2011 Cooking Club Week 15: Goat Cheese Salad, Pesto Salmon and White Choc Cheesecake

neuro-praxis

If you’re going to make this meal in its entirety, if you’re anything like me, you’ll make dessert first, so that’s what I’ll do here. This was all tonight's dinner.

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Tart Raspberry Coulis

Ingredients:



180g ginger nut biscuits
100g melted butter
300g white chocolate
200g cream cheese
2 tablespoons sour cream/crème fraiche
Juice and zest of one small lemon (or half of a large lemon)
300g raspberries (plus more for decoration)
3 tablespoons sugar

Method:

Using your food processor (or lots of elbow grease) whiz the ginger nuts into a fine crumb. Mix with the melted butter and press firmly into a 12 inch round spring-form tin. Chill.





Meanwhile, melt the chocolate. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream cheese, sour cream or crème fraiche and lemon together.



When the chocolate has melted, fold the two mixtures together and pour on top of the biscuit base. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours before eating.





To make the coulis, place the raspberries in a small saucepan with a tablespoon of water and the sugar, and leave to simmer by itself, stirring occasionally, until broken down and thick. Push through a sieve until you are left with about half a cup of coulis. Discard the seeds and pulp.







To serve, cut into slices and drizzle with coulis. Top with a few raspberries and, if you like, a dollop of cream or sour cream.



Yum!

neuro-praxis

Onto the starter.

Breaded Goat’s Cheese Salad

Ingredients:



Panko breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
Lardons
Log of soft goat’s cheese (the kind without much of a rind)
Mixture of your favourite leaves (I use baby spinach and rocket)
Good quality balsamic vinegar
Raspberry jam

Note: Quantities for this recipe will depend on how many you are serving. 1 log of goat’s cheese is good for 2-3 people. 1 pack of lardons will be enough for 2 people. You can’t really go wrong with this recipe.

Method:

Spread panko breadcrumbs on a baking tray and toast for a few minutes until golden in a hot oven (200 celsius), shaking occasionally. Set aside.


Before


After

Fry your bacon lardons and set aside to drain on kitchen towel.





To make your dressing, simply whisk together a couple of tablespoons of raspberry jam and a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and, if liked, warm gently in a small saucepan.



Cut goat’s cheese into slices, dip in egg, and then press into the breadcrumbs. Set aside on a baking tray. Return the goat’s cheese discs to the oven and bake for a few minutes until golden and oozing.




Before


After

While the goat’s cheese is cooking, dress your leaves, using your hands, adding as much or as little of the dressing that you’d like. Transfer the dressed leaves to bowls. Top with the bacon lardons and artfully arrange your warm goat’s cheese on top.



Delicious!

neuro-praxis

Onto the main course.

Salmon with a Pesto Crust

Ingredients:



Per person:

1 salmon fillet, skinned and boned
Breadcrumbs from approximately one quarter of a slice of bread (sliced pan of any kind)
A small handful of grated cheese of your choice (I used cheddar and parmesan)
A heaping teaspoon of green pesto

Method:

Set oven to 200. Grease an oven-proof dish and lay your salmon fillets into it.



I had one non-fish eater, so this is the obligatory single lonely chicken breast shot.



In a bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, cheese and pesto to form a paste. If it seems a little dry, add a few drops of olive oil.



Using clean hands, pack the paste on top of the salmon fillets and bake uncovered in the pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes.



Enjoy with creamy garlic potatoes and mixed green veg.





CAN’T TALK, EATING.

Getting there

oh my god thats goats cheese salad looks amazing! Thats tomorrows lunch sorted!

The Black Oil

Wow!

D1976

Looks amazing, where did you get the Panko breadcrubs I've been looking for these for ages

neuro-praxis

I got them in the Oriental Emporium on Jervis Street. You should be able to get them in any of the Asian shops. Or you can definitely make them yourself, it's just a bit time consuming.

Malari

Neuro-Praxis that looks REALLY good! I haven't had an awful lot of time to do Cooking Club recipes lately but I must make an effort with this one. I love this kind of food

My local Tesco used to do panko breadcrumbs, but no longer. I must have a look for them.

