Raw Beef, Preserved Lime, Driftwood Mousse, Cured Yolk and Potato Cracker - Chef Recipe by Jack Powlay

Ingredients

240 g beef fillet, finely diced into tiny cubes
2 Tbs preserved lime, finely diced
2 Tbs lightly pickled or preserved cucumber, finely diced
2 Tbs shallot, finely diced
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Tabasco, to taste
2 Tbs fermented tomato dressing (see recipe below)
2 red cherry radishes, sliced into thin rounds
Long Paddock ‘Driftwood’ cheese mousse (see recipe below)
Cured egg yolk (see recipe below)
Fresh nigella leaf, to garnish
Potato cracker (see recipe below)
Fermented tomato powder (see recipe below)

Fermented tomato dressing:

500 g fermented tomato juice
250 g extra virgin olive oil

Long Paddock ‘Driftwood’ cheese mousse:

360 g full cream milk
200 g Long Paddock ‘Driftwood’ cheese
120 g cream
1 g sea salt
0.5 g xanthan gum

Cured egg yolk:

4 eggs, separated ensuring not to break the yolk
500 g table salt
200 g castor sugar

Potato cracker:

1 kg Desiree potato, peeled
45 g cornflour
15 g baking powder
2 g sea salt

Fermented tomato powder:

1 kg ripe tomatoes
20 g sea salt

Method

Fermented tomato powder:

Blend tomatoes with the salt, vacuum seal and then allow to ferment at room temperature for 7-10 days. Squeeze through muslin cloth, keep liquid to make the fermented tomato dressing.

Dehydrate the solids at 70 C for 12 hours or overnight until fully dry. Blend on high until fine powder is achieved.

Fermented tomato dressing:

Simmer fermented tomato juice until reduced by half. Blend with olive oil on high until emulsified. Will make more than required but will keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Cheese mousse:

Add milk, cheese, salt and xanthan gum to Thermomix and blend on medium speed at 70 C for 8 minutes or until cheese is fully melted and mix is smooth. Add cream and cool. Pass through a fine sieve. Transfer to siphon gun, charge with two CO2 cartridges, shake well and store in fridge until needed.

Cured egg yolk:

Combine salt and sugar. Add half of mix to a small shallow vessel and create small divots with the back of a tablespoon to hold the egg yolk. Carefully add yolks into each salt divot and completely cover with remaining cure mixture. Cover and leave in the fridge for 7-10 days. Remove yolks from cure mix and brush clean. Place in dehydrator at 50 C for 2 hours until slightly dry.

Potato cracker:

Steam (or boil) potatoes until tender.

Blend potato and remaining ingredients until smooth. Spread out the potato mixture on a sheet of greaseproof paper 2 mm thick, wrap in cling film and steam for 12 minutes at 100 C. If you don’t have a steam oven, simply make the mixture in smaller batches so they can fit into a steamer basket on your stovetop.

Dehydrate at 60 C for 12 hours.

Break into shards or pieces and deep fry at 180 C until golden brown and puffed.

To finish:

Mix beef fillet with preserved lime, preserved cucumber, shallot and fermented tomato dressing. Season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper and tabasco to taste. Divide onto 4 plates.

Gently extract cheese mousse over the beef mixture. Microplane cured egg yolk onto cheese mousse. Garnish with sliced radish and nigella leaf. Dust potato cracker with fermented tomato powder and serve alongside tartare.

Recipe provided by Sault