White Chocolate Water
350 grams white chocolate
300 grams water
4 grams salt
Roughly chop the white chocolate and place it in a heavy bottomed pot with the water and salt. Place over a low heat and bring to a simmer, slowly stirring, to melt the chocolate and combine it with the water. The cocoa butter will separate from the mixture and float to the top during the cooking process. This is to be expected. When the chocolate is completely melted into the water and everything is well blended, turn off the heat and place the white chocolate mixture in a bowl over an ice bath to cool down.
White Asparagus White Chocolate
475 grams large white asparagus, preferably in 4 large pieces
White chocolate water
1 vacuum bag
Peel the white asparagus with a vegetable peeler while holding it on a flat surface. Starting at the tip, peel downwards towards the base in continuous, even strokes. When all of the asparagus is peeled, trim .5 cm off the bottom of each piece. Place the asparagus in a vacuum bag and add the white chocolate water. Seal the bag using a liquid setting so that the air is removed though the liquid remains in the bag.
Place the sealed bag in a circulating water bath set at 83°C. Cook the asparagus for 45 minutes and then remove the bag from the water bath and place the sealed bag in an ice bath to cool the asparagus. When the asparagus is ice cold, open the bag and pour the braising liquid through a fine mesh conical strainer into a bowl. Reserve this liquid. Take the asparagus out of the bag and rinse in cool running water to remove any cocoa butter solids. Pat the asparagus dry and place in a shallow pan large enough to hold the asparagus in one layer. Weigh out 360g of the braising liquid and reserve for the white pudding. Pour the remaining strained white chocolate braising liquid over the cooked asparagus. Cover the container with plastic wrap and reserve in the refrigerator.
White Pudding
360 grams white chocolate braising liquid
46 grams egg yolk
1.62 grams iota carrageenan (0.4% of the total weight of the liquid and the egg yolk)
Place the egg yolk and 100 grams of the braising liquid into a blender. Turn on low and blend to combine. Remove the blender lid. Increase the speed so that a vortex forms in the center of the liquid. Sprinkle the carrageenan into the side of the vortex. This will allow for an even dispersion of the carrageenan in the liquid. Once all of the carrageenan has been dispersed, let the blender run for one minute and then turn it off. Add the remaining liquid to the blender and use a spatula to stir it together. We do this to avoid the generation of excess air bubbles in the pudding. Once the blended liquid and the remaining liquid are stirred together turn the blender back on low for fifteen seconds to complete the mixing process. Pour the blended mixture into a heavy bottomed pot. Turn the heat to medium and stir the mixture with a spatula making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to prevent sticking. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture until reaches 85°C. A laser thermometer is ideal for taking the temperature of the pudding. When the pudding reaches 85°C, remove the pot from the heat and strain the mixture through a fine mesh conical strainer into a bowl. Place the pudding bowl in an ice bath to chill the mixture. Stir the chilling mixture occasionally to expedite the cooling process. When the pudding reaches 10°C, place it in a container and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the final dish.
Angelica Tea
250 grams water
50 grams fresh angelica stems
2 grams salt
Rinse the angelica under cool water. Pat dry and slice into 0.5 cm rounds. Place the water, angelica rounds, and salt in a pot. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly for twenty minutes. Turn the heat off, cover the pot, and let it steep for twenty minutes. Remove the lid from the pot and strain the angelica tea, reserving the liquid and discarding the cooked angelica. Cool the angelica tea in an ice bath and reserve.
Angelica Bubbles
190 grams Angelica Tea
20 grams Chartreuse
1 gram salt
3.16 grams Versa Whip 600 (1.5% of the total weight of the tea, chartreuse, and salt)
0.42 grams xanthan gum (.2% of the total weight of the tea, chartreuse, and salt)
Place the angelica tea and the Chartreuse in a blender. Turn the speed onto medium and allow a vortex to form. Remove the blender lid. Sprinkle the versa whip and xanthan gum into the blender, allowing the vortex to pull the powders into the mixture and enabling uniform dispersion. Once the powders have been absorbed, turn the speed up to high and let the mixture blend for thirty seconds. The angelica liquid will be light and foamy. Remove the bubbles from the blender and place in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on high and let the tea whip. It will gain volume and when its appearance is like soft peaked meringue, turn the mixture off. Place the whipped mixture in the refrigerator. The foam will begin to degrade and the bubble structure will increase in size. These larger stable bubbles are what we are looking for.
Assembly:
Braised White Asparagus
White Pudding
Angelica Bubbles
4 Nasturtium flowers
20 small nasturtium leaves with stems attached
Separate the individual petals from the flowers. Discard the flower stems and stamens. Trim the nasturtium leaves so that the stems are all 3-4 centimeters in length. Remove the asparagus from the braising liquid and pat dry. Cut each piece of asparagus into 4 sections each approximately 4 centimeters in length. Lay the pieces of one asparagus out on a cutting board horizontally with each piece standing up like a fencepost and touching its neighbor. The tip piece should be standing upright in the first position with the other three lined up alongside it.
Place one asparagus grouping on each plate, rotating the group so that the tip piece is lying at the top of the formation, with the tip itself pointing to the left. It will look like a small ladder lying flat. Spoon the white pudding to the right of the asparagus sections. Top the pudding with two nasturtium leaves and two nasturtium flower petals. Place one nasturtium leaf at the tip of the white asparagus and one at the base right of the white asparagus. Spoon the angelica bubbles on top of the asparagus stalks and then top each group with three flower petals and one more small nasturtium leaf. Serve immediately.
