' BLOODWURST , APPLE & BEETROOT STACK .'

Stack of Thuringer Bloodwurst sauteed & cold-cut , Apples roasted & stewed , Chioggia Beetroot slice , relish & crisp , Pumpernickel slice & crumbs and soured cream.

                 This is a hearty German influenced stack presentation which was inspired by a purchase of some quality thuringer bloodwurst along with some other great cuts. But this cold-cut in particular parts beautiful visual pleasure and is hard to resist when displayed in the deli window. Thuringer bloodwurst is a type of wurst (sausage) made from pieces of pork meat and fat well balanced in spiced blood.  This bloodwurst is great as a cold-cut or cooked down until those pieces of pork fat and meat are coated in a rich, dark gravy of blood. Apple and beetroot make perfect pairings for this blood sausage and with each ingredient prepared a different way gives this stack dimension, complexity and diversity.                  
                 There are four main ingredients to this dish and all have been prepared in at least two different ways, with the beetroot having three and the addition of soured cream.                                          
  Apples - The first preparation was to peel and chop an apple placing it in a pot, adding water to just cover the apples, a little sugar, lemon juice and a cinnamon stick. Bringing the apples to the simmer until soft before being removed, drained and mashed. With an another apple I cut out a 10mm slice with the skin still on, brushing the apple with oil and sprinkled some caster sugar before placing into a 200 deg.c. oven and baking until soft and coloured.                                                                                            
  Beetroot - The first of the three beetroot preps was the relish of which I grated some beetroot and red onion and placed them into a saucepan with a little water, sugar and lemon juice. This was cooked on a low heat until the beets become thick and jammy before being removed and set aside. Next was to bring a pot of water to the simmer placing a 6mm thick slice of beetroot in the water and cooking until tender, before removing and rinsing under cold water to remove some of the natural dyes. The crisp was made weeks earlier and was done by shaving slices of beet and placing them on a lined tray into a 120 deg.c. oven to dry (about 40 minutes) before removing and cooling.                                                      
  Bloodwurst - First I sliced a 2mm thick slice of the sausage and using a pasta cutter I trimmed the cold-cut down to the same circumference of the baked apple. I then sliced a 10mm piece of the sausage, this was sauteed in a little butter until the blood formed a rich, dark gravy coating the pork pieces.          
  Pumpernickel - First I sliced two 6mm slices of the dark rye, with one I crumbled in my hands onto a flat tray and placed under the grill until dark and toasted moving them around regularly so not to burn them. With the other slice, using the same pasta cutter I cut a circle out of the slice of rye and set aside.  
     To plate this dish I made a stack in the centre of the plate in the order listed below, starting from the bottom to the top and scattered some pumpernickel crumbs to finish the plate.                                                                                                        
   Pumpernickel slice - Roasted apple - Sauteed bloodwurst - Beetroot slice - Stewed apples - Cold-cut of bloodwurst - Beetroot relish - soured cream - Pumpernickel crumbs - Beetroot crisp.