Canapés de Preaux

I’m calling this little gem like that as I invented it last summer at my sister’s farm, which is located in a tiny village called Preaux.

What I love about cooking at my sister’s is that first, you need to deal with everybody’s tastes (Mister Lapin, my sister Juliette, her boyfriend Freddy and accessorily, all the people who stop by!) and secondly, as the closest supermarket is quite far away, you need to be a little creative when you open the fridge.

I always have great memories when we go to Preaux, it gives me the opportunity to catch up with my sister that I don’t see a lot and the cooking process is WILD! We often go by the river with a small boat, wood for the BBQ, the dog, fishing rods and lots of rose wine and beers! After a few days of chipolatas, salads and beef skewers, you need to think outside the box!  Which bring me to this creation.

Except the Bresaola, every produce has been grown locally and made by somebody I know:

- The Sainte-Maure de Touraine is made by Freddy (or at least the company he works for).

- The tomatoes has been grown by Rene & Simone, friends of Juliette and Freddy and then dried by me (the tomatoes of course!).

- The breadcrumbs are from my sister’s homemade bread.

If you wish to know more about the Sainte-Maure de Touraine, click here.

So for the recipe (at last!):

Ingredients (2 pers)

12 Slices of Bresaola

1 Ste Maure de Touraine (or about 250gr of goat cheese)

18 sundried tomatoes

1 ½ handful of breadcrumbs (ideally from left over bread)

Herb sea salt (if you don’t have any, do a mix of sea salt and herbes de Provence)

Olive oil

Thyme

Method

Pre heat your oven at 85°C. In a silicon muffin mould, put a slice of Bresaola in each mark to make something like a little basket.

Put into the oven for about 20min. The idea is to slightly dry out the Bresaola so it become a bit crispy. But that is up to your taste, if you don't like crispy meat, don't do it.

Once it’s done, leave it to cool down. During that time, heat a small frying pan with olive oil. Add a few pinches of the herb salt. When the oil is hot, had the breadcrumbs and toss until golden. Leave your “crouton’s crumble” to cool down.

In the Bresaola baskets, put a slice of goat cheese (about 1cm thick). Top it with a 1 ½ sundried tomato and cover it all with a spoonful of crouton’s crumble. You can leave it in the fridge for a few hours before eating but keep in mind it taste better at room temperature.

You can also add a bit of fresh thyme on top before serving.



Ta-dah!