Cooking with two Michelin star chef Jeroen Achtien

Hey guys! Today’s a very special episode, because I’m cooking with two Michelin star chef. Cooking with Jeroen was an incredible experience. He’s such a humble and experienced chef. The dish we’re going to make today is one of Jeroen’s signatures. It’s an unforced duck liver snow with marinaded pineapple, a jalapeno lemon gel, oyster, beurre noisette apple and caramelized sunflower seeds.

Liver snow

1 kg	Appenzell duck liver
20 grams	curing salt
20 grams	cognac
40 grams	sherry fino
500 grams	clarified butter

Wash the livers under streaming water until the water runs clear. Then undo the liver of all the white membranes (otherwise it will be very bitter). Now vacuum the livers with the curing salt, the cognac and the sherry. Then leave it to marinate in the fridge for 24 hours. After that cook in a water bath at 58°C for 25 minutes, check if the livers are properly cooked so no red bloody parts should be visible. Once cooked transfer them into a thermomixer while still warm and mix at maximum speed. Then slowly emulsify it with the warm clarified butter. Make sure that the butter and the mixture have the same temperature to avoid splitting. Now pass the mixture through a sieve and let it freeze on a tray 1 to 2 cm thick. When it’s completely frozen break into small parts so it can fit in a blender. Then blend it shortly at full power and make sure the liver gets really broken into small pieces but doesn’t turn back into a cream. Now add some liquid nitrogen and let it spin a little longer until the consistence turns into sand, add more liquid nitrogen if you think it gets too hot. Then keep it in your freezer for later.

Lemon zests

15	lemons
500 grams	sugar

First peel the lemons. Make sure to peel them as thin as possible, so without the pith (this is the white part, which is very bitter). Now cut it into a fine Julienne and blanch them for around 30 seconds. Meanwhile juice the peeled lemons and weigh 500 grams of the juice. Bring this to a boil with the sugar. Then add the blanched zest and let it simmer for about 30 minutes until a syrup consistence starts to form. Don’t heat it up to long, otherwise the peel will lose it’s texture. Then let it cool down in the syrup and keep it in your fridge for later.

Sunflower seeds

200 grams	water
200 grams	sugar
200 grams	sunflower seeds

First mix the sugar and water and bring this to a boil. Then add the sunflower seeds and bring this to a boil for two minutes. After drain the sugar water and transfer the seeds on a tray. Spread them and let them dry for around 30 minutes. Then heat up some frying oil till it’s 160°C and deepfry the sunflower seeds. Be careful with the caramelization, a bit to dark and they turn super bitter! Then place on a tray lined with paper and season with salt, citric acid and Sichimi Togarashi, this will give it a nice sour and spicy flavor.

Gillardeau oysters n.2 & cream

	​Gillardeau oysters n.2
	Sunflower oil
	Lemon juice

First open the oysters with the oyster knife and remove it from the shell. Now place it on a sieve and keep the oyster water for later. Then slice off the sides and portion the meaty part in five thin slices. Save the trimmings and some oyster water to make the oyster cream. Now mix the trimmings with a hand blender and gradually emulsify it with sunflower oil till it has a mayonnaise thickness. Then season it with salt and a little lemon juice, only to refresh not to make sour. Adjust the consistency with oyster water if needed. Then pass it through a fine sieve and keep it in your fridge for later.

Jalapeño gel

720 grams	lemon peels
720 grams	lemon juice
80 grams	sugar
300 grams	water
12 grams	agar powder
10 grams	citras powder
125 grams	butter
8	green jalapeños

First peel the lemons. Make sure to peel them as thin as possible, so without the pith (this is the white part, which is very bitter). Transfer them in a pan with cold water and bring it to boil. Then drain it as soon as it boils and repeat four times. After that mix the lemon peel with the lemon juice and sugar and blend it till smooth. Meanwhile bring the water to a boil, then add the citras and the agar and boil it for three minutes. Add this mixture to the blender and emulsify it with the butter. Then pass it through a fine sieve and cool down in the fridge. Once it has cooled down transfer it back in the blender and blend it with the Jalapeños till it’s a smooth gel.