Salad of Fresh Goat’s Cheese Fritters, Baby Beetroot & Figs

Name: Salad of Fresh Goat’s Cheese Fritters, Baby Beetroot & Figs
Yield: Serves 6 as a light lunch
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 3 handfuls small frisée lettuce leaves, washed and spin-dried; 2-3 teaspoons aged red-wine vinegar [such as Forum Cabernet vinegar]; sea salt and freshly ground white pepper; 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper for dusting; 2 eggs, lightly beaten with ¼ teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons lemon thyme leaves; 3 cups dried breadcrumbs [Japanese panko crumbs give a light crunchy crust]; 1 small clove garlic, any green shoot removed, finely chopped; 1 eschalot, finely chopped; 1 handful small rocket or watercress sprigs, washed and spin-dried; 500 g fresh goat’s cheese [in log form]; 5 fresh figs [preferably the Honey variety]; 1.5-2 litres peanut oil, for deep-frying; 18-24 baby beetroot, with 2 cm stalk attached, scrubbed; 60 ml extra virgin olive oil; 2 handfuls [or whatever is available] small beetroot leaves, washed and spin-dried

Preparation info

Serves
6
as a light lunch

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Salades

By Damien Pignolet

Published 2010

About

This is a variation on a salad we served at Bistro Moncur many years ago - sadly none of us can remember the precise ingredients [and so much the better in many ways]. Originally we used a very fresh, lovely cheese that was presented as a sample by a wonderfully honest farmer who knocked on the back door of the restaurant one day. He formed the cheese into cylinders so that all we had to do was slice off discs, then crumb and fry them to order. Like many pure and original products, this che