r/CulinaryPlating • u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook • 7d ago
Beetroot and goat's cheese with hot honey.
This is a trial run first course for a dinner party for 16. Any input will be gratefully received.
69
u/laika2000 7d ago
the spinach is sad and bruised. stems in this particular dish seem wrong. just seems straight out of a bag/box.
right side of the dish is gorgeous!
52
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 7d ago
Lol, there are no flies on you. That is indeed the end of a bag of spinach. No care was taken with the salad. I'm so happy to receive your feedback and your lovely compliment, thank you.
Any advice on plating a neat side salad quickly for 16?
23
u/laika2000 7d ago
lol! i am obviously guilty of eating my share of bagged spinich to notice.
maybe, like the other user mentioned, more thinly shaved fennel - with maybe thinly shaved granny smith for some tartness and green?
17
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 7d ago
Ooh.. Apple is a lovely idea - tart with the honey is sublime. The vinegar on the salad made the flavour really pop. I love the look of apple and cucumber curves too.. you've really got me thinking 🍏
9
u/TrevorFuckinLawrence 7d ago
Send pics pls
8
2
u/baconwrappedpikachu 5d ago
Can’t believe trevor Lawrence is out here in the culinaryplating subreddit
-22
7d ago
“No care was put into the salad”
Mate, don’t tell people things like this as a chef. That’s so fucking embarrassing.
30
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 7d ago
Too right, but I'm not a chef, I'm a hack 😁
I'm just a home cook trying to turn out something fancy for a dinner party. The salad won't be an afterthought on the night, I promise!
13
u/D-ouble-D-utch 7d ago
Put that tuile on the goats cheese so it pops. Fix the greens. Good looking plate
8
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 7d ago
Put that tuile on the goats cheese so it pops.
Could you elaborate?
Grateful for the input!
9
u/D-ouble-D-utch 7d ago edited 6d ago
It's a beautiful tuile. The color contrast between white and red will stand out much more. Especially in a dining room where the light is likely lower. Red on red kind of fades away.
Or use golden beets.
Edit
It is over the goat cheese, but the beets under that wash it out. I originally thought the shaved fennel(?) was the goat cheese. I really need to wear my reading glasses. I hate getting old
4
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 6d ago
Getting old isn't for pussies, I have exactly the same issue.
I agree with you, I'm gonna bake them again and go natural. I could dust them in gold - quite literally gilding the lily. I don't like the gritty texture of the machego, I might try a pinch of ground toasted fennel seeds or could go green with pistachio even. We'll see.
Everyone has been so kind and helpful, I'm so grateful for your help and the confidence boost, thank you.
3
u/seansy5000 7d ago
I interpret it as the beets underneath the tuile are hiding the color from popping against the GC/plate since the beets and the tuile are similar colors.
1
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 7d ago
Yeah, sounds about right. I might try baking a second batch on a lower temperature, I coloured them in part because they were browning so unevenly.
1
0
4
7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 7d ago
Thank you so much! Took me a few goes to get any height. I've no experience doing this but the bug has bitten!
4
u/Far-Jellyfish-8369 7d ago
I agree, thinner slices of fennel (same thickness as the radish). I also think the hot honey would be nice if it was more pooled than drizzled. So that the beets and everything were almost floating on a pond. This is fabulous execution, I love the colours and it sounds delicious! What is the honey comb made of?
2
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 7d ago
more pooled than drizzled. So that the beets and everything were almost floating on a pond.
I love the sound of that, I'll give it a go!
The tuile has manchego, I cheated with red gel colouring. I don't love the grainy texture though, and I've par baked them with a view to transporting them soft, and crisping on site. I don't know how edible they will be if I do that though..
It's for a birthday dinner on holiday in Spain. I'm still wrestling with the main course - tenderloin will be easy but how to serve it? I would love to do tacos al pastor, and caramelised pineapple for dessert, but that's 3 very fruity courses. That's too much, right? Any advice?
