Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Beet and Goat Cheese Terrine


Last Saturday, we enjoyed another delicious Austin food bloggers’ potluck, and this time it was a picnic in a park. There are several great photos from the event at Aimee Wenske Photography and Foodie is the New Forty. I wanted to bake one of my favorite cookie recipes for the potluck, and those cookies were shown in one of my earliest-ever blog posts. I shot a few new photos and updated the post after Saturday’s event. So, the cookies were easy enough, but I also wanted to experiment with a new dish. I had recently read the LA issue of Saveur which is full of beautiful photography, including the cover photo, by Austin’s own Penny De Los Santos. In the magazine, there’s a story about Wolfgang Puck and how he defined California cuisine, and there’s a photo of Beet and Goat Cheese Napoleons that caught my eye to say the least. I had some beets from my CSA, and I thought this dish would be something that could be served at room temperature and had a chance of holding its shape while being transported to a park. I did make some changes though. In the original Puck recipe, individual roasted beets were sliced, cut into equal-sized pieces with a round cutter, stacked with a goat cheese and herb mixture, and then cut into pretty wedges. That resulted in some trimmed pieces going to waste, and I thought it might somehow be simpler to layer everything into a terrine and then cut squares from it. Also, in the original, all red beets were used, but I decided to make it a little colorful and used red, Chioggia, and golden beets.


First, I roasted all the beets and then removed the skins when they were cool enough to handle. Slicing them evenly was quick work with a benriner. For the goat cheese, I softened two nine ounce pieces and added chopped oregano, parsley, and basil from my garden. I used a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap and layered golden beets first, topped with a layer of herbed goat cheese, then another layer of golden beets since they were the biggest beets I had they were used twice, more goat cheese, Chioggia beets, goat cheese, and last were the red beets. I covered the top with plastic wrap and set another loaf pan on top. That top pan was weighted down with a few jars, and this all spent the night in the refrigerator. The next day, I turned the terrine out onto a board and cut it into squares. For the orange vinaigrette, I simplified the process from the original recipe and just combined shallots, orange juice, rice wine vinegar, and olive oil. I tossed some red kale micro greens in the vinaigrette and topped each stacked square with a few of them. Rather than the suggested hazelnuts, I used some walnuts that I had on hand and scattered them about the stacks.

One of the great things about terrines is that you have to make them in advance. Because of that, I was actually on time for a party for once. And, after being pressed overnight, the layers stuck together well, and the cut pieces held their shape. However, because the beet slices were overlapped, my version didn’t have the perfectly straight lines of the layers seen in the Saveur photo, but I was still happy with it. The intended flavors were there, and beets, goat cheese, herbs, and orange make a classically good combination.



30 comments:

  1. Terrines have been sweeping the blogosphere and I have to say I adore this version. It is so colorful that it can't help but be appetizing! Beautiful dish!

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  2. Oh, it is so beautiful with it's pretty colors and perfect layers!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. Simply gorgeous! I love that you used different color beets!

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  4. Wow this looks so delicious and beautiful at the same time! I want to make this. Maybe I can make a vegan version. Delicious! I have not seen golden beets here yet. Thanks!

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  5. Absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately i never seem to see those pretty yellow beets anywhere because I've seen a few recipes using them I'd like to try.
    Your terrine is a real show stopper dahhhhling.
    *kisses* HH

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  6. This terrine look so pretty Lisa. I am sure it tastes delicious as well.

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  7. Lisa,

    This is just beautiful! I am amazed at how the water didn't seep out from the beets in the pan overnight? Looks delicious-- so sad I had to miss the potluck!

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  8. Rebecca: That's true. The last terrine I made was with roasted zucchini, red pepper, and eggplant. That one did become watery after sitting overnight. The beets were a different story. There was no liquid at all when I plopped it out of the pan.

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  9. Wow... that looks really lovely. I'd be afraid to stick my fork in that for fear of having to tear into it. I love the different layers!!!!!

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  10. you've really outdone yourself with this one, lisa. what a beautiful, beautiful dish. BIG ol' bravo to you. :)

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  11. Fancy picnic! To me, this screams a beautiful first course for an elegant dinner.

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  12. Wow, what a beautiful terrine...it must taste delicious!

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  13. this is utterly stunning. stunning. stunning.

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  14. Lisa

    This terrine is super! First of all, beets and goat cheese are a match made in heaven and this combines two great flavors to make a very elegant dish and presentation!

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  15. You are so fancy! Me? I would have roasted the beets, dabbed on some goat cheese and called it a day. heeehee.

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  16. Oh my Lord, Lisa, this is stunningly gorgeous! I so want to try this! You do beautiful work and beautiful food! I'll bet this tasted divine!

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  17. so beautiful, i adore beets and this is so impressive and such an imaginative alternative to beet+ goat cheese tarte or oven baked beets with goat's cheese.

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  18. Love your savory terrine. I think beets and goat cheese go hand in hand, don't you? Your dish was beautifully done and the colors are gorgeous. Also like your vinaigrette...

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  19. I'm with Carloyn - I've been known to just roast beets and smear with a chevre, but look what I am missing out on, a thing of beauty. This terrine is amazing!

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  20. Ooh Lisa that is so pretty! :D It looks so elegant like it would be served at a high end restaurant-amazing job! :D

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  21. Once again, we posted very similar recipes......
    love those roaswted yellow beets!

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  22. Perfection is highly overrated! This looks wonderful. Great that it can be made ahead.

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  23. Looks totally refreshing and tempting!

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  24. This looks so good, and I don't like goat cheese, I might try it with a different cheese like feta.

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  25. So gorgeous and perfect to impress company with!

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  26. Simple and pretty. Plus, we all know goat cheese and beets go together like a charm.

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  27. What a beautiful dish! I visited Austin for the first time a few weeks ago. You live in such a terrific city!

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