Maitake & potato dish

We're going to make a beautiful glazed maitake dish. It's a pan roasted maitake mushroom with an onion & Madeira glaze, a potato foam, deep-fried crispy cappers, a smoked oil and on the side a delicious mushroom brioche!

Cured mushroom egg yolks

260 grams	coarse salt
200 grams	cane sugar
20 grams	mushroom powder
10	eggs

Mix the coarse salt with the cane sugar and the mushroom powder. Mix this. Now cover the bottom of a tray with a thin layer of the mixture and use the back of a spoon to make 10 dimples. Then separate the eggs to fill all 10 dimples with the yolks. I use medium sized eggs. Now cover the yolks completely with the remaining salt and sugar cure and let it cure in your fridge for 3 days. This helps the yolks firm up, it gives them a wonderful flavor and it preserves the yolks. After that rinse any remaining cure off and place the yolks on an oven rack. Let them dry at 60 degrees Celsius for at least 5 hours till dry. Keep them in your freezer for later.

Potato and garlic foam

2 bulbs	garlic
2	onions
3 grams	salt
300 grams	waxy potato
350 grams	vegetable broth
250 grams	cream

Cut the top off from the bulbs of garlic and place them on some aluminum foil. Now drizzle some olive oil on top and season with some salt. Then wrap the garlic as tight as possible and bake them in an oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour. Meanwhile cut the onions in half and clean them. Now chop them. In total you’ll need 100 grams of chopped onion. Then add a drizzle of oil in a frying pan and glaze the chopped onion on a medium low heat with the salt. Beware that the onions don’t color. Now take the waxy potatoes and peel them. You need 200 grams of cleaned potato. Then cut them in even sized pieces and add them to the pan with the vegetable broth and the cream. After that take the baked garlic and remove the foil. Let this cool down for 5 minutes before weighing 40 grams of the toasted cloves. Add it to the pan and then let it reduce till the total amount weighs 550 grams. Once it has reduced enough transfer it into a measuring cub or blender and blend it till smooth. Really make sure there are no more lumps, otherwise the syphon will be clogged. Now pour it into a syphon and charge it with two charges. Be sure to shake it well after each charge. Then keep it in your fridge for later.

Onion and Madeira glaze

5	sweet onions
3 grams	salt
1 litre	Madeira wine
4 sprigs	thyme
1 litre	vegetable broth
6 cloves	garlic
	potato starch & water

Cut the sweet onions in half and clean them. Now chop them. Then add a drizzle of oil in a frying pan and caramelize the onions on a medium heat with the salt. Stir it every now and then to prevent the onions from burning. Once the onions have a nice golden brown color deglaze the pan with the Madeira wine and also add the thyme, the vegetable broth and the garlic. Let this simmer on a low heat for at least 6 hours. After that pass the broth through a fine sieve and use a small ladle to press out any liquid so you don’t waste anything! Now when necessary reduce the broth till you’re happy with the flavor. Then mix half a tablespoon of the potato starch with around 30 grams of water and while mixing add it to the boiling broth to thicken it. You’ll end up with a nice glaze. Normally I always use Xanthan gum to thicken my broths, but for a hot broth you can always use potato starch as well. I wouldn’t recommend corn starch. This makes the clear broth cloudy. Then keep it in your fridge for later.

Smoked oil

1	barbecue coal
250 grams	neutral oil (I use sunflower oil)

Take a small piece of coal and heat it up with a blowtorch. You could also take a piece of hot coal after barbequing, but here I’ll just heat it up especially for this recipe. Now pour the neutral oil in a metal pot. Then take the glowing coal and quickly submerge it in the oil. Directly cover it with a lid and let the oil marinade for 2 hours. I do this outside. After that remove the lid and pass the oil through a fine sieve that’s lined with a kitchen paper to clarify it. The oil is great to use on it own or to use as a base for a mayonnaise.

Deep-fried crispy cappers

Start by draining a jar of cappers and let them dry for 5 minutes on a tray that’s lined with a kitchen paper. Then add a small handful in a sieve and deep fry them at 210 degrees Celsius to make them puff up. Now continue frying them until no more bubbles form. This is a sign that they are crispy. Then spread them on a kitchen paper and let them dry for 1 more hour at 60 degrees Celsius to really insure all the moisture has evaporated. Otherwise they might become soggy. After keep them dry and covered for later.

Mushroom brioche

20 grams	milk
4 grams	dry yeast
250 grams	flour
3	eggs
30 grams	sugar
10 grams	mushroom powder
3 grams	salt
150 grams	butter
	Edible flower (I use marigold & corn flowers)

Mix the milk with the dry yeast and while mixing it well heat it

up till it’s 30 degrees Celsius. Then pour the flour

on your worktop and use the bowl to make a well in the middle. Fill it with the eggs, the sugar, the mushroom powder and the yeast mixture. Now bring this together till it’s an even mixture and then add the salt. Then knead it for 10 minutes. After that add the butter and knead it for another 10 minutes. Off course you can do this in a machine, but I wanted to show it’s also possible by hand. In a machine you can half the kneading time. Now transfer the dough in a bowl and cover it with some wrap or a damp cloth. Let it proof for 2 hours till doubled in size. Meanwhile take a mixture of beautiful edible flowers and spread the peddles on a metal tray. I use different colors of marigold and cornflower. Let this completely dry at 60 degrees Celsius. After the dough has doubled in size transfer it on your worktop and portion it into pieces that weigh 50 grams. I find this is a good size for 1 person. Then make a little bowl with your hand and use it to ball up the portioned dough. I made 2 bigger breads from 4 balls each and 4 single ones. The rings of the single ones I lined with some parchment paper. Now cover them ones more and let the dough proof for 45 minutes till doubled in size.

1	egg
50 grams	milk
	flaky salt
	melted butter

Break the egg in a bowl and add the milk. Mix this till smooth. Now add a thin layer of the egg mixture on the proofed brioche. I do this with a brush or a plant sprayer. Then sprinkle some flaky salt on top and bake them at 190 degrees Celsius for around 15 to 18 minutes till golden brown. Do the same with the single brioche breads. Once they’re golden take them out of the oven and directly glaze them with some melted butter. Then take the dried flower peddles and sprinkle it generously on top. The melted butter will act as a glue. Do the same with the single brioche breads. After that remove the breads from the rings and baking tins and let them cool down. It’s best to serve them as soon as possible. You can also heat them up at 180 degrees Celsius before serving, but then do this without the flowers and add those after.

How to finish the dish

Take the maitake mushrooms and portion them to the desired size. They will slink quite a bit, so don’t portion them too small. Now add a drizzle of oil in a frying pan and pan fry the maitake till golden brown with some salt for seasoning. Once golden add a knot of butter and then turn them around. Again pan fry till golden brown. Then place them on a metal tray and glaze them with a generous amount of the onion glaze. The pan frying you could do as a prep beforehand. Now heat this up at 150 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes. Then add a big dot of the hot potato foam on a hot plate and grate some cured egg yolk on top. Use a brush to clean the sides. Now place the glazed maitake mushroom in the center and drip some smoked oil on top. Then decorate it with some of the crispy deep-fried cappers and white corn flower peddles. Now the dish is ready to be served!