Simple to make, this most French of French salads makes for a chic change from the usual crumbled goats cheese number!
đ«đ·Itâs French Bistro Week!!!đ«đ·
From time to time, I like to dedicate a week of recipes to a theme. This week, itâs French Bistro Week!! Todayâs Goatâs Cheese Salad is the starter in a classic three-course French bistro menu Iâm sharing over the week. Hereâs whatâs on the menu!
Starter: Warm Goatâs Cheese Salad â Todayâs recipe, a classic French Bistro starter. Main: Duck Confit â An iconic French dish thatâs so much easier to make than you think! Itâs the ultimate make-ahead dinner party dish for showing off.Dessert: Lemon Tart â A perfect finish to the meal thatâs not too heavy, this is a tart youâll find in virtually every patisserie across France.
If that menu doesnât transport you to the streets of Paris, I donât know what willâŠ.!! đ€·đ»ââïž
French Goatâs Cheese Salad
Iâve said it before and Iâll say it again: the French truly excel at taking basic dishes and pushing them to higher echelons of deliciousness with the addition of a few simple things. Often it involves more butter, more cream and more cheese! (Think: a pedestrian ham and cheese toastie + the French touch = Croque Monsieur). For this salad, that sprinkle of French fairy dust involves some minerally, oozing goatâs cheese (yes!), bacon (double yes!), and not one but two types of nuts! Itâs not just the ingredients that make this salad special. The other half of the magic here is in the eating â the contrast between cooling, juicy salad vegetables and warm, molten-centred goatâs cheese is utterly scrumptious. Like I said, you can depend on the French to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary!
The right cheese for French Goatâs Cheese Salad
If you know the French, youâll know they are precise and uncompromising when it comes to specifying the right ingredients for the right dishes! Itâs both part of their Gallic charm and much of what makes French food so good, to be fair. đ So, to do right by this classic French dish, let me start off by covering the cheese that is the star player in this saladâs lineup.
Traditional cheese for French Goatâs Cheese Salad
One of the most popular and traditional cheeses used for Salade de ChĂȘvre Chaud is Crottin de Chavignol. This is an unpasteurised goatâs cheese produced in the the tiny village of Chavignol in the Loire Valley. Crottin de Chavignol bears the French AOC (Appellation dâOrigine ContrĂŽlĂ©e) designation, meaning it has been made according to strictly regulated criteria concerning origin and production. The AOC label is recognised worldwide as a mark of excellence and integrity amongst traditional French food and drink products. If you cannot find this cheese â and unfortunately in Australia, itâs not possible to buy such unpasteurised cheeses â there are alternatives listed below. And no, they do not have to be AOC cheeses to be delicious!
Suitable cheeses for Warm Goats Cheese Salad
The best cheese to use is ripened goatâs cheese which has a rind and creamy centre that melts when heated. Ideally the cheese comes in small discs around 5 â 6cm / 2 â 2.3âł thick, or a log / barrel form that you can slice accordingly. The reason is you need rind encasing each slice (around the rim only, not the cut face) otherwise the cheese runs everywhere when you pan-fry it. The following cheeses are all suitable and can be sourced within Australia:
Crottin des Deux-SĂšvres â Similar to the aforementioned Crottin de Chavignol, according to the chef-owner of my wonderful local French deli Le Petit MarchĂ© in Sydney. This is the cheese I used.Crottin de Champcol â The pasteurised version of the Crottin de Chavignol and can be found in Australia.Picandou and Pico Affine (both pictured below) â Picandou is especially ideal because each round is the perfect size to pan fry as-is, without slicing in half. Also, since theyâre fully encased with rind, they are easier to handle! Pico affine are a little large, so serve 1 per person. Available in Harris Farms, Sydney.Chabichou du Poitou â Another cheese from the Loire Valley.Le Chabichou dâAntan â Available at Le Petit MarchĂ©, Sydney.Holy Goat La Luna â An Australian ripened goatâs cheese. Available at Harris Farms and elsewhere.
Other French ripened goatâs cheeses that could be used include PĂ©lardon and Rocamadour. These may be tough to find in Australia.