Mindymandy

Yum Yum!! all looks devine. Will b trying these! So glad I came across ur thread:)

unkel

So you thought you'd do 3 weeks recipes into 1, neuro-praxis? :eek:

Malari wrote: »

I haven't had an awful lot of time to do Cooking Club recipes lately but I must make an effort with this one.

Same here

Herself is gonna love that goats cheese salad! Thanks!

neuro-praxis

unkel wrote: »

So you thought you'd do 3 weeks recipes into 1, neuro-praxis? :eek:

Well...it was only one dinner! Let me know how ye get on.

John Mason

just had *some* of this for dinner:o

i dont eat fish, and himself doesnt like pesto or salmon but you motivated us to buy some fish - red snapper.:)

we made the goats cheese and the sauce - which was devine, we will definitely be making that again.:D

we had the fish, goats cheese and a rocket salad, perfect for a summers evening (ps if there are any veggies reading dont bother with the quorn tuna cakes - they are horrible)

again, himself doesnt like cheese cake and its too much cake just for me

The Black Oil

I've never used balsamic vinegar, any recommendations there?

neuro-praxis

The brand I have was a gift from a friend who owns a wine shop - it's called Mazzetti L'Original, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. It's rich and delicious

Look out for balsamic vinegars that have nothing added but grapes. Try to avoid the stuff that has brown sugar added. I'd say even something from the Tesco finest range would be good. It's worth spending a few quid on.

Little Alex

I'm going to do this in two parts, neuro-praxis. Today I had the goat's cheese. It was really lovely and I thought it was very clever to pre-toast the breadcrumbs!



It was delicious! Thank you!

Malari

I'm going to try the cheesecake for a dinner party I'm going to. I'll have to make it the night before...do you think it will keep ok overnight in the fridge? I know it won't take long to make, but I won't have 2 hours to let it set if I make it same day!

By the way, tried the pesto salmon and it was lovely. I'm not normally keen on herb-crusted fish, but this was nice, not overpowering the flavour of the salmon at all.

neuro-praxis

Yes, it'll be perfect overnight. Ours was good for 3 days in the fridge.

Little Alex

Had the main course tonight with roast vegetables and potatoes.

Loved the pesto crust!

Vera12

Hi OP

I've made the cheesecake and I thought it was yummy! But, my housemate found it to be a bit dense, so the next time I made it I reduced the chocolate by 50g and made it with Philadephia light cheese. Still, he found it to be a bit too dense, so I'm thinking about further reducing the chocolate and using Philadelphia extra-light cheese. Do you think that would be ok alright? Or does anybody have any ideas for making the cheesecake a bit lighter?

The Hill Billy

Tell him to make his own damn cheesecake.

neuro-praxis

Vera12 wrote: »

Hi OP

I've made the cheesecake and I thought it was yummy! But, my housemate found it to be a bit dense, so the next time I made it I reduced the chocolate by 50g and made it with Philadephia light cheese. Still, he found it to be a bit too dense, so I'm thinking about further reducing the chocolate and using Philadelphia extra-light cheese. Do you think that would be ok alright? Or does anybody have any ideas for making the cheesecake a bit lighter?

When you say lighter, I presume you mean less dense, and not lighter in calories?

I don't cook with low fat products so I couldn't predict for you how the cheesecake would turn out with those.

However you could whip some cream and fold it in lightly to the mixture, which would physically lighten it up. If it seemed too runny at this point, you could add a little gelatine if necessary.

I made it dense on purpose! I was emulating a simple cheesecake I'd had in a restaurant. By the way, I'd love to see any pics!

Little Alex

So, I made this last night.

I used Tesco Finest Swiss White Chocolate which has vanilla speckles in it and gave it a nice look. I did the coulis a bit differently as I'm bringing it into work: I thickened it with some arrowroot and make a kind of glaze. I made it with strawberries with some lime juice as that's what I had.

I've had a slice myself already for quality control purposes! :pac:

Padraig Mor

Made the lot on Friday (except raspberry coulis). VERY nice and went down a treat. And all so easy to make as well! No pics sorry.

Malari

Made the cheesecake again and it turned out a bit different this time. Still tasty, but much more lemony, and the consistency of the topping was more...custardy. I don't remember what brands of chocolate, cream cheese and sour cream I used the last time, but it must have made a difference!