Koji-Roasted Beets

SAVORY

Oct 17

Pistachio, Lemon, Vanilla, Orange, and Daikon

Chef Fiore Tedesco of L’Oca d’Oro | Austin

INGREDIENTS:

Toasted Pistachio Paste:
50 grams pistachios, plus more

Pistachio-Lemon-Vanilla Vinaigrette:
150 grams white wine vinegar
25 grams lemon juice
45 grams dates
45 grams shallots, minced
50 grams Toasted Pistachio Paste
5 grams fermented garlic
1 teaspoon vnlla Extract Co. All Natural Vanilla Extract + Lemon
25 grams preserved lemon
1 cup water
1 cup grapeseed oil, or other neutral oil

Koji and Vanilla Salt Roasted Beets:
2 medium to large beets, about 500 grams
50 grams kosher salt
100 grams koji, rice or barley
50 grams water
½ teaspoon vnlla Extract Co. All Natural Vanilla Extract + Lemon
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
25 grams fruity extra virgin olive oil
Cracked black pepper

Orange and Vanilla Braised Daikon:
1 medium sized daikon radish, peeled
1 whole large orange, very ripe and extra juicy
20 grams grapeseed oil, or another neutral oil
30 grams nice fruity olive oil
½ teaspoon vnlla Extract Co. All Natural Vanilla Extract + Lemon
Flaky salt, to taste

Assembly:
Orange supremes
Beet leaves

METHOD:

For the Toasted Pistachio Paste:
Toast pistachios on a sheet pan at 300ºF for 15 minutes. Place toasted pistachios in a blender and blend into a smooth paste, adding a bit of water at time until smooth. Set this paste aside.

For the Pistachio-Lemon-Vanilla Vinaigrette:
Add the lemon, white wine vinegar, dates, shallots, garlic, preserved lemon and extract to a blender. Let all soak together at room temp for 15 minutes. Then blend until smooth. Add the pistachio paste and water and blend on low. Lastly, stream in the grapeseed oil to emulsify. Season with salt as need to taste

For the Koji-Vanilla Salt Roasted Beets:
Set the oven to 400ºF. Scrub the beets in clean, cold water. Remove any leaves and save to garnish this dish. They are delicious! Grind the koji in a spice mill or coffee grinder. In a small mixing bowl, mix the koji, salt and cinnamon. Whisk in the water and extract. You are looking for this to be a pretty tight but spreadable paste. If it’s too tight just add a bit more water. Now spread this paste all over each of the beets and let hang out on the refrigerator overnight. Then roast the beets for about an hour, or until you are able to very easily push a toothpick into the center of the beet. Once the beets are cooked, remove from the oven & crack the crust and let cool slightly, but still warm, before removing the beet skin. It should easily slide off with a kitchen towel (if you want a nicely pink dyed towel or a paper towel) leaving behind a shiny roasted beet. Let cool to room temperature before cutting into bite size wedges. Toss with the olive oil and fresh black pepper they are ready to go.

For the Orange-Vanilla Braised Daikon:
Slice the daikon into 1 ½” thick coins. When I cook them at the restaurant I use a ring mold to cut out perfect uniform coins. While this is very cute and makes for very even cooking time, feel no such pressure to do so unless that part is fun for you. With a paring knife remove the peel from the orange, and cut out six supremes from the orange and leave these aside in a small bowl. We will garnish with these. Now juice the rest of the orange in a bowl. We will braise with this. Place a medium saute pan over medium, add the olive oil and once the oil is hot and shimmers when you shake the pan, we are ready to cook the radish. Place 6-8 pieces of daikon in the pan and leave undisturbed lightly searing on the one side for two minutes. Next, flip the daikon over and remove the pan from the heat. Then, add the orange juice and extract to the pan and return to the heat, turn down to medium low. As soon as the juice begins to bubble a bit, add the fruity olive oil and start to spoon this mix over the daikon coins. After 3-4 minutes, the juice in the pan will start to look syrupy and cling to the radish. This is what we want! Keep spooning over until we arrive here and then Voila. Remove from heat and sprinkle each coin with a bit of crunchy salt.

For the Assembly:
To plate, place a large spoonful of the pistachio vinaigrette in a circle in the middle of the plate. Place the daikon and beet pieces in an alternating circle just outside of the vinaigrette. Garnish with the orange supremes and beet leaves.

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