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Wexford strawberry salad with a peppered blackwater cheese basket
This very simple starter is a masterpiece - everyone will think you’ve been slaving away in the kitchen for hours.
Choose the type of goat’s cheeses you use carefully as their flavour will determine the success of the dish.
Ingredients
- serves: 4
- time: N/A
- oven temp: N/A°C / N/A°F
- 100 g/4 oz hard goat’s cheese, grated (such as Blackwater)
- about 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 x 100 g/4 oz soft rinded goat’s cheese, cut into chunks (such as Mine Gabhar)
- 100 g/4 oz small strawberries, hulled and halved
- 100 g/4 oz raspberries
- good handful fresh mixed summer herbs (such as chives, dill, mint and oregano)
- 50 g/2 oz mixed baby salad leaves
- 2-3 tbsp raspberry vinaigrette (page 00)
- edible flowers, to garnish
Wexford strawberry salad with a peppered blackwater cheese basket
Heat a non-stick frying pan until searing hot. Sprinkle a quarter of the grated hard goat’s cheese into the centre of the pan in a circle that is about 10 cm/4 in in diameter. Add a good sprinkling of pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes until the fat starts to separate from the cheese and bubble. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 1 minute. (STEP 1)
Using a spatula, remove the melted cheese disc from the pan. Shape the cheese basket around the end of a straight-sided tall glass and hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute until set. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have four cheese baskets in total. (STEP 2)
Place the soft goat’s cheese in a bowl with the strawberries, raspberries, herbs and mixed leaves. Drizzle over enough of the raspberry vinaigrette to barely coat the mixture.
To Serve
Arrange the cheese baskets on serving plates and spoon in the dressed fruit and salad mixture, allowing it to tumble out on to the plates. Garnish with the edible flowers.