Preparing to receive guests, each hostess is concerned not only with drawing up the menu and preparing dishes, but also with how to decorate them most effectively. After all, beautiful table setting and festive table decoration is one of the ways to express your respect for guests.

Traditionally, salads are served. Of course, this appetizer can be put in one large salad bowl, but one of the effective ways of serving is portioned. The salad can be placed in small glass, porcelain or ceramic bowls, or served in tartlets, which are sold in many stores today, or there is another rather effective and unbroken option - to serve the salad in a cheese basket. In addition to the fact that such a serving of an appetizer will greatly decorate the table, there is another advantage - the taste of the salad is complemented by the taste of toasted cheese.

The question may arise, which salad can be served in cheese baskets? Almost anyone! In addition, other snacks such as mixed seafood or julienne can be served in this way. The main thing is that what you are going to put in the cheese basket is not too runny.

It should be noted that making beautiful cheese baskets is not so easy. Therefore, you need to practice a little before tackling the preparation of a festive salad frame. But on the other hand, you can prepare such baskets for cheese salad the day before. Then carefully fold them into a container with a lid and refrigerate. And you need to fill the cheese baskets with salad just before serving.

So let's try to cook this tasty decoration... We need parmesan, for example. But you can use regular cheese, but you need to let it wind a little and dry in the refrigerator. The cheese should be grated, and it is desirable that it does not crumble in the process, but forms thin translucent slices. In this case, our cheese baskets will be more beautiful.

It is most convenient to use a frying pan with non-stick coating... It needs to be lubricated with a thin layer. vegetable oil and heat over a fire. Pour into a preheated frying pan (about two tablespoons are needed for one basket). It is desirable that there is more cheese in the middle of the resulting cake than along the edges, then our basket will have a thick bottom and openwork edges.

Fry the cheese "pancake" for five to seven seconds, until it begins to brown at the edges. Then remove the pan from the heat and put it on a towel slightly dipped in cold water(so we cool the cake slightly). Now we very carefully pry the pancake with a spatula and put it on an inverted glass or cup. Press the edges of the cake to the walls of the vessel with a paper towel. This will shape the basket and remove excess fat at the same time. Let the cheese cool without removing it from the mold. That's it - the cheese basket is ready.

As you can see, cooking it is a little difficult, and it can take a lot of time, especially if a lot of guests are expected.

I must say that cheese baskets can be prepared with different additives. For example, if you mix cheese with finely chopped dill, then the baskets will turn out to be motley, with green splashes. You can add toasted sesame seeds to it, then the baskets will turn out to be crispy. And lovers spicy taste can use minced garlic as an additional ingredient.

If you want to make denser baskets, you can add a little starch to the cheese. For two hundred grams of it, you need to take a full tablespoon with a heap of potato or corn starch.

In short, a little practice - and you can pleasantly surprise your guests by serving salad in cheese baskets. Surely, such a dish will make a splash, and the hostess will listen to many compliments about her culinary skills.

Everything about this dish is so simple that it is truly ingenious. Well, for example, the baskets themselves: they only need one (!) Product - cheese. Of course, it is impossible to imagine cooking without imagination. And therefore, I will show you 2 ways to diversify basic recipe baskets.

Now about the filling. Here I intend to surprise you a little with the variety of products with which cheese is combined, which means that they can all be filling. I will tell you which simple options available for basket filler. And also, getting ready to tell you about this dish, I decided to pay a little more time and attention to the filling. Therefore, I will show you very successful and interesting options salads.

How to stuff the baskets:

• Nuts, raisins, garlic, rice, Bell pepper, honey, egg canned corn, olives and peas, herbs. All this is combined with the taste of cheese and can serve as a mono-filling or in a composition.
• If you have a little salad after the holiday, where to put it? And do not put on the table, and do not throw away. So, baskets are a great way out. You only need 1-2 teaspoons of salad to fill the basket. And a wonderful appetizer is ready!
• Cream, sauce, unsweetened cream.

Experiment, find the right taste for yourself.

