A Funny Little Cheese Course - Recipe

This was just pure play. I wanted to see if I could do a cheese course that would look like cheesecake, but not be particularly sweet. I landed on a Laura Chenel chevre with a little salty crust and strawberry granita.

A cheese course, like an amuse bouche or a tapa is an opportunity to be a little less constrained, because you don't need to make something that would be appropriate in an entree-sized portion. You can use bold flavors and surprising combinations without rapidly tiring the palate.

The strawberry component has one ingredient: strawberries. I just pureed the heck out of them and then made a simple granita by stirring/raking them with a fork every 15 minutes or so until frozen. The stirring keeps the ice crystals small and smooth. Needless to say you want to use exceptional strawberries for this; don't even bother if you only have hard tasteless berries that made a 2000 mile trip to your grocery store.

I wanted to pay homage to the classic graham cracker crust of a cheesecake, but go salty instead of sweet. I landed on coarsely pulverized rice crackers and mini-pretzels with a little butter, fennel pollen and black pepper.

Goat Cheese with Strawberry Granita and a Pretzel Crust
Vegetarian
Serves 4 as a cheese course

• 1 cup strawberries, hulled
• 25 g. rice crackers (I used the wafer-shaped ones from Trader Joe's)
• 10 g. mini-pretzels
• 25 g. unsalted butter
• big pinch of fennel pollen
• few grinds black pepper
• 3/4 c. chevre (preferably Laura Chenel brand)

1. Puree the strawberries thoroughly. Place them in a shallow plastic container in your freezer. Every fifteen minutes or so, give them a stir with a fork, raking through the ice crystals to break them up. In about two hours or less you should have a nicely frozen granita.
2. In a mini food processor, combine the rice crackers, pretzels, butter, fennel pollen and black pepper. Process until you have fairly uniform small crunchy bits, say 1/4 - 1/2 the size of a grain of puffed rice cereal. Taste and mix in a little more salt if needed.
3. To serve, spray or rub a 1" ring mold with a light coating of oil and place it on a plate. Press in a 1/2" layer of the crust mixture. Top that with 3 tablespoons of the chevre, again, presing it into the mold, then gently push the "cheesecake" out of the mold. Repeat for the remaining plates. Remove the granita from the freezer and scrape it with the fork again to restore the texture. Top each plate with a tablespoon or so of the granita and serve immediately.

Savory Chickpea Cakes - Recipe

Chickpea cakes (fritters) with tomato jam

These little chickpea cakes are versatile; you can serve them as an appetizer, a side dish on an entree plate, or as the protein-packed star of the show. They are somewhat like a pan-fried falafel, but without the benefit of a deep-fried crust, so we amp up the internal flavoring. Try them with this tomato jam for a big flavor combination.

The basic recipe is vegetarian. You could use an egg-replacer if you'd like it to be vegan, and gluten-free breadcrumbs and alternative flour if you want it to be gluten-free.

I also think it would be good with the ratio of breadcrumbs to flour reversed, for a lighter consistency, but I haven't tried it.

Chickpea Cakes
Makes about 16 small cakes
Vegetarian (vegan if you use an egg-replacer)

• 3 cups cooked chickpeas (two 15 oz. cans, drained and rinsed)
• 1/2 cup green onions, minced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 t. minced rosemary leaves
• 3/4 t. salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup homemade breadcrumbs 
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
• oil for shallow frying
• sea salt (ideally Maldon or fleur de sel) for finishing

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and buzz until you have a fairly uniform mixture, but before it is completely pureed. We want some texture left. You should be able to form it into a ball that holds its shape. It should be neither crumbly nor a batter. Add liquid or breadcrumbs as necessary to find the right moisture level. If you don't mind tasting raw egg, taste a bit and adjust the seasoning as needed.
2. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large skillet, preferably cast-iron, over a medium-high flame. Take a golf-ball sized piece of dough, press it in your hands into a flattened 3-inch patty and place in the skillet. Repeat with as many as will fit comfortably. Fry on one side until golden brown, about 3 minutes, then flip and brown the other side. Remove to paper towels and finish with a little bit of sea salt.

Zucchini Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms - Recipe

Zucchini-stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Zucchini blossoms are one of the most beautiful and delicate items of summer produce. You may find them still attached to tiny zucchini, or sold separately. Look around at farmer's markets to find beautiful specimens. They are expensive by the pound but they don't weigh much!

I learned a great way to keep zucchini blossoms for a day or so from the good folks at Alvarez Farms - put them in a plastic produce bag, blow it up like a balloon and tie it tight. This "airbag" will protect them from unwanted buffeting from the other denizens of your produce bin.

The flavor of zucchini blossoms is very mild. So I don't really get why people stuff them in quesadillas and such. To me the value is in the visual appeal of the flower, so I always look for ways to emphasize that.

For today's recipe, we will caramelize tiny dice of zucchini to amp up the flavor, and mix that with goat cheese, a classic pairing. The blossoms are then fried in tempura batter, but only half way up, so the petals still peek out. 

You could serve this as a fairly substantial part of an entree plate, or as an appetizer. A little pesto or chimichurri seals the deal.

Zucchini-Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms
Vegetarian
Serves 4 as part of an entree plate or 8 as an appetizer

• 2 cups finely diced zucchini
• 1/4 cup finely diced white onion
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 8 oz. chevre (fresh, soft goat cheese)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• salt
• 16 large zucchini blossoms
• enough vegetable oil for deep frying in your smallest saucepan, about 3" deep
• 1 cup basic tempura batter (whisk together 1 egg, 1 cup flour, 1 cup ice cold water, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt; thin as needed with ice cold water to a thin pancake batter consistency)
• 1/2 cup homemade pesto thinned with olive oil, or chimichurri

1. Saute the zucchini, onion and a big pinch of salt in the olive oil over high heat until quite deeply brown; you want to drive off the moisture and really caramelize the zucchini to develop the flavor.
2. Combine the zucchini mixture with the goat cheese, smoked paprika, lime zest and juice and mix thoroughly. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Put this mixture into a pastry bag with a big tip, or a zip-loc type bag with a corner cut out.
3. To stuff the zucchini blossoms, gently untwist and pull apart the petals. Pull out the stamens/anthers/pistils as best you can without destroying the flower. Pipe in a good amount of the goat cheese mixture, maybe about 1.5 tablespoons. Pull the petals over the mixture, and give them a little twist. Lay them flat on a plate until ready to fry.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a very small pot to about 365 degrees Fahrenheit. Working one blossom at a time. Pick the flower up from the petal end, using tongs. Dip it about halfway into the tempura batter, then let the excess drip back into the bowl. Hold it in the hot oil, keeping the un-battered part out. Swish it around for about 30 seconds until the batter is browned. Remove to paper towels and season with fleur de sel or other sea salt.
5. Serve with the pesto or chimichurri.