Textured Pumpkin with Deconstituted Grapefruit

By corlear

Ingredients

• For the pumpkin consommé:
• 1 pumpkin (51/2 lb)
• For the pumpkin gelatin:
• 1/3 cup pumpkin consommé (see previous step)
• 1/2 sheet gelatin (previously rehydrated in cold water)
• For the pumpkin purée:
• 51/4 oz baked pumpkin (see previous step)
• For the puffed pumpkin seeds:
• 41/4 oz pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup 0.4º olive oil
• For the pumpkin seed praline:
• 4 oz fried pumpkin seeds
• (see previous step)
• 3/4 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup pumpkin oil
• For the deconstituted grapefruit:
• 1 giant Thai grapefruit
• For the grapefruit gelatin:
• 1/2 cup pink grapefruit juice
• 1/2 sheet gelatin (previously rehydrated in cold water)
• To finish:
• 1 tbsp pumpkin oil
• Maldon salt

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

For the pumpkin consommé:
1. Cut the pumpkin into even pieces, which should not be too big. Remove the seeds and the filaments.
2. Wrap each piece in foil and place on a baking tray.
3. Bake at 400ºF for approx. 40 minutes until the pumpkin is thoroughly cooked.
4. Remove the foil and use a knife to separate the pulp from the skin. Throw away the skins.
5. Flake the pulp and separate 5¼ oz for the pumpkin purée. Drain the rest of the pulp in a colander.
6. Cover with clingfilm and place a weight on top of the colander to obtain as much of the juice as possible. Leave to drain in the fridge for 24 hours.

For the pumpkin gelatin:
1. Heat a ¼ of the pumpkin consommé and dissolve the gelatin in it.
2. Remove from the heat and mix with the rest of the consommé.
3. Keep at room temperature to use later.

For the pumpkin purée:
1. Blend the pumpkin purée in the food processor until it is very smooth.
2. Place in an icing bag and keep in the fridge.

For the puffed pumpkin seeds:
1. Cover the seeds with cold oil.
2. Stirring continuously, heat the oil and fry the seeds until they puff up and are golden brown.
3. Use a slotted spoon to remove the fried seeds that have floated up to the surface.
4. Spread them on kitchen paper and keep the 32 seeds that are most puffed up to use as garnish. Keep the rest for the praline.
5. Strain the oil and place any seeds that have remained in the bottom and have not puffed up on kitchen paper. Keep for the praline.

For the pumpkin seed praline:
1. Place the water and sugar in a pan and heat to 240ºF (thread point).
2. Add the fried corn, remove from the heat and stir gently with a spatula until the sugar crystallizes and sticks and coats the fried corn.
3. Blend the seeds with the pumpkin oil in the blender until you have a smooth, thin mixture. Strain.

For the deconstituted grapefruit:
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. Flake each segment with your hands, making sure you get as many whole grains as possible.
5. Spread the grains on a Silpat liner and freeze.
6. Keep in the freezer.

For the grapefruit gelatin:
1. Heat a ¼ of the grapefruit juice and dissolve the gelatin in it.
2. Remove from the heat and mix with the rest of the juice.
3. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Final Steps & Preparation:
1. Use the pumpkin purée to draw a line, 1¼" from the edge, from top to bottom on the right-hand side of a small dish.
2. Heat the pumpkin consommé gelatin and put 2 tablespoons over the bottom of the dish. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 h.
3. Just before serving, place a strip of pumpkin seed praline on the left-hand side of the pumpkin purée, making sure they do not touch. Arrange 9 pumpkin seeds parallel to each other and in a vertical line. Sprinkle a little Maldon salt over the seeds.
4. Place 1 spoonful of pumpkin oil on the right-hand side of the purée.
5. Break the grapefruit gelatin up with a spoon
6. Finally, mix ¾ oz of the deconstituted grapefruit with 1/8 oz of grapefruit gelatin. Heap it up on the left-hand side of the plate. Sprinkle with a little Maldon salt.