Carpaccio Smoked beetroot
Looking great and wonderful flavour. Easy to prepare in advance.
This is one of my personal party tricks. You can decode how fancy you go. The crumble is an add on for special guests. Umami sunflower seeds or leaving them out also works well. Just never forget to put dressing on the rucola. It is the details that make the difference. This instruction is slightly different for the plating compared to the picture. Show you there is no one truth :-).
Ingrediënts for 4 people
Beets
250 gr pre-cooked red Beets (those in plastic are pre-cooked)
1 bayleaf
2 twigs thyme
1 tablespoon smoke moth
Sauce
10 gr horseradish (fresh or in jar)
30 gr capers
30 gr (vegan) mayonaise
30 gr (vegan) yoghurt
lemon juice
Finishing touch:
2 tablespoon sunflower or pumpkin seeds
1 table spoon tamari (salty ketjap)
Arugola
Optional: savoury Crumble (to replace the umami sunflower seeds)
30 g plantbased butter (hard and in freezer)
30 gr. flour
35 gr ground hazelnuts
35 gr ground Parmezan
1 teaspoon thyme leaves or 1 Bayleaf (fresh)
Utensils needed
smoke oven (they are dirt cheap and great fun) or an old pan with a lid and a small trellis. (that fits on the bottom)
slicer microplane - alternative veg peeler or cheese slicer. thinner the better
Method
Smoke those beets
My oven looks like the one on the left,. maybe 20 euro and you can user it to smoke all kinds if things (mushrooms, turnup, salmon, chicken, salt etc). or take a pan and put a griddle in the bottom.
Beets in colander. flush with a bit of water and let dry. Place smoke moth and the herbs on bottom of ‘smoke oven’, place griddle and the beets. Close the lids. Put on mid-high fire until smoke develops. Keep closed for ten minutes on low fire. Cool.
Make your sauce
Cut the papers (keep a couple for decoratie). Combine all ingredienfs, Taste. Add pepper and lemon to taste.
Umami sunflower seeds
Place small sauce pan on mid-high fire. Toss in the seeds. Shake. When they start popping, remove heat and deglaze with the tamari. Let dry and remove from pan to further dry. Taste the little umami bombs…
Plating
Mix arugula with the vinaigrette. Please note, only 'coat', no vinaigrette in the dish. Place a little mountain on middle of the plate.
Slice the beets into wafer-thin slices. I use a mandolin or Microplane slicer but I think it would also work with a cheese slicer. Arrange nicely on the mountain. Start at the top of the mountain. Place dots of the sauce on the carpaccio and garnish for a whole caper. Sprinkle with the umami seeds or the optional crumble (below). Fresh pepper and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Optional: savoury crumble (to posh it up)
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Pulse all ingredients in a food processor or cut the butter into small pieces with a knife. It should remain crumbly, do not knead into a cream. Place the crumbs on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spread well. Bake at 180 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Let cool and crumble. (You can store for two weeks in an airtight container.
Variations:
add some goats cheese or feta