In this celebration of autumnal flavours, Richard Bainbridge serves a rich truffle mousse in a crisp, golden potato ring. The mousse conceals wilted spinach and confit potato balls underneath, finished with a dusting of cep powder and a crispy potato skin.
The day before you plan to serve the dish, start making the baked potato skins. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
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Sprinkle a generous amount of sea salt over a baking tray, place the whole potatoes onto the tray and bake for 20 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle. Once cool, use a serrated knife to slice the potatoes in half. Use a teaspoon to scoop out the inside of the potato, so you are left with just the shell. Place the shells uncovered on a tray in the freezer overnight to draw out any moisture
The next day, deep-fry the skins at 170°C for a few minutes until golden and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
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To prepare the truffle mousse, place the Chinese truffles, 75g of the double cream, the truffle oil, 90g of the Madeira, the stock and half of the butter in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until reduced by three-quarters. Place in a blender and blitz until smooth
25g of salted butter
75g of double cream
1 tsp white truffle oil
90g of Madeira
100g of
truffle
, for this we use Chinese truffles as they are much cheaper, so work well in mousses and sauces
100g of stock, either veal, dark chicken or dark vegetable
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Pass through a fine sieve and stir in the remaining butter, cream and Madeira. Season to taste. Pour the cream into a espuma gun and charge twice to create the truffle mousse. Keep warm in a water bath or pan of warm water until ready to serve
25g of salted butter
25g of double cream
10g of Madeira
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For the cep dust, grind the mushrooms into a fine powder in a pestle and mortar, then pass through a sieve to make sure no larger bits remain
To make the potato rings, cut pieces of greaseproof paper into 25x15cm sheets and scrunch them up to make them easier to work with. Unfold the sheets and wrap them around the outside of the stainless steel rings. Use paperclips to secure the paper in place
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Peel the potato and run it through a spiralizer to form long, spaghetti-like stands of potato. Bring a pan of water to the boil over a high heat, blanch the potato strands for a few seconds, then refresh in iced water
Fill a deep-fryer or deep pan with the oil and heat to 160°C
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
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Pick out the longest strands of potato and secure them to the rings using paperclips. Wind the potato strands around the rings, wrapping them tightly without breaking the strands. Repeat the process until the rings are covered with potato, secure with a second paper clip and trim any loose ends to make sure the rings are neat
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Place the potato rings in the deep-fryer and cook until golden and crisp, then remove. Working carefully to avoid burning yourself, unclip the paperclips and slide the potato shells off the rings. Remove the paper and leave to drain on kitchen towel
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For the confit potato balls, peel the potatoes then, using a Parisienne scoop, cut out 20 perfect spheres. Set a saucepan over a medium-low heat, add the butter or goose fat and allow to melt. Add the spheres and cook for 5–10 minutes – the fat should be about 70°C and you should occasionally see a few bubbles rising to the surface. Use a cake tester to check whether the balls are cooked
Finally, prepare the spinach. Set a saucepan over a medium heat, add the spinach and allow to wilt, stirring with a fork with the garlic clove pressed onto the end – this will delicately infuse the spinach with a little garlic flavour. Season to taste
To serve, place a fried potato ring in the centre of each plate, spoon in the wilted spinach to cover the base, then top with five of the confit potato balls
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Using the espuma gun, pipe in the truffle mousse to the top of the ring. Top with a baked potato skin and a sprinkling of the cep dust
With a background in classical cooking in Michelin-starred kitchens, Richard Bainbridge returned to his home city of Norwich to open Benedicts, a renowned restaurant which serves Norfolk produce cooked with passion, playfulness and creativity.
