White Asparagus with Hot Mayonnaise

By corlear

Ingredients

• For the asparagus:
• 12 white asparagus
• salt
• For the asparagus water:
• 12 white asparagus stalks
• For the asparagus sorbet:
• 2 tsp dextrose
• 3/4 sheet gelatin (previously rehydrated in cold water)
• salt
• 11/4 cup asparagus water
• For the hot mayonnaise:
• 4 tbsp egg yolk
• 1/2 cup whole egg
• 1 cup sunflower oil
• 1/4 cup 0.4º olive oil
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp sherry vinegar
• pinch salt
• 3-pint ISI foaming canister
• 2 N|2O cartridges
• For the grapefruit segments:
• 1 12-oz pink grapefruit
• 1 tsp icing sugar
• To finish:
• 16 fresh tarragon
• Maldon salt
• virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp icing sugar

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

For the asparagus:
1. Break off the bottom, woody part of the asparagus. Throw it away.
2. Use a peeler to peel the asparagus.
3. Use a knife to diagonally cut across the tip of the asparagus: they should be 1¼" long and should be able to stand upright.
4. Keep the rest of the asparagus for the sorbet.
5. Cook the asparagus tips in a large amount of salted boiling water until they are al dente (approximately 3 minutes). Freshen in salted, iced water.
6. Leave the cooking water to cool and then keep the asparagus in it.

For the asparagus water:
1. Bring the salted water to the boil. Add the asparagus stems and boil until they are thoroughly cooked. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
2. Freshen in salted, iced water.
3. Drain, liquefy and sieve.

For the asparagus sorbet:
1. Mix a 1/4 of the juice with the dextrose, stir continuously, heat to 85-195ºF.
2. Dissolve the gelatin and mix with the rest of the asparagus water. Season generously with salt.
3. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 12 hours.
4. Then process in the sorbet machine.
5. Keep in the freezer.

For the hot mayonnaise:
1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and emulsify with a whisk.
2. Strain and fill the canister using a funnel.
3. Foam and keep in a bain marie at 160ºF. Stir from time to time to stop the egg from setting.

For the grapefruit segments:
1. Cut off the upper and lower ends of the grapefruit until you reach the segments.
2. Peel the fruit so that you reach the flesh and there is no trace of the skin or pith, without altering the initial shape of the fruit.
3. Use a really sharp knife to separate the segments from their membranes.
4. Cut off the ends of the segment, so that you only have the central part. Cut it into ¾" pieces.

Final Steps & Preparation:
1. Heat the asparagus tips with a little of the cooking water at 160ºF, making sure that you do not overcook it.
2. Heat a non-stick frying pan, sprinkle a light layer of icing sugar and when it begins to turn brown, add the grapefruit and caramelize on both sides.
3. Drain the asparagus tips and arrange them vertically in a small deep dish.
4. Place two pieces of grapefruit on opposite sides of the dish and arrange two tarragon leaves on top.
5. Shake the canister with the hot mayonnaise and fill in the spaces left at the 5 points between the asparagus tips and the grapefruit.
6. Use a dessert spoon to make a quenelle of asparagus sorbet on one side of the dish.
7. Finish by drizzling a little virgin olive oil and Maldon salt over the grapefruit.