And don't forget that food should also bring aesthetic satisfaction. And therefore, combine colors and shades of tastes, come up with an interesting topping, it is even possible that in some cases you can choose a suitable topper (for example, for a holiday or when you want to say something very important and necessary to your loved one).

Well, now I'll tell you about all the intricacies so that you definitely get this dish.

What you need for baskets:

• Cheese - 200gr;
• Garlic - 4 teeth;
• Nuts - 5-7 pcs.;
• Potatoes - 3 pcs.;
• Carrots - 1pc. (small);
• Chicken meat - 100g;
• Canned corn - 4 tablespoons;
• Eggs - 2 pcs.;
• Mayonnaise - 3-4 tablespoons;
• Dill - a bunch;
• Salt.

Step by step cooking

The first thing to do is to boil the eggs and potatoes.

We rub the cheese.

The baskets themselves can be tackled at the beginning, to give them time to stand and freeze, so that they fix in a beautiful format. But it is possible in the end, when all the main work is done and there is no need to be distracted by anything.

Cheese can be grated on a coarse or fine grater, it doesn't matter. But thanks to the large pieces, you can create "torn" edges. And with the help of small pieces of cheese, the edges are created even.

Shred the dill. Perhaps, for decoration it is worth leaving 1 branch, but finely chop the rest.

Rub the carrots on a fine grater.

Peel and chop the nuts.

We collect the first filler.

Squeeze the garlic into the nuts through a press.

You can serve baskets without filler at all., you can get by with one thing. I decided to create a composition: the bottom filling is delicate in consistency, but very bright in taste; the top has a colorful color, but the taste is muted.

Add some mayonnaise. In fact, in the end, we should get a filling that resembles mashed potatoes in consistency.

Crush the boiled potatoes directly in the nut filling. Add more mayonnaise if necessary.

Cut the boiled eggs in half and separate the yolks from the whites.

Crush the yolks with a fork in mashed potatoes. This will give the filling a pleasant, velvety taste.

Preparing the second filling. This will be a salad. I don’t know what it’s called (I came up with it right now, but I haven’t come up with a name yet; let it be “To cheese”). Rather, I prepare a salad based on those products that best suit the taste of cheese.

Cut the meat into small pieces.

We mix meat, herbs, corn and carrots.

We do not salt any of the fillings. Salt is needed only for boiling potatoes and eggs. In fact, all the ingredients are already salty. But it is worth checking the taste in ready-made fillers and adjusting it.

Set aside a little of each ingredient from the second filling. We will add this to cheese to diversify the taste and appearance fillings.

Chop the protein and add to the salad.

Mix and add some mayonnaise to the salad.

Cooking "molds". These should be the bottoms of cups or glasses. I chose different widths of the bottoms to get different sizes of baskets. But for a buffet table, it is better to make small and all the same.

We spread the cheese on the surface of a frying pan (or mold) with a non-stick surface.

Do not lubricate the surface!

I lay out 3 blanks. But it's best to start with one.

Thickness- choose yourself, but not thicker than 2mm. Otherwise, the bottom layer will burn, and the top one does not part yet.

Width- calculate that the diameter of the circles is 2 or more times the bottom of the "shape".

Readiness- if the layer is thin, the baskets will turn out to be golden. But it is very difficult to make sure that the cheese does not burn.

Therefore, I suggest this way:

• spread the cheese;
• when the bottom layer begins to thaw, use a spatula to walk along the edges, slightly lifting it;
• set aside the skillet and let the cheese cool slightly. Then it is easy to remove the cheese wheel from the pan;
• remove the cheese and put it on the glass so that the edges hang down. They will themselves acquire a wavy edge;
• allow COMPLETELY to solidify. Only then will the basket not change its shape.

If the basket breaks a little bit, it's not scary. It's even beautiful if there are some patterns.

Put the first filling on the bottom. We push it a little in the shape of a basket.

We spread the second filling up.

This I showed a basket with a crispy golden crust.

And this is a larger basket without a crust. It tastes more delicate.

If you decorate the cheese circle on top, when it is fried in a pan, you get such beautiful baskets.

