My daughter is pretty good about trying new foods. I can always tell when she doesn't like something because she will say it's 'interesting'.
These Pumpkin and Goat Cheese flans from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table were 'interesting'. I didn't hate them but didn't particularly love them either.
While the recipe calls for gorganzola, I don't like blue cheeses and substituted the infinitely milder goat cheese. I think that the bite of a stronger cheese is probably needed here to balance the natural sweetness of the pumpkin. The goat cheese added some tang, but not the counterbalance that I think was needed. I'm also not a huge fan of walnuts but can tolerate them and added a generous sprinkling. I also drizzled local honey over them straight out of the oven.
Super easy to make, these would certainly be a great choice when you are looking to impress someone. Would I make these again? Probably not, but I'm glad I tried them.
I know a lot of people were leery of this recipe. I'm a huge fan of both pumpkin and blue cheese, so I had high hopes for this recipe. And I wasn't disappointed.
ReplyDeleteGood on you for trying them - the goats cheese sub in sounds lovely and your photo turned out well.
ReplyDeleteI would love to try this. I think this gives it a savory twist . I am really enjoying savory desserts these days. Yours looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments about the substitution with the goat cheese. I had been considering this option - it's good to hear other people's experiences.
ReplyDeleteI think your substitutions were a good idea if you don't like the stronger cheeses. I happen to love them. Yours turned out beautifully. I really liked this dish. Honey drizzle is brilliant..B
ReplyDeleteLooks beautiful!! Sounds really good too esp with the honey drizzled:)
ReplyDeleteI love that we're all making the recipes at different times this month, so we can learn from each other. I'm going to do a bit of honey too! Your flan looked terrific!
ReplyDeleteWell color me leery too but these are scheduled for this weekend. Yours look really beautiful and I also think your subs sound great.
ReplyDeleteTrevor Sis. Boom.
Thanks for visiting my blog! I am going to cheer you to endure in your quest to get to know moldy cheeses. It's a long road, but so worth it:)
ReplyDeleteBut goat cheese and honey are great substitutions. It would be interesting to make some with blue, some with goat cheese, as a comparison.
Your daughter sounds like my dad. He loves almost anything anybody puts in front of him, but in the rare occasions when it's not the case, he'll say "This is interesting", trying not to offend the hostess.
I must admit I'm a little nervous for this recipe. I'm thinking about changing out the cheese.
ReplyDeleteThat's so awesome that your daughter tries out new recipes!
I like how your nuts were in larger pieces. I was wondering how the dish would taste with different cheeses. Interesting how the pumpkin was more prominent with goat cheese because the Gorgonzola was more dominant than the pumpkin in my attempt.
ReplyDeleteI was a little skeptical about these, but they grew on me when I ate the leftovers. I like blue cheese, but I was thinking of using goat cheese so I didn't have to go to the store. I'm glad to hear about your experience.
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy! I thought about using goat cheese, but I had some gorgonzola in the refrigerator already. They were really good with the honey drizzled on top!
ReplyDeleteI used goat cheese also (haven't posted mine yet) and thought that mine needed a bit more seasoning.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting to read your post and everyone's comments. I'm not a fan of blue cheeses either, but it sounds like maybe I should try something other than goat cheese.
ReplyDeleteI too didn't love them and made the goat cheese substitution. I think my pumpkin was the problem because it was pretty flavorless.
ReplyDeleteMy husband says the same thing! I think it's a polite way to say this tastes like crap..ha ha!
ReplyDeleteIt sure looks good. Im going to try it in a few weeks. I like the honey idea!
Great photo! It's too bad they weren't to your taste. It's inevitable that that's going to happen for all of us at some point during this project, though. I haven't made this yet, but will definitely take the honey suggestion when I do.
ReplyDeleteLooks lovely! Can't wait to give these a try. I'm not a fan of bleu cheese either, but I'm going to bite the bullet and use it in this. :)
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