Glasshouse Snails

Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 20 minutes (plus overnight for soused onions)
Cooking Time: 3 hours

Soused Onions
200g pickling onions
¼ cup salt
4 cups (1 litre) water
100ml gin
10 peppercorns
5 parsley stalks
2 fennel stalks
1 fresh bay leaf

Pickled Vegetables
2 French radishes
2 baby turnips
2 baby beetroot
1 each baby yellow, orange, and purple carrot
100ml chardonnay vinegar
200ml water
Black peppercorns
Fresh herbs

Snails
30 snails
50g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
100ml red wine
100ml beef stock
100ml roasted chicken jus or chicken stock

Potato Puree
2 large (600g) baking potatoes
30g butter

Buffalo Milk Skin Ravioli
1 1/3 cup (250g) buffalo mozzarella
2 cups (500ml) milk
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
3 sheets gelatine, softened in water

Buffalo Milk Foam
125g buffalo mozzarella
1 cup (250ml) milk
1 teaspoon salt

Nasturtium Puree
1 small (100g) potato, peeled and finely sliced
50g butter
200g nasturtium greens
150ml vegetable stock or water
Salt and white pepper

Nasturtium Flower Vinaigrette
250g nasturtium flowers, picked and washed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
100ml extra virgin olive oil

1. For the Sous Onions: Finely slice pickling onions and place in ¼ cup salt and 4 cups water, leave overnight. Drain and dry. Soak onions in gin, peppercorns and herbs, chill.
2. For the Pickled Vegetables: Wash peel and slice very thinly assorted seasonal vegetables, storing separately. Bring 100ml good vinegar (I prefer Chardonnay), 200ml water, black peppercorns and fresh herbs to boil. Pour over prepared vegetables and allow to steep until cool, then chill.
3. For the Snails: Bring two litres of salted water to boil and blanch snails for one minute, refresh in ice water. Using a tooth pick pluck the snails from their shells. Melt butter in a medium frying pan and sweat onion until soft. Add a clove of garlic and a bay leaf, then when sweet and soft add the blanched snails, red wine, beef stock and roasted chicken jus, bring to simmer and cook for 3 hours, or until soft. Strain sauce and reduce until coating consistency, add snails back into sauce to coat.
4. Peel potatoes (reserve the skins) and cut into 2cm dice, place into salted water and bring to boil, simmer until soft. Roast the skins in a little butter until golden, transfer to pan and cover with water, allow to simmer until potatoes are ready. Pass the potatoes through a fine sieve then using a rubber spatula add strained potato stock to achieve a “mashed potato” consistency.
5. For the Ravioli: Place the mozzarella and milk in a Thermomix, then set the timer to infinite, the temperature to 80°C, and the speed to 5. When the milk has reached 80°C, add the salt, pepper and gelatine. Pour some of the mixture onto a clean, flat tray lined with cling film, move the tray so the mix completely covers it, then pour the excess back into the Thermomix jug. You will be left with a thin skin set on the tray.
6. Sweat the potato in the butter until soft, add the greens and the stock and bring to boil, simmer for one minute, transfer greens and potato to blender and adjust enough cooking liquid to blend, blend until smooth and pass through fine chinois, chill quickly.
7. For the Buffalo Milk Foam: Place the mozzarella and milk in a Thermomix, then set the timer to infinite, the temperature to 80°C, and the speed to 5, strain though a fine sieve, chill. Foam the buffalo milk foam on a coffee machine steamer for a dense foam.
8. For the Nasturtium Flower Vinaigrette: Place the flowers and Dijon mustard in blender and with the motor running slowly add the oil to for an emulsified dressing
9. To serve, place a tablespoon of mash potato onto centre of plate and top with some mozzarella sheet, place under the grill until melted. Reheat the snails in their sauce. Spoon nasturtium puree and flower vinaigrette around plate, then plate five snails per plate around edge of mozzarella, top with picked baby herbs and assorted fresh flowers, then dollop over the foamed buffalo milk.

*Note: Australian measurements 1 tablespoon = 20ml are used throughout.