Potato Crisps With Goat Cheese And Olives Recipes

POTATO CRISPS WITH GOAT CHEESE AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Fill a medium saucepan with 1/2 inch of vegetable oil. Heat over medium heat until the oil reaches 350 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer. Slice the potatoes 1/8-inch thick, using a Japanese mandoline. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, fry the potatoes until crispy and golden brown, about 4 minutes per batch. With a spider or slotted spoon, remove the potatoes to a paper-towel-lined tray and drain well. Season with a few grinds of black pepper.
• Using a rubber spatula, mix the goat cheese, mascarpone and orange zest together until well combined and smooth. Set aside at room temperature.
• Add the olives, capers and rosemary to a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add the olive oil and pulse to puree; the finished spread should still have a little texture but be cohesive.
• To assemble: Place a dollop of the goat cheese mixture on each potato crisp and top with a spoonful of the olive spread.

OLIVE CRISPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry to a 10 by 10-inch square. Spread 3 tablespoons of tomato paste evenly on top, followed by 3 tablespoons of olive tapenade. Sprinkle half of mozzarella and Parmesan over top. Roll up the puff pastry like a jelly roll, just to the middle of the dough. Repeat with the other side in the same fashion, making 2 rolls that meet in the center. Duplicate the process with the second puff pastry sheet.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Slice the rolls into 1/2-inch slices. Arrange on cookie sheet and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (Because they will puff up to twice their size after baking, place them far enough apart.) Just before baking, beat the egg with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl, and brush onto the olive crisp slices. Bake for 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Serve warm or room temperature.

SWEET POTATO AND GOAT CHEESE GRATIN WITH BLACK OLIVES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you are using an aluminum baking sheet, cover the bottom with parchment paper or Silpat, so that the potatoes won't discolor and turn brown while baking. If you are using a ceramic or stainless-steel baking sheet, you don't need to cover the bottom. Slice each sweet potato in half, lengthwise, and place face down on the tray. Bake until they are soft, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
• Increase the heat in the oven to 400 degrees, place the pitted olives on a small baking sheet, and bake until they become hard and brittle, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• While the olives are baking, place a medium-size sauté pan with a heavy bottom over medium heat. Add the butter and brown it until it turns a hazelnut color and has a nutty fragrance, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the chopped shallots and allow to cook for about 3 minutes until translucent. Be careful not to burn the butter.
• When the sweet potatoes are cool, scoop out the insides and place in a bowl. Pour the butter and shallot mixture over the sweet potatoes, and mix. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, going lightly on the salt since the olives, which are added at the end, are salty. Place the sweet potato mix in a baking dish so that the sweet potatoes are one-inch thick. Spread the creamy goat cheese, in shallow dollops, over the sweet potatoes so that the sweet potatoes are clearly visible, at the edges and elsewhere. Bake at 400 degrees until the cheese and potatoes start to brown in some spots, about 15 minutes. The gratin won't brown like a traditional potato gratin; the colors of the sweet potatoes and the goat cheese will still be very present, but the goat cheese will turn beige, and the potatoes will begin to brown a bit.
• Once the olives are cool, chop them finely, and mix with the olive oil and the chopped basil. Spoon the olive mixture over the sweet potatoes and serve.

POTATO GRATIN WITH GOAT CHEESE, TOMATOES, AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat bottom and sides of an 11- by 8-inch (6-cup) gratin dish or other shallow baking dish with 1 tablespoon oil.
• In a heavy skillet cook onion in 2 tablespoons oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add herbes de Provence, sugar, tomatoes, bouillon cube, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes and stir in olives.
• Cut potatoes crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick slices and arrange one third in baking dish. Spread half of tomato mixture over potatoes and top with half of goat cheese. Continue layering potatoes, tomato mixture, and goat cheese in same manner, ending with potatoes. Drizzle remaining tablespoon oil over gratin and bake, covered with foil, in middle of oven 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake gratin 20 to 30 minutes more, or until potatoes are very tender. Sprinkle gratin with parsley.

GOAT CHEESE WITH OLIVES, LEMON, AND THYME

Steps:

• Heat olives, thyme, oil, zest, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a small skillet or saucepan over low heat until fragrant (do not simmer). Cool to room temperature.
• Serve olive mixture over goat cheese.

CRISPY POTATO SOPES WITH GOAT CHEESE AND HERB SALAD

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, boil potatoes in salted water to cover until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain, and cool. Push potatoes through a sieve into a bowl. Scrape potatoes into a 1-cup measuring cup, and discard the rest. Return potatoes to bowl. Knead in the masa or masa harina. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon salt.
• Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. Divide the dough into 18 balls slightly larger than golf balls, and cover with plastic to keep from drying out. If the balls crack when you are rolling them, knead a few drops of water into the dough to give them the consistency of a soft cookie dough. Cut two sheets of plastic (preferably from heavy-weight food-storage bags) into 6-inch squares.
• One by one, form the fat little tortillas that will become the sopes: With your hands, gently press out a ball of the dough between the sheets of plastic into a 2 1/2-inch circle (it should be about 1/4 inch thick). Peel off the top sheet. Use your thumb and first finger to pinch up the dough into a border about 1/2 inch high around the edge to form a little boat. Flip the tortilla -- uncovered side down -- onto the fingers of one hand, then gently peel off the second piece of plastic. In one flowing movement, roll the tortilla off your hand and onto the griddle or skillet. After about 50 seconds, when the tortilla has loosened itself from the cooking surface, remove it from the griddle; this is just to set the surface of the tortilla, not cook the masa all the way through. While the first tortilla is cooking, continue pressing out others and adding them to the griddle or skillet. After cooking, pierce the bottoms with a fork, taking care not to poke them all the way through. Slip the cooled sopes into a plastic bag, or cover them to keep from drying out.
• Fill a heavy skillet with 1/2 inch oil; heat oil to 375 degrees. Turn on the oven to its lowest setting, and set out a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain the sopes. Stir the balsamic vinegar into the salsa, and set out the herbs and crumbled cheese. A few at a time, fry the sopes until they are a rich golden brown, 50 to 60 seconds. Drain them upside down on the paper towels. As the sopes are fried, keep them warm in the oven.
• When all of the sopes have been fried, arrange them on a serving platter. Spoon about 1/2 tablespoon salsa into each one, top with a tuft of herbs, and sprinkle generously with cheese. Serve immediately.

LOADED BAKED POTATO CHEESE CRISPS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F.
• Combine ingredients.
• Drop into 44 mounds, 1 inch apart, onto parchment-covered baking sheets, using about 1 Tbsp. cheese mixture for each mound. Flatten slightly with back of spoon.
• Bake 5 to 8 min. or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet 2 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.