Ant Brown’s Braised Baby Gem Lettuce with Peas, Mint, Bacon and Mustard Mayonnaise
Cumbrian chef, Antony Brown treats us to another seasonal recipe. Head over to Ant’s Facebook page @antbrown to watch him cook this dish live.
A play on the classic dish Petit Pois a la Francaise, this side dish works really well with a variety of meats, fish, or vegetable main courses. I’ve served it alongside a beautiful roast rack of local Hogget and some seasonal Purple Sprouting Broccoli.
Roast Baby Gem
- 2 x Baby Gem, cut lengthways
- 1 x Fennel, chopped
- 1 x Shallot or small Onion, chopped
- 1 x Clove of Garlic, finely chopped
- ½ Glass of White Wine
- 500 ml of Vegetable or Chicken Stock
- 200g Frozen Peas
- Juice of ½ Lemon
- 200g Purple Sprouting Broccoli, blanched and cooled immediately in cold water
- 6 x Leaves of fresh Mint, shredded
Mustard Mayonnaise topping
- 1 x Tablespoon of Mayonnaise
- 1 x Teaspoon of Dijon
- 25g of Finely Grated Parmesan
- Squeeze of Lemon Juice
- 3 x Rashers of Streaky Bacon, sliced and fried until crispy
- ½ tablespoon of chopped chives mixed with the crispy bacon
- Gently sauté the fennel, garlic and shallot in a little vegetable oil until tender
- Add the wine and reduce the liquid by half
- Add half of the stock and let the mix gently reduce
- Meanwhile heat a separate frying pan, season the baby gem with salt and sugar, and fry in a tablespoon of vegetable oil until beautifully caramelised
- Remove the baby gem and set to one side, and then add to the vegetable mix
- At the same time add the blanched broccoli to the pan and cook it together for 2 minutes to heat through
- Now add the frozen peas, and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Remove the baby gem from the pan, dry on paper towel and coat the caramelised side with the mustard mayonnaise and crispy bacon and chive mix
- Add the mint and lemon to the pea mix, and taste for seasoning
- Plate up the peas mixture, and place the gem and broccoli on top alongside the meat, fish or vegetable of your choice!
