Classic French
Assiette Anne-Marie
A dish that celebrates the complete cycle of spring
Ingredients
For the morel jus
- 150mlwater, warmed
- 15gdried small morels
- 30mlJura vin jaune or dry sherry
- 30mlwhipping cream
- 1 squeezelemon juice
- 1 1/2gpowdered lecithin (optional)
- 20gfresh morels, washed
- 20mlwater
- 1 pinchsea salt
- 1 pinchblack pepper, ground
- 10gunsalted butter
For the courgettes and stuffed courgette flowers
- 4baby courgettes
- 200ggarden peas
- one sprigmint, picked and chopped
- one sprigmarjoram, picked and chopped
- 2 pinchessea salt
- 1 pinchblack pepper, freshly ground
- 20mlolive oil, extra virgin
- 4 wholecourgette flowers, stigmas and stamens removed
For the spring vegetables
- 20gbutter
- 150mlwater
- 1 pinchsea salt
- 4baby carrots
- 4white asparagus spears
- 8green asparagus spears
- 30gbroad beans
- 30ggarden peas
To garnish
- 12 sprigspea shoots
Method
- 1
For the morel jus: In a small bowl, add the water and dried morels, cling film the bowl and leave to soak for a minimum of 6 hours to rehydrate them.
Drain the morels through a fine sieve, squeeze to extract as much juice as possible.
Reserve the liquid and the soaked morels separately.
In a small sauté pan, combine the fresh and soaked morels with a pinch of salt, pepper, water and butter, ready to be cooked at the last moment.
Continued...
- 2
Morel jus continued... In a small pan, bring the vin jaune or dry sherry to a boil for 30 seconds.
Add the morel soaking juices, whipping cream and bring back to a boil. Remove from the heat, taste and season with a small squeeze of lemon juice and whisk in the lecithin.
Reserve. At the last moment, the jus will be heated and pulsed with a hand blender to aerate it and create a light foam.
NOTE: Lecithin is most commonly extracted from soybeans and is an emulsifier that will stabilise the foam by trapping millions of tiny air bubbles.
- 3
For the courgettes and stuffed courgette flowers Trim the ends off the baby courgette stalks but leave them intact. Slice the baby courgettes lengthways up to 1cm from the stalk, so the courgettes remain whole.
Reserve on a steaming tray. In a small pan, blanch the peas in plenty of boiling water for 20 seconds on full boil.
Drain, refresh and crush the peas with a fork, mix together with the mint, marjoram, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Continued...
- 4
Courgettes and stuffed courgette flowers continued...
Taste, correct the seasoning and stuff inside the courgette flowers.
Place on the steaming tray with the prepared courgettes.
Place on the steaming tray with the prepared courgettes.
Reserve.
- 5
For the spring vegetables In a medium saucepan, place the butter, water and salt and bring to the boil. Add the baby carrots and white asparagus.
Cover and cook for 6 minutes. Add the green asparagus and cook for a further 3 minutes.
Separately, place the steaming tray with the courgettes and stuffed flowers in a steamer. Cook covered with cling film on full steam for 6-7 minutes.
NOTE: It is important to time the cooking of the flowers correctly; steam them just before serving to avoid overcooking their delicate petals. Continued...
- 6
Spring vegetables continued...
Then add the broad beans, garden peas to the saucepan and cook for a further 1 minute.
On full heat, cook the morels in their pan for 2-3 minutes.
Taste and correct the seasoning.
- 7
Plating up Arrange a stuffed flower and a fanned courgette on the plate.
Scatter all the other vegetables around.
Reheat and pulse the morel jus briefly with a hand blender to aerate it and create a light foam.
Spoon around the plate.
Garnish with pea shoots.
Cooking is always an expression of care and generosity. Enjoy this dish.
Bon appétit!