Pastured Hen Egg encased in Sage Gelée, Spring Peas, Morel Mushroom Pudding, Brown Butter Biscuit, Flowering Sage, Chive Blossoms, Flowering Chinese Kale
I got the idea for this dish from the chef's at "Joe Beef" in Montreal who have a recipe in their cookbook for "Oeuf's En Gelee". If you are from France or certain parts of Canada this dish may be very familiar to you. If you are from anywhere else it most likely will not be. I most certainly was not raised on cold eggs surrounded by jelly. But I immediately liked the idea of it. The original dish uses an aspic, or meat jelly, to set the eggs in. I didn't necessarily set out to make a vegetarian version but that's what happened, due in part to a lack of animal bones lying around and out of a desire to incorporate some amazingly fragrant sage I picked up.
I started off by bringing water to a boil in 3 different pots. In one I placed some fresh tarragon leaves, chopped shallot, garlic and fresh sage leaves. I allowed this too boil for a few minutes before removing from the heat to steep for an hour. The liquid was strained through cheesecloth to clarify it leaving a dark green stock.
In the second pot I placed some small whole eggs and soft-poached them for 4 1/2 minutes. I shocked them in ice water and carefully peeled them under water.
And in the third pot I placed dried morel mushrooms, shallot and sherry vinegar and boiled til the liquid was reduced by half. I strained the morel stock off and returned the liquid to the pan and brought it back to a boil. I added some sugar and agar agar and cooked it for a few minutes to dissolve the powder completely. I then poured the liquid into a shallow container and chilled it for an hour to completely set it into a gel. I pureed the gel with some creme fraiche and passed it through a tamis resulting in a rich morel mushroom pudding.
I returned the sage liquid to a pan and while bringing it up to a boil I arranged some blanched spring peas and morels in the bottom of ramekins. I added agar agar to the liquid and cooked it for a few minutes to dissolve the solids. I poured just enough of the liquid into the ramekins to cover the peas and allowed it to set up completely. I placed the soft-boiled egg in the ramekin and covered it with the sage liquid. I chilled the ramekins for an hour to allow them to set-up before removing the encased eggs, trimming and inverting them onto a plate.
I melted a few tablespoons of butter in a pan and allowed it to brown. I chilled the butter in the fridge and worked it into a classic biscuit dough with a healthy dose of crushed black pepper. The biscuits were baked, cooled and crumbled slightly.
I built a little salad of sorts around the egg beginning by spooning some of the pudding onto the plate and on the gelee. I placed some of the flowers and leaves into the pudding and arranged the biscuit pieces and morels around them.
Product -
Pastured Organic Hen Egg - Culton Organics
Organic Chinese Flowering Kale - Weaver's Way
Organic Flowering Sage - Weaver's Way
Organic Spring Peas - Culton Organics
Organic Chive Blossoms - Root Mass Farm
I started off by bringing water to a boil in 3 different pots. In one I placed some fresh tarragon leaves, chopped shallot, garlic and fresh sage leaves. I allowed this too boil for a few minutes before removing from the heat to steep for an hour. The liquid was strained through cheesecloth to clarify it leaving a dark green stock.
In the second pot I placed some small whole eggs and soft-poached them for 4 1/2 minutes. I shocked them in ice water and carefully peeled them under water.
And in the third pot I placed dried morel mushrooms, shallot and sherry vinegar and boiled til the liquid was reduced by half. I strained the morel stock off and returned the liquid to the pan and brought it back to a boil. I added some sugar and agar agar and cooked it for a few minutes to dissolve the powder completely. I then poured the liquid into a shallow container and chilled it for an hour to completely set it into a gel. I pureed the gel with some creme fraiche and passed it through a tamis resulting in a rich morel mushroom pudding.
I returned the sage liquid to a pan and while bringing it up to a boil I arranged some blanched spring peas and morels in the bottom of ramekins. I added agar agar to the liquid and cooked it for a few minutes to dissolve the solids. I poured just enough of the liquid into the ramekins to cover the peas and allowed it to set up completely. I placed the soft-boiled egg in the ramekin and covered it with the sage liquid. I chilled the ramekins for an hour to allow them to set-up before removing the encased eggs, trimming and inverting them onto a plate.
I melted a few tablespoons of butter in a pan and allowed it to brown. I chilled the butter in the fridge and worked it into a classic biscuit dough with a healthy dose of crushed black pepper. The biscuits were baked, cooled and crumbled slightly.
I built a little salad of sorts around the egg beginning by spooning some of the pudding onto the plate and on the gelee. I placed some of the flowers and leaves into the pudding and arranged the biscuit pieces and morels around them.
Product -
Pastured Organic Hen Egg - Culton Organics
Organic Chinese Flowering Kale - Weaver's Way
Organic Flowering Sage - Weaver's Way
Organic Spring Peas - Culton Organics
Organic Chive Blossoms - Root Mass Farm