We’re making comfort food on a high level! It’s a porcini beignet filled with a porcini duxelles and a watercress coulis. On top we serve it with a appelcider vinegar gel and a lovely no waste porcini crisp.
Porcini duxelles & powder
Ingredients
- 900 g porcini mushrooms
- 2 shallots
- 6 cloves garlic
- 5 g salt
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 30 g sushi vinegar
- 300 g jus de veau / demi glace
Instructions
- We’re going to clean the porcini’s to make the duxelles. This will be the filling and we need it for the beignet batter. If the porcini’s are firm enough you can peel the stems with a very thin sharp peeler. If this doesn’t work you need to use a small knife. For the top you need to use a knife anyway. Do keep all the trimmings, later we use it to make a mushroom powder.
- Now to wash them dissolve a proper amount of salt in a bowl of lukewarm water and wash the porcini’s one by one. Just be sure to double check them for salt, bugs and leaves. Place them on a kitchen cloth and keep them uncovered in your fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- For the mushroom powder you need to wash the trimmings a couple of times. Do this as well in salted lukewarm water and refresh the water in between. Then drain the water and spread the trimmings on a big tray that’s lined with a silicon sheet. Dry it at 60 °C (140 °F). This takes at least a couple of hours.
- Once dry transfer the trimmings into a blender and blend it into a fine powder. This powder is great for seasoning. We need it later to make the crisps.
- Back to the duxelles. Cut the shallots in half and peel them. Now slice them in thin slices and slice those slices in a fine brunoise. You also need to slice the cloves of garlic. Then chop it in very fine pieces. If you want you could also use a garlic press.
- Now cut the porcini’s in half and cut them very fine as well. This does take some time, but it’s so worth it. If you use a food processor the texture gets super mushy and soft. This is the texture we’re looking for, in total I had 800 grams.
- Now add a drizzle of oil to a preheated pan and start softening the shallot and the garlic. This takes a minute or two. Then add the chopped porcini’s and directly season it with the salt. Also add the leaves from the thyme. Just continue pan frying till the porcini’s have a nice light golden color.
- Once you’re happy with the color deglaze the pan with the sushi vinegar and also add the jus de veau or demi glace. Reduce it until almost all the jus de veau has evaporated. Do mix it in between to prevent it from burning.
- Then add some fresh black pepper and if needed season it with salt. Keep it covered in your fridge for later.
Porcini beignet batter
Ingredients
- 150 g porcini duxelles we just made
- 180 g mushroom powder
- 100 g egg
- 4 g salt
- 240 g flour
- 30 g corn starch
Instructions
- Measure 150 grams of the duxelles we just made and mix it with the mushroom broth, the egg and the salt. Blend it till smooth. It’s very important there are no lumps, otherwise the siphon get’s clogged.
- Then mix the flour with the corn starch and while mixing add the porcini mixture. Once there are no more lumps directly stop mixing to prevent too much gluten from forming.
- Then transfer it into a siphon and charge it with 2 charges. Shake it well after each charge and let it rest in your fridge for at least 1 hour. I always leave it for at least a couple of hours.
Apple cider gel
Ingredients
- 300 g apple juice
- 150 g sugar
- 60 g apple cider vinegar
- 2 g salt
- 5 g agar powder
- 2 g gellan powder
Instructions
- Mix the apple juice with the sugar, the apple cider vinegar, the salt, the agar powder and the gellan powder. Mix it well and bring it to a boil for 30 seconds. Then pour it into a bowl and let it cool down in your fridge.
- Once it has cooled down the jelly will set and you can transfer it into a blender. Blend it till smooth.
- Like this the gel is already so good, but to bring it to the next level I always vacuum my gels. This will result in a clear more intense gel. Just vacuum it in a vacuum chamber at a 100%. Then transfer it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later. Click here for my piping bottles.
Watercress coulis
Ingredients
- 260 g watercress leaves
- 310 g vegetable broth
- 35 g apple cider vinegar
- 7 g salt
- 0.5 g xanthan gum
Instructions
- Begin by picking the leaves from some wild watercress. If needed clean the leaves well in cold water and then drain them.
- Now season some boiling water well with salt and blanch the watercress leaves for 15 to 20 seconds. Don’t blanch too much at once to keep the water boiling and directly cool them down in ice water.
- Once all the leaves are blanched and have cooled down squeeze all the water out of the leaves and measure them in a blender. In total I had 260 grams of leaves. Also add the vegetable broth, the apple cider vinegar, the salt and the xanthan gum. Blend it till smooth. Just be the coulis doesn’t heat up from the friction. For this recipe the xanthan gum is optional, but it does insure the coulis doesn’t split and makes it a touch thicker.
- Then pour the coulis on a bowl that's sitting on some ice water and let it cool down as fast as possible. This prevents the coulis from loosing its bright green color.
Porcini crisp
Ingredients
- 1 liter milk
- 30 g porcini powder we just made
Instructions
- Pour the milk in a bowl and add 30 grams of the porcini powder we just made. Blend it till smooth.
- Once the powder has dissolved pour a ladle of the batter in a preheated pancake pan and give it as good mix to insure the entire pan is covered. Let the batter dry on a medium low heat and once all the liquid has evaporated scrape the mixture to bring it together and create a lovely bark like crisp. You need to do this when it’s hot, otherwise the crisp will break.
- If needed let them dry for another hour at 60 °C (140 °F) and then keep them dry and covered for later.
How to finish the beignets
Instructions
- For this preheat a beignet stamp in some frying oil that’s 180 °C (356 °F). This is the one I use, but you can also use a small ladle, this is just way more efficient.
- Now remove any excess oil and fill the ladle halfway with the batter. Place some of the duxelles in the middle and cover it with some more batter. Submerge the stamp in the oil and deep fry the beignets till golden brown.
- Once the beignets start to float you can directly fill the stamp again and continue making beignets. Just make sure the stamp doesn’t cool down too much, otherwise the beignets stick and won’t float.
- They’re best served straight away, but you can also pre make them and heat them up in the oven at 180 °C (356 °F) for 3 minutes.
- Now season them with salt and pipe some of the watercress coulis in the center. Dust some of the porcini powder on top and also pipe a drizzle of the apple cider gel on there. Add a porcini crisp and a watercress top and it’s ready to be served!
The pairing
This time I wanted to share something a little different, Vuurzee Sea Aged. A Dutch brand that takes its inspiration from two powerful elements, fire and water. What I really like about Vuurzee is the connection to the sea and the idea of giving a drink its own character through time and movement.
The name Vuurzee already tells part of the story. Vuur means fire in Dutch and zee means sea. Two completely different elements that come together in one bottle. The brand is all about craftsmanship, adventure and doing things a little differently. The sea aging concept is what makes it particularly interesting, as the ocean plays an important role in the story behind the bottle.
For me, Vuurzee Sea Aged is a great example of how a brand can combine craftsmanship with a unique story. Each March, they let a number of bottles age for 6 months in the Oosterschelde (Zeeland – the Netherlands). I love discovering products that have something interesting behind them and this is definitely one of those bottles!
