Pear and Blue Cheese Salad with candied almonds

Hey Everyone,

So its been awhile since I blogged and I apologize to those of you that actually follow me. School has been crazy busy, and I am doing well. Because I am doing well I keep getting cool opportunities to work special events and that is taking away from time I could be blogging.

Anyway on too the dish. I was tasked with making an appetizer salad for my cold foods class with Chef Andrew Hewson. This dish is quite involved but I promise you it is worth it. I received a 95% on the project, the only thing I can really recommend is that you be careful with the cloves and ensure to balance your vinaigrette.

I chose to make a modern take on the classic pear and gorgonzola salad. This is what I came up with.

Champagne Vinagrette.

2Tsp Champagne Vinegar
1/2Tsp Pear Balsamic Vinegar
1 Egg
1Tbls Dijon Mustard
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Grape Seed oil to taste ~ 200 ml

Mix the vinegars egg and mustard together in a medium sized bowl. Once a uniform mix has been achieved add the oil in a slow steady stream, as slow a stream as possible, and whisk like you have never whisked before. Adding the oil slower will make the final emulsion better and last longer. The egg will help to stabilize the emulsion and let it las longer too, you can omit the egg but the stability of your emulsion will be considerably shorter.

Pickled Pear
1/2 Boscu Pear/person peeled
Pear Balsamic Vinegar(I got mine at Oil and Vinegar)

Cut pears into desired shape and place in vacuum bag, put 1tsp per full pear of the balsamic into the bag. Vacuum the air out and seal the bag until the pears have a uniform colour throughout. Allow to pickle for 1-2hrs. Open bag and separate excess liquid from pears. Store until ready to use.

Candied Almonds

1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbls Salt
1 Egg White

Combine the clove, salt and brown sugar together and mix to even distribution. Beat the egg white in a separate bowl until it is light and foamy but not quite a meringue. Toss the almonds in the egg white to coat and then in the sugar mixture. place on a baking sheet and bake in an oven at 350F until the sugar caramelizes around the almonds. take out and cool. To make an almond nougat grind a few of the nuts in a food processor until a very fine powder is made. Chop some into a course chop to top the salad.

Blue Cheese Gelatin

300 mL Heavy Cream
5 oz Blue Cheese (your choice on variety)
Salt to taste
3 Sheets of Gelatin (Gold 200 Bloom Strength)
4oz Green Peppercorns

Bloom your gelatine in a separate bowl in cold water. Line a 6×8 inch mold pan with plastic wrap. Crush the green peppercorns into a paste and place in the bottom of the mold pan. Place cream in a heavy pot and warm to a light simmer over medium heat. Add cheese and melt into cream. Add salt to taste. Once gelatine is bloomed, dissolve it into the cheese mixture and pour into mold. Chill and let set overnight.

Salad Greens
Watercress 1 handful per person no stems
Baby Romaine 1 head perp person trimmed and cleaned

Rip greens into bite sized pieces. Toss in 2 roughly 2 tsp’s of vinaigrette per person. Cut cheese gelatine into desired shapes and sizes and place on plate place dressed greens on top of cheese. Add pickled pears cut into desired shapes. Top with chopped candied almonds.