Sous vide lamb rump with cauliflower couscous and chocolate jelly

  • medium
  • 4
  • 2 hours 15 minutes
5.00

Richard Davies cooks lamb rump sous vide and serves it with some elegant accompaniments; including a sweep of cauliflower purée, cauliflower couscous with raisins, caramelised cauliflower florets and an unusual chocolate jelly. Lamb and chocolate may seem a strange combination, but the earthiness of the chocolate balances the muscular flavour of the meat perfectly.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Lamb rump

Chocolate jelly

  • 80g of bitter chocolate, chopped, plus extra for grating
  • 230g of chicken stock
  • 3g of agar agar

Cauliflower purée

Caramelised cauliflower

Cauliflower couscous

Vinaigrette

  • 60ml of white wine vinegar, good quality
  • 240ml of extra virgin olive oil
  • salt

Baby globe artichokes

To serve

Equipment

  • Sous vide equipment

Method

1
Begin by preparing the chocolate jelly. Heat the chicken stock in a small saucepan until it reaches a simmer, then add the chocolate and whisk to melt. Mix thoroughly and leave to cool
2
Gently whisk in the agar agar, bring to the boil, while stirring, then pour into a shallow tray. Allow to cool and place in the fridge to set while you prepare the other elements
  • 3g of agar agar
3
For the cauliflower purée, melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and golden brown. Add the sliced cauliflower, cook until golden and caramelised, then add the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until the cauliflower is soft and tender
4
Continue to simmer until the stock reduces by half. Add the cream and reduce by half again, remove from the heat and transfer to a blender. Blitz until smooth, pass through a fine strainer and set aside until required
  • 300g of cream
5
Preheat a water bath to 58.5˚C
6
To prepare the lamb, trim off the fat and score the flesh (optional). Seal in either 1 large vac pac bag (making sure the lamb pieces are not overlapping) or 4 small bags, with extra virgin olive oil, thyme and rosemary. Cook in the water bath for 45 minutes
7
Meanwhile, prepare the caramelised cauliflower. Cut the cauliflower into medium-sized florets and blanch in salted boiling water until tender, for approximately 2-3 minutes. Strain and cool in iced water
8
Drain well and set aside. Add the butter to the frying pan and make a very light beurre noisette. Add the florets, caramelise until golden brown and season
9
To prepare the vinaigrette, simply whisk together the vinegar and oil, season to taste and store in a squeezy bottle until required
  • 60ml of white wine vinegar, good quality
  • 240ml of extra virgin olive oil
  • salt
10
For the cauliflower couscous, soak the golden raisins in boiling hot water for 20-30 minutes, strain and set aside. Dice the pancetta into 6mm chunks and finely grate the cauliflower
11
Place a saucepan over a medium heat and add a small dash of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the pancetta and fry until caramelised. Then, add the grated cauliflower, season to taste and finish with a good pinch of chopped chives. Finally, add a dash of the vinaigrette to taste and the raisins
12
Halve the artichokes, spoon out any remaining flesh and season with salt. Sauté in a hot pan with a little extra virgin olive oil until golden
13
Once the lamb is ready, remove from the water bath and vac pac bag and dry off any excess moisture with kitchen paper. Seal in a hot pan with a small dash of rapeseed oil until golden brown on all sides, remove and place on a board ready to carve
14
To serve, slice each rump into 2 pieces and serve onto plates on top of the cauliflower couscous
15
To each plate, add a dollop of the purée, caramelised cauliflower florets, chocolate jelly cubes and some sorrel. Drizzle with the jus and serve immediately
First published in 2015

Richard Davies’ celebrated career in gastronomy was set in motion by a frank chat with his headmaster at the age of fifteen.

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