Recipe: Tom Kerridge's moules marinière with warm stout foam and treacle bread

Taken from The Hand & Flowers Cookbook by Tom Kerridge (£40, Bloomsbury Absolute)

 

Serves 10-12

 

Treacle bread

• 450g wholemeal flour
• 170g ‘T45’ plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 20g fresh yeast
• 250ml tepid water
• 2tbs honey
• 2tbs black treacle
• 3tsp salt
• Spray oil

 

Put both flours into a mixer fitted with the dough hook. In a separate bowl, dissolve the yeast in the tepid water. Add to the flour mix with the honey, treacle and salt. Mix on a slow speed to combine. Continue to work until you have a smooth, firm dough.

 

Remove the dough hook from the mixer and cover the bowl with a damp, clean tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes until doubled in size.

 

Once risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knock back, then divide into 50g balls. Shape and roll to fit into silicone mini loaf moulds.

 

Spray a sheet of cling film with one spray of oil, then lay it, oiled side down, over the tray of dough. Leave to prove in a warm place for 25-30 minutes until the dough is risen and filling the loaf moulds.

 

Preheat the steam oven to 250°C with 60% humidity. Bake the loaves in the oven for four minutes, then lower the setting to 180°C. Bake for a further four minutes or until the loaves are brown and sound hollow when tapped on the base. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

 

Guinness foam

• 140ml Guinness
• 30g unsalted butter
• 30g plain flour
• 360ml double cream
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Warm the Guinness in a small pan. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat, stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes to form a roux. Gradually add the Guinness, whisking as you do so, then whisk in the cream. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time. Season with salt and pepper to taste and pass through a chinois into a jug.

 

Pour the liquid into a one-litre ISI gun. Screw the lid on with a nozzle attached. Charge with two ISI gas cartridges and shake well. Keep warm in a bain-marie until needed.

 

Moules marinière

• 1kg medium-large fresh mussels in shells, debearded and cleaned
• 250ml white wine

 

Check the mussels, discarding any that do not close when tapped sharply on your work surface.

 

Place a heavy-based saucepan (that has a tight-fitting lid) over a medium-high heat. Add the mussels, along with the wine, and put the lid on. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the shells open; discard any that remain closed.

 

Tip the mussels into a colander set over a bowl to catch the wine and mussel juices. Leave until cool enough to handle, then remove the mussels from their shells and place them in a bowl.

 

Set a chinois lined with three layers of muslin over the bowl of mussels and pour the wine and mussel stock through onto the mussels; this will keep them moist.

 

Hollandaise sauce

 

Makes 300g

• 250g unsalted butter
• 2 medium free-range egg yolks
• 30ml double cream
• 1tbs shallot purée (see below)
• 20ml Cabernet Sauvignon red wine vinegar
• Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
• Sea salt and cayenne pepper

 

Place the butter in a saucepan over a low heat to melt slowly and separate. Skim off the froth from the surface. Carefully pour the clear yellow butter into a jug, leaving the milky layer behind. Allow the clarified butter to cool slightly, until warm but not hot. Reserve the buttermilk too.

 

Meanwhile, put the egg yolks, cream and shallot purée into a heatproof bowl and set over a bain-marie. Whisk until pale and thickened to create a thick sabayon.

 

Remove from the heat and slowly ladle the warm clarified butter into the sabayon, whisking constantly as you do so.

 

Once the hollandaise is fully emulsified, slowly add the buttermilk, whisking to incorporate (you won’t come across this in a classic recipe, but we have found it helps to stop the sauce splitting). Season with the wine vinegar and salt, cayenne and lemon juice to taste. Pass through a chinois into a container and keep warm until ready to serve.

 

Shallot purée

 

Makes 500g

• 500g banana shallots, peeled and sliced
• 75ml white wine vinegar
• 75ml white wine

 

Put the shallots, wine vinegar and white wine into a vacuum-pack bag and place in a pressure cooker. Fill the cooker with water and cook on full pressure for 1.5 hours. Remove from the cooker and open the bag when it is cool enough to handle. Strain off the liquid into a clean saucepan, and tip the cooked shallots into a blender.

 

Reduce the liquor until thickened to a glaze, then pour the reduction onto the shallots and purée until smooth. Use straight away or store in small vacuum-pack bags in the fridge and use within one week.

 

###To assemble and serve

• 100g shallot, peeled and cut into 5mm dice
• 100g carrot, peeled and cut into 5mm dice
• 100g celeriac, peeled and cut into 5mm dice
• 4 drops of truffle oil
• 5tbs hollandaise sauce
• 3tbs curly parsley, chopped
• Lemon juice, to taste

 

Preheat the oven to 205°C. Warm the mini loaves through in the oven for four minutes.

 

Meanwhile, drain the mussels, saving the stock. Put the stock, shallot, carrot, celeriac, truffle oil and hollandaise sauce into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and reduce until the stock starts to emulsify.

 

Fold in the mussels and gently warm through. Stir in the chopped parsley and lemon juice to taste.

 

Divide the mussels, veg and liquor between warmed serving dishes. Top with the Guinness foam. Serve immediately, with the warm treacle bread, on napkin-lined plates.

 

Photography by Cristian Barnett