Helen Dollaghan, food editor of The Denver Post from 1958-1993, selected recipes she felt were the best and published them in this 1987 special section called “30 Years of Rocky Mountain Cooking.”
This is a classic lunch or dinner salad in France, now adopted by any cook anywhere seeking the delicious play among fresh greens, their vinaigrette, and pungent goat cheese. Order this in Paris and the recommended wine will be — without fail; never anything else; don’t even try to drink outside the box — a crisp, zippy, lean and incisive sauvignon blanc from the Loire, Sancerre the especial no-brainer. Goat cheese is tangy; so is Sancerre. Acidity meets acidity and they smooth each other out. That interplay is the key to this salad’s deliciousness.
HERE’S THE DISH …
Slice a log of fresh goat cheese into fourths, each 1/2-inch thick. Marinate for 3 hours in 1/4 cup olive oil and 4 sprigs bruised fresh thyme. Whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper; lightly coat 4 handfuls of mixed greens with vinaigrette. Pat cheese rounds in mix of 1 teaspoon dried thyme and 1 cup bread crumbs, Place on oiled baking sheet in preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 6 minutes until golden brown. Place cheese on greens, browned side up. If desired, toss toasted bread croutons on salad.
AND PAIR IT WITH …
One of the greats of the Loire sauvignons is that put out most years by Domaine Vacheron ($50). Itap as linear as laser beams of citrus fruit (grapefruit rind and lime), piercing acidity and minerals (crushed white stone); nerve, verve, serve. A very different style of the same grape comes from Napa Valley’s venerable Charles Krug Winery ($15). It “blends” the citrusy notes of Sancerre with the more tropical fruit flavors of a California sauvignon. In New Zealand, the grape ramps up “green” (bell pepper, lime) with “yellow” (passion fruit, peach), such as those from Villa Maria ($14) or Cloudy Bay ($26)
