Roasted Purple Brussels Sprouts, Roasted and Raw Chioggia Beets, Arlet Apple, Horseradish Cream, Powdered Bacon Fat, Mizuna
If I made this dish with produce purchased at a typical grocery store, it would consist of two colors, red & green. "Conventional" produce has been bred for uniformity. This has resulted, not only in food that is boring to look at, but lacks flavor and texture as well. All grocery store beets are red, sprouts and lettuces are green and apples are either or. I can think of many reasons why it has come to this, and all are equally as frustrating. I can't imagine being presented with one of these amazingly colored (and flavored) Arlet apples and not selecting it over a horribly boring (and flavorless) Red "Delicious" apple that looks exactly like every other red delicious that has ever been grown and sold. Diversity is important in every system. And this couldn't ring truer than in our food system. So this dish is a celebration of the magnificence of being different.
I roasted some of the Chioggia (or Candy Stripe) beets with some water and vinegar, covered in the oven, til tender. Once cooled, I peeled and cut them. I thinly sliced a raw beet and cut the slices into circles with a very sharp knife.
I placed the Brussels sprouts in simmering salted water for about a minute and then plunged them into an ice bath. This helped to preserve their vibrant color during the subsequent cooking in pork fat and water. I also removed some individual leaves of some sprouts and used them raw.
I removed sections of a whole apple with a Parisian scoop and immediately placed them in acidulated water so they wouldn't brown. I sliced the backside of each apple sphere so that they sat still when I plated them.
I made the cream by combining horseradish root with creme fraiche, salt, white vinegar and some xantham gum and blending til smooth. I passed the cream through a tamis and placed it into a squeeze bottle which I used to form dots on the plate.
The powder was made by whisking bacon fat and tapioca maltodextrin together. Once it formed a dry paste I ran it through the tamis, resulting in bacon powder.
I finished the dish with some of the raw Brussels sprout leaves and mizuna leaves.
Product:
Arlet Apple - 3 Springs
Chioggia Beets - Culton Organics
Purple Brussels Sprouts - Culton Organic
Mizuna - Savoie Organics
I roasted some of the Chioggia (or Candy Stripe) beets with some water and vinegar, covered in the oven, til tender. Once cooled, I peeled and cut them. I thinly sliced a raw beet and cut the slices into circles with a very sharp knife.
I placed the Brussels sprouts in simmering salted water for about a minute and then plunged them into an ice bath. This helped to preserve their vibrant color during the subsequent cooking in pork fat and water. I also removed some individual leaves of some sprouts and used them raw.
I removed sections of a whole apple with a Parisian scoop and immediately placed them in acidulated water so they wouldn't brown. I sliced the backside of each apple sphere so that they sat still when I plated them.
I made the cream by combining horseradish root with creme fraiche, salt, white vinegar and some xantham gum and blending til smooth. I passed the cream through a tamis and placed it into a squeeze bottle which I used to form dots on the plate.
The powder was made by whisking bacon fat and tapioca maltodextrin together. Once it formed a dry paste I ran it through the tamis, resulting in bacon powder.
I finished the dish with some of the raw Brussels sprout leaves and mizuna leaves.
Product:
Arlet Apple - 3 Springs
Chioggia Beets - Culton Organics
Purple Brussels Sprouts - Culton Organic
Mizuna - Savoie Organics