Porcini, rooster crest and La Rossa

The series of recipes from the finals of the fourth edition of Premio Birra Moretti Grand Cru continues. Today it’s the turn of Federica Andrisani, ex sous-chef at restaurant El Coq in Marano Vicentino, who was also the first female chef to conquer a place in the top ten. Besides, this recipe also won the special mention for best savoury dish.

Birra Moretti La Rossa is the protagonist of my mini-menu both because it is my favourite one and because of its smoky notes. In this first course I wanted to recapture the characteristics of the chosen beer using a hot smoking procedure. In this case the king are the porcini, which, despite being a vegetable, can create the typical taste of meat. Chargrilled porcini, almost caramelised, are paired with the strong flavour of rooster crests.

Porcini, rooster crests and Birra Moretti La Rossa

Recipe for 4 people

INGREDIENTS
2 fresh porcini
2 lt Birra Moretti La Rossa
20 rooster crests
30 g fried quinoa
1 Tropea onion
100 g palm sugar
100 g honey
100 g champagne vinegar
gravy
vegetable stock to taste
butter to taste
coriander to taste
salt, pepper, oil to taste
seed oil for frying

METHOD
For the chargrilled porcini
Take 2 fresh porcini mushrooms, carefully remove the earth, cut them into 2 cm thick slices and grill them on the embers on both sides.

For the beer reduction
Put 100 g palm sugar into a large pot and caramelise it. Turn it off with one litre of Birra Moretti La Rossa, cook it for 30 minutes over a low heat until it has reduced by 50%.

For the rooster crests
Blanch 100 g of rooster crests for a couple of minutes in a pot with boiling water, drain them and pan fry them in a pan with a knob of butter, a tablespoon of beer reduction and one of gravy. Add a ladle of vegetable stock, cook for around 5 minutes until the sauce is reduced.

For the Tropea onion petals
Peel the onion completely, cut it into four parts and divided it in petals. On a side, put 500 g of Birra Moretti La Rossa, 50 g of champagne vinegar and a tablespoon and a half of honey in a saucepan. Bring it to the boil, pour the liquid on the onion petals and leave to cool.

For the fried quinoa
Bring a pot full of hot water to the boil, add 50 g of quinoa and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the quinoa from the water and dry it for 4 hours at 60°C. Once it is dehydrated, fry it in boiling water.

For the finishing
Take two slices of grilled porcini and glaze them with the rooster crest sauce. Place 4 rooster crests and 4 onion petals glazed in the beer reduction on top, and finish with a some fried quinoa and some slices of fresh porcini, plus the stalks and the leaves of the fresh coriander.