Trembling reed

I absolutely love goat cheese, and I really love homemade caesar - especially when it is not doused with dressing. This salad is inspired by a dish that I had at Michel Richard's Central restaurant in D.C. When I saw caesar salad AND goat cheese on the menu, I knew it was something I had to try. This is my "home" version of a goat cheese caesar salad adding roasted tomatoes for color and flavor. I hope you enjoy!

This is the kind of recipe that has the veneer of a restaurant recipe, but the soul of one by a home cook. It has complexity -- a bed of seasoned goat cheese beneath the salad, a sprinkling of blistered cherry tomatoes, and a cap made of a baked parmesan crisp -- but each part is easy and can be made ahead of time. So don't sweat it. Put this on the menu for your next dinner party. One note: we didn't break up the romaine leaves -- instead, we used just the tender inner leaves and dressed them whole so we could stack them up, Suzanne Goin style.

Serves 2 or more

Caesar Dressing

1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons good quality mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, grated
1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Salad

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
10 cherry tomatoes
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 heads of romaine lettuce (or how ever many you are serving)
4 ounces good goat cheese
1 garlic clove, grated
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Mix all of dressing ingredients together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Take goat cheese out of refrigerator to soften. Grate garlic and mix with oregano and cream. Mix softened goat cheese with herb cream mixture and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss cherry tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Roast in oven for about 20 minutes or until tomatoes burst and brown in a few spots. Take out of oven and set aside.

Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Pour a heaping tablespoon of parmesan on a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with 1/2 cup parmesan cheese spacing cheese at least 1/2 inch apart. Reserve 1/4 cup parmesan for serving. Bake for about 5 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Cool.

Clean romaine lettuce and trim. Place between damp paper towels and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Pipe a portion of goat cheese mousse on bottom of one salad plate (depending on how much goat cheese you like). I use a ziploc bag with the corner cut off to make a pretty design or you can always spoon on the bottom. Repeat with remaining salad plates.

Toss romaine very lightly with dressing (be very sparse as I always put a little dressing on top of finished salad). Divide lettuce between salad plates.

Divide roasted tomatoes on top of salad. Drizzle about a tablespoon of dressing on lettuce and sprinkle with parmesan. Add parmesan crisp and serve.

Sorbet recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz (Ten Speed Press, 2007); Focaccia recipe from Saltie, in Brooklyn; the brilliant idea to put the two together in perfect union by Marian Bull, a friend and former Food52 editor.

Makes 12 to 16 sandwiches, depending on the size of the bread you cut

David Lebovitz's Chocolate Sorbet

2 1/4 cups (555 ml) water
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large saucepan, whisk together 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) of the water with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring to a boil whisking frequently. Let it boil, continuing to whisk for 45 seconds.
Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it's melted, then stir in the vanilla extract and the remaining 3/4 cup (180 ml) water. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 15 seconds. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. If the mixture has become too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.

Saltie's Focaccia

6 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing and drizzling
Coarse sea salt

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add the warm water to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated and a sticky dough forms—no kneading required. Pour the 1/4 cup olive oil into a 6-quart plastic food container with a tight-fitting lid (or a large bowl). Transfer the focaccia dough to the plastic container, turn to coat, and cover tightly. (If you're using a bowl, wrap tightly and thoroughly in plastic wrap, making sure there's plenty of room in the bowl for the dough to rise.) Place in the refrigerator to rise for at least 8 hours or for up to 2 days.

When you're ready to bake—I've found that a 2-day rise is best, but 1 will work just fine—oil an 18 x 13-inch baking sheet. Remove the focaccia dough from the refrigerator and transfer to the prepared pan. Using your hands, spread the dough out on the prepared pan as much as possible, adding oil to the dough as needed to keep it from sticking. Place the dough in a warm place and let it rise until it about doubles in bulk The rising time will vary considerably depending on the season. (In the summer, it might take just 20 minutes; in winter, it can take an hour or more.) When the dough is ready, it should be room temperature, spread out on the sheet, and fluffy feeling.

Preheat the oven to 450° F.

Pat down the focaccia to an even thickness of about 1-inch on the baking sheet, and then make a bunch of indentations in the dough with your fingertips—like you're playing chords on a piano. Dimple the entire dough and then drizzle the whole thing again with olive oil. Sprinkle the entire surface of the focaccia evenly with sea salt.

Bake, rotating once front to back, until the top is uniformly golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, then slide out of the pan. Use the same day.

Once the bread is cool and the ice cream is frozen, slice the former into squares (whatever size you like is fine), and cut those through their bellies to make top and bottom slices of bread. Pile on a scoop or two of ice cream, sandwich together, and serve immediately. (It's wise to have napkins nearby.)

Author Notes: Courtesy of Lauren Shockey of Carmella Bistro in Tel Aviv.

Serves 6 as a side dish

3 pounds yellow-fleshed potatoes (like Yukon Gold)
1 stick butter (1/4 lb)
1 cup whole milk
salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 small to medium eggplant

1. Preheat a grill to hot. Pierce the eggplant several times with a fork or a knife (otherwise the eggplant will explode when cooking, or as they like to say at work, “they become the suicide bombers of food.”). Roast the eggplant on all sides until the skin has blackened and charred completely (This may also be done by broiling the eggplant in the oven, but it will not taste quite as good.). Set aside to cool slightly dermes. While still warm, cut off the top of the eggplant and make a vertical slit down the base of the eggplant. Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh and place in a colander for about half an hour to drain any excess liquid. Transfer to a bowl and mash up the eggplant with a fork.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Place in a large pot and cover completely with cold water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes or so. The potatoes will be done when you pierce them with a knife and the potato falls off the knife. Using a ricer/food mill elyze, puree the potatoes back into the pot you cooked them in.
3. Meanwhile, place the butter, milk, salt, and nutmeg in a saucepan and cook until the milk is steaming and the butter has completely melted. Add to the potatoes, along with the eggplant pulp, and stir gently until smooth and combined reenex. Serve immediately.