Delicious savoury truffles with a hint of sweetness from the dried cranberries as the ultimate canapé or as a cheese platter component.
Roast chicken, cranberry and goat's cheese truffles with pomegranate wine jelly
Ingredients
JELLY
- 250ml (1 cup) rosé wine
- 250ml (1 cup) pomegranate juice
- 45ml (3 tbsp) brown sugar
- 30ml (2 tbsp) cold water
- 15ml (1 tbsp) powdered gelatine
- 30ml (2 tbsp) pomegranate rubies + extra, to serve
TRUFFLES
- 170g roast chicken, finely chopped
- 3 x 100g Chevin goat’s cheese logs, crumbled
- 60ml (4 tbsp) chives, finely chopped
- 60ml (4 tbsp) dried cranberries, finely chopped
- 15ml (1 tbsp) wholegrain mustard
- pinch freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 100g pistachios, finely chopped
- Melba toast, to serve
Instructions
For the jelly, heat the rosé wine, pomegranate juice and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and simmer, 5 minutes. Place the cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine on top. Allow to stand, 5 minutes, until firm. Place the bowl in a slightly larger bowl filled with a little warm water and stir until the gelatine has melted. Be careful to not let any of the warm water run into the gelatine mixture.
Stir some of the warm pomegranate and wine mixture into the melted gelatine mixture and pour back into the saucepan with the rest of the juice mixture. Combine with the pomegranate rubies and pour into a serving dish or jar if you need to transport it to the picnic grounds. Refrigerate, at least 4 hours or overnight, until firm.
For the truffles, combine the chicken, goat’s cheese, chives, dried cranberries, wholegrain mustard and pepper. Use your hands to bring it all together and use a tablespoon to scoop the mixture into 16 portions. Roll into 16 balls. Dip each ball into the chopped pistachios and refrigerate until needed. Serve the truffles with the jelly, Melba toast and extra pomegranate rubies on the side.
Notes
Use slightly moist hands when rolling the truffles, as this prevents the mixture from sticking to your palms too much. For a non-alcoholic version of the jelly, simply replace the wine with more pomegranate juice.
Recipe and styling by Illanique van Aswegen
Photographs by Adel Ferreira
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
