Thanksgiving Cherry Bomb - Truffled Pancetta and Cherry Salad

This salad has become a Thanksgiving staple over the last 8 years, whether I am with my family in Portland or with my friends in San Diego. It's a modified version of a recipe by Michael Chiarello I picked up a many many moons ago. Originally calling for cider vinegar, porcini oil and dried sour cherries soaked in water. I use to make this with dried cranberries, but the only dried cranberries I seem to be able to find the last few years are "sweetened". (YUCK!) So I have returned to using the tart Montmorency cherries.

I have always thought that it was such a waste to soak them in water when it seems like the perfect opportunity to add a little kick, by macerating the cherries/cranberries in SOME sort of alcohol. With unsweetend cranberries I would typically use Orange Muscat, Moscato or Muscat Canelli for soaking, but there is no reason you could not use Gran Marnier to add a hint of orange, Maraschino to lend a bit of almond, or even St. Germaine to add some floral notes to your salad. I would stay out of the heavier liquor though, it may be a bit much for the champagne vinegar and the truffle oil.

Truffled Pancetta and Cherry Salad

1/4 cup dried Sour Cherries (Montmorency)
alcohol for soaking (Be it wine or liqueur, this year I used a wonderful Cranberry wine)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 oz Pancetta, diced
1 TB minced Garlic
1 TB chopped fresh Thyme leaves
Fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup Champagne Vinegar
2 TB Italian White Truffle Olive oil
Kosher Salt
6 cups mixed baby greens (roughly 2 of the pre-prepped bags of salad)
6 ounces fresh goat cheese (Chevre) I usually use Silver Goat brand

In a small bowl, macerate dried cherries in your chosen alcohol, then set aside to soften.

Pour 1 TB olive oil into a medium skillet over medium heat.

Add pancetta and sauté until the fat is rendered out, drain pancetta reserving 1 TB of fat from the pan.

Add 2 TB Olive oil to the skillet & increase the heat to medium-high so you can sauté the Pancetta again until it's crispy; then add the garlic and sauté a little longer until the garlic becomes golden.

Turn heat down to medium-low and add the thyme and 10 – 15 grinds of black pepper, then deglaze the pan with Champagne vinegar, be sure to scrape the pan to release the fond.

Reduce vinegar by half.

Remove from heat and whisk in the Truffle oil and a pinch of Kosher Salt.

Place mixed baby greens in a salad bowl.

Drain the Cherries and add to the salad and toss biefly.

Pour Pancetta mixture over greens and toss quickly, just until the greens begin to wilt.

Crumble goat cheese over the greens and toss lightly.

Serve immediately...

It looks a little messy, but I assure you, it is absolute heaven on a salad fork. It works better served individually with chevre sprinkled on top instead of tossed in, never the less, when there are hungry mouths to feed, sometimes speed and convenience are of the essence. LOL

Mangia!!
~~

Not Quite Figgy Pudding - Fig Mousse on Truffled Crackers

I have been wanting to combine these flavors in this format for awhile now. This whole thing has been rolling around inside my head for about 9 months, bumping into the occasional neuron and annoying the glial cells to no end, I am sure.

It's always been one thing or another.... Waiting for fresh figs... Then when Figs were in season, I was out of Truffle oil (and so was everyone else) or Meyer Lemons were out of season (cause they are not "in season" at the same time as figs).

Then there is the cheese fiasco... I wanted Humbolt Fog for this recipe, and I can't seem to find the small wheels anywhere... So with a little help from a Cheese monger at Whole Foods I decided to substitute the Humbolt with Brunet from Piemonte (just like the hair color 'broo-NET'). The cheese was fantastic, but not with the mousse. So, I finally decided to simply use Gorgonzola, since it goes so well with figs.

With that being said, neither Meyer Lemons nor Figs are in season, so I opted for Preserves...

cause I can't take it anymore... This recipe HAS to come out....
If it bumps against my optic nerve or Hippocampus one more time, I am gonna go crazy. Thank God, I save the Meyer lemon juice from the Limoncello Experiment... So without further ramblings from the depths of my Cerebral Cortex...

Meyer Fig Mousse with Bleu Truffle

1 TB Water
1 tsp unflavored Gelatin
1/2 cup Fig preserves
1 TB Meyer Lemon Juice
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp White Truffle oil
1 tsp Lemon Infused Olive oil
2/3 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, chilled
1/3 cup Crème Fraîche, chilled
Gorgonzola slices & Crackers to serve

Place gelatin in a small ramekin, add water and allow to bloom.

Melt Fig preserves with 1 TB of Meyer Lemon juice in a small sauce pan.

Run through a strainer while still warm to catch the seeds. (mousse should be smooth not crunchy)

Add yolks and whisk until smooth.
Heat gelatin in a water bath until clear, remove from heat and set aside.
Place Fig/Yolk mixture over simmering water and heat to 155 degrees, whisking constantly (the color will lighten to a pale yellow)


Remove from heat and continue whisking until cooled to about 115 degrees.

Add Gelatin and whisk to incorporate, then run the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove any possible lumps.

Cover on the surface with plastic wrap and set aside.

Place Stainless bowl in Freezer along with the electric mixer attachments you will be using (I use the whisks)

Meanwhile, mix Truffle oil and Olive oil together,

Apply to the crackers with a small pastry brush. (This will keep the mousse from making your crackers soggy.) - You can save this step for the end if you are going to store the mousse overnight

Once bowl and miser attachments are well chilled, whisk the Crème Fraîche and Heavy cream together

until they form stiff peaks.

Add the fig mixture.

And fold until incorporated.

Cover and refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

To serve, remove Gorgonzola from the refrigerator and slice thin wedges.

Place mousse in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe mousse onto or into prepared crackers.

Top with a slice of Gorgonzola and and Serve as above.

Mangia!!!