Blacksticks Silk, Broccoli Stem, Red Onion Puree, Parsley
07/03/12 12:52 Filed in: Recipes
Blacksticks Silk, Broccoli Stem, Red Onion Puree, Parsley
Blacksticks Silk – Blue Veined Goats Cheese
Nutmeg and Lemon Breaded Broccoli Stem.
Red Onion Puree
Fried Parsley
Blacksticks Silk is a fantastic blue veined goats cheese hand made in Lancaster by ‘Butlers’ - http://www.butlerscheeses.co.uk/. Its got a really nice balance of sharpness, blue cheese depth and delicate nuttiness. Its one of my favourite cheeses and something I wanted to centre a dish around for a while. In the end I decided, rather than cooking with the cheese or manipulating it, I wanted to present the cheese simply in slices in all its glory, no messing with it, and pair it with complimentary elements.
To go with the Blacksticks Silk I have made a sweet, citrusy Red Onion Puree with Pomegranate molasses and Sumac, its sticky and sweet/savoury like an onion marmalade but with an extra citrus hit and then blended to a smooth sticky puree.
For some crunch and complimentary flavour I’ve made little disks of Nutmeg and Lemon Breaded Broccoli Stem. These are crisp on the outside and inside is tender cooked broccoli. Usually people throw away the stem of broccoli but honestly, cooked carefully it can be delicious, and prepared like this it goes really well in this dish.
Finally the plate is finished with a couple of leaves of delicate, crisp microwave fried parsley.
(Microwave Fried Parsley)
Nutmeg and Lemon Breaded Broccoli Stem
Broccoli Stem - Cut ½ cm thick slices from the middle of the main broccoli stem.
Flour Mix –
40g Plain Flour
20g Ground Nutmeg
Pinch Salt
Sieve the Flour and nutmeg together with a pinch of salt and mix evenly.
Lemon Mix -
90g Fresh Lemon Juice
105g Water
5g Methylcellulose
Blend the ‘Lemon Mix’ ingredients together with and immersion blender until smooth, then whisk a little until the mixture froths up similar to an egg white foam.
You will also need -
Panco Bread Crumbs
Slash Soy Sauce
Technique -
Cook the slices of broccoli stem in a large pot of salted boiling water for approx 1 ½ minutes until just cooked (tender but only just cooked through). Remove and immediately refresh in ice-cold water.
Drain and dry off the cooked broccoli stem.
Next quickly drag each of the slices of broccoli through a little soy sauce and shake off the excess liquid. Now toss the broccoli stem in the flour and nutmeg mixture and again shake off the excess.
Then one by one dip the flour coated broccoli into the lemon methylcellulose mixture and make sure they are coated evenly all over.
Finally delicately cover the prepared broccoli stem slices in breadcrumbs, making sure they are coated in single layer of breadcrumb all over.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat and fry the bread-crumbed broccoli on both sides until golden brown.
To finish, drain off the excess oil on a little paper towel and lightly season with a little Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper.
(abit of a 70’s cookbook looking pic)
Red Onion Puree
750g Red Onions - Cut into thin slices (about 6-7 Onions)
6 Cloves Garlic – Roughly chopped
40g Salted Butter
Splash Olive oil
Zest and Juice of One Orange
Zest of One Lemon
2 Teaspoons Sumac – Ground
1 Teaspoon Ginger – Ground
½ Teaspoon Chilli – Ground
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
40g Pomegranate Molasses
50g Balsamic Vinegar
175g Red Wine
1 Star anise
30g Soft Dark Brown Sugar
Pinch Dried Thyme
Melt butter in a pan on a low heat then add a splash of olive oil.
Add in the sliced Red Onion and Garlic and one star anise and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes stirring as little as possible.
Add the soft brown sugar, ground sumac, chilli and ginger as well as the soy sauce and cook for another 10 minutes.
Now add the Balsamic Vinegar Followed by the Pomegranate molasses and turn the heat up a little and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add the juice and zest of one orange and the zest of a lemon and reduce this liquid for a couple of minutes.
Then add the red wine and a pinch of thyme. Add a little salt and pepper at this point aswell.
Reduce this marmalade gently for around 10 minutes more. Then season it to taste.
Cool the onion marmalade at room temperature then blitz it to a puree with a hand blender and reserve until you are ready to use it.
Microwave Fried Parsley –
Fresh Parsley Leaves
Olive Oil
Pinch Salt
Pick out a few of the nicest parsley leaves, without blemishes.
Prepare a plate by pulling a sheet of clingfilm tight over a flat, microwave safe, plate. Then lightly brush the clingfilm with a little olive oil.
Now brush each parsley leaf with a little olive oil on each side and carefully place them on the clingfilm, with some space left around each leaf.
Microwave fry the parsley on the clingfilmed plate for appox four minutes at
600w until they are dry and crisp. Give them an extra 20-30 secs if they are not completely crisp.
They should be semi transparent when you hold the leaves up to the light.
Finally dry the excess oil of the leaves on a little paper towel and lightly season them with a pinch of salt.
This microwave fried parsley technique was developed by Heston Blumenthal and his team and you can read more about it in the groundbreaking book ‘Modernist Cuisine’.
Plating Up
Place a large spoonful of the Red Onion Puree at the top of the plate then with a palate knife swipe it across the plate. Place slices of room temperature Blacksticks Silk in the centre of the plate. At the other end of the plate stack a few hot pieces of the Breaded Broccoli stalk. Finish the dish by garnishing with a couple of the fried parsley leaves.
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