Spinach Goat Cheese Croquettes Food

SPINACH AND GOAT CHEESE CROSTINI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Use 2 tablespoons of the oil to brush both sides of the bread slices. Arrange on a baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Bake until golden, flipping halfway through, about 7 minutes. While the toasts are hot, rub both sides with the whole garlic clove and return the bread to the baking sheet.
• Toast the pine nuts in a large skillet over medium heat, swirling, until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive, minced garlic and red pepper flakes to the skillet and cook, over medium heat and stirring frequently, until the garlic is soft, about 1 minute. Add the spinach, in batches, sprinkling with salt after each new addition, until wilted and tender. Transfer to the bowl with the pine nuts, add the lemon zest and toss well. Drain the mixture in a colander and then roughly chop it.
• Divide the spinach mixture among the toasts and top each with some crumbled goat cheese. Bake just until cheese starts to melt, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with more red pepper flakes if using and serve warm.
• Copyright 2016 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved.

SIDE ESSENTIALS: SAUTéED SPINACH & GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• 1. PREP/PREPARE
• 2. Gather your Ingredients (mise en place).
• 3. Add the butter to a skillet over medium heat.
• 4. When the butter melts, add the shallots and garlic, and cook in for 1 minute.
• 5. Add the defrosted spinach to the skillet, sprinkle on a bit of salt and pepper, to taste, and allow to cook for 3 - 5 minutes.
• 6. Evenly dollop on the goat cheese, and then cover and reduce the heat to medium low, for about 3 minutes.
• 7. Chef's Tip: One of the tricks is to not stir the goat cheese into the spinach; leave it in nice soft dollops. When you stir it into the spinach, it really diminishes the distinct flavor notes of the cheese and spinach.
• 8. Chef's Tip: Goat cheese comes in creamy or crumbled; in addition, some have spices infused into them. For this recipe, I choose creamy/plain goat cheese; however, you may wish to experiment with other types... Just for the fun of it.
• 9. Remove the cover, and drizzle on the lemon juice.
• 10. Chef's Note: And if you are feeling particularly randy, sprinkle on some freshly toasted pine nuts.
• 11. PLATE/PRESENT
• 12. Serve as a side with beef, pork, chicken or fish. Enjoy.
• 13. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

SPINACH GOAT CHEESE SOUFFLé

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 6-cup soufflé dish or an 8-cup gratin dish and coat it with the Parmesan. Heat the milk with the aromatics until it boils. Set it aside to steep for 15 minutes, then strain.Meanwhile, cook the spinach leaves with water still clinging to them until tender. Strain. (You can use other greens as well; chard and tender kale come to mind.)
• When the spinach is wilted, remove from pan and strain out the moisture and set aside. Melt the butter in a saucepan. When foamy, stir in the flour and cook over low heat for several minutes. Whisk in the milk all at once and stir vigorously for a minute or so as it thickens, then add 3/4 teaspoon salt, a few twists of pepper, and the cayenne. Remove from heat. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time until well blended, then stir in the cheese. Don't worry about getting it smooth. Finely chop the spinach and and season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Add to the egg base. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.
• Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form firm peaks, then stir a quarter of them into the base to lighten the mixture. Fold in the rest, transfer to the prepared dish, then put in the center of the oven and lower the heat to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and just a bit wobbly in the center. Remove, scatter the thyme over the top, and serve immediately.

SPINACH CROQUETTES

Steps:

• Set a large pot of water to boil and salt it.
• When it boils, add the spinach and onion and cook for just about a minute, until the spinach wilts.
• Drain thoroughly and cool a bit.
• Squeeze dry. Chop spinach and onion and place in large bowl, along with the eggs, cheese and breadcrumbs.
• Mix well, then add salt and pepper.
• Form the spinach mixture into small croquettes, about 1/4 each for a total of 16. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before frying. Let come to room temperature before cooking.
• Place oil and butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat in batches (so they won't touch each other when they cook), add croquettes to the skillet.
• Adjust heat so they brown without burning, about 3 - 4 minutes; turn and brown other side, about 3-4 minutes.
• Continue until all the croquettes are cooked. Serve hot or at room temperature.
• They can be cooked ahead, cooked and refrigerated and then reheated in a 250F oven until just warmed.

SPINACH CROQUETTES

Steps:

• Combine spinach, flour, sparkling water, eggs, Parmesan cheese, baking powder, garlic, vinegar, salt, and black pepper together in a bowl until batter is evenly combined.
• Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet over medium heat. Spoon batter into the hot oil, keeping about 1 inch between each croquette. Cook until golden brown, about 90 seconds per side. Repeat with remaining batter.

PUMPKIN AND GOAT CHEESE CROQUETTES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180c.
• Place pumpkin on a baking tray and cook for 45 mins or until tender.
• Remove from the oven and cool.
• Discard the pumkin skin and chop the flesh.
• Place the flesh in a food processor, add the nutmeg and pulse to a puree.
• Season to taste. If mixture is too wet, strain to remove any exess water.
• Combine the goat cheese, sage, and vinegar in a bowl and season to taste.
• Roll the mixture into balls the size of small marbles.
• Coat the cheese balls with the pumpkin puree mixture.
• Roll the croquettes in the flour, then dip in the beaten egg and coat completely with breadcrumbs.
• In a large frying pan or wok, heat enough oil to deep fry until hot but not smoking.
• Cook the croquettes in batches until golden (about 3 mins).
• Drain on paper towels and serve warm.