Apple and endive salad with goat’s cheese and toffee macadamias
SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 45 MINUTES
I’ve used curly endive, but you can use rocket or elk-horn lettuce instead. This is a terrific salad, with a lovely contrast between the sweet, crisp apple, gooey goat’s cheese and crunchy macadamias. 4 cupped handfuls of young endive leaves (about 150g when it’s picked over) 1 large sweet red apple, halved, cored and very finely sliced
280g log of goat’s cheese (I used an ashcoated nutty Sainte-Maure, which comes in narrow logs and is perfect for grilling)
DRESSING
⅓ cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon white balsamic condiment 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard ½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste ½ teaspoon caster sugar
TOFFEED MACADAMIAS
¼ cup (90g) clear honey
1 teaspoon freshly ground cumin seeds 1 teaspoon fine salt
125g whole macadamias
2 teaspoons caster sugar sea salt, for sprinkling, optional
1 Give the endive a really thorough but gentle wash in cool water, then drain it well. If you’re able to buy loose endive leaves, simply tear the frilly leaves off the stalks into bite-sized pieces (but first taste the stalks and if they’re not too bitter, use them, too). If you’re using whole heads, remove the core from the endive, discard any coarse, dark green outer leaves, then tear the leaves from the stalks – by all means, use some of the outer leaves, but remember they pack quite a bitter punch.
Scoop the leaves into a large bowl, cover it and put it in the fridge.
2 DRESSING Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl, then taste the dressing and adjust the balance of flavours to suit you. Set the bowl aside.
3 Preheat your oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced) and line a small baking tray with baking paper.
4 TOFFEED MACADAMIAS Mix together the honey, cumin and fine salt in a bowl, then add the macadamias and stir them about until they’re really well coated in the mixture. Scrape the nuts onto the prepared tray and spread them out so they’re lying in a single layer, not touching. Sprinkle them evenly with the caster sugar, then pop the tray in the oven.
5 Roast the nuts for 7 minutes or until they start to smell toasty, then remove the tray from the oven and turn the macadamias over. Return them to the oven for about 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly, until they’re a beautiful glossy brown. The time will vary somewhat, depending on the size of the nuts you use, so check them towards the end of the cooking time, as they burn quite easily. Once they’re done, remove the tray from the oven and leave the macadamias to cool on the tray – the honey and sugar will form a lovely crisp, shiny coating. Once they’re cool, sprinkle them with a little sea salt, if using. If you’re not eating them straight away, layer the nuts between sheets of baking paper in a container, seal it tightly and pop them in the freezer, where they will keep well for a week or more. Only defrost them a few minutes before you need them by sitting them on a sheet of baking paper in a cool spot (if you do this too far ahead, the nuts will become sticky).
6 Remove the bowl of endive from the fridge; drizzle a little Dressing over the leaves, then use your hands to very gently mix the two together, along with half the apple slices. (I only put a little dressing on at this stage, otherwise the leaves tend to collapse a bit and sit flat in the bowls – I prefer to serve the remaining dressing separately, so everyone can pour it over their salads.)
7 Just before you’re ready to serve the salad, preheat an overhead grill to medium heat and line a small baking tray with lightly oiled foil.
“Eggplant has that wonderful ability to transform itself.”
8 Cut the goat’s cheese into 1cm thick rounds and sit them on the prepared tray. Slide the tray under the grill and heat the cheese until it starts to colour slightly and bubble gently on the surface, about 1-2 minutes. (If you want to make the salad more substantial, you can sit the cheese on rounds of toasted baguette to grill it.) Be careful you don’t overdo this or the cheese will melt entirely.
9 To serve the salad, divide the endive evenly among 4 individual salad bowls or plates. Dot each serve with the remaining apple and rounds of the melted goat’s cheese (use an egg slice or palette knife to transfer them to the salad). Finish off with a scattering of the toffeed macadamias and a good grinding of black pepper.