Heirloom Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese Cream

This is another one that I cribbed from that certain restaurant in Boston, and have probably made several hundred times at the least. Unlike other preparations in this collection from that place, it’s not hard or impractical to make in your own kitchen. Following the best restaurant logic, however, the dish is comprised of multiple elements that you use in tiny enough amounts that it doesn’t make a ton of sense to make them unless you’re planning to crank out 50 of these dishes. In this case, that means basil oil – something which is a bit time consuming to make and appears on this dish in a quantity that can be measured in drops, so I’ve replaced it with straight olive oil in the rendition below. The logic of dishes such as this one is to showcase the freshness and brilliance of the main ingredient – in this case tomatoes – while accenting it with tiny gestures that represent both cunning plays on traditional parings as well as technical ability. In this case, the olive croutons, goat cheese, and the basil oil represent both of those things, while the tomatoes are the centerpiece and star of the show – except for a little salt, the point here is to appreciate the intensity and variety of flavors of heirloom tomatoes. The other brilliant thing is, because this is a dish that can only be made seasonally and with whatever available, it will never be the same twice. I shouldn’t have to say this, but with the exception of the clam chowder, this is perhaps the recipe in this collection that depends most heavily on the peak freshness and quality of it’s central ingredient. Don’t even think about making this dish unless you have the greatest heirloom tomatoes of all time and they are at the absolute height of ripeness – and if you do happen to stumble across those, you also shouldn’t hesitate to do this with them.

Ingredients:

• A half a dozen or more different varieties of heirloom tomatoes, including big red meaty ones like Brandywines, the dark purple ones which are smoky and deep and umami-y, big and little red and yellow ones, which can range from sugary and smoky to acidic and tangy and almost citric, yellow ones striped with red, green zebras, etc – whatever you can find that represents the full spectrum of tomato appearance and flavor.
• A few slices of brioche
• 2-3 TBSP fine, dark olive tapenade
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 4 oz chevre or other soft goat cheese, softened at room temperature
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

Begin by making the croutons. Preheat the oven to 375. Cube the brioche in 1” cubes and place in a large bowl. Spoon the tapenade on top, drizzle the olive oil over, the mixture, add salt and pepper and stir thoroughly to combine without destroying the shape of the cubes. Spread on a sheet pan or cookie tray and bake for 7 minutes, until the croutons are golden and crispy. Cool, and reserve.

Next, make the goat cheese cream. Place the softened goat cheese in a bowl and add the cream, salt and pepper. Whip with a fork until homogenous. The texture should be a cross between heavy cream and goat cheese – smoother than the latter and stiffer and more solid than the former. Place in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the dish.

When you are ready to assemble the dish, place a large schmear of goat cheese cream in the middle of a plate. Slice the tomatoes, parallel to the equator, in ½ inch thick slices. Starting with the largest on the base, stack the tomatoes vertically, getting smaller and smaller as the tower rises (but no need to be fully dogmatic in size and order). Place roughly a half dozen croutons on top of the tower, at different tiers, and on the plate. Drizzle olive oil in a circle around the circumference of the plate, serve immediately, and enjoy.