Fellstone and Mushroom Eggy Bread, by Oli Martin, Professional Masterchef finalist

Oli Martin, head-chef of the three AA-rosette Hipping Hall hotel, and 2018 Professional Masterchef finalist, uses Fellstone cheese in this fabulous dish, which, when he presented it as his signature dish in the Professional Masterchef quarter finals, saw him through to the semi-finals.

Try his recipe below.

Serves four

Ingredients
13 Eggs
200ml Milk
1 tsp Truffle Oil
3 tsp Sherry Vinegar
4 slices of chunky Sourdough Bread
120g Fellstone Cheese
60ml Cream
Salt
250g Hen of the Woods Mushrooms (or similar)
100g Wild Garlic

Method: Fellstone Custard
Whisk the cream and five of the eggs together. Add a pinch of salt and the Fellstone cheese. Cook slowly over a low heat until it thickens and looks like it’s starting to scramble. Cool down quickly in a bowl over an ice bath. Blend it smooth when it is around 40°C.

Method: Wild Garlic Powder
Wash the wild garlic well and allow to drain, lay it out and allow it to dehydrate at 40°C overnight.
When dry, blend into small bits, then dehydrate it again at 40°C overnight.
Grind the dried leaves to a powder in spice grinder. This will last for some time in an airtight contained. If you don’t have a dehydrator, laying the leaves out on a baking sheet in a very low oven will do the job.

Method: Eggy Bread
Cut the sourdough into large fingers. Allow to air dry overnight.
Whisk the remaining eight eggs, milk, truffle oil and 2 tsp sherry vinegar with a couple of pinches of salt, then soak the slices of bread in the egg mix for 10 minutes. Allow to drain well, then pan-fry in butter until coloured on all sides.

Method: Hen of the Woods Mushrooms
Cut the mushrooms into small pieces. Pan-fry in butter and finish with a splash of sherry vinegar.

Method: Final Assembly
Assemble the dish by placing the eggy bread onto a plate. Pipe blobs of the Fellstone custard around the plate and on the bread. Add the mushrooms and dust well with the garlic powder.