Hasselback Potato with Whipped Cream Cheese, Black Truffle Puree, Pickled Shallot

— Starter by Executive Chef Ricki Weston, Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa

INGREDIENTS

Makes 4 portions

Hasselback Potato

8 medium small garden potatoes 500g butter, melted

2 sprigs thyme 2 sprigs rosemary 1 bay leaf

3 garlic cloves, crushed

Whipped Crème Fraiche

100g crème fraiche

100g cream cheese

1 lemon zest chives, thinly sliced

Maldon sea salt, to taste

Pickled Onions 5 baby shallots 50g white wine vinegar

50g water

50g sugar

Truffle Puree 50g frozen black truffles

10g mushroom stock

20g white chicken stock

1 tsp squid ink 10g truffle oil 20g rapeseed oil salt, to taste white wine vinegar, to taste

METHOD Hasselback Potato

1. Place as many potatoes as you wish on a skewer and thinly slice into the potato till the knife hits the skewer.

2. Once all potatoes are cut, place all the ingredients together in a roasting pan and confit the potatoes in the butter on a low heat until bubbling very slightly (1 or 2 bubbles) for around 45–60 minutes.

3. Once cooked, sauté both sides of the potato slices in a pan before serving.

Whipped Crème Fraiche

1. Whip the crème fraiche in a bowl until it becomes light and thick.

2. Fold through the remaining ingredients and season to taste. Set aside, to serve.

Pickled onions

1. Peel and quarter the baby shallots. Pull them apart into petals and set aside.

2. Bring the rest of the ingredients in a pan to a boil and then set this pickling liquid aside. 3. Pour the pickling liquid over the shallot petals. Set aside, to cool.

Truffle Puree

1. Thinly slice the truffles and cook them in a pan with the mushroom and chicken stock till soft and the liquid is reduced.

2. Pour into a high-speed blender with the squid ink and blend till smooth.

3. Slowly emulsify the truffle and rapeseed oils into the mixture.

4. Season with salt and vinegar and put into a piping bag, to serve.

Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour

TO SERVE

1. Take 2 tbsp of the whipped crème fraiche and spoon into each of the serving bowls. Press the whipped crème fraiche down with the back of a spoon.

2. Arrange three-fifths of the hasselback potatoes over the whipped crème fraiche in a pyramid or natural formation of the folds.

3. Pipe the truffle puree between the gaps of the potatoes, and arrange the pickled shallot petals on the bowl.