Transparency of Manchego Cheese

The following is another recipe from Alinea.  It was not as visually appealing as I would have liked but the taste and flavors were good.  I mean you can't go wrong with melted manchego cheese with semi-hidden treasures of goodness below them.  The olive oil pudding was very interesting.  Has the consistency of pudding and tastes like olive oil.  I ended up adding closer to 40-45g of olive oil to give it a stronger olive oil flavor.  I also added a faux egg, which I got from Michel Richard.  In my haste I forgot to take the egg out of the freezer so I tried a quick melt with my kitchen torch and ended up giving it more of a char.  We waited a little while for it to melt but it was still somewhat frozen when we ate it. The white was made from buffalo mozzarella, paremsan, milk and gelatin, and the yolk was made from tomato, milk and gelatin.  The funny thing is I had ordered molds to make this egg and the egg white was on back order.  I just had to make these faux eggs though so I spent hours on end looking everywhere for a mold.  I even went to Jo-Ann fabrics and I can't stand that place.  I finally found something that would work at World Market.  They had a real egg shell filled with hazelnut & chocolate that came in a plastic case the shape and size of an egg.  And that did it..


Olive Oil Pudding
262g whole milk
2 egg yolks
64g sugar
19g corn starch
4g kosher salt
30g olive oil

Fill large bowl with ice water and set smaller bowl inside it.  In large saucepan bring milk to a boil over medium low heat.  In small bowl whisk together egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk half of milk into yolk mixture to temper.  Pour mixture back into saucepan, reduce heat to low and bring to a simmer whisking constantly.  Remove from heat.  Whisk in oil.  Strain through chinois into bowl set over ice water.  Let cool to room temperature.  Transfer to squeeze bottle and refrigerate.

Roasted Garlic
1 head garlic
7g olive oil

Preheat oven to 375F.  Lightly coat garlic with oil.  Wrap tightly in aluminum foil.  Roast for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and let cool to room temperature.  Peel garlic cloves taking care to keep cloves whole.

Roasted Red & Yellow Peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper

Char peppers over open flame until skin is completely blackened.  Immediately transfer peppers to container, cover tightly and let cool.  Remove skin, seeds and ribs (do not rinse under water as you'll wash away the oils which contain the flavor).  Cut peppers into 1/2 inch squares.  Reserve colors in separate containers.

Croutons
1 small loaf sour dough bread

Preheat over to 325F.  Trim off crust from loaf and then cut loaf into 1/4 inch cubes.  Spread in single layer on sheet tray and toast turning cubes every 5 minutes for 10 - 15 minutes until evenly browned.  Reserve in airtight container.

Manchego Square
115g Manchego cheese

Now you're supposed to use a meat slicer and cut into 4 1/16 inch slices.  I don't have the luxury of a meat slicer so I used a sharp knife and cut at thin as possible.  I think next time I'll take my cheese to the deli and have them cut it.

Dried Olives
8 Nicoise olives

Dehydrate at 150F for 24 hours.  Reserve in airtight container

To Assemble
3 white anchovies
16 baby arugula leaves

In center of plate arrange the following in single layer: olive oil pudding, 1 crouton, 1 square roasted red pepper, 1 square roasted yellow pepper, 1 clove roasted garlic, 2 dehydrated olives, and 1 anchovy.  Cover ingredients with manchego square and using broiler or kitchen torch melt cheese over ingredients.  Garnish each plate with 2 arugula leaves.