Join the Cooking School

Baked Goat Cheese and Brie Salad

by Tony M in Rouxbe Recipes

Upgradeflash

Text Recipe
Related Videos
Comments

Step 1: Preparing the Cheese

Preparing the Cheese

To prepare the cheese rounds, first place the goat cheese into a bowl. Then tear the brie into pieces and add to the bowl, along with the zest of half a lemon.

Next, add the salt and pepper and then using the back of a wooden spoon, blend everything together. Just make sure to not over blend. There should still be little pieces of brie for contrast in taste and texture. Divide the cheese into four.

Lightly crush the toasted almonds. Gather a tray lined with plastic wrap and set aside.

Take one quarter of the cheese and roll it into a ball and then flatten it slightly to form a disc. Place the cheese into the almonds and roll to coat each side. Then set the cheese onto the tray and place into the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes to set and chill. (These can also be assembled the day before.)

If making immediately, preheat your oven to 350° degrees Fahrenheit.

  • 150 grams goat cheese (5 ounces)
  • 100 grams brie cheese (approx. 3 ounces)
  • 1 whole lemon
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup toasted, sliced almonds

Step 2: Starting the Vinaigrette

Starting the Vinaigrette

To make the vinaigrette, roughly chop the herbs. Using the back of a heavy pan, crack the peppercorns.

Place a small saucepan over medium heat and add the water, honey, herbs and pepper. Bring everything to a simmer and let reduce for about 3 to 5 minutes. As it cooks, the flavors from the herbs will infuse into the honey. Once it has thickened slightly, turn off the heat and set aside.

  • 5 whole black peppercorns
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 4 tbsp honey
  • 1 small spring thyme
  • 1 small sprig lavender

Step 3: Gathering the Rest of Your Ingredients

Gathering the Rest of Your Ingredients

Before you bake the cheese, make sure to gather the rest of the ingredients. (Once the cheese is ready it should be served immediately.)

Cut the lemon in half and measure out the olive oil. Gather the arugula and have some extra olive oil and salt on hand for tossing the salad. Lastly, have the serving plates ready.

  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups arugula (about 1 ounce)
  • extra-virgin olive oil (to taste)
  • kosher salt (to taste)

Step 4: Baking and Starting to Assemble

Baking and Starting to Assemble

Once ready to serve the salad, remove the cheese from the refrigerator and transfer to a parchment-lined baking tray.

The cheese bakes for only 2 to 3 minutes, so be sure to keep an eye on it. As soon as the tray goes into the oven you can quickly toss the salad. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the arugula, followed by a touch of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Toss gently to combine.

Divide the salad among the plates and then check on the cheese. Once the discs just begin to soften, remove them from the oven.

Step 5: Finishing the Vinaigrette and Serving

Finishing the Vinaigrette and Serving

To serve the dish, use a large spoon to gently transfer the cheese to each plate.

Quickly finish the vinaigrette by adding the juice of the other half of the lemon, along with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Whisk together to combine.

To finish, drizzle the vinaigrette over the cheese and around the plate. This dish is great as is, but it can also be garnished with a variety of ingredients, such as oven-dried tomatoes and orange segments. Serve with toasted bread smothered with roasted garlic for a delicious appetizer.

Notes

This vinaigrette is quite tart; however, it balances the richness of the warm cheese. The rind can be trimmed off the brie, if desired. You can also substitute the almonds with any other toasted nuts.

Related Tips & Techniques

Dd_how_to_buy_garlic_thumbnail

How to Buy and Prepare Garlic

 Dd_roastingnuts_thumbnail

How to Roast / Toast Nuts

 Cs_salads_l1_t02_thumbnail

Cleaning & Refreshing Salad Greens

 Cs_salads_l1_t04_thumbnail

Tossing & Serving Salad Greens

 Cs_seasoning_t2_thumbnail

Types of Salt

Related Cooking School Lessons

Cs_salads_l2_onecolumn

Salad Dressing & Vinaigrette Basics

 Cs_salads_l1_onecolumn

Salad Greens | Selecting & Preparing

 Cs_seasoning_onecolumn

How to Season with Salt

Stephanie O

baked goat cheese and Bri Salad

I have made this reciepe several times and its allways been a hit
It

Jenny M

Love it

My two favorite cheeses =) and that delicious vinaigrette!! I've been making the vinaigrette for salads too.

Pietro B

cheese salad

the dressing is very interesting (see video)

Nyta E

can't find fresh lavender.

