Simple Beginnings: Beading. Aiden Byrne

sorrel leaves, to garnish

      salt

      MAKE SURE THAT YOU always keep filo pastry covered with a slightly damp tea towel so that it doesn’t dry out. You will need two heavy, cast-iron baking trays, preferably the same size. Put a sheet of greaseproof paper on one of the trays, and place the first piece of filo on this. Brush it with a little olive oil, sprinkle with a small amount of salt and then scatter over one-third of the thyme leaves. Put a second sheet of filo on top and repeat the process, then add the third and fourth sheets in the same way. Brush the top with olive oil and cover with another piece of greaseproof paper. Put the second baking tray on top of the filo ‘sandwich’, making sure that the pastry is fully covered, and put a weight on top. Bake in a preheated oven at 140°C/275°F/gas 1 for 20–25 minutes. Remove from the oven. When the pastry is crisp, transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool.

      IN A WARM covered pan sweat the onions, thyme sprigs and a sprinkle of salt with the butter until the onions are very soft. Remove the lid and continue to cook for a further 30–40 minutes until the onions begin to caramelize. When the onions are golden brown, check the seasoning: you should be able to taste the salt but the natural sweetness of the onions should also be evident. Transfer the onions to a tray to cool down then set aside. (I keep a jar of onions at this stage in the refrigerator to use in other recipes. You will find that if you don’t drain away the butter it will act as a preservative.)

      SLICE THE MUSHROOMS and the aubergines evenly lengthways so that you can see their natural shape and then pan-fry them both in olive oil with a few garlic slices and a sprinkle of salt until golden brown. Drain onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

      SPREAD THE ONION lyonaisse over the tart and layer the aubergines and ceps on top, piling them up as much as you like. Top with the shaved Parmesan and bake for a couple more minutes in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Serve the tart with a crisp sorrel salad and some more Parmesan shavings.

This is a dish we came up with a couple of years ago, and it appears on the menu only in the asparagus season, when it sells like hot cakes. It’s a play on the classic recipe, and at the restaurant we pair it with smoked bacon and with morel mushrooms, which are in season at almost the same time as English asparagus. If you wish, you can simply serve the poached asparagus and the mayonnaise foam.

      Asparagus Mayonnaise

      SERVES 4

      4 large duck eggs (or hens’ eggs if you prefer)

      12 spears of English jumbo asparagus

      4 very thin slices of strong smoked pancetta

      50 g unsalted butter

      ½ bunch of chervil, chopped

      4 tablespoons Hellman’s mayonnaise

      4 slices of smoked bacon

      olive oil

      lemon juice

      salt

      toasted bread, to serve

      STEAM THE DUCK EGGS for 7 minutes (hens’ eggs for 6 minutes) in a steamer that is set as high as possible to give evenly cooked yolks. Plunge the cooked eggs into iced water and leave them to chill. Peel away the shell and keep in the refrigerator.

      DIVIDE UP THE ASPARAGUS: you will need four tips for pan-frying, four for slicing and four for the purée for the mayonnaise. Trim the leaves away from the asparagus that will be pan-fried, starting from the bottom. The base of the spear is too tough to eat, so hold the very base and the centre in both hands and bend it until it snaps. Discard the lower section. Plunge the four spears into a large pan of boiling salted water for 1–2 minutes or until the asparagus is slightly undercooked. Transfer to iced water and allow to cool, them dry on kitchen paper and wrap each spear in a slice of smoked bacon. Set to one side.

      TRIM A FURTHER FOUR SPEARS. Slice the asparagus lengthways on a mandolin, starting from the base. Use only perfect slices. You will need four slices per portion. Blanch in boiling salted water for a couple of seconds, then plunge into iced water and dry on kitchen paper.

      CHOP THE REMAINING asparagus and any discarded slices. In a warm covered pan sweat the asparagus in 25 g butter until soft (this should take 3–4 minutes). Add a pinch of salt and the chopped chervil and cook for a further minute. Blend until smooth then pass through a fine sieve. Cool immediately in a bowl over iced water, then leave in the refrigerator for a couple of hours until the mixture stiffens. Fold in the mayonnaise, then leave to sit in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

      COOK THE BACON-WRAPPED asparagus in a frying pan with the remaining butter until golden brown. Keep warm.

      TO SERVE, warm the eggs in a steamer for a couple of minutes. Dress the asparagus slices with a dash of olive oil, some lemon juice and salt and arrange them in four bowls. Place a spoon of mayonnaise into each bowl, cut the top of the eggs and place an egg in the centre of the mayonnaise. Arrange the pan-fried asparagus on the side with a small piece of toast to dip into your egg.

       In the restaurant we use a gas canister to create an asparagus foam – simply put the mayonnaise mixture into a gas canister and charge with two cartridges. Shake well and leave in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. When ready to serve, pipe some mayonnaise from the canister into each bowl.