Thursday, June 18, 2009

VioVi, blood orange mousseline

VioVi mousseline for your favourity veggies.
A mousseline element merely means the addition of a little whipped cream. Chefs always test their mousseline to make sure it glazes: it always does, in my experience.

Ingredients
1kg of asparagour or purple sprouting broccoli
1 cup of VioVi Blood orange Juice
100g unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs dry white wine
100ml double or whipping cream

Method
● With a small sharp knife, trim off any tired stalks and leaves from the broccoli and separate any of the bigger stalks into smaller pieces. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Melt the butter in a small saucepan – do not let it boil. Boil the blood orange juice and reduce by half.
● Combine, in a large bowl, the reduced blood orange juice, the egg yolks, lemon juice and white wine with some milled pepper and a good pinch of salt. Place the bowl over the boiling water and beat the mixture with a balloon whisk with a steady rhythm until it is pale and much increased in volume. It should be warm rather than hot and it is important that the eggs do not start to scramble at the edges. When the butter is finger hot, add it in a steady trickle while beating the egg mixture, just as you would when making a mayonnaise. Dilute this hollandaise (for that is what this is) with a little of the milky residue at the bottom of the butter if it starts to get too thick.
● In a separate bowl whisk the cream until it thickens and starts to leave a trail at the end of the whisk. Pour the hollandaise into the cream and whisk together lightly. Keep the sauce in a warm but not hot place. Drop the broccoli in the rapidly boiling water and cook for five minutes, without covering, or until tender. It should remain a brilliant green. Drain the broccoli and spread it in an even layer across a wide gratin dish. With a large serving spoon, coat all the broccoli with the silky mousseline sauce. Place the dish under a very hot grill for 30 seconds or so: it should be a lovely golden brown but definitely not dark, or the sauce will start to curdle. Serve immediately.