The perfect pairing for 2013 Art of Creation Pinot Noir
(Recipe with kind permission of Head Chef Mark Lundgaard of Kong Hans Kælder (www.konghans.dk) Copenhagen)
Serves Four
- 600 g sweetbread
- 300 g duck fat
- 75 g coarse salt
- Half bunch thyme
- Half bunch rosemary
- 3 shallots
- 1 garlic
- Half dl olive oil
- 50 g winter truffle offcuts (or truffle essence)
- 1 dl cognac
- 1 dl port
- Half L chicken stock
- Half L veal stock
- 1 bergamot
- 1 lemon
- 50 g butter
- 100 ml egg yolk
- 2 whole eggs
- 50 ml sherry vinegar
- 2 pinches salt
- 100 g porcini mushroom
- 500 ml grape seed oil
Day 1:
- Run sweetbread under cold water for 1 hour to remove impurities.
- Rinse the porcini mushroom and cut in quarters, add to the grape seed oil and heat slowly to about 75° Celsius, let it infuse the oil overnight.
- Once the sweetbread is clean, sift, remove outer skin, add salt and half the herbs and leave overnight in the fridge.
- Use a julienne knife to remove the zest from the bergamot, put on a tray and dry overnight at 60° Celsius.
Day 2:
- Run the sweetbread under cold water to remove the salt (it will get too salty once cooked) for another hour. Once cleaned of remaining salt, add herbs and duck fat and cook in the oven for about 2 hours at 130° Celsius, or until sweetbread feels firm.
- Once cooked, remove the duck fat and put the sweetbread on a flat tray with parchment paper. Cover with another piece of parchment paper and put a matching tray on top to keep under pressure. Cool down in the fridge.
Sauce:
- Peel the onions and five garlic cloves and cut the shallots into two-inch pieces.
- Cook the onions in a large pot with olive oil at medium heat.
- Once slightly coloured, add the cognac and flambé.
- Once reduced to half, add the port together with the fresh truffle (offcuts) and reduce to half. (If using truffle essence, add it at the end.)
- Add the stock and reduce to about half or until required taste and consistency.
- Adjust the sauce with lemon juice, salt and pepper, butter and truffle essence to add the final touch.
- Peel the endives and use only the outer big leaves. Remove the stem and julienne the sides finely. Add to ice-cold water and set aside for assembly.
- Mix egg yolks, eggs, sherry vinegar and salt and whisk until fluffy. Slowly add the infused grape seed oil and whisk until emulsified. Pour in siphon bottle and keep at 50° Celsius.
- With a small coffee grinder (mill), grind the dried bergamot until fine.
Assembly:
- Cut the sweetbread into pieces of 2 cm each. Sear in oil to give a nice golden colour. Add butter, garlic, herbs and cook until butter turns golden. Cover the sweetbread with it and cook for about 4-5 minutes.
- Place a spoon and a half warm truffle sauce in a small, deep plate.
- Place the sweetbread on top.
- Cover with the warm egg and grape seed blend from the siphon bottle.
- Make a nest of the julienne endive leaves on top.
- Finish with a sprinkle of bergamot.
