Tiny lettuce leaves can decorate. the Eggs in Aspic. Photo / Jason Burgess
Tiny lettuce leaves can decorate. the Eggs in Aspic. Photo / Jason Burgess
This is a little retro oddity but to me speaks strongly of the Cordon Bleu aesthetic. It is a very lovely summer dish, a stylish lunch or entree dish and not too difficult to make.
Serves 8
30g of celery and carrot, chopped The white of one leek, chopped 10g of parsley,chopped A few sprigs of tarragon, chopped 10g of crushed peppercorns 4 egg whites 1.5 litres of strong chicken stock Powdered gelatine 100ml of white port salt and freshly ground pepper 8 eggs Red pepper Asparagus tips
1 Mix together celery, carrot, leek, herbs, peppercorns and egg whites.
2 Combine with the stock in a pan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring constantly but gently. When the egg whites start to solidify into a soft crust, stop stirring and simmer on a low heat for 20 mins.
3 Strain through a muslin-lined sieve. Do not press the solids, just let the stock drip through. This is called clarification. It removes all the impurities from the stock resulting in a clear sparkling liquid.
4 Measure out the stock. Mix the powdered gelatine as instructed on the packet to set the volume you have achieved.
5 Add this to the stock with the port and season. This is your aspic ready to use. Allow to cool but not set.
6 Poach the eggs, refresh in a bowl of iced water drain on paper towels and trim off the ragged edges.
7 Pour a little aspic into the base of 8 ramekins.
8 Decorate with asparagus tips and red pepper triangles.
9 Put an egg in the centre of each mould and fill with the liquid aspic.
