Last Saturday Paul, Paul and I hosted the first BetaDinner. The evening exceeded our highest expectations. We were pleased with what we prepared and according to the smiling faces among our 40 guests we were not the only ones satisfied with the food. Most of the guests didn´t know each other upon arriving but it took less than then minutes before the noises of the kitchen blenders were heard about the conversations around the two huge tables.
We were very glad to see so many nationalities; Swedes, Americans, Italians, Romanians, Russians, Austrians, French, Greeks, Slovakians and Danes. Almost forgot it, some Germans were there as well.
We’d love to share a bunch of wonderful pictures with you, but Sebastian, the photographer, got his backpack including his camera stolen after the BetaDinner. We don’t have a single picture of the night. The only one, which we took ourselves during the preparation, is the one you see on top – the first course.
Not only are we now missing all the beautiful pictures, but also a very talented photographer needs every job he can get. Look at what this guy is able to do with his camera and have him in mind, the next time you need a photographer. He does an amazing job!
Below you find all our recipes from the evening. If not stated, all recipes are for 4 persons.
And, one more thing! We had such a blast that we most certainly will do this again. Where and when is not yet stated but we’re working on it. As soon as we’ll know you will find the information in our blogs.
Starter – mousse of beetroot and goat cheese, smoked duck breast, fennel and apple salad.
Mousse
- 200 g beetroot (peeled)
- 4 dl red wine
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 peppercorns
- Pinch of salt
- 30 g goat cheese (creamy)
- 3 tbsp yoghurt
- 3 leaves of gelatine
- 150 g smoked duck breast
Fennel and apple salad
- ½ fennel
- ½ an apple (peeled)
- fresh orange juice
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- walnuts
Preparation
Start with the mousse. The dish has one critical moment. You need to get the right amount of gelatine compared with fluid. For each decilitre fluid you should use one gelatine leaf.
Boil the beetroots, wine, bay leaf, vinegar, sugar, peppercorns and salt until the beetroots are soft. Prepare the gelatine by putting them in cold water for 5 min. Mix the beetroots and the wine until the consistency is like the yoghurt. Add the gelatine and mix the warm fluid another 30 sec. Add the goat cheese and the yoghurt. Mix and then pour into a form covered with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge until it settles (at least 3 h).
Remove the fat from the duck. Slice the breast into 2 mm thin slices. Heat the fat and mix with the breast. Remove the breast until 30 sec. Put aside until serving.
Remove the dill from the fennel but keep it because you need it as garnish. Slice the fennel and apple wafer-thin. Mix fennel, apple with a tbsp olive oil and a bit more orange juice, salt and pepper.
If you have loads of time you can pinch small pieces of the orange and garnish the mousse with. Serve the mousse with the duck breast and the salad apart. Garnish the salad with the fennel dill and chopped walnuts.
Main course – saddle of lamb, potato terrine with truffle, sauce and rosemary pesto.
Sauce
- 0,75l broth of veal
- 3 dl port wine
- 3 dl red wine
- 50g larding bacon (smoked)
- 2 red onions
- 2 garlic gloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 50 g butter
- Salt and pepper
Lamb
- 600 g boned saddle of lamb
- 1 dl olive oil
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 2 garlic gloves
- salt
- butter
Potato terrine (serves 8 persons)
- 1 kg potatoes
- 150 g grated Parmesan
- 1,5 dl cream
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp truffle oil
Rosemary pesto
- 100 g rocket salad
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 50g almonds (peeled)
- 30g Parmesan
- 1 garlic glove
- Zest from 1 lemon
- Pepper
- 1 dl olive oil
Preparation
Start with the terrine. It should be done a day in advance for the best result. Peel the potatoes and shred it very fine. Squeeze out most of the liquid. Mix all ingredients to the terrine and add pepper and lots of salt (potato needs a lot). Wrap an oven proof terrine dish with plastic wrap and fill with the potato mix. Bake in 120⁰ C oven for 2 h. It should not get any colour. Put press on the terrine so that it will be easy to cut into slices. Before serving, cut it into pieces and warm in oven.
You get the best sauce if you cook or buy a really good broth. Once the broth is done, this sauce will almost prepare it selves. Cut the onion and garlic in slices and fry it together with the larding bacon (smoked). Add the wines, broths, bay leaves and rosemary. The sauce should be reduced to 4 dl. It will take some hours. Before serving, remove the sauce from the heat, add cold butter and whisk. The butter will help to get the right consistency, get the sauce shiny and above all, make the taste even better.
Put all ingredients for the pesto in the mixer and blend. If it is too thick add more oil.
Grill the lamb on high heat a minute on each side. To avoid all nice juices to leak, you have to fry the meat in a really hot pan. Put the lamb in the oven (120⁰ C) for approximately 10 min. The meat temperature should be 57⁰ C. Let the meat rest under aluminium foil for some minutes. This is done to avoid the juice to ooze out.
Arrange the terrine and the pesto on one side of the plate. Serve the lamb on a bed of fried red onions and larding bacon. The sauce should be sprinkled around the bed. Enjoy.
Dessert – Mud cake with shots of passion fruit, mango and raspberry
Mud cake
- 100 g melted butter
- 3 dl sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 dl wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
- 4 tbsp cacao
- 200 g chocolate (70%)
Shots
- Juice from 4 passion fruits (stoned)
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- Juice from 1 mixed mango
- 1 cm fresh ginger
- 200 g raspberries (mixed and stoned)
- 3 cl Tequila
Preparation
Heat the oven to 200 ⁰ C. Blend everything together and pour your mixture on to oven-paper in a square oven-proof form. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on how muddy you want it.
Let cool off for a while and put the cake in the freezer for an hour.
Cut your cake in squares; stick them onto a lollipop (or something similar) and dip them in melted 70 % chocolate. Place your dipped mud cake-pops on aluminium foil and let the chocolate set before serving.
Shot 1 – mix the juice from the passion fruits with the powdered sugar.
Shot 2 – mix the mango juice with finely grated ginger.
Shot 3 – mix the raspberries with Tequila. If to sour, add a bit powdered sugar.
Strain the shots into snaps glasses. Serve each lolly with a shot.
Good luck and enjoy!
Music: Listening to Paul N’s excellent Best of 2010
NordenBerlin 