Menu:
– Bacon-wrapped baked Belgian endives
– Blade roast w/
– Fatty potatoes
– Stocky greens, hazelnuts
– Pear, endive, and St. Johann salad
– Stovetop spelt cake
OK, let’s be honest. We won’t get this whole menu into a single post. We’ve been building up your skills and repertoire for a while now, and it’s time to bring it all together. So, this week and next, we’ll flesh out this menu, walk you through it and then, come Spring, half the work of that first party is done.
First things first
Get some shopping out of the way, so you’re not all loaded up at once. The bacon, the spuds, nuts, flour, eggs… all that dry-store stuff. Stock up on that this week. It’ll keep, and having the dessert-related items on hand gives you a chance at a practice run. A chance that the dessert-inept Harvest office staff always take advantage of.
Bacon wrapped Belgian endive
A great little way to start meal at this time of year. Simple and supple. Caramelising the endives, fresh herbs, and finishing the pan juices means a starter of intense flavour that hits all the profile points. One endive and three rashers of streaky bacon per person. The rest of these proportions suit a meal for two. It’s perfectly scalable.
Cut the endive in half lengthways, and remove the inner part of the stem with a vertical v-shaped cut. Sauté face down in 2 tablespoons of butter, with a thyme sprig and a bruised clove of garlic added. Cook them until they’re browned and caramelised.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Remove the halves from the pan and cool. Line up three rashers of bacon, stretching out lengthways in front of you, so they overlap a little. Place one half an endive at the end and wrap a single layer. Cut the bacon, and use the remainder to wrap the second half. Return the wrapped endive to the pan, cook until the bacon is starting to colour, and then put the pan in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove the endive from the oven and transfer it to your service plate. The bacon will have rendered out some fat and juices—delicious. Now, while the pan is still hot, add another tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of chopped chives, a teaspoon of cider vinegar, and half a teaspoon of honey. Combine into a loose sauce, and spoon it over the endives.
Stovetop Spelt Cake
Since you’re having a practice, we’ll leave this with you for Menu Part One and tackle the mains next week. We’re using bananas because they’re probably hanging around in your fruit bowl already, but this technique works with apples, pears, or berries.
150 grams of spelt flour, 75 grams of plain white flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, and half a teaspoon of salt. Whisk all this together in a large mixing bowl. In another, smaller mixing bowl, combine 275 ml of milk, one large egg, two tablespoons of melted butter, and a teaspoon of vanilla powder or paste. Ensure the melted butter has cooled a bit before adding it to the egg to avoid the risk of little bits of cooked eggs in your batter.
Now, pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Gently stir everything together with a whisk or spatula. It’s important not to overmix the batter, stop stirring as soon as everything is combined, even if the batter looks a little lumpy. These lumps are OK; they’ll work themselves out during the resting period.
Let the batter rest for an hour. During this time, the baking powder will become active, and the starches will hydrate a little. The batter will be thicker afterwards. Correct this with a few more tablespoons of milk. Stir gently again until homogenous.
Slice the banana on a heavy diagonal. You’re going for big pieces, about a centimetre thick. In a non-stick pan, melt a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of honey together, and add the banana pieces. Cook them face down until the honey caramelises a bit. Add the batter to the pan until the bananas are covered by about half a centimetre. Turn the heat down and cook gently for 5 to 6 minutes.
Don’t attempt to flip this pancake. You’ll ruin it and yourself, and you’ll make an enormous mess. When you can see the top starting to dry a little, slam it under a hot grill to finish it off.
Add two tablespoons of black cherry syrup to some cream and whip.
Turn the pancake out onto a plate, drizzle with honey, and top with whipped cream.
Thanks for reading! Can’t wait to bring you the rest of the feast next week.