LANGOUSTINE, CAVIAR, BRIOCHE, APPLE, LEMONGRASS, MONK’S BEARD

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4 portions

For the langoustine:
Medium Scottish (allow 3 per portion) 12
Royal Siberian Caviar 30g
For the Bisque:
Olive oil 50g
Onion (finely chopped) 100g
Tomatoes (diced) 300g
Lemongrass (crushed and finely sliced) 15g
Ginger (puree) 5g
Tomato puree 30g
Langoustines cloves, heads (head matter removed) and shells 12
White wine, boiled for 2 mins 500g
Whipping cream 100g
Shellfish stock (or fish stock) 800g
Cognac 15g
Lemon juice 10g
Butter 100g
Salt
For the Brioch:
Loaf of brioche (500g) 1
Langoustine bisque 300g
Fresh free range eggs, (medium) 4
Salt 4g
For the Thai shallots:
Thai shallots 20
Water 125g
Red wine vinegar 125g
Castor sugar 90g
Star anise 1
Sprig Thyme 1
Clove Garlic 1
For the lemon grass oil:
Fresh lemongrass 20g
Kaffir lime leaf 5g
Lime zest 3g
Rapeseed oil 120g
Lime juice 10g
Salt 1g
For the Granny Smith Apple puree:
Granny smith apples 2
Monk’s beard 100g

 

METHOD

For the langoustine:

1.Separate tail from the head and remove the intestinal tract .

2.Bring water to the rapid boil and blanch tails for 15 seconds. Refresh in ice water.

3.When cold very carefully peel the shells and reserve the tails for later use.

4.Remove the head matter and smash all the bones (claws, heads and tail shells) and reserve for bisque.

For the Bisque:

5.In a heavy based pan add the olive oil, heat gently and sweat off the finally chopped onions, tomatoes, lemongrass and ginger.

6.Cook gently and slowly until completely soft, but no colour, for about 15 minutes.

7.Stir in tomato puree and cook it out for extra 5 minutes.

8.In the meant time roast langoustine bones till lightly coloured and aromatic.

9.When tomato mixture is ready, liquidise in the blender till smooth and return to the pan.

10.In a separate pan boil the wine, then add the cream and stock and bring back to the boil.

11.When boiling add roasted bones and cook for a further 20 minutes.

12.Pass through the fine sieve, pressing out all the juices.

13.Finish with cognac, lemon juice and butter. Taste and check the seasoning and chill.

For the Brioch:

14.Remove crust from the brioche loafs and cut into 1cm thick slices.

15.Wisk the bisque, whole eggs and salt to form custard.

16.Arrange layers of brioche covered with custard in baking dish 10cm by 15cm.

17.Repeat the process with all layers. (make sure there is plenty of custard as it will be absorbed by the brioche).

18.Cling film and leave in the fridge to soak for 12-24 hours.

19.When ready press it firmly and wrap tightly in plenty of cling film.

20.Steam at 100C for 2 hours.

21.When ready remove the Clingfilm, place some paper towel on top and press well in the fridge till cold (minimum 12 hours)

For the Thai shallots:

22.Peel Thai shallots, keep the tip and the root on.

23.Cook them in boiling water for about 3 minutes until ¾ cooked.

24.In the meantime bring water, vinegar, sugar, star anise, thyme and garlic to the boil.

25.Put in the shallots to the pickle liquor and leave for at least 24 hours.

For the lemon grass oil:

26.In a blender, blitz lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and lime zest.

27.Place the aromatic mixture into a pan with the rapeseed oil and warm to 60C.

28.Keep it at 60 dgr for 3 hours to infuse.

29.When ready pass the oil through the fine sieve and finish with lime juice and salt.

For the Granny Smith Apple puree:

30.Peel apples and cut out 12 balls with medium size parisienne scoop.

31.Keep all the trimmings, remove the core and souse vide with 50g of lemongrass oil then steam at 100C till soft.

32.Meanwhile compress apple balls with little lemongrass oil in the souse vide machine on tightest setting. Repeat 3 times. Steam for 3 minutes and chill.

33.When apple trimmings are completely soft, almost mushy, liquidise to smooth puree.

34.Remove any root and black bits from monk’s beard and set aside.

To present:

35.To complete the dish cut langoustine pudding into 12 even 1.5cm cubes.

36.Fry the cubes gently in non-stick pan till golden brown and then place on a silicon paper on a baking tray.

37.Season the langoustine tails lightly with salt and lemongrass oil and bake in the oven at 180C for 3 minutes till just cooked.

38.Top each cube of pudding with a langoustine tail and sit them neatly.

39.Dress plate with dots of apple puree and bisque then top up each apple ball with plenty of Attilus caviar and place on the plate.

40.Put some additional caviar dots on the plate together with three Thai shallots.

41.Finish the plate presentation with quickly blanched monk’s beard.

Chef Kuba Winkowski

After completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Financial Management in Poland, Kuba decided to follow his dream of being a chef.

In Poland being a chef wasn't really regarded as a career and there weren’t any decent facilities in which to train, so he decided to head to the UK.

In September 2004, Kuba started a three-year NVQ course at East Kent College and during this time, did stints at Buckingham Palace, The British Embassy in Paris, Rhodes 24 and Le Gavroche.

After completing his NVQ level 3 Kitchen and Pastry qualification he obtained a commis chef position at Raymond Blanc's 2 Michelin star “Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons” working under the guidance of Gary Jones.

Kuba then moved to the Feathered Nest in the Cotswolds starting out as sous chef before being promoted to head chef and a role has been doing and  loved ever since.

Kuba is going from strength to strength with increasing TV appearances and more recently won  a place in the finals for the  “National chef of the year 2018”.

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