The Nobel Banquet 1913

Luxury Turbot Entrée, Chicken Breast with early Spring Vegetables and Vanilla Ice Cream rolled in Nougat, likely inspiration for the 2103 menu.

FIRST COURSE: Luxury Turbot Entrée. Food photography: Pepe Nilsson
Luxury Turbot Entrée, Chicken Breast with early Spring Vegetables and Vanilla Ice Cream rolled in Nougat, translated for the American home and a good fit for today’s lifestyle. The 2013 menu served on December 10 - of Guinea hen mosaic, carrot variation with Gotland truffle, and chanterelle duxelle with truffle mayonnaise as first course. Then for main course, Turbot cupola stuffed with Norwegian lobster, tartelette with lobster on a bed of cream cheese and spinach, pointed cabbage terrine, lobster sauce and almond potato purée and, for dessert, Chocolate silhouette with nougat and sea buckthorn explosion - was likely inspired by this menu, of 2013:
MAIN COURSE: Chicken Breast with early Spring Vegetables
FIRST COURSE:
Luxury Turbot Entrée
Serves 6
DESSERT: Vanilla Ice Cream rolled in Nougat with Chocolate Sauce
6 turbot ﬁlets weighing about 100g
(3 1/2 oz) each
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. ﬁnely chopped shallots
Salt
White pepper
100 ml (1/2 cup) white wine
100 ml (1/2 cup) water or ﬁsh stock
6 lobster claws
6 thin slices of trufﬂe
6 mushroom tops
White wine sauce:
1/2 onion
2 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tbsp. ﬂour
50 ml (3 1/2 tbsp.) ﬁsh essence (bottled)
150 ml (2/3 cup) white wine
300 ml (1 1/3 cups) whipping cream
Salt
White pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
Begin with the sauce. ﬁnely chop the onion. Fry it in butter, but without browning. Sprinkle over the ﬂour and stir. Add the ﬁsh essence, wine and cream. Allow to cook for several minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm. Set oven at 125 C (260 F°).
Grease an ovenproof dish. Spread the chopped onion in the bottom. Lay the ﬁsh ﬁllet on top. Add salt and pepper. Pour over the wine and water/stock so that it covers the ﬁsh. Cover with a lid or greaseproof paper. Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes until the ﬁsh meat is white.
Heat the lobster claws, trufﬂe slices and mushroom tops in the stock used to cook the ﬁsh.
Arrange the ﬁsh ﬁllets on warmed plates. Pour over the sauce. Garnish with lobster claws, trufﬂe slices and mushroom tops. For extra taste in this dish stir in a little lobster essence (bottled) into the white wine sauce.
Tip: If lobster claws and trufﬂes are difﬁcult to obtain, substitute with similar items, such as crayﬁsh tails and salmon roe.
MAIN COURSE:
Chicken Breast with early Spring Vegetables
Serves 6
3 chickens
Salt
White pepper
Butter for frying
Early Spring Vegetables:
18 silver skin onions
250 g (1/2 lb.) green beans
2 red onions
1 tsp. olive oil
Salt
White pepper
Beef Marrow Sauce:
300 ml (1 1/3 cups) red wine
4 tbsp. concentrated beef stock (bottled)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 bay leaves
A pinch of white pepper
1 onion
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cornstarch or equivalent
thickening agent such as Maizena
+ 1 tbsp. white wine
150 g (5 oz) sliced beef marrow (order slices of beef marrowbone several days in advance).
INSTRUCTIONS:
Begin with the sauce. Bring the wine, concentrated beef stock, sugar, bay leaves and white pepper to the boil and cook for several minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for at least 10 minutes so that the sauce can extract the ﬂavor from the herbs.
Now for the vegetables. Peel and cook the silver skin onions in lightly salted water. Top and tail the green beans and cut in half. Peel the red onions and cut into segments. Bring the vegetables quickly to the boil, then cool rapidly in ice-cold water.
Set the oven to 110 C (230 F°). Remove the drumsticks and trim the area under the legs. Remove the breast ﬁllets so that they are separated from the legs. Brown the chicken pieces in the butter. Add salt and pepper. Then roast in the oven for an additional 20 minutes, so that the inner temperature reaches at least 73 C (164 F°) (measure this by using a meat thermometer). The breast meat will be ready before the leg meat. Remove and allow the chicken pieces to rest for ﬁve to 10 minutes before slicing.
Peel and ﬁnely chop the onion for the sauce. Fry it in butter, but without browning. Pour over the sauce. Bring to the boil and thicken with cornstarch or Maizena dissolved in wine. Dilute the sauce with a little water if it seems too thick or strong. Heat the marrow slices in the sauce.
Heat the vegetables in a little olive oil and water. ﬂavor with salt and white pepper. Pile up the vegetables. Arrange a few breast slices among them. Place the drumsticks on top and pour over the sauce.
DESSERT:
Vanilla Ice Cream rolled in Nougat with Chocolate Sauce
Serves 6
600 ml (2 2/3 cups) vanilla ice cream
Nougat:
200 g (7 oz) peeled almonds
350 ml (1 1/2 cups) sugar
3 tbsp. glucose (available from your
pharmacy)
Cooking oil
Chocolate Sauce:
200 ml (1 cup) porter (or stout) beer
100 ml (7 tbsp.) sugar
4-5 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla powder
2 tbsp. black currant jelly
1-2 tbsp. lemon juice
INSTRUCTIONS:
Begin with the nougat. Set the oven at 175 C (350 F°). Lay the almonds onto a baking tray. Roast them in the center of the oven until golden brown.
Mix the sugar and glucose in a thick-based saucepan. Heat and keep stirring so that the sugar caramelizes without turning dark in color. Add the roasted almonds and mix together. Pour into a well-oiled tray with sides. Allow to cool. Break into lumps.
For the chocolate sauce, blend all of the ingredients in a large pan. Heat gently until the sauce comes to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. Whisk before serving.
Divide the ice cream into six blocks. Roll the edges in the crushed nougat. Place the ice cream onto plates and encircle with chocolate sauce.
Tip: A strawberry and/or a small chocolate petit fours or chocolate-dipped biscuit enhances this dessert.
Originally published in Nordic Reach. Recipes and photography from "The Nobel Banquets" courtesy of Mixoft and its U.S. distributor.