âWhat if I can only get the spreadable kind of goats cheese?â
If you have soft, spreadable goatâs cheese, no problems! You can make French Goatâs Cheese Salad the âotherâ way: by smearing the goatâs cheese on to bread and broiling it (grilling) briefly! Goatâs cheese without a rind is called fresh goatâs cheese. Because it doesnât have a rind, you canât pan fry it because it will run everywhere. Hereâs what fresh goatâs cheese looks like â the more common one here in Australia: This is what French Goatâs Cheese Salad looks like when served with goatâs cheese spread on toast and grilled (with lovely edible flowers from my garden!):
French Goatâs Cheese Salad â other ingredients
Hereâs what you need for the rest of the salad plus the dressing: Some notes on a few of the items:
Oak lettuce â This salad can made with all sorts of lettuce. Oak lettuce works particularly well because of the soft leaves, which have an elegant shape and sit nicely at the base of the bowl. Lambâs lettuce (aka mĂąche) would also work well. Alternatively use also cos / romaine lettuce (baby if possible), or even iceberg cut into bite size pieces.If using oak lettuce, leave the lettuce in larger pieces that you then cut when eating. If cut into bite-size pieces the lettuce is so soft it will flatten under the weight of the other toppings;Tomatoes â I prefer the look of tomatoes cut into wedges rather than rounds here, and itâs how they came when I had this dish in France (le monkey see, le monkey do!) But any type of tomatoes will work here â cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes etc;Walnuts and pine nuts â Toasted nuts littered across the salad brings texture and another layer of taste that is part of what makes this salad so good! Donât skip them, and donât skip toasting (it brings out the flavour).Non-nut substitutes: Sunflower seeds or pepitas; andBalsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil â If youâve ever wondered why even the simplest salads at restaurants can be so good, the answer is the quality of the vinegars and oils they use. It really makes a difference to elevate basic dressings. So use the best you can afford â we donât use much in the salad dressing! (I reserve premium vinegars and oils just for dressings, and use more economical brands for general cooking.)
How to make French Goatâs Cheese Salad
The only thing to remember here is to pan-fry the cheese at the last minute. Because ⊠well, oozing is the operative word!! Lambâs lettuce (aka mĂąche) would also work well. Alternatively use also cos / romaine lettuce (baby if possible), or even iceberg cut into bite size pieces. If using oak lettuce, leave the lettuce in larger pieces that you then cut when eating. If cut into bite-size pieces the lettuce is so soft it will flatten under the weight of the other toppings; Non-nut substitutes: Sunflower seeds or pepitas; and
When and how to serve French Goatâs Cheese Salad
This is a salad youâll see on the menu of bistros all across France as a starter or lunch option. Salads are common starters in France, popular with locals and tourists alike. When salads are this good and interesting, itâs hardly surprising really! A far cry from the glum, cucumber-lettuce-shredded-carrot âgarden saladsâ we see back home, right? đ This is one of those salads that is layered up in the bowl, as opposed to enthusiastically tossed. Place lettuce first, lay tomato wedges casually around, and then sprikle with nuts and bacon. Leave the dressing until just before serving, else it will make the lettuce leaves soggy; Tip: Use a non-stick pan. Cheese is like glue once it melts and then hardens on a pan! Serve immediately so you get maximum cheese oozing action!! Here are my thoughts on serving options:
As a meal â The recipe as written serves 2 people and are lunch-sized meal portions. For people with a hearty appetite, Iâd serve with some good quality, warm, buttered bread. Try this simple crusty Artisan bread or (if you really want to impress) homemade Brioche!As a starter â Halve the recipe as written or use the given recipe to serve 4. As a starter, you only need a small plate of salad with a single piece of cheese each. (Feel free to still double the cheese, if thats how you want to roll! đ)As a side salad â It would be uncommon in France to serve this as a side salad because itâs fairly substantial with the cheese. OK, it wouldnât be done, full stop. đ But there is nothing to stop you from doing so! In fact, Iâd go as far as to say that this would make the cut as one of my âShow Off Saladsâ. Regular readers know I have a few of these â like this one and this one and this one.
And itâs just the beginningâŠ.
This is the starter Iâm offering as part of a three-course French bistro menu Iâm sharing this week. Iâm so excited about the main dish that Iâll be sharing on Wednesday! Itâs one of the greatest, most iconic French dishes of all time! Care to take a guess what it is?? *Drum roll âŠ. * Bon appetit! â Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Meal-worthy salads!
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