Crispy Garden Trio with Micro-Green Velouté

Inspired by the jardin potager outside Lyon, this meal turns 'virtuous' into voluptuous. A translucent cucumber cannelloni stuffed fromage blanc sorbe...

4 servings

Modern French Cuisine

🟡Intermediate★★★☆☆

Nov 13, 2025

5 views

Ingredients

ListBento

🥬

2 large

English cucumber

firm, peeled in stripes

🥩

10 ml

Champagne vinegar

🥛

50 ml

Skim milk

ice-cold

🥬

100 g

Snow peas

tops trimmed

🥛

30 g

Plain yogurt

full-fat, hung 1 hour

🍎

4 sprigs

Lemon thyme

🍎

1 large

Watermelon radish

📦

8 pieces

Crystallized violet petals

food-safe

💧

200 ml

Vegetable stock

clear, unsalted

📦

300 g

Pea pods

fresh, strings removed

🫒

60 ml

Extra-virgin olive oil

fruity, green

📦

200 g

Fromage blanc

drained 30 min on cheesecloth

🌶️

1 small

Fennel bulb

fronds reserved

📦

2 leaves

Sheet gelatin

silver grade, bloomed

📦

30 g

Pea tendrils

for garnish

🥬

Baby heirloom carrots

mixed colors, peeled

📦

15 g

Liquid glucose

🍎

1 g

Lemon zest

micro-planed

💧

5 ml

White balsamic vinegar

🌶️

1 pinch

Fine sea salt

📦

Mint leaves

young

📦

Sorrel leaves

de-stemmed

Categories:🥩protein🥬vegetable🍎fruit🌾grain🥛dairy🌶️spice🫒oil💧liquid📦other

Instructions

Step 1

Set a mandoline to 1 mm thickness. Slice the cucumber lengthwise into 12 continuous ribbons, rotating as you reach seeds. Lay on a parchment-lined tray, brush with champagne vinegar, cover and chill to firm—this firms pectic nets so the ribbons stay flexible yet glass-clear.

Step 2

Blend fromage blanc, skim milk, liquid glucose and fine sea salt until just smooth. Churn in an ice-cream machine until it reaches –6 °C and holds soft peaks; transfer to a piping bag and freeze. The high water content of fromage blanc requires fast freezing to avoid crystallization.

Step 3

Using a 3 cm cutter, punch 12 disks from the carrot tops (the sweetest zone). Vacuum-pack with 15 ml olive oil and lemon thyme, then immerse in an 85 °C water bath for 18 min. This temperature cooks pectin without bursting cell walls, keeping the carrot translucent and jewel-bright. Shock in iced water.

Step 4

Trim fennel bulb to a neat 4 cm block; shave lengthwise on mandoline to 1 mm. Compress slices in 5% salt brine for 10 min—osmosis seasons and relaxes fibres so the fennel drapes like silk. Pat dry.

Step 5

Slice watermelon radish through its equator into 2 mm rounds. Using a 2 cm cutter, remove centres to create stained-glass windows. Vacuum-pack with remaining olive oil for 5 min; the pressure forces oil between cells, heightening translucency.

Step 6

Line a 9 × 5 cm terrine mould with acetate. Overlap carrot disks to form a mosaic base. Add a layer of fennel, brushing edges with warm gelatin stock to glue. Alternate radish rounds and carrot until mould is full, finishing with radish for colour pop. Fold acetate over and press with 200 g weight; refrigerate 20 min to set.

Step 7

Blanch pea pods and snow peas in 1% salted water for 45 sec—just long enough to set chlorophyll without dulling it. Shock in ice water, then drain and pat dry.

Step 8

Blend pea pods with mint, sorrel and half the vegetable stock at high speed for 1 min to rupture cells and release chlorophyll. Pass through a chinois, pressing solids to extract vivid juice.

Step 9

Whisk yogurt until silky, then fold into pea liquid with remaining stock and lemon zest. Season with fine sea salt and chill to 4 °C. The yogurt adds lactic brightness and protein for stable froth.

Step 10

To plate first course, overlap 3 cucumber ribbons on chilled plates to form a 10 cm square. Pipe a 3 cm quenelle of fromage blanc sorbet onto centre, roll cucumber into cannelloni, seam-side down. Garnish with fennel fronds and serve immediately—temperature contrast is key.

Step 11

For the terrine, unmould and slice with a hot knife (dip in 60 °C water, wipe dry). Each slice should reveal stained-glass layers. Warm the plate, not the terrine, to 40 °C so the gel softens just enough to shimmer while vegetables stay crisp.

Step 12

At tableside, pour chilled pea-pod velouté into a warmed mini-blender, blitz for 5 sec to whip micro-bubbles. Pour into chilled bowls, top with pea tendrils and crystallized violet petals; the foam releases mint and sorrel aromas under the diner’s nose.

✨Chef's Tips

★Maintain 85 °C exactly for carrot confit; above 90 °C beta-carotene dulls and pectin overcooks, below 80 °C texture stays fibrous.
★Vacuum compression can be mimicked by sealing vegetables with brine/oil in a zip bag and submerging under 2 kg weight for 10 min—home cooks get 80% of the clarity without a chamber sealer.
★Freeze sorbet base to –18 °C before churning; the colder start reduces ice crystal size, giving a texture closer to restaurant Pacojet results.
★When slicing terrine, count a 3-second cadence: 1-second cut, 1-second exit, 1-second wipe—any longer and gelatin warms, causing drag lines.
★Serve pea velouté in chilled Chinese spoons as an intermezzo if diners need palate reset; the chlorophyll-lactic balance scrubs richness and reawakens mineral perception.

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