Roquefort and fig crème brûlée with a pecan salad
This is a luxurious, creamy brûlée, topped with crushed, peppered pecan nuts, and is great as a light lunch or starter, or as an alternative cheese course, served with a glass of Sauternes. Serve with rustic grissini or toast, and with a pear and pecan salad. As a variation, you could replace the Roquefort with a Stilton, substitute seedless grapes for the figs or even omit the fruit and use some sautéed leeks or diced roast beetroot instead.
SERVES 6
For the Crème brûlée:
500ml of double cream
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2 garlic cloves, halved 5 egg yolks
25g of caster sugar
1 tsp of sea salt large pinch of white pepper
200g of roquefort cheese, crumbled
4 dried figs, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes, drained and cut into small dice
4 tbsps of demerara
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sugar
12 grissini (breadsticks)
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25g of pecan nuts, roasted Cracked black pepper
For the pear and pecan Salad:
1 pear, cored and sliced
100g of mixed baby
salad leaves
25g of pecan nuts
4 pickled green figs,
quartered, or 2 fresh figs (optional)
For the dressing:
20ml of light olive oil
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20ml of extra virgin
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olive oil
20ml of white wine
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or Chardonnay vinegar
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/GAS Mark 2.
1 Heat the cream and garlic in a pan. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, salt and white pepper together until pale. Slowly whisk a little of the hot cream into the yolks, then add the remaining cream and strain through a sieve into a bowl. Stir in half the Roquefort cheese.
2 Divide the dried figs and the remaining Roquefort between 6 ramekins and fill each one with the cream mixture. Place the ramekins in a baking tin lined with a teatowel and fill with enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cook in the oven for about 40–50 minutes, or until set (depending on the size of the ramekins). Leave to cool and then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. 3 Top the brûlées with the demerara sugar and blast them with a blowtorch or under a very hot grill until caramelised. Skewer the brûlées immediately with a couple of grissini broken to different lengths, then mix the pecans with cracked black pepper and sprinkle over the top.
4 To make the salad, mix together the pears, mixed leaves, pecans and pickled figs (if using). Whisk the oils and vinegar together and use to dress the salad. Serve with the Roquefort crème brûlées.
Note: If you don’t own a blowtorch, try heating a metal dessertspoon in a gas flame until it is red hot then, using the back of the spoon, carefully caramelise the sugar. The spoon will never be the same again, but your crème brûlées will look great!