Warm goat cheese salad
Serves 4
Crottin de Chavignol is the classic goat cheese used in this typically French salad. It's sold by the piece for $4.95 at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge; you'll need one 2- to 3-ounce piece for each serving. Vermont Butter & Cheese makes a "bijou," in the style of a crottin and Westfield Farm also produces an excellent quality goat cheese in a 5-ounce log ($4.29). For more on cheeses, see E5. For bread, choose a mild sourdough or a walnut bread. Brined green peppercorns come in jars in many specialty markets. Use 1/4 teaspoon fine-grained sea salt for the "flaked" sea salt, if necessary.
VINAIGRETTE
| 1 | shallot, roughly chopped |
| 1/2 | teaspoon flaked sea salt |
| 1 | tablespoon olive oil |
| 1 | tablespoon sunflower oil |
| 1 | tablespoon walnut oil |
| 2 | teaspoons cider vinegar |
| 1 | teaspoon brined green peppercorns |
2. Add the peppercorns and blend just until they are roughly chopped.
SALAD
| 1 | Bibb or Boston lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces |
| 4 | small tomatoes, cut into wedges |
| 1 | small Spanish onion, thinly sliced |
| 1/4 | cup chopped walnuts |
| 4 | tablespoons green peppercorn vinaigrette |
| 8 | ounces fresh goat cheese |
| 1/4 | of one round bread |
2. In a bowl, combine the lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and walnuts. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Arrange the salad on each of four plates.
3. Slice the cheese into 1/4-inch rounds. Divide the bread in half and make vertical cuts to slice each half into four 1/4-inch thick triangles. Arrange the bread slices on a rimmed baking sheet and broil for about 1 minute or until the bread is crisp but not brown.
4. Place a round of cheese on each slice of bread. Broil the bread and cheese for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the cheese is slightly melted and just starting to brown.
5. Arrange 2 cheese-topped slices of bread on each salad. Sprinkle the cheese with the remaining 1 tablespoon vinaigrette. Adapted from kitchen-notebook.blog spot.com
