Carrots with smoked trout, mozzarella, wakame seaweed and beetroot emulsion | Recipe by sousvidetools.com

Method

This delicious recipe by chef Michael Wignall has been recreated for our website with kind permission from Great British Chefs

METHOD

1. Fill and preheat your Sous Vide to 82 C
2. Begin by preparing your carrots. First, juice your washed and peeled large carrots using a juicer then pass through a muslin cloth
3. Arrange your washed and peeled baby carrots into size order then place into three separate bags. The small carrots in one, the medium in the second and the large ones in a third bag. Pour carrot juice into each bag before vacuum sealing
4. Submerge the baby carrots in the water bath for at least 45 minutes
5. The small carrots will be ready first. Check if they are cooked by tasting one ensuring they are both tender and sweet. Leave the larger carrots to cook for longer and again, check that they are cooked before removing from the Sous Vide
6. Once cooked, remove from the vacuum seals then drain any liquid. Heat a grill pan until hot then coat each carrot with oil before chargrilling for approximately 1 minute on each side
7. Once all of the carrots have been grilled, neatly chop off each end so that the carrots are able to stand on a plate. Line a tray with cling film, transfer the carrots on to this then refrigerate until ready to serve
8. Now prepare the trout by sprinkling a tray with a mixture of the sugar and salt. Place the trout on top then cover with the remainder of the salt and sugar mixture. Cover then transfer to the fridge to cure for 1 hour
9. Once the curing process has finished use ice water to rinse the fillets and paper towels to pat dry. Spread the hay on the bottom of a smoker then lay the fillets on the wire rack. Heat the bottom layer of the smoker until smoke starts to appear then put the upper layer with the fish fillets on top then use the lid to cover. Smoke the fillets for 10 minutes but check on them after 5 minutes. The fish is ready when it flakes easily and should be medium rare. Once ready remove the skin and the blood line using a sharp knife. You should now be able to section each fillet into 4 pieces. Transfer to a plate covered in cling film and refrigerate until ready to serve
10. To prepare the mozzarella take it out of the liquid and place it on a plate lined with a J-cloth. To ensure you have removed all the excess liquid lay another J-cloth and an upside down plate on top of the mozzarella. Wrap the whole thing in cling film then allow to chill in the fridge. After 1 hour section the cheese into 16 pieces. Place the segments back into the fridge using a cling-filmed plate
11. Now move onto the dashi stock by heating the water and konbu in a pan. Heat to 90 C being careful not to let it reach boiling point as this will turn the stock cloudy. Take the pan from the heat then add the bonito flakes. Allow to infuse for 3 minutes before straining. Then add the mirin, vinegar and soy before straining again through a fine cloth to form a crystal clear consommé
12. Bring the dashi stock back up to 90 C then pour it over the wakame. Cover with cling film set aside for 30 minutes to rehydrate. When ready to serve season then dress with virgin olive oil
13. To make the beetroot emulsion peel and chop the beetroots into small pieces then use a juicer to juice before passing through a muslin cloth. Pour 200ml of the juice into a pan and reduce to 50ml. Add the vinegar then reduce again to 40ml. Use a liquidiser to mix the egg yolk, and the reduced beetroot juice. Once combined slowly add the oil so that the mixture begins to thicken and emulsify. Transfer to a suitable container and refrigerate until ready to serve
14. Now move on to the baked beetroot. Take a baking tray and spread with the wet salt. Use aluminium foil to line the tray. Season the beetroot with salt, pepper, thyme and most of the olive oil then place in the centre of the tray. Lay a second piece of foil over the beetroot fold each side down to encase the beetroot. Bake in the centre of a preheated oven (180°C) for 20 minutes. The beetroot should be tender once ready. Whilst still warm, take out of the foil and peel
15. With the remainder of the oli, brush on to the baby beetroot and set aside until serving
16. To present the dish, use a pastry brush to paint the beetroot emulsion onto the plate. Next, lay two pieces of both the torn buffalo mozzarella and flaked smoke trout on the plate before arranging 5 chargrilled carrots in an upright position. Sprinkle with the wakame then add two baby beetroots, again in an upright position. Finally, garnish with parsley cress