Grilled scallops, Comte cheese & cauliflower croquettes, wild garlic, spring white truffle & hazelnuts
Serves 4
Spring hails the start of the fresh wild garlic season and also the time of year you will find spring white truffles. The wild garlic season runs from March till May or June, and the spring white truffle season from January to April. Comte cheese comes from the Jura region of France and is matured in caves for a minimum of 4 months and up to a maximum of 24 months. The combination of all these flavours work well together and with the addition of toasted hazelnuts for texture, you have a real dinner party winner.
Ingredients & method:
Croquettes:
250ml milk
140g finely sliced cauliflower
14g unsalted butter
14g plain flour
125g grated comte cheese
5g salt
2 grinds freshly milled white pepper
- Place the cauliflower and milk into a small pan, bring to the boil then simmer very gently until the cauliflower is just cooked.
- Drain the cauliflower, reserving the milk and leave to drain for 30 minutes.
- Whilst the cauliflower is draining, weigh out 125g of the reserved milk.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, mix in the flour and cook this together gently for 1 minute.
- Slowly add the reserved milk, a little at a time, until all the milk has been incorporated and you have a smooth glossy sauce. Ensure you boil the sauce in between each addition of milk.
- Turn the heat up to medium and cook the sauce out for one minute, beating it all the time so the sauce does not catch.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the salt, cheese & pepper until the cheese has melted.
- Break the cauliflower into small pieces, mix these into the sauce and place the mixture into a clean container and refrigerate until cold and firm.
- When the mixture is completely cold roll into 20g balls and then pass them through flour, then beaten egg and finally breadcrumbs. Add a second coat of breadcrumbs by passing the croquettes through the egg again and finally the breadcrumbs.
- Refrigerate the croquettes until required.
Hazelnut & truffle dressing:
40g skinned hazelnuts, lightly toasted and crushed into rough pieces
7g spring white truffle
4g white truffle oil
1 grind of freshly milled white pepper
1 pinch salt
15g sherry vinegar
50g hazelnut oil
- Mix the salt and pepper with the vinegar until the salt has dissolved.
- Whisk in the two oils and then add the hazelnuts.
- Using a microplane, finely grate the white truffle into the dressing and reserve.
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