Why not try this great MasterChef recipe?
Ingredients
- 50 ml pedro ximenez sherry
- 20 ml cider vinegar
- 80 ml chicken stock
- big splash of cranberry balsamic vinegar
- 2 shallots
- 1 clove of garlic
- couple of cubes of unsalted butter
- flour for dusting
- olive oil
- knob of butter
- splash of px
- salt/pepper
- barley risotto
- 50 g barley
- small white onion
- 1 tsp chopped thyme
- 1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- chopped parsley
- grated parmesan
- 4 tbl olive oil
- salt/pepper
- peas:
- handful of freshly podded peas
- small bunch oregano
- zest of ½ lemon
- couple of tablespoons of olive oil
- salt/pepper
Method
- Barley Risotto: Warm through the onion, garlic and thyme in a medium size pan with half of the olive oil. Add the barley and ¼ of the vegetable stock and stir over a low/medium heat until the stock is absorbed.
- Continue adding the stock until it is fully absorbed and the barley is cooked (about 30/35 minutes)
- Set aside and keep warm. To finish and just before serving add the remainder of the olive oil, grated parmesan, chopped parsley and season to taste.
- Veal Sweetbreads with PX: The sweetbreads will have been soaked in frequently changed water (over two to three hours) cleaned of their outer membrane and gristle, blanched and vacuum packed the night before.
- To make the sauce: Combine the sherry, vinegars, shallots and garlic in a pan and bring to the boil, reduce by ½, add the stock reduce again by half.
- Strain though a fine sieve/muslin and discard the solids.
- When ready to serve, heat the sauce in a clean pan and just as it starts to boil whisk in a couple of cubes of the chilled cubed unsalted butter, take off the heat, season and serve.
- Sweetbreads: Dust the sweetbreads lightly with flour and season.
- Heat the frying pan on a medium/high heat. Add a splash of olive oil and a knob of butter. As the butter starts to foam, add the sweetbreads, continue to fry, turning occasionally until they are browned on all sides (8/10 minutes).
- Take off the heat and discard any excess oil. Put a good glug of PX in the pan and transfer to the oven for a further 5 minutes at about 150C (exact time depends on the thickness of the sweetbreads).
- Peas: Add the podded peas to a pan of heavily salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain. Mix together the olive oil, lemon zest, pepper and oregano leaves. Toss the hot peas in the mixture and serve immediately.
Notes
By Dualta Woods for MasterChef Ireland.
