Salsify amuse

The second episode of this year’s Christmas special! It’s the final bite or amuse before we start on the courses. It’s an amuse based on salsify, coffee & pear. Super rich in flavor & lovely in texture. It’s a salsify rose that’s cooked sous-vide with coffee beans, a salsify sauce, a savory sable cookie & a fresh pear gel.

The coffee oil

250 g	neutral oil (I use a sunflower oil or a grapeseed oil)
25 g	coffee beans
1/2	empty vanilla pod

Pour the neutral oil in a pan and heat it up till the temperature is 50 degrees Celsius. I would suggest a sunflower oil or a grapeseed oil. Then add the coffee beans and the empty vanilla pod. Turn down the heat to a minimum and let it infuse for 2 hours. After that turn off the heat and let it infuse for 3 hours. Once you’re happy with the flavor pass the oil through a fine sieve and let it drip for at least 30 minutes so you don’t waste a single drop. Keep it in your fridge for later.

The fresh pear gel

3	pears
60 g	pear vinegar
80 g	sugar
3 g	salt
7 g	agar powder

Start by peeling the pears. Insure that the pears you use are fully ripe and sweet. Then cut the pear off the core and weight 300 grams into a pan. Also add the pear vinegar, the sugar, the salt and the agar powder. Blend it till smooth. Now it’s very important you taste the base. If the pear wasn’t sweet enough you need to add more sugar to balance the sourness. Then bring it to a boil for 30 seconds and stir it every now and then to prevent it from burning. Once that’s done pour it into a bowl and let it cool down in your fridge. After that transfer it into a blender and blend it till smooth. Now to bring the gel to the next level I always vacuum it. Just transfer it into a bowl and vacuum the gel a 100% to remove any air bubbles. This will result in a clear gel with a more intense flavor. Then transfer it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later.

The savory spelt sable

250 g	spelt flour
30 g	almond powder
30 g	icing sugar
150 g	butter
3 g	salt
40 g	beaten egg

Pour the spelt flour on your worktop and use the bowl to make a well in the middle. Fill it with the almond powder, the icing sugar, the butter, the salt and the beaten egg. Mix it till it comes together and then knead it till it’s a nice dough. Once it’s an even dough directly stop mixing to prevent too much gluten from forming. Then cover it and let it rest in your fridge for at least 1 hour. Now dust some flour on your worktop and roll out the dough till it’s around 3 millimeters thin. The dough needs to stay as cold as possible, so try to work a bit faster. Once you’re happy with the thickness cut it with the desired cutter. Then carefully place the rounds on a perforated silicon sheet and place another sheet on top. Now bake them at 170 degrees Celsius for around 15 minutes to 20 minutes. Then let them cool down completely and keep them dry and covered for later.

The salsify rose

2 liters	water
0.5	lemon
1 tablespoon	flour

First we’re going to make a water bath to prevent the salsify from turning brown. Mix the water with the juice from the lemon and the flour. The flour does really help, but obviously it’s not gluten free anymore. You could also make it without. Give it a proper mix and set it aside.

7	salsify roots
150 g	milk
10 g	coffee beans
2 g	salt

Then take a couple salsify roots and wash them well with a metal sponge. You could also peel them, but then you’re left with a much thinner salsify. This works great as well. While you’re scrubbing you’re salsify keep the cleaned ones in the lemon and flour water. Once they’re all clean trim the top and bottom and transfer them into a vacuum bag. I place 7 pieces in each bag. Also add the milk, the coffee beans and the salt. Then vacuum the bags a 100%. I do this in my Henkelman Aura vacuum machine, a partner of the channel. Now cook the salsify in a sous-vide bath or in a steam oven at 90 degrees Celsius for 1.5 hours. You could also simmer them submerged in milk with some coffee beans, but by cooking them sous-vide it really improves both texture and flavor. When simmering you need to cook them for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Once cooked let them cool down and then take them out of the bags. The longer you leave them in the bag, the more intense the coffee flavor will be. Just keep this in mind. Now remove any milk solids and the coffee beans and slice the salsify in even thin slices. You could also do this on a cutting machine, but since most people don’t have one I’ll do it by hand. Keep the trimmings for the sauce. Then lay them slightly overlapping on your cutting board. This recipe does take some time, but it’s so worth it! Once you have layed enough slices, start rolling the rose. In the beginning you need to be gently so it doesn’t fall apart. Once you have a solid base apply a bit more pressure for a beautiful tight rose. When you’re happy with the size you can cut it in half. For this you need a really sharp knife and be very gentle, otherwise it will fall apart. When in doubt, I would suggest to first wrap it in clean film and then cut it in half. This will prevent the slices from falling apart. If you make them on the day you serve them as well you can already place them on the sable. Keep them covered in your fridge for later.

The creamy salsify sauce

2	shallots
3 cloves	garlic
2 g	salt
500 g	vegetable broth
150 g	cream 35%
2 sprigs	thyme
150 g	the cooked salsify trimmings

First cut the shallots in half and clean them. Then slice them in thin slices. Now pour a drizzle of oil in a pan and start glazing the shallots. Meanwhile also clean the garlic and slice them as well. Add them to the pan with the salt and glaze it for another couple of minutes. Be careful that you don’t get any color. Once softened add the vegetable broth with the cream, the thyme and the cooked salsify trimmings. Now reduce it till you’re left with 650 grams. My saucepan weighs a 1000 grams, so that makes checking the reduction process very easy. In this case the total weight of the pan plus the reduction needs to be 1650 grams. Once reduced remove the thyme and blend it till smooth. Ensure your blender is strong enough for the best creamy result. Keep it in your fridge for later.

Final prep and how to finish the amuse

As a final step we only need to cut some pear brunoise. Just peel a pear, cut it off the core and cut it in thin slices. Then cut it in brunoise. So little even cubes. Keep it covered in your fridge for later. Now we can start to finish the amuse. First heat up the salsify in an oven at 150 degrees Celsius for two minutes. Once hot make the outside shine with the coffee oil. Meanwhile you can just heat up the sauce in the saucepan. Then place a tablespoon of the pear brunoise in a bowl and cover it completely with a generous amount of sauce. Gently place the salsify rose on top and when needed shape the rose with a tweezer or needle. Now pipe some small dots of the fresh pear gel on top and it’s ready to be served!

Pairing

For the first amuse I paired the bite with an alchohol paring, so I thought it would be nice to serve this one with a non alcoholic option. I decided to go with a sparkling tea. This one is from Established Sparkling Tea. A brand created by two guys in Amsterdam. At the moment they make two different flavors. A magnolia one and this one, which is the honeybush. A blend of honeybush and rooibos that’s enriched with botanicals and spices. The honey provides a rich and aromatic flavor that balances super well with the rich flavors of the amuse that I made. If you want something non alchohol, or you just want to experiment with different pairings, I would definitely suggest this one.