Curds with Watercress Recipe

To begin the dish, make the curds. Combine the milk and buttermilk powder in a saucepan and whisk lightly to combine

Bring the liquid to 39˚C, stirring continuously. While the liquid is coming to temperature, combine the rennet and water in a separate bowl

Once the liquid has reached 39°C, remove from the heat and add the rennet mixture, stirring in quickly. Pour into polystyrene ramekins and leave in the Hold-o-Mat, or temperature controlled environment, for 1 hour at 40°C. Remove and allow to cool

Once cool, carefully remove the curds from the whey using a slotted spoon and allow to drain in a colander lined with a double layer of cheesecloth. Cover and refrigerate until required

To make the purée, add 284g of the watercress and all of the spinach to separate pans of boiling water. Blanch for 10 seconds, then strain and immediately refresh in ice water. Strain again and gently squeeze to remove any excess water

Bring the cream to the boil, remove from the heat and transfer to a high-speed blender. Add the blanched watercress and spinach and blend to a smooth purée

Add salt to taste and blend in the remaining 25g of fresh watercress to finish. Transfer the purée to a bowl set over ice and cool as quickly as possible. Once cool, store in a squeeze bottle and refrigerate until required

To make the pickled kohlrabi, combine the vinegar, sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, remove from the heat and stir to ensure that the sugar has completely dissolved

Peel the kohlrabi and shave it into thin rounds using the fine setting on a mandoline. Once the pickling liquid has cooled, add the sliced kohlrabi, mix to combine and pour the liquid and kohlrabi into a vac pac bag. Seal under vacuum and set aside to pickle until ready to plate

Now prepare the fried cobnuts. Slice each nut into very thin rounds and preheat a pan of vegetable oil (or deep fryer) to 170°C. Fry the sliced cobnuts until golden, remove from the oil and allow to drain on absorbent kitchen paper

To prepare the buttermilk salt, simply mixing together the buttermilk powder and salt until well combined

Now prepare the rest of the salad. For the tantan lettuce, remove and discard the outer leaves, leaving you with the light green leaves from the heart. Trim the base from the hearts and separate the leaves. Slice 2 of the radishes into thin rounds and set aside. Prepare the remaining radishes by neatly removing any blemished leaves

Remove the curd from the fridge 30 minutes before serving. To plate, add some of the watercress and spinach purée to the base of each plate and gently spoon 8 portions of the strained curd on top

Season with the buttermilk salt and garnish each plate with some of the drained pickled kohlrabi, tantan lettuce leaves, one whole radish, thin slices of radish, watercress shoots and sprouted radish seeds

Finally, add the fried sliced cobnuts, a good grating of the remaining fresh cobnuts and a drizzle of cobnut oil. Lightly season with a sprinkle more of the buttermilk salt and serve immediately