Beef tartare, young pine cones, smoked ponzu, pickled shimeji and egg yolk purée

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Combine the pine cones, sugar and rice vinegar in a vacuum sealed bag and cook sous vide at 64°C for two days, until soft to the touch. Chill the cones and their liquor over ice until completely cool

2. Step 2

   Place the mushrooms in a dehydrator and leave to dehydrate overnight (you could use a low oven set to 65°C)

3. Step 3

   Heat the rice vinegar in a small pan and add the mushrooms, simmering them until rehydrated - around 1 hour. Set aside to cool 

4. Step 4

   Make the ponzu dressing by whisking together the smoked oil, ponzu and shallot

5. Step 5

   Finely dice the pine cones and combine the liquor with the ponzu dressing 

6. Step 6

   Place the loaf of sourdough into the freezer to firm up a little

7. Step 7

   To make the egg yolk puree, combine the yolks and soy and cook sous vide at 64°C for 2hrs. Blitz in a Thermomix, pass and transfer to a piping bag

8. Step 8

   Dice the sourdough into 0.5cm pieces. Add the beef fat to a frying pan with the thyme, followed by the sourdough pieces. Cook the sourdough until golden, then drain and season with salt

9. Step 9

   Combine the diced beef with 8 tablespoons of the ponzu and pine cone dressing (any leftover dressing can be refrigerated) and the chopped chives. Season with salt and pepper 

10. Step 10

    To serve, pipe some of the egg yolk purée into the bottom of 6 bowls. Top with the beef mix, shimeji, sourdough croutons and oxalis leaves