What other fresh herbs can be used if lavender isn't available?

Dawn T
Rouxbe Staff

RE: Can't Find Fresh Lavender

You may just want to leave it out if you cannot find it. Otherwise try experimenting with a few other fresh herbs to see if you find a combo that you like. Other fresh herbs that are friends with thyme include parsley, lemon verbena, mint, marjoram, rosemary, sage and tarragon...but these maybe too strong for this dish. Like I said, you can either leave it out of try experimenting. Cheers!

Romeo G

goat cheese!!!!

when you say goat cheese you meen someting like chevre cheese!!??is that ok??

Dawn T
Rouxbe Staff

Re: Goat Cheese and Chevre

You are right, in most cases chevre will work in place of goat cheese. Chevre actually means "goat" in French but it is a general word used to describe all types of cheeses that are made from goats milk.

For more info here is a good link for "what is chevre"

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-chevre.htm Cheers!

Renee L

Brie Rind

Hi there, I'm making this for my Christmas meal starter and I stupidly didn't watch the video before I started and actually removed the rind from the brie before creating the cheese mix. Is it worth starting over and do you think it will still be really good? I'd be grateful for your advice!

Renee L

Peppercorns in Vinaigarette

The recipe says 5 whole black peppercorns, but there are quite a few more shown in the video. Could you advise what the correct amount of peperorns is?

Kimberley S
Rouxbe Staff

RE: Brie Rind & Peppercorns

Don't worry about the rind. It will be ok. Use roughly 5 peppercorns or more to taste as desired. You don't want it overly peppery. It looks like we adjusted our mise "to taste" and took some peppercorns out as you can see the amount of ground pepper that we pour into the pan at 00:36 - it isn't very much. Hope this helps! Enjoy your dinner :)

Renee L

Brie Rind & Peppercorns

Thank you so much Kimberly, you've eased my troubled mind!

Have a magical Christmas and great 2011!

Renee L

Vinaigarette

Sorry, just one last question - do you think its ok to make the vinaigrette in advance or is this best last minute?

Kimberley S
Rouxbe Staff

RE: Vinaigrette

My suggestion is to prepare your mise in advance and do it last minute. It's nice warm and it only takes a few minutes to put together.

Remember, the most important part of preparing a whole Christmas dinner is to ask for help and delegate! Guests are (or they should be!) more than happy to help out. Merry Christmas!

Renee L

Thanks

Thank you, you are absolutely right but I find I like to cook in silence so I can concentrate! I will do this last minute though. Thanks again Kimberly.

Jessica M

Re: Re: Goat Cheese and Chevre

I respectfully disagree with your response - Chevre is (in the US, anyway) a term used exclusively to refer to a particular type of soft goat cheese, which is often referred to as simply 'goat cheese' in recipes. Quite frankly, it irks me a bit that people limit their experiences with 'goat cheese' to chevre, particularly if they make a blanket statement that they don't care for goat cheese, when really they don't care for one particular variety.

Goat milk can be used to make many types of cheese, including mozzarella, colby, brie, cottage, ricotta, etc. and the type of cheese depends on the cheese cultures and techniques, not the animal which the milk comes from. Feta is traditionally made from sheep milk, for example, but could easily be made from cow or goat milk. I have made brie from goat milk, and my parents make and sell chevre (plain and herbed) as well as mozzarella from their Grade A goat dairy. They also have good luck with a colby style, though it tends to come out more creamy/soft in the middle than mass-produced colby available in the store.

Dawn T
Rouxbe Staff

RE: Re: Goat Cheese and Chevre

Good points Jessica. I do agree with what you are saying. In the case above where I said he could use "chevre" I was more saying it in terms of what he might be looking for on the package as I know Romeos english is not perfect, so I didn't want to go into too much detail there.

That being said, I do believe that I did say "Chevre actually means "goat" in French but it is a general word used to describe all types of cheeses that are made from goats milk.", so technically I think we are saying the same thing are we not? Anyhoo...thanks for taking the time to comment on the different types of cheeses that can be made using goats milk. I have to say that any cheese made of goats milk is most often the one that I go for. I also particularly like goats (and sheep) feta. You are lucky that your parents make cheese...how wonderful for you. Cheers!

You must be a Rouxbe student to ask questions and comment. If you are already a Rouxbe student, please login. Note: Individual lessons purchased a-la-carte do not include this service.