Cep Risotto, apple, Madeira and tarragon

  • medium
  • 4
  • 5 hours 30 minutes
Not yet rated

This cep risotto is garnished with pearls of Madeira jelly, made by pipetting Madeira mixed with gellan gum into vegetable oil. It looks very advanced, but as long as you have the right gellan gum, it's actually fairly easy to do at home. The tarragon oil needs a full day to infuse, so be sure to start a day in advance.

First published in 2022

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Chlorophyll Oil

  • 500g of grapeseed oil
  • 50g of spinach

Tarragon Oil

Madeira Jelly

  • 400g of Madeira
  • 100g of cane sugar
  • 3g of gellan gum type F, low acyl
  • 1l vegetable oil, frozen

Tarragon, Apple, Madeira Dressing

Puffed Wild Rice

Mushroom Stock

Risotto Cooking

Cep Purée

Sautéed Ceps

For finishing

Equipment

  • Sous vide bags
  • Squeezy bottle

Method

1

The day before serving, place the vegetable oil for the Madeira jelly in the freezer

  • 1l vegetable oil, frozen
2

Prepare an ice bath for the chlorophyll oil

3

Heat the grapeseed oil to 60°C, then blend for 4 minutes in a liquidiser with the spinach

  • 500g of grapeseed oil
  • 50g of spinach
4

Transfer the oil to a sous-vide bag, and submerge the bag in the ice bath

5

Once cool, strain out the spinach. Transfer the oil the freezer, and freeze for around 2 hours. After 2 hours, any water in the oil will solidify, and stick to the tray. Pour off the chlorophyll oil and pass it through a fine sieve

6

Blend 500g chlorophyll oil with the tarragon. Infuse for 24 hours

7

The next day, strain and filter the tarragon oil. Leftover tarragon oil can be stored in the freezer

8

For the Madeira jelly, bring the wine, sugar and gellan gum to the boil. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly, then transfer to a squeezy bottle

  • 400g of Madeira
  • 100g of cane sugar
  • 3g of gellan gum type F, low acyl
9

Drip the mixture into the frozen oil so that it forms little pearls. Strain the pearls through a fine sieve, and rinse them with warm water to remove all the oil. Set aside

10

Mix the tarragon, apple and salt with the Madeira pearls and 100ml tarragon oil

11

For the puffed wild rice, first heat the oil to 200°C

  • vegetable oil, for deep frying
12

Add the wild rice, and then quickly remove as soon as it puffs. Drain in a sieve, and season with salt, nutritional yeast and cep powder

13

For the mushroom stock, first sweat off the vegetables in the oil in a large stockpot. Add the water to the pot along with the mushrooms and miso, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour

14

While the mushroom stock cooks, sweat the shallots for the risotto in oil until they are tender

  • vegetable oil
  • 3 shallots, peeled and finely hcopped
15

Add the rice and toast with the shallots. Add the white wine and simmer until it reduces to nothing

16

After 1 hour, add the soy sauce to the mushroom stock and then pass the stock through a fine sieve

17

Add the hot mushroom stock into the risotto ladle by ladle

18

Simmer for around 13-15 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Season with salt

19

For the cep purée, sweat the mushrooms and the butter together until golden. Add the garlic, and mix for a minute or so

20

Add the double cream and bring to the boil. Add the cep powder, and then blend until smooth. Season with salt

21

When ready to serve, sauté the halved ceps in butter with thyme and garlic. Drain and season with salt

22

Warm 4 bowls for serving the risotto

23

Finish each portion of risotto with 100g cep purée, 50g grated parmesan and 50g butter. Stir into the risotto and spoon into the centre of the risotto

24

Dress the risotto with the tarragon, apple and Madeira dressing, puffed rice, chopped chives and sautéed ceps

First published in 2022

Ben Boeynaems began his career working for the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Eric Chavot in some of London’s most renowned kitchens. His refined yet approachable style of classical cookery has since led him to head and executive chef positions at The Goring and The Beaumont Hotel.

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