Beetroot Mousse appeals to me on a number of levels, it is visually stunning, it is really tasty, it is full of local & seasonal ingredients and you can make it really easily! You can dress this recipe up and serve it with a whole host of things, but i think that spreading the mousse over a loaf of rustic homemade bread fresh out the oven roughly chopped up is pretty difficult to beet (pun entirely intended).
At Colstoun Cookery School we use ingredients that we've grown ourselves or that we've bought from local producers such as Yester Farm Dairies for our Cream, and Mungoswells for flour in our breads, both of which are available at our shop The Mart Farmshop East Linton but ingredients like lemon and cayenne are not very readily available in Scotland and especially not in the depths of winter!
Ingredients:
Mousse:
200g fresh beetroot
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp lemon juice
60g cream cheese
1 egg
1 egg white
20ml of cream
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of salt
The Yoghurt:
½ tsp fennel seeds (toasted & ground)
½ orange
75 mls water
125 mls of yoghurt
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Method:
The Mousse:
Preheat oven to 170°C
Cook the beetroot with a pinch of salt & a good pinch of sugar, peel, when cool enough to handle. When cold, place in a food processor & blend.
Add garlic, lemon juice, cream cheese, eggs & then egg whites. Stir in the fresh cream until a pouring consistency is achieved. Season & sieve the mixture.
Oil the ramekins (if you are using) & place a grease proof paper disc in the bottom of each and then fill with beetroot mixture (if using a Kilner jars there is no need to oil them if you are serving the mousse from them). Place the ramekins/kilners (open) into a baking tray & pour boiling water into the tray, to ½ of the way up the sides of the ramekins.
Cook for 40-50 minutes at 170°C. The mousses are ready when firm to touch. Leave them to cool for at least 10 minutes before turning them out. They can be served immediately or allowed to cool to room temperature.
Serve with foraged, spring salad leaves & sourdough toast.
The Yogurt:
Place the orange zest & juice, the toasted fennel seeds & water into a pot.
Bring to the boil & reduce by half & allow cooling. Add the yogurt & mix together.
Allow to the mixture sit for 10 minutes and then pass through a sieve to remove the fennel seeds.
Place the sieved yogurt in the fridge until needed.
