This dish was inspired by a zero-wastage attitude to food. It is also completely vegan, utilising all parts of the sprout plant, and attempting to produce a sprout dish that would change people’s attitude towards the ‘marmite of vegetables’ (which at a taste testing here at Oliver Kay converted 5/5 sprout haters in the room!
This dish would be well at home on the menu of a fine dining restaurant, but because of the low cost of the dish, it would also suit a gastro pub menu.
Preparation:
Cooking: 1 hour (Prep & Cooking Time)
Serves: 2 people
Sprouts dish
Ingredients
- 1 x sprout stalk, top leaves included
- 6 x sprout flowers
- 50ml x white wine vinegar
- 50ml x white wine (vegan)
- 1 x tsp cumin seeds
- 200ml x vegetable cooking oil
- ½ x lemon
- Salt
Method
Sprout oil
Ingredients
Method
Bring a small saucepan of seasoned water to the boil.
Take 4 sprouts, peel, wash and half them.
Add the sprouts and boil for 3-4 mins.
Transfer the sprouts to iced water and cool.
Put the sprouts in a liquidiser with 150ml veg oil and blend for 5 mins.
Transfer to a container and let the sprouts infuse into the oil for 30 mins before passing through a fine-mesh sieve and transferring to a bottle
Sprout puree
Ingredients
Method
Take 8-10 of the sprouts off the stalk and peel the outside leaves from them and discard. Wash the sprouts thoroughly, trim the ends and half them.
Place them face side down in a medium hot, small frying pan with about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
Pan fry until golden brown, turn the heat down letting the pan cool slightly.
Add water to the pan until the sprouts are just covered and turn the heat back up boiling them until they are soft.
Drain the sprouts off, keeping the liquid and transfer to a liquidiser.
Blend the sprouts into a puree, adding some of the reserved liquid if necessary until you reach the desired consistency. Season with salt to taste.
Pass through a fine mesh sieve and cool immediately.
Sprout choucroute
Ingredients
Method
Take 8-10 sprouts from the stalk, peel the outside leaves and discard. Wash the sprouts thoroughly, trim the ends and half them.
Finely slice the sprouts.
Place them in a small sized saucepan at a low heat with 2 tbsps of vegetable cooking oil and a pinch of salt and sweat gently.
Add 1 tsp of toasted cumin seeds and carry on cooking for about 3-4 mins.
Add the white wine and turn up the heat, quickly reducing it almost to nothing.
Add the white wine vinegar and reduce again.
Take off the heat and season to taste.
Roasted sprouts
Take 8 sprouts from the stalk, peel, wash, trim the stalks and half.
Place face down in a medium hot frying pan with 2 tbsp of oil and fry until golden brown, flip and turn down the heat and roast until cooked but still have bite to them, season to taste.
Sprout top crisps
Ingredients
Method
Preheat a deep fat fryer to 170 degrees
Place sprout tops in the fryer (be careful they will spit due to their water content) and fry until they stop bubbling, or are golden brown around the edge.
Remove and place on kitchen towel to drain, season
To plate
Ingredients
- All prepared ingredients
Method
Heat the sprout puree up and place in the middle of the plate, heat the choucroute up and place on top of that, place the roasted sprouts on top of the choucroute before garnishing with raw sprout leaves (wash thoroughly) and sprout flowers dressed in oil, lemon juice and salt. Finish with the sprout top crisps and a drizzle of the sprout oil and serve.
