When it comes to recipes from Robi, the great thing about them is that he not only creates amazing food, but educates us about surprising kitchen techniques! For the story behind this delicious bite click here.
Ingredients
- 2 small red beets
- beet juice
- 2 tbsp pomegranate vinegar
- 250 g eddo (or jerusalem artichoke)
- 1 tiny clove garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh creamy goat cheese (or créme fraiche)
- 1 drop chili oil
- 4 small red beet or swiss chard leaves
- 2 hazelnuts
- few drops hazelnut or walnut oil
- salt
- butter
Instructions
For the red beet powder
Wash the smaller red beet, peel and grate very finely. Squeeze the juice from the grated beet with your hands and reserve the liquid. Spread the dry grated beet thinly on the glass plate of your microwave. Microwave for 30-40 minutes at the lowest possible setting. Keep an eye on the microwave to prevent the grated beet from getting burnt. Remove the dried beet and sift through a fine sieve. Reserve the beet powder covered at a dry place.
For the beet cubes
Wash the other red beet and wrap in aluminium foil. Bake in a 200°C / 390 F hot oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and chill to room temperature. Unwrap the beet, peel and cut into 0,5cm cubes. Cover the cubes and set aside.
Replenish the reserved squeezed beet liquid with beet juice to get approximately 150 ml beet juice. Transfer the beet juice with the pomegranate vinegar, beet trimmings and a pinch of salt to a small pot. Reduce at the low heat until the liquid starts to get syrupy.
For the eddo
Wash the eddos (or jerusalem artichokes) and peel. Cut 4cm long tubes from the eddos using an apple core remover. Trim the ends. Cook the eddo tubes according to their thickness for 4-6 minutes in boiling hot salted water. Chill in ice water, strain, cover and reserve.
Finely chop the remaining eddo and transfer to a small pot with a tiny garlic clove and a generous pinch of salt. Add enough water to just barely cover the eddo. Cover and cook over low heat until the eddo is very tender. Strain the cooking liquid. Blend the cooked eddo with 1 tbsp creamy fresh goat cheese (or use créme fraiche). Press through a fine sieve. Season with salt and a drop of chili oil. Keep warm in a bain marie or over low heat (stirring regularly).
To serve
Wash the beet or swiss chard leaves and drain. Grate the hazelnut into paper-thin slices. Add the beet cubes to the reduced beet syrup and warm over low heat. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a small pan, add a generous pinch of salt and warm the eddo tubes in the foaming butter. Sprinkle 1-1,5 tsp beet powder on a cutting board. Using a knife or a dough scraper arrange the powder to a long 3mm thin band.
Put 3 tsp eddo puree on warm plates. Add 5-6 beet cubes around the puree heaps. Briefly drain the eddo tubes on kitchen paper and roll crosswise in the beet powder to get a twirling pattern. Add 2 tubes to the plate. Sprinkle with grated hazelnut. Add 4-5 drops of hazelnut or walnut oil and decorate with 2-3 beet or swiss chard leaves.