Summer recipes from Chef Andrew Pern, of The Star Inn, Harome. (From Gazette & Herald)

Summer recipes from Chef Andrew Pern, of The Star Inn, Harome.

1:09pm Thursday 9th July 2009

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WITH the warmer weather, our kitchen garden is finally coming good and the first crops ready to harvest are our bulging beetroots.

We like to use them in risottos, which make a very impressive starter or main course, as a result of the deep burgundy colour from the beetroot.

We use the long Alto variety, which has a wonderful, clean flavour, and partner this with a pesto made with oregano from the garden, and our own deep-fried blue cheese, made for us by the award-winning Simon Lacey at the Old Railway Station in Richmond. The cheese breaks over the risotto to give a very rich and indulgent dish, whilst the oregano pesto gives a lovely, fresh flavour; a classic dressing with a continental feel.

This dish is one of the very few dishes, which is popular with chefs and customers alike, and it’s vegetarian.

Risotto of Alto beetroot with a deep-fried Helmsley Market Place blue cheese Beignet, oregano pesto (serves four)

Risotto ingredients
425g beetroot, thoroughly washed
250ml good, full-bodied fruity wine (Shiraz or alternatively a splash of Cassis
) 50g Helmsley Market Place Blue or Blue Wensleydale cheese, finely grated
50ml whipping cream
50g shredded baby spinach
315g par-cooked Arborio risotto rice, sweat the rice and add onion and garlic
Seasoning

Beignet – ingredients
100g Helmsley Market Place Blue or Blue Wensleydale cheese
5g finely diced shallots, sweated off
1 pinch finely chopped sage

Blend together and form into 3cm balls, then chill for 20 minutes, egg wash and breadcrumb. Set aside ready for use.

Oregano pesto ingredients
25g pinenuts, toasted
150ml virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
200g oregano leaves
Salt and pepper
50g parmesan, grated

Liquidise everything together, check seasoning. Put in an airtight container and store in the fridge. Use within one to two weeks.

Method

Boil the beetroot in a deep pan using 200ml of the red wine and cover if required with water to top up the pan, so the roots are submerged (approximately 15 to 20 minutes), until tender, then peel and purée.

Put the par-cooked risotto into a thick-bottomed pan, add the beetroot purée, a splash of cream, the cheese and a little red wine. Bind together and simmer for four to five minutes, season, add the chopped spinach and taste.

The mixture now needs to be quite ‘stiff’ so it holds itself in a pastry cutter, which acts as a mould. Spoon the risotto into the cutter on a warmed plate.

Deep-fry the ‘beignet’ for 20 seconds or until golden brown, immediately drain on kitchen towel and place on top of the risotto. Garnish with herb and drizzle the wild garlic pesto around the base of the risotto, remove the cutter and serve immediately.

Pudding

Then for pud, a nice, light jelly. Pimms No 1 and lemonade is the perfect summer’s drink, enjoyed by our guests at weddings, parties or even in our own back beer garden. It also makes a refreshing dessert; the fresh spearmint cut from our own herb garden gives it a great taste.

Pimms No 1 Jelly with Garden Spearmint Water Ice (serves six)

Ingredients
3 sheets of gelatine
500ml lemonade
100g strawberries
100g raspberries
100g de-seeded and diced cucumber (1cm approx)
50g blueberries
1 apple, peeled and diced (1cm approx)
1 lemon
200ml Pimms
15g spearmint

Soften the gelatine in enough cold water to cover. In a pan, heat the lemonade and Pimms with the juice and zest of the lemon. In the meantime, quarter the strawberries and shred the mint. Remove the liquid off the heat when hot and add the gelatine, stir until it has all melted. Allow the liquid to cool a little.

In a glass, place some of the fruit in the bottom of it and pour the liquid in just a quarter full and allow setting in the fridge before doing the next layer of fruit and liquid. Leave in the fridge overnight for best results.

Spearmint Water Ice
2 lemons
150g spearmint
200g sugar
650ml water
2 lightly beaten egg whites

Zest the lemons and juice them. Heat the sugar, water, juice and zest of the lemon, until the sugar has melted. Cool the liquid before adding the egg whites and the shredded spearmint. Churn in a sorbet machine for approx 40 minutes.

* Recipes are from Andrew Pern’s book, Black Pudding and Foie Gras’ available from www.blackpuddingandfoiegras.co.uk

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