Arugula and Endive with Rosemary
Encrusted Goat Cheese Toasts, garnished with Pomegranate Grains and Clementine
Slices, served with a Citrus-Infused Dressing
Serves 8
Prep Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Equipment: large frying pan
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Dijon
mustard
Freshly
squeezed juice of 1 orange
2 tablespoons balsamic
vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 or 2 French baguettes,
sliced in ½-inch-thick rounds
Butter
Fresh rosemary or herbes
de Provence
1½ cups lardons (small
pieces of salted ham) or chopped pancetta
1½ cups leeks, chopped in
rounds
2 logs goat cheese (200
grams or 7 ounces), sliced into ½-inch-think rounds (two per person)
1-1/2 cups panko or bread crumbs, plus more if needed
8 cups arugula, around 1
cup per person
4 cups endive, roughly
chopped, around ½ cup per person
1 deseeded pomegranate,
separated
4 clementine or mandarin
oranges, peeled, separated into slices, and deseeded
Fresh tarragon, roughly
chopped
Technique:
Prepare the dressing. In a small bowl, combine
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard with the juice of 1 orange, with the balsamic
vinegar. Add in the olive oil to taste and whisk until it’s a creamy (but not
too thick) consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put the dressing in the
refrigerator until ready to use.
Slice the baguette(s) into rounds about ½ inch thick,
counting out two per person. Heat a frying pan with 2 to 3 tablespoons olive
oil and a nice knob of butter over medium-high heat. Add the needles from the fresh
rosemary to the pan or a tablespoon or two of herbes de Provence. Place the slices of bread in the pan, grilling
both sides until golden. Set aside and repeat, if necessary.
When all the baguette rounds are toasted, in the
same pan, add a dash of oil, the lardons, and the leeks. Cook until tender and
slightly caramelized. Set aside and keep warm.
Gently encrust the goat cheese slices with the panko
or bread crumbs, coating both sides. Fry them in the already greased pan for
approximately 2 minutes per side. Place the goat cheese on the baguette toasts
and get ready to plate.
Combine one cup arugula and ½ cup endive on each
plate. Add the lardons and leeks, splitting the ingredients per dish. Place two
baguette toasts topped with panko-encrusted goat cheese on each plate. Scatter
the pomegranate seeds and the slices of clementine or mandarin oranges. Drizzle
the dressing, garnish with fresh tarragon . . . and serve.
