Turnips and radishes with roasted garlic goat cheese and sesame
I was searching pinterest for a sexy picture of a turnip recipe (a girl can dream and dreams come true!). I found an inspiration recipe from bon appetit (you can find their version here http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/turnips-roasted-garlic-goat-cheese-sesame) I had Japanese turnips and some beautiful radishes from Blue Lizard Farm that were looking to get dressed up!
Roast a head of garlic
Early in the day I roasted a head of garlic. Chopped it across the center then put it in a small baking dish with olive oil, covered it with aluminum foil and tucked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (The recipe said 45 to 50 but my garlic head was small…it also called for 1-1/4 cup of olive oil…I didn’t use that much) I took it out and let it cool (no burning oil for me!)
Make the Goat cheese spread
Next was the Goat cheese. Squish the garlic out of the paper, and press or mince it into a paste. Reserve the beautiful garlic oil from the baking dish. Toss the garlic paste in with the goat cheese (I just used 4 oz) in the food processor, drizzle in some of the garlic olive oil, season with salt and pepper and add a little water if it is too thick. This can go in the fridge while you do the rest.
Toasted Sesame with Thyme, Oregano & Lime Zest
Toast some sesame seeds in a dry pan. I did ½ to a light toast then the rest to a darker toast to give me a little depth. These cool while you prep some fresh thyme and oregano. I used dried oregano for mine, again, a little texture. Add this to the cooled sesame seeds then zest ½ a lime into the mixture.
Prep a little cilantro, pulling off the stems.
Slice the turnips and radishes and toss with vinegar & oil
Now cut your turnips and radishes. I used 2 of each, 1 cut in 1/8th in wedges and the other into thin rounds. Toss them in a bowl, add a little red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper.
Plating
Now to the plating, it gets a schmear of the goat chees spread on the bottom, top with some radishes and turnips, sprinkle with the sesame mixture, top with cilantro, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of a nice finishing salt. I used a smoked alderwood salt from Laguna Salt Company
(pulled from our 4farm2mrkt website)
