It’s a great French classic that has made its way to gourmet tables all over the world: ‘Salade de Chèvre Chaud’ (Warm Goat’s cheese salad).
This is what you need:
- a medium dry goat’s cheese. The original recipe calls for a Crottin de Chavignol, but any medium dry goat’s cheese will do
- liquid honey: the vanilla honey adds a touch of glamour but you can use any kind of honey
- thyme leaves or – even better – fresh thyme flowers if you can get them
- a couple of slices of bread – preferably wholegrain
- a mixed green salad
This is what you do:
Cut the cheese length-wise in two halves. Grill the slices of bread on one side and cut out two round pieces that are slightly larger than the diameter of the cheeses. Put the bread, grilled-side down on an oven-proof plate. Next put the halved cheese on the bread, cut-side up. Take a tablespoon of honey and delicately put it on each piece of cheese. Sprinkle some thyme leaves or flowers on top of the honey, and place the plate with the cheeses under the grill. Leave about 5 to 7 cm centimetres between the grill and the top of cheeses.
The honey will melt and caramelize and the cheese will become nice and soft. When the honey has turned golden brown, remove the plate from under the grill and carefully place the slices of bread with the cheese on a serving plate on which you’ve arranged the mixed green salad. Make a classical vinaigrette or simply sprinkle some olive oil over the salad. Add little dash of freshly ground pepper over the plate … et voilà.
You can also add some diced tomatoes or even halved hard boiled quail’s eggs.
Depending on your appetite, you serve one or two halves of cheese per person. I usually serve one half as a starter and two halves as a supper. But I’ll leave that to your discretion.
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11 comments:
Hi Martine,
Believe it or not, I've never had "salade au chèvre chaud." For some reason, I was never tempted to try it when I saw it on a menu. I'll try it when back in Paris, since it sounds pretty good.
I cannot have it here, in the boonies of Southern California, since I doubt I could find a really good goat cheese, and I cannot make it in Paris, where I can get all the goat cheeses I can dream of, since I don't have an oven there. That's life! LOL!
My absolute favorite salad! I spent many months scouring Paris for the best Chevre Chaud. We have good local honey around here and it's always such a treat.
Monsieur Charles Henri, Costco has chevrotins and Whole Foods has a lot of different types of chevres.
I am still looking for Harengs fumes. I am tired of trying kippers... Even David Lebovitz was no help.
Thank you, Nadège for the information, but neither Costco nor Whole Food are anywhere near me. At least forty + miles! It's much too far for just some goat cheeses of dubious quality and a few other unnecessary gourmet items. And, in any case, I'm boycotting Whole Food because of its wingnut CEO stance on several issues.
I tried kippers, yuck! They were swimming in some sort of liquid, water or whatever, and they were absolutely tasteless. Why can't we find those good old "harengs saurs"?
Goats cheese salad is very much like the English trifle.
Now I know one is a savoury dish and the other is an old fashioned pudding but......everybody has them on their menu and they're always different so they just have to be tried everywhere to see what the difference is.
That's my excuse anyway !
PS I forgot to mention, they are both my absolute favourites to eat anywhere and everywhere!
CHM, I blame Ken and Walt for my french cravings. (I guess they have never tried harengs saurs).
I had stopped going to Whole Foods for few months but went back recently. I do love the organic products and meat they have but I don't spend the money I used to spend there (I probably go there once or twice a month and do most of my shopping at Trader Joe's, Costco and the rest at big supermarkets).
Chm, I bet Ken and Walt wouldn't mind making you a nice goat's cheese salad the next time your staying with them ... especially as they live in goat's cheese country!
Nadage, On the of the main reasons why I could never live in the US is unavailability of good honest Frenche cheeses ! lol
Jean, I only had trifle once, in the 70-ties when I was staying with my lovely 'second mum' in Deal. I haven't tried it since. Do you happen to have a good recipe for it?
We had hareng at lunchtime last Sunday. Now, I don't know if it was hareng saur. It was just a filet de hareng. Our friends in Blois served it with salad and boiled potatoes as an appetizer before the main course at lunch.
I love salade au chèvre chaud too, especially in summertime with good fresh tomatoes. I can't believe we've never made one with CHM. We've certainly eaten a lot of fromage de chèvre. In a way, the goat cheese here is so good that it's a shame to heat it up or melt it. Just eat it fresh from the farm.
Martine - I will send you my mum's recipe for old fashioned trifle. There's a debate in England as to whether you should put jelly in it. Jelly is thought to be very working class and it is never in the posh trifles.
You can get many varieties of fancy trifles, cholcolate trifle, warm trifle, but I prefer it like I had it at home and at school as a little girl - with jelly !
I'm not sure all the ingredients translate into something you can buy in France or Belgium but you can try !!
Jean, I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure I can get most of the ingredients, especially as I have Stonemanor, the English store, at 4 km from my home:)
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