Introduction
Who knew the humble carrot could bring so much joy? Every customer to have tasted this dish is blown away by the care and attention to detail. Finished on the grill, served on a bed of carrot kraut, topped with a roasted root vegetable crumb, alongside a good dollop of carrot and star anise puree, finished. Not just any ordinary carrot.
Method
For the Pickled Carrot:
Place all the ingredients into a pan and bring up to the boil.
Allow to cool to room temperature.
With 1 bunch of carrots and 200ml pickle liquor:
Peel the carrots, leaving 1cm of the green on the top.
Scrape around the green at the top of the carrot to clean it up.
Scrub the edges of the carrots to get them smooth, wash and set aside.
Place a large pan of water on the heat, add a splash of olive oil, 3 star anise and a large pinch of salt.
Gently cook the carrots in the water until slightly undercooked. Then leave them in the liquid to cool to take on as much flavour as possible and to let the residual heat finish the cooking process.
Once cool, place the carrots in the pickle liquor and leave to infuse for at least 24 hours.
For the Carrot & Star Anise Puree:
Firstly, top and tail the carrots and slice them thinly. Toss them in a bowl with a small amount of vegetable oil and salt.
Steam the carrots with the star anise until very tender
Once cooked, place in a blender, blend until smooth, pass through a fine sieve and season with salt and lemon juice.
For the Carrot Sauerkraut:
Peel all the carrots, then top and tail them.
Cut the carrots into roughly 6cm lengths, and julienne on the mandolin.
Toss the carrots in the salt and leave for 15-20 minutes to allow the salt to draw the moisture out of the carrots.
Squeeze out the julienned carrots, until there is enough liquid to cover all of them in a Kilner jar.
Once in a jar, cover the surface with a j cloth, making sure that this is touching the surface of the top of the liquid.
Cover the jar with its lid, label and date and store on a shelf for fermentation.
The sauerkraut should take between 2-3 weeks to be complete. Ensure to open and close the jar every day to release the gas produced, making sure to taste test a small amount every day too.
For the Carrot syrup:
Peel and top and tail all the carrots.
Blend the carrots with enough water to liquidise them.
Pass this carrot juice into a pan and simmer for 1-2 hours, until reduced to the point of a syrup.
Pass this syrup through a chinois lined with muslin cloth and return to the pan.
Add the star anise, sugar and lemon juice and continue to cook until the syrup holds on a plate.
