Michael Chiarello’s Tomato with Warm Goat Cheese and Herb Salad

After meeting Michael Chiarello and his adorable wife Eileen in Aspen, and attending his Farm to Fork talk, my pre existing respect for him has quadrupled.   Not only is he dedicated to local, sustainable food, but he is one of the more down to earth, real, caring celebrity chefs I’ve ever met.  My partners in crime, Danny from Foodie Aspen, Chef John from Food Wishes,  Average Betty, and Jen from Daily Blender and I all had a chance to chat with him while sipping cocktails at  the Best New Chefs Dinner at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.  “What did you think of our talk?”  he asked me, and “what else did you do today,  how were the other demos?”   Similar to chatting with a family member, he really wanted to hear about my day,  I loved that.     Last night while watching Top Chef Masters, I was very torn between rooting for local Boulder chef Lachlan Patterson from Frasca and Michael, it was a tough call!

No spoilers here in case you haven’t caught up, but here is a simple appetizer or vegetarian main dish from Michael Chiarello, a delicious tomato and warm goat cheese recipe served with an herbed salad.

Tomato Steak with Baked Goat Cheese and Herb Salad
Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup fine dried bread crumbs
* Gray salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 large egg
* 4 rounds fresh goat cheese, about 2 ounces each
* 4 thick, ripe beefsteak tomato slices
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the salad
* 2 cups lightly packed mixed tender fresh herb leaves such as basil, chervil, tarragon, Italian flat-leaf parsley, chives (1-inch lengths), or young cress
* Red wine vinegar

Directions

In a small, shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs with salt and pepper, to taste. In another small, shallow bowl, beat the egg just until blended. Dip each goat cheese round in the egg, and then in bread crumbs, patting the crumbs in place. Cover and refrigerate the coated cheese rounds for about 15 minutes.

Center the tomato slices on 4 salad plates and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat and pour in 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is almost smoking, add the cheese rounds. Cook until lightly browned, about 45 seconds. Turn them over and cook on the other side until the cheese just feels quivery, about 45 seconds longer, depending on the thickness of the rounds. Place a cheese round on each tomato slice.

In a bowl, toss the herbs with a light drizzle of olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper, to taste. Mound the herbs on top of the cheese, dividing them evenly. Serve immediately.

Michael’s Notes: This salad looks best when the tomato slice and the goat cheese slice are about the same size. So if you can only find goat cheese in small logs, you may want to serve 2 goat cheese rounds to each diner and perch them on slices of smaller tomatoes.

More from Michael: Care to whip up Chef Chiarellos fast food Fish Balls, Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Asparagus Salad, or Goat Milk Basil Gelato with Balsamic Strawberries as seen on the show? Bravo just posted these today!