Tosi Gorgonzola Canapés , Ice Cream, Burgers and Wardorf Salads

Gorgonzola ice cream

Despite my assurances in the story above that this is indeed a tasty ice cream, I can’t imagine anybody wanting to make it – except perhaps commercially, in which case I am happy to provide the recipe for a fee. If you are determined you can cheat (as I did the first time I made it): allow a tub of ordinary dairy ice cream to soften, add cheese, puree, honey and nuts to taste, re-freeze. Otherwise, follow a recipe for strawberry ice cream and replace strawberry puree with apple and then add the other ingredients to taste and freeze. Making the ice cream from scratch has the benefit of amalgamating melted cheese into the ice cream mix.

Mini gorgonzola burgers

These are brilliant. Blue cheese goes with steak. They share a certain tang and minerality – each element balances the other so that the cheese does not become cloying and the steak does not become overwhelmingly rich and meaty.

If you do not want to make your own brioche mini buns, cut rounds of bread. You could cut ready-made burger buns but make sure you turn the scraps into breadcrumbs for later use to avoid waste.

For the brioche I used half a recipe. The trick is all in the shaping of dough before the final raising – not straightforward as the dough for brioche is wet and sticky. I tried several methods, all started with making quenelles of dough using two spoons. Some I left as they came off the spoons, for others I molded into small balls using wet hands and with others dry floured hands. Some I tried billowing into puffs of dough with my fingers, rather like making mozzarella. Floured hands work best but leave a slight texture on the bun – blow or brush off as much as possible before adding the egg wash. Otherwise, try a piping bag – but it should be noted that little flicks and tufts of dough may not smooth into uniform domes.

For the fillet, fry evenly on a very hot pan (cloths, lids and fire extinguishers at the ready). When well-browned – if not charred – reduce the heat to let the internal parts of the meat cook slightly (we are after a very rare piece of meat). Prod the fillet with your finger, when it begins to show a little resistance, take off the heat and wrap tightly tin foil and allow to cool, before storing in the fridge. To assemble cut the buns in half, add mayo to the bases, add slices of beef, season and top with cheese. Serve with a little stick, cut down by hand.

Mini Waldorfs

Well, not strictly a Waldorf but but the concept is simply to place something like a Waldorf in lettuce or chicory leaves and serve as a canapé. Essential is gorgonzola, apple or pear, hazlenuts or walnuts. Chop and slice ingredients to suit, dress, mix and place in chicory leaves. Although these are a little fiddly, they are not hard and would work well for any kind of dinner party. Chefy types may want to improve on my presentation – fewer elements in a stricter pattern would be more creative.

Other recipes: Tosi Gorgonzola Canapés with Pumpkin and Mushroom, Tosi Gorgonzola Tuna and Bresaola Canapés, Asparagus and Tosi Gorgonzola on Polenta and Gnocchi with Tosi Gorgonzola Cheese Sauce