Smoked Griddled Aubergine wrapped Lemon and Black Pepper Goats Cheese with Crouton, Balsamic Reduction and Orange Sauce.

This delicious starter is really pretty simple to make but it’s beautifully flavourful and moreish. The sharp goats cheese cuts the robust flavour of the smoked griddled aubergine, while the sticky, sweet balsamic reduction and aromatic orange sauce bring this dish together and gives it an elegant finish. It makes a great start to a meal with its balanced yet bold flavours, and demands attention as something a little different but utterly delicious.

The quick smoking of the aubergine is done with the polyscience smoking gun which is a great bit of kit.


The smoking gun is available here


www.Modernist-Chef.com

Its a brilliant and versatile piece of kitchen tech that I’d recommend to anyone really into their cooking.

The Recipe makes 10 servings as a starter or canapé.

Goats Cheese –
125g Goats cheese
Zest of two lemons
1 teaspoon of cracked black pepper

Simply mix the goats cheese, lemon zest and black pepper together in a bowl
Then roll the goats cheese mix into about 10 small sausage shapes and reserve in the fridge until ready to use.

Smoked Griddled Aubergene –
Two Aubergines
One Finely chopped red chilli
Chopped Fresh Parsley
Polyscience Smoking Gun
Oak Smoking chips
Seasoning

Slice down the length of the Aubergines to get strips about ½ a cm thick.
Place these in a colander and toss with two of tables spoons of salt and leave them to sit like this for an hour, the salt will draw out some of the bitterness from auberegenes. After an hour thoroughly rinse the salt off the slices.
Now place them in a bowl and toss with a splash of olive oil, one finely chopped red chilli, a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley and a little salt and pepper.
Pop the Aubergine strips on a hot griddle pan for one to two minutes on each side until they’re is just cooked through.
Now place the hot Aubergine into a large bowl and cover with clingfilm.
Use the Polyscience Smoking Gun, loaded with oak smoking chips, to fill the covered bowl with smoke. Sit covered for one minute to give the aubergenes a smokey flavour.

Finally your ready to place one of the pieces of the rolled goats cheese at the bottom of each of the, still warm, smoked Aubergine strips and then roll them up and pin in place with cocktail sticks. Now simply pop them in a hot oven for one minute to make sure they are hot when you serve them.

Croutons –
Cut 6cm wide circles of good quality bread – about 1cm thick – using a pastry cutter.
Fry these in olive oil, in a pan on a medium heat, for around a minute on each side until golden brown. Sit the cooked croutons on kitchen roll to allow some of the excess oil to drain off.

Orange sauce
150ml cointreau
50ml Dry White wine
600ml Orange Juice
Pinch Salt
Thumb sized piece of ginger cut into thin strips
2g Xanthan gum

Bring the cointreau and white wine to a simmer and reduce for two to three minutes. Now add the orange juice, ginger and pinch of salt. Continue to simmer the sauce until it has reduced by half. Stain through a fine sieve and allow to cool, then blend in 2g of xanthan gum and transfer the sauce to a squeezy bottle. This can either be served cold up heated up when plating the dish.

Balsamic reduction
200ml Good quality Balsamic Vinegar

Bring the Balsamic up to a boil in a saucepan then drop the temperature to a simmer and allow it to reduce by about three quarters. It’s ready when it reaches a syrupy consistency. Let it cool and place in a squeezy bottle.

To serve –
Sit each of the hot rolled up smoked Aubergine and goats cheese parcels on top of a crouton in the centre of the plate and alternately dot the orange sauce and balsamic reduction around the plate.

I hope you’ll give it a go (even if you don’t have a smoking gun), its well worth it.

Eddie x


www.Modernist-Chef.com