Having fun changing temperature

STARTER

Lukewarm steak tartare with fried egg and truffle mayonnaise

Wine tip: Bandol Rosé from the south of France

MAIN COURSE

Lobster Thermidor

Wine tip: White Côtes de Provence from the south of France

DESSERT

Pear tart with Sichuan pepper and clotted cream

Wine tip: Sauternes from Bordeaux

Steak tartare

Chop the veal escalope, capers, gherkins and parsley, and put in a mixing bowl. Add the egg yolk, mustard, a dash of Worcester sauce, then season to taste with pepper and salt, and mix well. Mix as much truffle tapenade into the mayonnaise as you like. Chop the Little Gem into quarters lengthways.

Cut four, thin slices lengthways from the hard roll. Peel the garlic and chop. Mix with the oil, pepper & salt and then spread the garlic oil on the slices of roll. Bake for a few minutes until golden brown and crunchy in an oven pre-heated to 180°C, then immediately place them on a piece of kitchen roll so all the excess oil is absorbed.

Cover, then store the tartare and mayonnaise in the fridge. Put the crunchy bread slices in an air-tight container.

Lobster thermidor

Put the lobsters in the freezer to make them drowsy two hours before cooking them.

To make the pasta dough, knead the flour and the egg yolk together (either by hand or using a food processor). Right at the end, add the olive oil and keep kneading until a supple, elastic dough develops. Wrap this in Clingfilm and allow to rest in the fridge for approx. 60 minutes.

In the meantime, to make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour using a whisk and allow to cook for a few minutes. Stir in a dash of stock, then stir till smooth, subsequently adding the rest of the stock and the cream. Bring to the boil whilst stirring. Finally add the mustard and half the Parmesan cheese. Take the pan off the heat, put a lid on it and set aside.

Bring a very large pan of water and sea salt to the boil. Remove the lobsters from the freezer, boil them for three minutes then rinse with cold water. Halve the lobsters lengthways and rinse clean. Remove the meat from the claws and distribute across the halved lobsters. Cover and store in the fridge.

Pluck the frisée (the white part) and the herbs; thinly slice the fennel using a mandolin. Mix, cover and then store in the fridge. Peel and chop the shallot and garlic, and slice the Serrano ham into thin strips.

Take the pasta dough out of the fridge and – using a pasta machine – make appealing fettuccine. Dry the fettuccine over a stick. In the meantime, bring a large pan of water to the boil, adding a dash of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Cook the pasta for approx. 30 seconds, then rinse with cold water (or buy ready-made pasta). Store the ingredients in the fridge ready for use.

Pear tart

Light the Big Green Egg and then heat it with the Plate Setterand the Cast Iron Grid in place to 170°C.

Whilst the temperature rises, knead the ingredients for the Viennese dough until you have a cohesive mass. Roll the dough out on a flour-dusted work surface until around 3 mm thick and cut out four circles, approx. 10 cm in diameter. Grease the four aluminium tart tins and dust with flour, line with the dough circles, press down gently and, if necessary, cut off any excess dough. Put a second tin on top, fill with baking beans or legumes, and place them on the Baking Stone. Put the latter on the grid, close the lid and bake until golden brown in roughly 20 minutes.

In the meantime, peel and core the pears, then slice them into rough chunks. Finely slice the stem ginger and use a mortar and pestle to grind the Sichuan pepper. Mix half the ginger, the Sichuan pepper, sugar and cinnamon with the pears.

For the frangipane, thoroughly mix the butter, powdered sugar, almond powder and egg, then pour into a piping bag.
Cut the vanilla pod open lengthways, scrape the seeds out and fold this into the clotted cream. Cover, then store in the fridge.

Remove the aluminium tins from the EGG and take out the top ones. Pipe an even layer of frangipane onto the bottom, then fill with marinated pear chunks.

Steak tartare

Remove the Baking Stone, the Cast Iron Grid and the Plate Setter from the Big Green Egg. Put back the Cast Iron Grid and place the Half Moon Cast Iron Plancha Griddle (smooth side up) on it. Close the lid and wait till the EGG has reached 170°C again. Fill the 4 rings of the Stainless Slider Basket with tartare, pressing down gently. Oil the Cast Iron Griddle Half Moon and fry the eggs on it. Put the Little Gem and the tartare-filled Stainless Slider Basket on the grid. Close the lid and briefly heat the ingredients until they are lukewarm (the tartare does not need to be turned over).

Remove all the ingredients from the EGG. Cut circles out of the eggs with the same diameter as the tartare. Season the Little Gem with a little olive oil, pepper and salt. Place a circle of tartare on every plate then top with egg and garnish with the Little Gem, the truffle mayonnaise, the crunchy bread and the purslane. Serve the starter, then remove the Cast Iron Griddle Half Moonfrom the EGG and raise the temperature to 190°C.

Lobster thermidor

Heat a dash of olive oil in the Cast Iron Dutch Oven and soften the shallot and garlic. Douse with cream, wait till the latter is warm then spoon through the pasta and add the strips of Serrano ham. Heat through, remove the Dutch Oven from the grid and season the pasta with pepper and salt. Put the lid on the Dutch Oven to keep the pasta warm.

In the meantime, remove the halved lobsters from the fridge, spoon the sauce onto the meaty side and top with the remaining Parmesan. Put them on dish on the Square Perforated Grid. Put the latter on the grid, close the lid and gratinate the lobsters for five minutes. Finish the salad with olive oil, pepper and salt while you wait.

Distribute the pasta across the plates, placing half a lobster on every plate and garnish with salad. If so desired, you can finish baking the pear tarts in the meantime.

Pear tart

Remove the grid, place the Plate Setter and replace the grid. Heat the Big Green Egg to 170°C. Put the aluminium tins on the Baking Stone and place the latter on the grid. Close the lid and bake the tarts for approximately 40 minutes.

Take the tins out of the EGG, allow to cool slightly then carefully remove the tarts from the tins.

Dust with powdered sugar and garnish with Atsina Cress or mint. Put a pear tart on every plate with a quenelle of clotted cream beside it. Garnish the latter with the remaining finely chopped ginger.