On a small glass plate I laid a bed of carefully selected Endive and Lettuce leaves, choosing only the finest specimens.
I added some cubes of creamy Blue Cheese. I used the one called Castello, but Cambazola would be good, so would Dolcelatte.
I added some pieces of Walnut, which had been drizzled with Pumpkin Seed oil and toasted. (If I had had any Walnut oil, I would have used that instead.). Toasting enhances the nutty flavour of the Walnuts.
I added a firm but ripe Williams pear, cored but not peeled.
The finishing touch (an inspired spur-of-the-moment choice, I must admit) was a drizzle of Rapeseed oil flavoured with Lemongrass and Thyme. This oil is produced by the Cold Pressed Oil Company, based in Crondall, about 5 miles from Fleet, where we live. It lifted the salad to new heights!
Unfortunately I added the oil after I had taken my photos, so you'll just have to imagine the salad glistening with little drizzles of bright yellow oil!
In my humble opinion, this was a near-perfect salad: lots of textures, lots of different but complementary flavours, and big visual appeal. I'd be happy to get that as a starter in a very posh restaurant.
I'm sure it tasted as good as it looks - but I have a feeling if they served it in a posh restaurant, it would be more of a spoonful in the middle of a very large plate ;)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, you are probably right, but actually the plates on which my salad was served are very small - and one pear between 2 people is surely not too much!
DeleteThis looks wonderful! I have tried pear with burrata but not with blue cheese.
ReplyDeleteI make the same salad, but instead of the Blue Cheese, I add rounds of panko encrusted flash sauteed goat cheese. The contrast of cool salad and warm goat cheese is lovely, too.
ReplyDeleteTracy from New York
That sounds very nice, Tracy, but regrettably my wife dislikes Goat's cheese!
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