Artichoke Mousse
- 10 Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and chopped
- 2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 glass medium dry white wine
- 1 pint/600ml milk
Make the artichoke purée:
- In a large saucepan, sweat off the garlic and shallots until soft.
- Add the artichokes and cook for a further 5 minutes
- Pour in the wine, add the thyme and reduce the liquid by half. Pour in the milk and simmer for 30 minutes
- When the artichokes are soft, place mixture into blender and purée. Season to taste
Make the mousse:
- Measure out 1 pint/600ml of artichoke purée and place in a mixing bowl
- Add 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks to the purée and mix thoroughly. Season to taste
- Pour purée into buttered moulds and cover with foil
- Cook moulds in a water bath in a pre-heated oven of 140C/275F/Gas Mark 1 for 12 to 15 minutes or until firm to touch
- Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes
Caramelised baby onions, smoked bacon, watercress:
- Add a drizzle of olive oil to a pre-heated frying pan.
- Fry 30 baby onions and 4oz/100 gm smoked streaky bacon lardoons until golden brown
- Add a small bunch of watercress, allow to wilt slightly before adding 2 tbsps of hazelnut oil and 2 tbsps of balsamic vinegar.
- Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Turn out warm mousse onto plates and serve with the baby onions, smoked bacon and watercress
Hints and Tips:
If you haven’t any suitable moulds, coffee cups will do nicely for the artichoke mousse.
Frozen baby onions will be just as good as fresh ones in this recipe; just make sure they are thoroughly de-frosted before you start.
You can top off this recipe with a slice of grilled streaky bacon before serving
Local Suppliers:
Artichokes are best used when really fresh - we grow our own so we can simply pull them from our kitchen garden as we need them but why don’t you try growing your own? Otherwise, look out for these wonderful looking, knobbly, colourful Jerusalem artichokes on vegetables stalls at the market and in season in farm shops or any of the Farmers’ Markets listed below:
Stamford - every other Friday
Melton Mowbray (Cattle Market) - Every Tuesday & Friday.
Open from 8am to 1.30pm at Melton Mowbray Market, Scalford Road.
See www.meltonmowbraymarket.co.uk for full details.
Grantham 2nd Saturday of every month
Oakham (Gaol Street) - 3rd Saturday of every month
Market Harborough
Farmers’ Market (The Square) - First Thursday each month (except Jan)
Country Market - (The Market Hall, Northampton Road) - Tuesdays 9.00am - 3.30pm.
Uppingham (Mercers Yard) - second Friday of every month
Oundle (Market Square) - second Saturday of every month
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