Happy Monday everyone! We’re pretty excited today because we’ve just picked up a fab new recipe. Despite appearances, we are not all culinary masters, so we decided to recruit a little help. Expert Chef Liam from The Castle at Taunton has given us a lovely summer salad, Goats Cheese Salad With Grilled Plums, Strawberries, Hazelnuts and Balsamic Vinegar… Perfect for a summer dinner!
Goats Cheese Salad
Ingredients:
- Serves 4
- 400g goat’s cheese log
- 120g Greek yoghurt
- 4 plums
- 10 un-ripened strawberries
- 100g hazelnuts
- 100ml balsamic vinegar
- Fresh herbs and salad leaves to dress
Method
To prepare your goat’s cheese, remove the rind and leave to come to room temperature. Blend in food processor with the Greek yoghurt until smooth; season to taste. Place in a disposable piping bag and leave to rest in fridge until serving.
For the garnish, dice half the strawberries finely and place in the balsamic vinegar / syrup. With the remaining strawberries cut into desired shapes, leave to the side.
Cut the plums into halves and quarters and lightly char grill – this adds a more depth to the plum and more flavour.
To serve, remove the strawberries from the balsamic and use to dress the plate with the plums and remaining strawberries. Reduce balsamic by half to intensify – try not to add sugar as it’s quite a fresh sweet dish. Dress with hazelnuts and leaves.
This dish requires a lot of balance between sweet and sour. Make sure your fruit is not too ripe. The balsamic will cut through the goat’s cheese and go perfect with the fruit and nuts.
Chef’s Tip
Most varieties of goat’s cheese have different levels of fat and pasteurisation processes applied which give different textures. For the above it requires a crumbly semi set cheese like Bosworth Ash. If you’re afraid the goat’s cheese will be too wet when adding the yoghurt reduce the amount or add some gelatine to firm it up.
