Goat Cheese & Apple ( with Smoked Duck Fillet ) Verrines

Whether you are having a dinner party, a romantic dinner, or you want to treat yourself, here's an idea for a refreshing appetizer or starter.

I would suggest serving this goat cheese and apple with smoked duck fillet verrine as a small portion (the verrine containers I used are shot glasses) because, even though this is delicious, you don't want to be full and spoil your appetite for the meal to come.

The ingredients are for 4 verrines, so feel free to adjust the quantities if you cooking for more or less people.

You will need:

• One good-sized apple
• 3 tablespoons of crème fraîche*
• Some pepper
• Some salt
• A small round goat cheese called "Crottin de Chavignol"* (if you can find it, or any other chalky goat cheese will do the trick)
• As many smoked duck fillets as you are creating verrines* (as an alternative for smoked duck fillets, you can use crispy bacon or proscuitto ham)

For the goat cheese, try to find something that is dry and chalky (not a spread):

The smoked duck fillets (or your meat of choice) should be just fine pieces:

Preparation time: 20 minutes


Start by peeling your apple.

Then cut your apple into small cubes ...

... and place them in a plate.

Cover your apple pieces with some parchment paper and place the plate in the microwave. Heat it for 1 to 2 minutes at maximum heat.

Your apple pieces should get out softer and ready to be mashed.

Mash your apple pieces ...

... until they become a puree, but leave some chunks in there.

In a saucepan, heat up the crème fraîche with some salt and pepper.

Once the crème fraîche is warm, let it cool down while your are mashing your goat cheese (no worries if you leave some small chunks of goat cheese).

Then pour the crème fraîche on the mashed goat cheese and mix them together with a fork ...

... until the mixture becomes a puree-like.

You are now ready to assemble your verrines.

Remember verrines are all about layers: so we are going to start by a layer of goat cheese and crème fraîche mixture, then make a layer of apple puree, and finally place our smoked duck fillet at the top.
To create your layers, you can use a teaspoon or a pastry bag.

Add each layer of the verrine to all the verrines before moving on to the next layer, so you can make sure that all your verrines are equally made.

Place the verrines in the fridge for at least ten minutes.

Enjoy!

Note: You can even make these verrines vegetarian by not adding the smoked duck fillet or any other meat.

*Tips: Don't throw away your smoked duck fillet, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your smoked duck fillet.

Don't throw away your crème fraîche either, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your crème fraîche.
Don't throw away your leftovers of Crottin de Chavignol (goat cheese), refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your Crottin de Chavignol (goat cheese).

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond

Assortment of Tartlets

For a fun appetizer, snack, or a light dinner if you so wish, this is an assortment of tartlets. Of course, you could only do one of these tartlets if you like.

The tartlets we are going to make here are Salmon with Crème Fraîche and Sun-dried Tomatoes* with Goat Cheese. We will use smoked salmon and tinned sun-dried tomatoes, so it is really easy to prepare.

While preparing the tartlets, start preheating your oven to about 175C (350F).

If you have an oven tray, preheat the oven tray in the oven as well.

We start with the pastry; you can buy pastry dough at the supermarket and you just have to unroll it. I like to further thin it just a bit; you will have to experiment with the dough you find in the supermarket. You can use a drinking glass or another round thing to cut out your pastry.

I used a package of smoked salmon and sliced it up to make it easier to arrange the salmon on the pastry.

Place the salmon in a little heap on the pastry circle and sprinkle on some chives, I just used dried chives from a spice jar.

For the sun-dried tomatoes, I place them so that they open up on the top (see the picture for a better explanation).

And in this little pocket, I place the goat cheese. Now, I'm using a goat cheese spread, which I formed into a little ball. You can do it which ever way you like.

Finally, crinkle up the edges of the pastry; almost as if you are folding the edges in just a little bit. Don't sweat it too much, it does not have to be perfect.

Now we are ready to bake! Place the pastries in the oven on the tray for about 15 minutes; but keep checking in on them. (The pastries on the right are Croissants with Ham and Swiss).

And after 15 minutes or so, your crust should be nicely browned and raised, carefully take the tray out of the oven and plate the tartlets.

Finally, drop a dollop of crème fraîche on the salmon tartlets and drizzle some honey on the sundried tomato tartlets and they are ready to eat!

I love doing these tartlets for a light dinner because, as you saw, it is very easy to do and it has quite a nice mix of textures.

*Tip: Don't throw away your sun-dried tomatoes, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your sun-dried tomatoes.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki