Our first dish 2005 Caramelised shallot tart ~ blue cheese ~ 5jjj ham by Paul Ainsworth

Our first dish 2005 Caramelised shallot tart ~ blue cheese ~ 5jjj ham by Paul Ainsworth (photography by David Griffen)

📝 Ingredients

• Serves 4
• Ingredients
• 9 medium banana shallots
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• 4 garlic cloves
• Fine salt
• 2 tbsp beef fat
• 100 g white chicken stock
• 40 g Iberico ham sliced 1/2mm thin
• 2 large portobello mushrooms
• 500 g all butter puff pastry rolled to 3mm thick and cut just larger than the blini pans
• Pedro reduction
• 500 ml pedro ximenez
• 10 g dark brown sugar
• Sherry vinegar to taste
• 100 g Roquefort blue cheese
• Lemon yogurt (combine ingredients to taste)
• 100 g thick yogurt
• 1/2 lemon juice and zest
• Shallot flour
• 50 g self-raising flour
• Pinch salt
• Large pinch mild curry powder
• Shallot pickle
• 25 g white wine vinegar
• 25 g caster sugar
• 175 g water
• 12 g extra virgin olive oil
• Balsamic caramel
• 100 g caster sugar
• 45 g salted nutter
• 15 g balsamic
• 10 turns white pepper
• Pinch sea salt
• Salad side
• 2 heads red endive
• 1 head baby gem lettuce
• 1 small speckled endive

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Shallots for tart
2. 2Peel and cut eight of the shallots into 1.5 inch high rounds. Sprinkle liberally with fine salt, cover and leave for 24hr to penetrate.
3. 3Shallot ring deep fry
4. 4With the remaining shallot, peel and slice into 2mm thin rounds. Separate the small rings from the medium to large rings. Soak the medium to large onion rings in milk for 24hr, then drain and coat in the shallot flour. Shake off the excess flour and deep fry at 190c until golden. Season with fine salt as soon as they come out of the fryer. Spread the deep fried onion rings onto a tray lined with kitchen paper without overlapping them, and place in a warm place to dry for a few hours. Cool to room temp once crisp.
5. 5Pickled shallot rings
6. 6Boil all of the pickle ingredients together and check for seasoning. Pour over the small shallot rings and cover with cling-film Leave for 24 hours.
7. 7Balsamic caramel
8. 8Heat the sugar over a medium heat until amber. Then whisk in the butter and finally the balsamic. Season to taste. Set the mixture to one side until it’s cool. This can be refrigerated for a day then brought back to room temperature.
9. 9Pedro reduction
10. 10Place the pedro ximenez and sugar into a pan and reduce until sticky. Refresh with a splash of sherry vinegar, check the seasoning and the consistency on a plate. It should hold its shape but still flow. Place in a squeezy bottle for later.
11. 11Portobello mushrooms
12. 12Marinade the mushrooms with crushed thyme and rosemary for 24 hours. Light the Big Green Egg or alternative BBQ starting with the coal. Put wood chippings of your choice in for a cold smoke. Then place the mushrooms into the Big Green Egg and smoke for five minutes. Turn over the mushrooms and check it isn’t hot. Smoke for a further three minutes or more if necessary until a deep smoky smell comes from the mushrooms. Trim off the bottom and sides to neaten. Keep in a cool place until required. Have 2mm thin lozenge slices of mushrooms – you’ll need six per portion. Dress with vinaigrette and season at the last second.
13. 13Salad leaves
14. 14Choose the best quality leaves and cut the baby gem lettuce leaves into halves. Wash in ice water then cut both ends of the endives leaves into large diamonds and soak in ice water until the leaves curl. Drain all the leaves and store in the fridge covered with a damp cloth.
15. 15Building the tart
16. 16Heat a pan large enough to fit all the salted onion rounds and heat the beef fat until just starting to smoke. Then carefully place the onion rounds into the pan to colour the face of the shallot. Turn them once until they are golden both sides and add a few sprigs of crushed thyme and rosemary and the garlic cloves lightly crushed. Add the chicken stock and braise at 180c until nearly soft. Make sure to check the onions every 5 min. Remove the onions from the pan and put to one side. Then prepare each individual blini pan with one teaspoon of the balsamic caramel, sprinkle with thyme leaves and neatly place the shallot rounds presentation side down in each pan until they fit snuggly. Place the puff pastry over each pan and tuck around the shallots. Then bake at 205c for 18-22 min until the pastry is golden and the shallots have caramelised.
17. 17Presentation
18. 18Turn the tarts out onto a tray. Place a little of the caramel into the center of each plate just to hold the tart steady. Next, carefully slot the mushrooms slices in between the shallots on the outside of the tart so the mushrooms meets in the middle. Place chunks of the Roquefort and slices of the Iberico ham in between the mushrooms. Lastly, place five or six deep fried shallot rings and three nasturtium leaves on top of each tart.
19. 19Side salad
20. 20Place the lemon yogurt into a squeezy bottle and make a dome in the middle of four small side dishes, dress the baby gem leaves with vinaigrette and seasoning and blow torch till nicely charred, dress the endives and pickled shallot rings with vinaigrette, seasoning and chives, place all the leaves pointing out of the side dishes for height.