But you can decorate the cheese basket by mixing all the ingredients. And so fry.

Look what a beauty! Very bright! Just in time for the holiday! But there should be more cheese in such baskets so that the structure turns out to be stable.

From 200gr I got 12 baskets. All different, beautiful and delicious!

You can prepare a decoration: greens or a figurine from vegetables. But also with bright salad looks amazing!

Bon Appetit!

Similar materials

Cheese baskets are mainly made from hard varieties cheese with the ability to quickly solidify and keep its shape. It can be Parmesan, Cantal, Soviet, Cheddar, Poshekhonsky, Kostroma variety, etc. They differ significantly from each other. taste... In order to please the guests, it is better to choose a cheese with a medium salt content. Also pay attention to the fat content of the cheese, as high-calorie baskets will turn out from a too fatty variety.

How to make a cheese salad basket:

To make cheese baskets, you will need a flat mold that will melt the cheese. Use a plate if you plan to spread the food in the microwave or a small skillet for the oven.

Lubricate the shape butter and grate the cheese on a fine grater so that no crumbs and small pieces form.

Then distribute it over the plate so that there is more cheese mass in the center and less along the edges. You will have a container with a tight bottom and thin edges. Please note that the diameter of the dish is the size of the future basket. Therefore, it is better to decide on this in advance.

Place a plate in the microwave or skillet in a preheated oven and wait for the cheese to melt.

When you hear the characteristic crackle, it will mean that the cheese has melted to the required consistency. After that, very carefully, we lift the cheese pancake with a spatula and put it on a glass or cup.

The edges of the resulting mass should sag at the sides. While the cheese has not yet had time to freeze, it is necessary to form the sides of the basket.

This can be done with an ordinary fork or special devices that help to make a beautiful relief.

Remove the resulting shape and place it in the refrigerator for further solidification. You can add sesame seeds, dill, any herbs and herbs to taste to the cheese mass. This will add sophistication to your snack.

How to fill a cheese basket

When the cheese baskets are ready, you should think about the filling. There are a lot of options. If you are a seafood lover then do cocktail of mussels, shrimp and squid, sprinkling them lemon juice... You can also do salad from any kind of meat and tomato. The cheese goes well with some fruits or nuts. For example, if you fill a cheese basket grapes, pear and add Walnut then guests will appreciate such a treat. Delicious filling will be mushrooms with fried onions and buckwheat. You can experiment endlessly. However, do not forget that the filling should not be wet. Otherwise, the cheese will start to blur and lose its shape. It is better to lay out the filling just before serving and store the dish in the refrigerator. Cheese baskets are great not only for an adult, but also for children's table, as children love unusual ways to decorate dishes. If you have any extra baskets left, you can leave them in the freezer and use them next time.

1. First we need to make cheese baskets. Before spreading the salad, they will need to harden. You will need a flat plate. Spread the bottom of it with butter. Grate a small part of the cheese on a fine grater on a plate. Place a circle about 12 cm in diameter. Place a plate in the microwave or preheated oven until the cheese is melted.

2. Take out a plate of melted cheese and leave it to cool slightly. Prepare glasses of the shape you need for the basket. Carefully remove the cheese circle from the plate. We put the circle on the glass and give it the desired shape.

3. We put a glass of cheese in the refrigerator so that the cheese finally solidifies and takes the desired shape. Thus, we prepare all the baskets and send them to the refrigerator. Cheese baskets will look like in the photo.

4. Now we are preparing a salad for our basket. I already said that you can put any salad in the basket. It can be vegetable or meat. Chicken or seafood salads go well with cheese. I give you an example of a simple salad. Peel the squid, rinse and place in a bowl. Pour boiling water over for 3-5 minutes. Pour out the water and pour boiling water over again. Then cut the carcass into strips. Cut the cucumbers into strips too. Boil the eggs, peel and chop finely. Mix everything, salt to taste, season with mayonnaise and put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Before serving, arrange the salad in baskets and decorate to your liking. They eat salad with "tara".