Bing Cherry, Caramelized Hazelnut and Goat Cheese Salad

Thursday, 10 July 2008

With three distinct parts, this recipe may seem a little complicated, but it’s worth the bit of effort involved. Instead of caramelizing the hazelnuts, you might opt for buying candied walnuts available in supermarket aisles. You might also consider replacing the white goat cheese with crumbled blue cheese. (Serves 4) For the Hazelnuts: 4 cups hazelnuts, toasted 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons water For the Cherry Vinaigrette: 1/4 cup pitted Bing cherries 2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar 6 tablespoons toasted hazelnut oil or olive oil For the Salad: 1/2 pound (about 8 cups) mixed salad greens, washed, dried, and chilled 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 cup Bing cherries, split, and pitted 1 (4 ounce) log fresh white goat cheese 1.) Prepare the caramelized hazelnuts. Rub the toasted hazelnuts to remove their skins; discard the skins. In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, stir butter, sugar, salt and water until mixture is foamy. Continue stirring until mixture is golden brown. Stir in hazelnuts then transfer nuts to a sheet pan and spread them out in a single layer to cool. You will only need about a cup of the nuts for the salad, but as long as you are going through the process, you might as well toast the extras. Store the extras an airtight container to serve as a snack. 2.) Make the vinaigrette. Pile the cherries, vinegar, and oil n a blender, purée until smooth. 3.) Toss the salad. In a large salad bowl, dress the salad greens with the Bing cherry vinaigrette, tossing to lightly coat every leaf; sprinkle the dressed greens with salt and pepper. Distribute the dressed greens evenly among 4 chilled salad plates. Top each plate with pitted Bing cherries, caramelized hazelnuts, and crumbled goat cheese. Serve at once. Copyright, Greg Atkinson, 2007

 

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