Ingredients
(Serves one)
2 banana shallots, finely sliced
Thyme
2 rashers smoked back bacon
1 cauliflower, cut into small florets
300ml double cream
Salt and pepper
250g green split peas
50g butter
Sherry vinegar to taste
Beetroot syrup (see Method)
1 large hand-dived Scottish scallop
1 slice foie gras
50g baby spinach leaves
1 sheet brick pastry, deep-fried for 30 seconds
Method
Beetroot syrup: blanch baby beetroots in a mixture of equal quantities of red wine, red wine vinegar, grenadine, cassis, and port with two dessert spoons of Demerara sugar. Remove beetroots from cooking liquor and reduce it by half until syrup-like in texture and appearance.
Sweat shallots and thyme until soft. Add bacon and continue sweating. Add cauliflower and cook slowly for about 30-40 minutes. When softened, add cream, simmer for five minutes, liquidise, season and pass through chinois.
Soak the green split peas in cold water, then blanch until they start to break up. Pour into a sieve, return to heat and dry them out. Add 50g butter, sherry vinegar to taste. Season.
Roast scallop, saut‚ the foie gras and saut‚ the spinach in a small amount of butter. Place cauliflower purée in a cutter in the centre of the plate. Press spinach on top of the purée and indent lightly to steady the scallop, which sits on top of it. Place the foie gras directly on top of the scallop; quenelle a small helping of mushy peas to finish off; place the brick pastry at a slight angle over the peas. Drizzle the beetroot syrup around the outside of the main feature.