AUTUMN TO WINTER // Recipe for four
Slippery jacks, chargrilled parsnip and steamed chicory
When picked, peeled and cooked immediately, slippery jack mushrooms are stunning. We tend to use them towards the end of the saffron milk cap season. In the local forest the slippery jacks seem to appear as the season gets colder and wetter.
PARSNIP FLOSS
2 parsnips
200 ml (7 fl oz) cottonseed oil
5 g (1/8 oz) salt
Grate the parsnips on a fine microplane and cook in boiling water for a minute or two until soft. Refresh in iced water, then drain well.
Preheat the oven to 65°C (150°F). Spread the parsnip on a baking tray and dehydrate in the oven for 5 hours. Fry in hot cottonseed oil for 4 seconds and then season with the salt.
CHARGRILLED PARSNIP
4 small parsnips
10 g (¼ oz) salt
100 ml (3½ fl oz) olive oil
Put the parsnips, salt and olive oil in a vacuum or cryovac bag. Seal and cook in a water bath at 84°C (183°F) for 32 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath to cool down. When cool, rub the skin off the parsnips and cook until just coloured in a chargrill pan.
STEAMED CHICORY
3 white chicory (witlof)
20 ml (½ fl oz) elderflower vinegar
2 teaspoons linseed (flaxseed) oil
Wrap the chicory in plastic wrap and steam for 10 minutes until soft. Remove from the steamer and dress in the elderflower vinegar and oil.
HEN YOLKS
4 egg yolks
40 ml (1¼ fl oz) duck fat
Place each yolk in a plastic cup or dariole mould (don’t use heavy ceramic moulds or the yolks will stick), pour the duck fat over the top and float the cups in a water bath at 55°C (131°F) for 6 minutes. Turn out the eggs.
Pick the best slipperies you can find. Peel off the brown skin, brush them clean and pat dry (don’t wash them or they’ll soften up). Heat a pan to smoking point, add the oil and cook the mushrooms on both sides.