Foie Gras, Smoked Eel, Granny Smith Apple, Turnip

Adam Simmonds

Adam Simmonds

5th February 2013
Adam Simmonds

Foie Gras, Smoked Eel, Granny Smith Apple, Turnip

Foie Gras, Smoked Eel, Granny Smith Apple, Turnip by Adam Simmonds, Danesfield House, Marlow - Serves Six

Ingredients

  • Foie Gras:
  • 1 x 500g foie gras lobe
  • milk, as needed
  • water, as needed
  • salt, as needed
  • Eel Stock:
  • 47g smoked eel, 1cm diced
  • 166g fresh eel, skinned and gutted, 1cm diced
  • 50g olive oil
  • 10g carrots
  • 10g leeks
  • 12g spring onion
  • ¼ clove of garlic
  • 42g dried chickpeas, soaked
  • 1g white peppercorns
  • 375ml water
  • Compressed Apples:
  • 50g Granny Smith, peeled, cut and diced
  • 0.5g salt
  • 2.5g sugar
  • 1.5g lemon juice
  • Pickling Liquor for Turnip:
  • 0.5g salt
  • 0.5g sugar
  • 58g water
  • 10g white wine vinegar
  • Pickled Turnip:
  • ½ a large turnip
  • pickling liquor, as needed
  • Apple Puree:
  • 3 Granny Smith apples, cored
  • 6g Ultralex
  • sugar, as needed
  • Smoked Eel:
  • olive oil, as needed
  • 18 slices of smoked eel
  • To Serve:
  • raw turnip, thinly sliced and cut using a 1.5cm cutter
  • sorrel leaves, as needed

Method

Foie Gras:
Allow the lobe to soften in cold water. Once soft devein without opening the foie gras too much.Place into a bowl of milk, water and salt and leave for 10 minutes.Drain well and cut into 80g pieces.Vac pack and cook at 80 degrees until the core temperatures reaches 60 degrees, which takes approximately 7-8 minutes.Once cooked, remove from the bag and cut into four to five pieces.
Eel Stock:
Place a pan on the stove and allow to get hot before adding the smoked eel and fry until golden brown. Drain in a colander.Place a clean pan on the stove and allow to get hot before adding the fresh eel and fry until golden brown.In a clean pan, fry the vegetables in the olive oil starting with the carrot, leeks, spring onion and garlic. Allow them to lightly colour.Add the eel and chickpeas to the pan and mix well over the heat.Place the eel and vegetable mix into a clean pan and add the peppercorns. Cover with the water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 3 hours.Remove from the stove, pass and strain through muslin cloth.Place in the fridge to allow to set.Once set, remove the fat and place into a clean pan and reduce by half.Cool quickly over ice.
Compressed Apples:
Marinade the apples in the salt, sugar and lemon juice for 10 minutes.Portion into five pieces per bag and compress.
Picking Liquor for Turnips:
Bring all ingredients to the boil.Chill before using.
Pickled Turnips:
Using a mandolin, slice the turnip thinly.Using a 3.5cm cutter, cut into discs.Add 10g of pickling liquor to 12 slices of turnip into a vac pack bag.Vac pack on full and leave for at least 12 hours.
Apple Purée:
Juice the apples.Place in a pan on the stove and bring the juice up to the boll quickly.Pass the juice through a muslin cloth and cool quickly over an iced bain-marie.Once cool, weigh out 100g of the juice and whisk in the Ultralex.Adjust with sugar if required.
Smoked Eel:
Place a pan on the stove and allow to get hot.Drizzle the olive oil into the pan and place the eel in the pan. Fry quickly on one side.Remove from the pan and drain.
To Serve:
Place five slices of the pickled turnip on the bottom of the plate followed by three pieces of the compressed apple. Arrange the foie gras neatly on the plate and add three slices of the smoked eel. Add the remaining two pieces of compressed apple and six pickled turnips. Finish with six thin slices of raw turnip.

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