Recipe: Black barley and potato risotto, wattleseed, chestnut, lions mane, truffle

Black barley and potato risotto
100g black barley (Australia)
Sea salt

Rinse and soak barley in water overnight.
Drain, rinse and place into a pan with 4 times the amount water to barley ratio.
Bring to a boil and simmer until tender – approx 1.5hours.
The grain should split exposing the white centre.
Once cooked, season water with salt, allow to cool then strain. Discard liquid.

Confit shallot
50g vegetable oil
50g butter
50g shallot, finely chopped

In a sauté pan on low heat, add oil and butter.
When the butter is melted, add the shallot. Sweat until very soft. Reserve.

Roasted chicken stock
8 litres water
4kg chicken bones, roasted

Place water and chicken bones in a stock pot, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 6hours. Skim fat and scum regularly.
Strain through a fine chinois then discard bones. Reserve.

Wattleseed butter
5g wattleseed
200g butter

Toast wattleseed in a dry pan then remove to cool.
Combine butter and wattleseed in a bowl then wrap with cling film.
Place over a double boiler and simmer for 2hours.
Strain through a fine chinois. Discard solids. Reserve.

Chestnut
400g Chestnut, whole

Score chestnuts then soak in water for 30min. Drain.
Roast at 180°C for 15min.
Peel while hot then quarter. Reserve for sautéing with Lion’s Mane mushroom.

Brunoise potato
100g Royal Blue potato
Peel, slice on mandolin and dice into water, or simply small dice. Reserve.

Lion’s Mane mushroom
150g Lion’s Mane mushroom
Dice mushrooms into a 15mm dice. Reserve.

Chestnut foam
20g grapeseed oil
50g butter
2 shallots, peeled, minced
2 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
1 litre milk
125g chestnuts, outer layer removed, roasted
500g Grana Padano, microplane grated
Sea salt, to taste
1 tsp lecithin

Heat grapeseed and butter in a wide pan.
Once butter is melted, sweat shallot and garlic until soft.
Add milk and bring to a boil.
Add chestnuts and Grana Padano. Infuse for 1hour, covered.
Pulse with stick mixer.
Strain through a fine chinois.
Season with salt.
Add lecithin. Blend with stick mixer to emulsify. Reserve.

To Finish
50g butter
50g Grana Padano, microplane grated
30ml lemon juice
2tbs chives, finely sliced
30g truffle

In a pot, place barley, shallot, drained potato and enough stock to cover. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer.
In a pan, sauté lion’s mane mushroom and chestnut in butter until well roasted.
Once the risotto mix has reduced, season with wattleseed butter, Grana Padano, lemon juice and salt. Mix well.
The risotto should be loose and slowly spread across a plate. If too stiff, add more butter and stock.
For the warm foam, use a stick blender to froth. If no stick blender, bring the mixture to a boil then, in a blender, blend on high speed. Allow to rest for 1min to stabilise the foam.

To Serve
Place the risotto in the centre of a warm plate, garnish with the pan roasted lion’s mane and chestnut, then add the chives.
Place foam onto the risotto then to the side, place finely sliced truffle.

Home - Black Barley Australia