Fine dining starter: Carrot expanded
This text explains how to make the elements of the fine dining carrot starter:
Carrot pannacotta
250g peeled carrot, 250g cream and 2.5 leafs of gelatine
Grate the peeled carrot into the cream, bring to the boil, season and add the softened gelatine. Blend, pass through a sieve and then either pour into moulds or pour into a tub to be shaped later.
Savoury carrot cake
50g butter and 1 fine diced onion (sweat the onion in butter until softened),
Dry mix of 100g flour, 100g cornmeal, 1.5tsp baking powder and salt and pepper,
2x carrots peeled and grated, 180g crumbled feta,
1 handful of chopped dill
Wet mix of 3 beaten eggs and 150ml milk
Mix the cooked onions with the grated carrot, crumbled feta, chopped dill. Add in the dry mix and then add in the wet mix. Stir well until thoroughly combined. Bake in a lined dish at around 180oc.
Carrot vinaigrette
fine dice a carrot (brunoise) add to a vinaigrette of apple cider vinegar and olive oil (about 5 parts oil to 1 part vinegar) taste to control the sharpness.
Pickled carrot ribbon
Peel a couple of carrots and run lengthways through a mandolin to get some long, thin lengths of carrot. Make a pickling solution of white wine vinegar, spoonful of sugar, coriander seeds, bay leaf, cloves and star anise. Bring the solution to the boil and then pour over the lengths of carrot)
Roast carrot
Put your best carrots just washed but with skin on into a foil packet with butter, garlic, salt and pepper and bay leaves and a little splash of white wine and a squeeze of lemon. Seal the foil packet up and then roast for about 30 minutes (this depends on the size and thickness of the carrot - you want the carrots to retain some firmness to the bite (that al dente phrase) to soft and you cook out the texture, some taste and some nutrients.
Wild garlic shortbread
125g softened butter beaten with 2 tsp of caster sugar. Add in 250g plain flour, 50g parmesan, 2 tablespoons chopped wild garlic and 0.5tsp of paprika. Mix all together to form a dough, roll out onto parchment, chill (this helps the structure) and then once chilled, bake in the oven
