Hailed as Canada’s most innovative chef, Marc Lepine is renowned for his masterful culinary work and extraordinary dishes at his award-winning restaurant, Atelier which showcases pioneering techniques and signature recipes inspired by local ingredients, seasonality, and innovation.
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Splat Recipe
Ingredients
Lemon confit
- Peels and juice of 4 Meyer lemons
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 1.5 g salt
Beet purée
- 2 medium red beets peeled and quartered
- 100 g unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces
- Salt
Shallots
- 1 shallot thinly sliced crosswise
Yellow beets
- 1 yellow beet sliced paper thin using a mandoline
- 5 g yuzu juice
- 5 g freshly squeezed lemon juice
Assembly
- 1 Lebanese cucumber
- Cherry tomatoes sliced
- Breakfast radish thinly sliced
- Feta cheese cut into 3/8-inch cubes
- Calendula petals
- Corn flowers
- Cucumber flowers
- Dill flowers
- Micro garden radishes leaves attached
- Nasturtium leaves
- Small Swiss chard leaves
- Sprigs of fennel fronds
- Sprigs of wood sorrel
- Purple basil
Instructions
Lemon confit
- Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add lemon peels and boil for 1 minute, then drain.
- Repeat process twice with a pan of fresh boiling water each time. Pat peels dry with paper towels.
- Set a large stainless-steel bowl securely on top of an overturned Styrofoam container (to protect the work surface). Put on thermal-insulated gloves and goggles. Fill the bowl halfway with liquid nitrogen and add peels. Keep immersed for 10 seconds or until frozen.
- Using a metal slotted spoon, transfer peels to a Thermomix and grind at speed 9 for 15 seconds to coarsely chop. (Do not grind to a powder.)
- Transfer chopped peels to a saucepan and add strained lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes or until reduced by half. Store mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator. (It will turn syrupy.)
Beet purée
- Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer over medium-low heat.
- Put beets into a vacuum bag, add 1 tablespoon water, and seal the bag at full pressure. Cook beets in the water bath for 30 minutes or until just cooked through.
- Transfer beets to a Vita-Prep, add 1 piece of butter, and blend until butter has melted. Repeat until all butter has been used. Season with salt.
Shallots
- Put shallots in a bowl of ice water and let sit for 20 minutes. Drain.
Yellow beets
- Using a 1-inch ring cutter, cut beets into disks.
- Transfer to a bowl, add yuzu and lemon juices, and toss well. Set aside.
Assembly
- Using a vegetable peeler, shave cucumber lengthwise into ribbons. Roll up ribbons tightly like scrolls. Cut each in half crosswise and set cut side down, with peel facing upward.
- Using a spoon, flick beet purée all over each plate.
- Randomly dab 1 teaspoon lemon confit all over.
- Arrange 3 yellow beet disks and 8 slices of cherry tomato on the plate. Add 2 to 3 pieces of shallots, cucumbers, and remaining garnishes to decorate each plate, avoiding any overlap. Serve.
Excerpted from Atelier by Marc Lepine with Anne DesBrisay. Photography by Christian Lalonde. Copyright 2018 by Atelier. Excerpted with permission from Figure 1 Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.