Great British Menu ™
Baker:
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Challenge Type:
276.33 mph
James fillets pin bones and trims chalk stream trout and cracks on with his golden beetroot fondants by cooking them in a pressure cooker with stock, orange juice and saffron.
James: "Name of my dish is 276.33 miles per hour. It's based on Donald Campbell's water and land speed records."
James: "I'm going to be curing the trout with some citrusy flavors. And then I brought the smoker with me. So I'm then just going to finish the fish off for like 10, 15 minutes in the smoker. Just sort of cook it through slightly."
Paul Ainsworth: "The cooking element of this, purely in the smoker?"
James: "Softly smoked in heat, yeah, I'm just gonna have a little fennel sauerkraut with it. Going to have some beetroot flavors, horseradish spuma with it as well. The stuff that I'm cooking, the beetroot, I'm going to finish that off with a sauce."
Notes taken during cooking
James marinates the fish in a gin and citrus cure and prepares purple beetroot.
James: "I'm just going to braise these off and I'm going to use the liquor left over for the sauce."
Later ...
James brands his golden beetroot fondant with the logo of the hydroplane, which Donald Campbell used to set seven world water speed records in.
Yeah, good, yeah. What have you cooked those (beetroot) in?
James: "A little bit of sherry vinegar, beetroot juice, caraway seeds, cardamoms, bay leaves, thyme."
Plating ...
While he waits on the fish, James demolds the tuilles, plates the braised purple beetroot followed by the embossed golden beetroot fondants. He can't wait any longer, so removes the trout from the smoker and tops with sauerkraut. The tuille is balanced and horseradish espuma is added.
He drizzles a beetroot reduction made from cream, beetroot, caraway seeds, cardamom, and a pinch of thyme.
Paul Ainsworth: "So, James, let's start with the trout."
James; "Yeah. The cure probably could have done with a bit longer."
Paul Ainsworth: "You obviously had an issue with the smoker. Have you still got the same result you wanted?"
James; "I think so, yeah. I think I have."
Paul Ainsworth: " I don't really get the smokiness on the fish, but the cook on the fish is really good."
Paul Ainsworth: " I just think it could do a bit more season, a bit more flavor.
Paul Ainsworth: " The horseradish espuma has that worked?
James: "Maybe I could have done with a bit more on the plate."
Paul Ainsworth: " I really like that heat. Raw horseradish flavor to get hot and keep is really difficult to do."
Paul Ainsworth: "The golden beetroot, the branded beetroot, is that how you wanted it?
James: " I wanted, like, fondant texture so you could cut straight through it."
Final Judging
Paul Ainsworth: "James, for your dish. 276.33 miles per hour. I thought you celebrated Donald Campbell really well. The storytelling was excellent. You had an issue with your smoker, and unfortunately, that smoky flavor just didn't come through on that trout. Both the golden and the red beetroots, couldn't fault them. The horseradish espuma, you were a little bit concerned about it. I thought it was great. The issue is that the trout should have been the hero, and unfortunately, it wasn't."
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