A Savory Blue Cheese-cake Hors D’oeuvre

This week I am going to teach you a dish that is not of my own creation, but one that I stumbled across some years ago in a magazine, when I was living in London and attending the Cordon Bleu Cooking school …

… Indeed, at the time, around 2005, one hadn’t altogether dispensed with the ‘slow life’, physical magazines still very much de rigueur, and for those who, like myself, are natural born readers, combing the book shops and magazine kiosks was a favorite pass-time no matter where in the world … however I must admit that as I get older, my desire to unclutter is becoming even more compulsive and I can’t help but begin to appreciate this increasingly paperless world.

Above: Screen shot of internet image and site, auroville.com, to order La Ferme gorgonzola cheese

This is not a recipe I ever used in England or elsewhere in the west, for I felt it would be too pedestrian for someone who called herself a Chef, but in India, since we are starved of ingredients for Modern European cooking, both local & imported, I found this to be a very handy and heartily appreciated recipe, not to mention ridiculously easy for a home kitchen … as with a lot of so called ‘fine dining’, it is often a question of size, presentation and positioning on a menu that elevates a dish from ‘pret’ to ‘haute’, but this is something I will elaborate on in the future as we evolve together.

The original recipe calls for a gorgonzola dolce cheese, which for those who don’t know, is like an intrinsic ‘melt’ i.e. the texture in its virgin state is that of the transition point from firm to melted, the flavor of blue so subtle, it titillates rather than satiates … personally I would never do a gorgonzola dolce the injustice of cooking it, and am thus more than happy to adulterate the recipe with a very ordinary and widely available Castello Danish blue, combined with a local Flanders mascarpone … I have even used the ‘La Ferme’ gorgonzola from Auroville when it was being stocked at Nature’s soul organic store in Defence Colony Market, New Delhi, but it no longer is, and although one can order it online, I rarely have the foresight and therefore time to be able to wait for delivery … and now on to the recipe we go!

Ingredients

Yield: 10 hors d’oeuvre portions

For The Base:

• 200g digestive biscuits (as opposed to original recipe that calls for unsweetened oatmeal biscuits
• 50g finely grated parmesan (imported parmigiano Reggiano, or the local parmesan I recommended in the index of the parmesan biscuit recipe, section ‘sneak peek’)
• 90g unsalted butter

For The Filling:

• 500g cream cheese
• 200g Castello Danish Blue or La Ferme gorgonzola
• 2 eggs
• Micro-herbs for garnish, available at Nature’s Soul, 27, Ground floor, Defence Colony Main Market, New Delhi 110024

Above: Ingredients

Method

First and foremost turn on your oven to 180c (bottom-heating convection setting) and place the baking tray on the third shelf from the bottom.

Then take a loose bottom cake tin of 9inch diameter and 3.25inch height, (IMAGE 1) lightly grease the bottom and sides with butter (STEP 1) and then line it with butter paper (STEP 2) … you simply have to place the loose bottom on the butter paper, trace around it with a pencil, then cut out the circle, and then cut out 3.25inch thick bands along the width of the butter paper to stick onto the sides (the box is called wrapping paper with butter paper written beneath).

Then take any digestive biscuits (it really doesn’t matter which brand nor that they are slightly sweet, for the combination of sweet with blue cheese is both common and appropriate), break them up (STEP 3) and in a mixer grinder, pulse until finely ground. (STEP 4)

Above: Mixer Grinder

Add the finely grated parmesan (STEP 5 – i.e. grate on the smallest holes of your grater) pulse again to mix, (STEP 6) melt down the unsalted butter over low heat on the stove top, (STEPS 7 & 8) add to the biscuit parmesan mix, (STEP 9) pulse again to mix, (STEP 10) then knead briefly with your fingers to fully amalgamate, (STEP 11) and press in to the bottom of your butter paper lined tin. (STEPS 12 & 13) Place in the oven, bake for 15 minutes, (STEP 14), then remove and let cool.

Now on to the filling we go, which is simply a matter of emptying the mascarpone and blue cheese into a large mixing bowl, (STEP 1) – make sure that they have come to room temperature when you do this so that they have naturally softened and are easier to combine – whisk the mix together using an electric egg beater, (STEP 2), add the two eggs, whisk again to combine (STEPS 3 & 4) and then pour, or spoon onto your cooled biscuit base, (STEP 5) smooth out the top with the back of a spoon, (STEPS 6 & 7), put it back in the oven, (STEP 8) and cook for 45 mins, (STEP 9) NOT 25 as the original recipe says … most of the ingredients are different to the original, so you cannot rely on the original timing of this recipe … moreover, you will find grease leaking onto the tray and the sides of the cak may blacken a bit, but do not worry, none of this is going to matter for the final result.

Once cooked, remove from the oven, (STEP 10) and immediately lift out of the grease onto a plate (STEP 11). Let cool, then lift out onto another plate (STEPS 12, 13 & 14) and remove the butter paper from the sides. (STEPS 15 & 16) You don’t have to bother removing the bottom, as you will cut out the pieces later, but do ideally refrigerate overnight or at least for four hours, before cutting out the pieces.

The next day, remove from the refrigerator and using a ring mould of 2 inch diameter and 3.25inch height, cut out pieces from the cake, using a knife to trim around, (STEPS 1, 2 & 3), then turn each one around to crust side on top (STEP 4) and push out gently using your fingers, (STEP 5) then turn again, crust side down and place on a baking tray , ready to be reheated for serving. (STEP 6)

Once they have come to room temperature, re-heat for anywhere between 10 to 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 160c, (bottom-heating, convection setting), on the second shelf from the bottom, until they have heated through and are a little wobbly again. Lift out each one gently, sliding under the crust using a steel spatula, place on a pretty little cocktail plate, top with some micro-herbs and serve with drinks…as the saying goes, less is more, for any portion size bigger than this becomes far too rich…

Above: Final Image