Dominique Crenn’s Cheese Salad Recipe
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Dec 15, 2022 • 4 min read
In France, dinner guests enjoy their salad at the end of a meal, rather than as an appetizer or side dish. For dessert, you might enjoy a selection of cheeses. In this cheese salad recipe, Chef Dominique Crenn combines those two traditions into a beautiful finale to her tasting menu.
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Meet Dominique Crenn
Dominique Crenn is an award-winning chef and advocate for sustainability and equity in the culinary world. Though she is now among the world’s most celebrated chefs, her path to culinary greatness was not without its challenges. After being turned away from many French culinary schools due to antiquated opinions about female chefs, Chef Crenn set out for California, where she forged her own culinary identity rooted in personhood, memories, and mindfulness.
In San Francisco, Chef Crenn opened Atelier Crenn, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant where diners receive a poem instead of a menu, with each dish represented by a line of poetry. Chef Crenn describes her food philosophy as “poetic culinaria.”
About Dominique Crenn’s Cheese Salad
People have been crafting cheese for thousands of years, but each cheese is the expression of a moment in culinary culture. With this cheese course, Chef Crenn encourages you to savor the particularity of your time and place.
This recipe demonstrates how to modernize the traditional finish to a good French meal by aerating a semisoft cheese and decorating it with a deconstructed green salad. Be sure to bring your own sensibility and environment to this dish by exploring the cheeses made in your own region and finding the flavors that speak to you. Taste the greens at your local farmers’ market, and trim them with all of the attention of a bonsai artist. The flavors of this dish will vary with the seasons, but the techniques are usable year-round.
3 Ways to Customize Cheese Salad
Once you’ve made Chef Crenn’s cheese salad recipe, experiment with your favorite flavors to create something new. Here are some ideas to invigorate your salad bowl:
- 1. Experiment with cheeses. Use your favorite blue cheese, mozzarella, cottage cheese, or cloth-bound cheddar cheese to make the cheese mousse. Try pungent goat cheese for a unique take on a goat cheese salad.
- 2. Get creative with your lettuce selection. Larger lettuce leaves work best for creating the lettuce punches, but there’s still room for creativity. Try adding tender fresh herbs, like chives, to your salad mix, or incorporate peppery arugula.
- 3. Try different vinaigrettes. Instead of a heavy salad dressing, Chef Crenn’s cheese salad features a classic vinaigrette spritzed onto the salad greens using a spray bottle. Subtly alter the flavor of the vinaigrette recipe by swapping sherry vinegar for apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar. If you don’t have a shallot on hand, infuse the vinaigrette with the flavor of a red onion, garlic clove, or scallion. Or, add a small spoonful of Dijon mustard or freshly ground black pepper.
How to Make Dominique Crenn’s Cheese Salad
Make the cheese mousse by whisking together milk, heavy cream, cheese, sugar, kosher salt, and black pepper over medium heat.
Use a cookie cutter or scalloped punch to cut small pieces of lettuce.
Squeeze three tablespoons of the cheese mousse into each of four small bowls. Spray the lettuce cut-outs with vinaigrette and arrange them near or on top of the cheese mousse. Garnish with microgreens, if desired.
Dominique Crenn’s Cheese Salad Recipe
makes
prep time
5 mintotal time
45 mincook time
40 minIngredients
For the cheese mousse:
For the lettuce punches:
For the vinaigrette:
Note: The total time does not include up to 3 hours and 5 minutes of inactive time.
Make the cheese mousse:
- 1
In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, bring the milk and the heavy cream to a simmer, whisking occasionally.
- 2
Once simmering, remove the pot from the heat, and whisk in the cheese, sugar, salt, and black pepper to combine.
- 3
Working in batches, use a large spoon to scoop a portion of the mixture into a blender.
- 4
Start on low speed, and gradually add the remaining mixture, puréeing until it’s smooth. Use the higher speeds sparingly, so you don’t overheat the mixture.
- 5
Transfer the mixture to a large lidded container, then cover and refrigerate until it’s cool enough to stick to the sides of the container, about 1–2 hours.
- 6
After 1–2 hours, uncover the container, and whisk the cheese mixture until the texture is airy and it becomes mousse-like. (Don’t overbeat the cheese to the point that liquid begins to seep out of the mixture.)
- 7
Once you have a cheese mousse, transfer it to a pastry bag using a large spoon. Refrigerate the mousse until it’s set, about 1 hour.
Make the lettuce punches:
- 1
Wash, trim, and dry the lettuces and greens.
- 2
On a silicone mat or cutting board, use a scalloped punch, cookie cutter, or scissors to cut small pieces of lettuce and greens into visually pleasing shapes, then set the pieces aside. You can store dry lettuces and greens in a sealed container lined with damp paper towels in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.
Make the vinaigrette and serve:
- 1
Let the shallot sit in the vinegar for 5 minutes to macerate.
- 2
Strain out the shallot pieces with a fine-mesh strainer, and then add the oil, lemon juice, and salt into the vinaigrette.
- 3
Transfer the vinaigrette to a small spray bottle and discard the shallot pieces.
- 4
To serve, remove the cheese mousse from the refrigerator, and cut off the tip of the piping bag.
- 5
Squeeze approximately 3 tablespoons of the cheese mousse in a spiral shape into the centers of 4 small bowls.
- 6
Spray the pieces of lettuce and greens with the vinaigrette, then arrange them next to (or in) the cheese in each bowl. Each bite should offer an assortment of flavors. Use tweezers, if desired, to anchor the lettuces and greens in the cheese, creating three-dimensionality.
- 7
Finish the dish with a sprinkle of fleur de sel or kosher salt, to taste.
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