POD AND BLANCH the fresh peas in plenty of boiling salted water for 4 minutes. Plunge the cooked peas into iced water to stop the cooking. Trim the asparagus (see Asparagus Mayonnaise, page 49) and slice the spears on a mandolin. Blanch them in the same water as the peas for a seconds then plunge them iced water.
REHEAT THE REMAINING vegetable stock in a pan and mix in the remaining pea purée. Add the ricotta gnocchi, the fresh peas, the asparagus and chopped herbs and reheat until warm. Serve on a separate plate next to the macaroni and garnish with pea shoots or chervil.
I sometimes serve this dish with some soused mackerel or pan-fried red mullet. Both the mousses can be used as different garnishes, and the yogurt sorbet is also used as a dessert accompaniment. It is definitely best to make these mousses and sorbet first thing in the morning and allow them to set during the day. The tuilles need to be made the day before.
Beetroot and Avocado Mousse with Yogurt Sorbet
SERVES 4
400 g beetroot purée (see page 204)
50 g caster sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for the mousse
juice of 2 lemons
4 gelatine leaves, softened
200 g crème fraîche
3 ripe avocados
1 teaspoon vitamin C powder
1 quantity yogurt sorbet (see page 219)
salt and pepper
MAKE THE BEETROOT TUILLES. Heat 200 g beetroot purée with the sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool slightly and check the seasoning. You are looking for the sweetness from the sugar but also for a hint of acidity. Add a little lemon juice until you can just taste it.
PUT AN OVENPROOF rubber mat on a baking tray and spread the beetroot mixture over the mat with a palette knife as evenly and thinly as you can. Place in an oven as low as you can possibly have it to dry the tuille out overnight. (If you have a gas oven with a pilot light hold the door slightly ajar with, say, a wooden spoon.) When the purée is dry enough you should be able to peel it away from the mat as a whole sheet. If you cannot, you will need to dry it for longer.
WHEN IT IS READY use scissors to cut it to your desired shape. The tuille needs to be soft, pliable and slightly warm for you to do this. As soon as it cools it will become crisp. You can warm it again slightly to soften it. Keep the tuilles in a cool, dark place.
MAKE THE BEETROOT MOUSSE. Warm the remaining beetroot purée in a saucepan. Transfer 2 tablespoons of the warm purée to a smaller pan, add half the gelatine and stir to dissolve. Add this mixture to the larger amount of warm purée (this will make sure that the gelatine is evenly incorporated).
TRANSFER THE PURÉE to a stainless steel or glass bowl set over a bowl of iced water. Adjust the seasoning, bearing in mind that you want the natural sweetness of the beetroot to come out. Add a touch of acidity with some lemon juice and even a little salt. When the purée has set fold in half the crème fraîche.
CHECK THE SEASONING again and adjust if necessary. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and place in the refrigerator to set. (It will keep for two or three days.)
MAKE THE AVOCADO mousse. Peel, stone and chop the avocado and put the flesh in a blender. Dissolve the vitamin C powder in 120 ml cold water, add to the avocado and blend until smooth. Pass the mixture through your finest sieve. Reserve 4 tablespoons for serving.
WARM 2 TABLESPOONS of the purée, add the remaining gelatine and heat gently until the gelatine has dissolved. Add this mixture to the remaining purée and season with salt and a tablespoon of sugar. Transfer to a bowl set over iced water and fold in the remaining crème fraîche. Put a piece of clingfilm directly on top of the mousse and transfer to the refrigerator to set.
TO SERVE, spoon the reserved avocado purée on to four cold plates. With a spoon warmed in hot water, scoop a quenelle of each mousse onto each plate, then add spoonful of yogurt sorbet and place a tuille between two of the mousses.
David Adlard was one of my first true mentors, and I am eternally grateful to him for giving me my first opportunity as a head chef. Some of the dishes I learned as a young chef have stayed with me throughout my career and David’s version of this classic potato dish is one of them. You can’t prepare this in advance and it does monopolise your oven but it’s well worth it. Perfect with sirloin steak, béarnaise sauce and some fresh green beans.
David Adlard’s Potato Dauphinoise
SERVES 4
400 ml full-fat milk
300 ml double cream
2 garlic cloves
3 large sprigs of thyme
2 large waxy potato, such as Desiree or Cara
150 g Cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper
PUT A SHALLOW baking tray with some water in it in the oven. Preheat the oven to 80°C/180°F/gas ¼.
PUT THE MILK and cream in a saucepan with the garlic and thyme and heat. Leave for 20 minutes to infuse, stirring occasionally to stop it from catching on the bottom of the pan.
PEEL THE POTATOES and slice them on a mandolin as thinly as possible. Put them in the warm cream mixture and cook until the potatoes are just tender. Take care that they do not catch and burn.
POUR THE CREAM and the potatoes into large colander resting over another saucepan. Continue to cook the cream gently until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper.
LAYER THE POTATO slices in an ovenproof earthenware dish, sprinkling the grated cheese between each layer. Season with salt and pepper every other layer and add a small ladleful of the cream every third layer. When you have layered all the potatoes, cover with the remaining cream, sprinkle a final layer of cheese on top and wipe the sides of the dish. Put the potatoes into the tray that is in the oven, standing it in the water, which should come to the top of the dish. (The water will stop the cream from boiling; if it boils with the cheese in it will separate.) Cook for at least 3 hours. The potatoes will colour gradually. Serve when they are golden brown.
Ceps and aubergines are a marriage made in heaven. I use this combination in lots of different ways – with monkfish, lamb or just as a wonderful vegetarian starter like this one. If you like, you could put some pickled anchovies on this tart.
Tarte Fine of Aubergines and Ceps
SERVES 4
4 sheets of filo pastry
100 ml olive oil
4 thyme sprigs
3 onions, peeled and finely sliced
4 large sprigs of thyme
50 g butter