Beetroot marbled free-range Hens egg in Nest of Golden Sweet Corn Silks accented by Nasturtium petals & leaves, Pea greens, Olive oil leaf herb, Water Hyssop and Edible Wild rocket flowers. |
The idea for this dish came from applications I've seen similar with the root of the concept coming from a soup that uses every part of the corn ear but the kernels are only used for garnish. Starting with striping the husks which are roasted and the silks were fried for a crunchy accompaniment, the spent cobs were grilled and charred and used with the husks for the base of the chowder. Upon doing more prying I've seen a number of chefs using the corn silks to form nests to present various egg preparations. I thought it would be appropriate to post a breakfast for #1oo as the very first post was a breakfast post as well.
To make this dish I first put a pot of water on the stove and brought to the boil, adding a little vinegar to the water I cooked some eggs for 5 minutes and 12 seconds before plunging the eggs into cold water. In a blender I added chopped beetroot, rice wine vinegar and a little water before blending to a juice. This was then passed through a sieve and poured into a tall glass filling to three quarters in height. I then made cracks all over the egg shells with the back of a spoon before placing into the beetroot juice and set aside for about 2 hours or enough time for the beet juice to penetrate the cracks and stain the egg whites with pink fuchsia. Next I heated some oil in a saucepan to around 180 deg. c. and deep fried corn silks in the arrangement of a birds nest, once the silks had puffed and turned from light green to golden I removed the nest with a slotted spoon and drained onto paper towel. And next I foraged the gardens in the backyard for some fresh accents for the nest, these were arranged around the rim of the nest and placed in the centre of the plate for serving. Next I drained the egg from the beetroot juice and under a trickle of running water I carefully peeled the egg revealing the stained beetroot marbling. I then placed the egg in the nest of corn silks and seasoned with smoked sea salt and cracked black pepper before serving.