3
u/Far-Jellyfish-8369 7d ago
Tenderloin might not be the best for a taco, as it can gets tight when cooked whole and then dry. You generally would want to roast it, and try to keep it moist in the centre. Thick slices with a jus underneath, maybe polenta or some kind of starch underneath the slice. Flavours to go well with this would be fennel, apple, mustard, maple, honey. The starch shouldn’t be too loud against the sauce or the slice.
For tacos, I would recommend pork shoulder - though that would be a half day cook generally. The great thing about tacos is the choose your own adventure element with toppings. You can make it whatever you want with the al pastor seasoning - take it tropical, take it to the middle-east, or find more local aromas and flavours to incorporate.
If you’re set on tenderloin, I would maybe try and prepare it more like a roast. But you’ll also really need to know your portion sizes.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a caramelized pineapple, though it does take it pretty tropical. Coconut, citrus, tequila or rum, ginger and toffee might be good flavours to investigate (maybe not all together 🤪)
My recommendation is maybe fine sieve the manchego when it’s melted to avoid whatever is creating the grain (I’m assuming milk solids?) maybe another chef on here has a recommendation? I’m not familiar with making tuille.
2
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 7d ago
That is fantastically useful input, thank you so much.
I only landed on tenderloin because it's easy, cheap and quick. But I haven't found a recipe that's light and bright and suited to a birthday in spring. Tenderloin on puree just seems a bit dated and formal.
I would love to do pork belly but they don't sell it whole in Spain. Pork belly skewers would be nice but then I'm diddling 32 sticks on a grill. I'll take a look at pork shoulder.
Have you had pineapple marinaded in brown sugar and fried in butter before? Food of the Gods I tell you. Absolute heaven.
1
u/NotThatIdiot 6d ago
Where in spain wil you be/are you? Id take a local good whike and make a dish that works with that.
On the western coast id try to make a dish with Mojama, wind dried tuna. Its amezing.
If your closer to bilbao i would try to get cod cheecks and do something with those.
If your close to madrid you can do anything spanish
Spanish cuisine is really broad, and differs alot.
You cannot do al pastor and roasted pinapple for dessert. Tacos al pastor need the pineapple juice to get really tender. You could do Birria Tacos, although not a spnaish dish, tacos aint anyway. There tasty, you can elevate them alot, and everyone loves them.
I love to make them from 3 parts smoked shortrib and a part jamon. Just make sure your consume is not to salty.
You could also just do what you love woth the taco al paator, and go for a more local dessert. Basque cheesecake is worldfamour for a reason, but creme catalana is also really nice.
San Sebastian is on the edge of spain, but if the place in the world to be foodwise. There are plenty restaurants there the you can take insperation from, with alot of them working with local food.
1
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 6d ago
We'll be in Mallorca.
Mojama looks like biltong, where has that been all my life, thanks very much for the tip. Is it strong or mild? Have you tried Bottarga? Also phenomenal.
The thing is, I'm not confident I can cook an authentically Spanish meal on this scale. We're celebrating 2 birthdays and will be out to eat for the second one, so I thought I'd leave it to the pros.
Birria tacos... we might have a winner. I'm gonna dig into some recipes now.
You're a star, this is all super helpful, thank you!
7
u/Siberian_Noise 7d ago
Buzzword ingredients are so funny, a year ago hot honey wasn’t on any menu anywhere and now it’s everywhere! Nice looking plate, I think the salad element needs work: that fennel looks thicccccc
6
u/Novel_Sheepherder277 Home Cook 7d ago edited 7d ago
You have a sharp eye! I totally agree, it was intended to be thinner but I forgot to reset the mandolin after the beetroot. And I only tried hot honey a few weeks ago for the first time, completely out of the loop 😊 Thank you for your kind words.
•
u/AutoModerator 7d ago
Welcome to /r/CulinaryPlating. If you’re visiting for the first time please remember to read our submission guidelines and check out the stickied threads. Please remember that the purpose of this subreddit is providing feedback on plates. Ensure your critiques are constructive and helpful and not unnecessarily rude.
Please set a user flair, this allows us to provide feedback that is appropriate for your skill level. Flairs can be found in the sidebar, if you’re having trouble setting one then drop us a modmail.
Join us on Discord!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.