Our sustainable recipes for winter

As part of our commitment to eco-responsible cuisine, the chefs of the Groupe Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer have taken up the challenge of creating original recipes featuring winter fruit and vegetables.

Contents

1. Roasted pineapple by Chef Thomas - Pôle Sucré
2. Cream of cauliflower soup with walnut sablé by Chef Basile - L’Hirondelle
3. Vinaigrette leeks by Chef Rubbini - Casino de Monte-Carlo
4. Citrus chicory and Monaco pearl oysters with kiwi by Chef Ravin - Blue Bay
5. Fondant leeks in a Gribiche sauce, croutons and capers by Chef Marion - Café de Paris Monte-Carlo
6. Asparagus poached in brine, Maltese emulsion by Chef Basile - L’Hirondelle

Method:

Peel the pineapple. Cut into cubes. Place the sugar in a large saucepan. Gently heat, stirring when the sugar begins to melt. Continue until the sugar has caramelised, then add the water, star anis and cinnamon. Add the pineapple cubes and leave to roast gently.

Mix together the flour, sugar, shredded coconut, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into strips and add to the bowl with the 3 egg yolks. Knead and work the dough until it is supple. Roll out the pastry between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper (about 2 to 3 mm thick) and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 150 °C. Cut into cubes. Line a baking tray with baking parchment or a silicone mat and arrange the cubes at regular intervals. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the cream, icing sugar and mascarpone and beat for at least 5 minutes, either in a food processor or with an electric mixer, to whip the mascarpone cream.

Place the cold roasted pineapple cubes in a martini glass or small bowl with a little juice. Add a few cubes of coconut shortbread. Using a piping bag, pipe a rosette of whipped mascarpone cream. Grate some lime zest on top and decorate with the pineapple leaves and star anis. This recipe can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge before serving.

Soup:

Grate the cauliflower so that it cooks quickly, sweat with a drizzle of olive oil, season with salt, add the vegetable stock and cook for 20 minutes. Blend until silky smooth and add the almond milk.

Garnish:

Use ¼ of the white cauliflower, olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and garlic and make an aluminium foil parcel. Cook under the grill, turning frequently until the cauliflower is soft and caramelised.

Cut the coloured cauliflower into florets and sauté briefly in a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil, keeping them crunchy. Add a dash of white wine vinegar and set aside.

Walnut sablé:

Make 1x1 cm cubes of pastry and bake at 180°C for 8 minutes on a tray lined with baking paper.

Method:

Clean the leeks and remove the green part (this can be used for other recipes). Plunge the pieces into a bowl of cold water with a little white vinegar to clean them more thoroughly. Remove, drain and halve lengthways (leaving the base intact).

Blanch the leek for 5 minutes in boiling water to break down the fibres and drain. Place on greaseproof paper, season the inside of the leek with fleur de sel and Espelette pepper, drizzle each “layer” of leek with olive oil and spoon over some pastis.

Wrap them in greaseproof paper and twist the ends to make a parcel. Place in the oven at 180°C for 15/20 minutes. Soft-boil the eggs for 5 minutes in simmering water.

Vinaigrette:

Blend the fennel and vinegar, strain through a fine sieve and mix in the grapefruit juice, sugar, salt and olive oil.

Plating:

Open the parcel. The leek should be soft all the way through. Arrange the leek on the plate, bending it round slightly. Gently add the soft-boiled egg. Add a few young tarragon leaves, chives, a pinch of Espelette pepper, a few shavings of Parmesan and some roughly chopped roasted hazelnuts. Keep the juice from the parcel and add it to the vinaigrette. Drizzle generously with the vinaigrette.

Method:

Cook the oysters for three minutes, then open them and keep the batch. Keep the cooking water and remove the eyes from the shell. Remove the segments. Squeeze the excess juice into the oyster cooking water. Place in a saucepan and add the butter.

Leeks:

Cook 6 leeks in stock flavoured with pepper, bay leaves, garlic and thyme over a low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Prick them with a knife to make sure that they are soft. Drain gently so that the leeks retain their shape and leave to cool.

Gribiche sauce:

Make a very runny mayonnaise using Dijon mustard and Savora mustard blended with sunflower oil. Finish by adding the seasoning and herbs and set aside in the fridge.

Plating:

Cut the leeks into 1.5 cm wide chunks and arrange in a rosette in shallow dishes in a circle 10 cm in diameter, leaving a hollow in the middle of the rosette for the Gribiche sauce. Sprinkle with fried breadcrumbs, parsley shoots or tarragon leaves and a few capers.

Asparagus:

Prepare the carefully washed asparagus and cook 5 pieces per person in boiling salted water for 5/6 minutes.

Emulsion:

Make a sabayon with the egg yolks, orange juice, salt and pepper, emulsify over the heat and bring to a temperature of around 65°C. Whip the cold condensed milk like whipped cream to thicken it. Remove from the heat and gently stir the condensed milk into the sabayon with a spatula. Reduce the juice of one orange until you have a syrupy consistency.

To finish:

Arrange 5 pieces of poached asparagus on the plate, spoon over the emulsion, pour the reduction over the asparagus and garnish with a few shavings and a little orange peel.

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