smooth and mushiness of the peas, the aromatics of the shallots, and the tang of the goat cheese all fit together really nicely in the salad. I'd enjoy this salad with either a nice glass of light white wine or a sparkling or even a Hendrick's and tonic, light but full of flavor.
Enjoy guys. Lets all say goodbye to Thursday and hello to Friday, we're almost through the week!
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