But here’s our confession, what we love about this recipe is actually the root vegetable pavé. We’ve only made the whole recipe (using beef) just once. But we’ve made the root vegetable pavé a few times now. It’s really fairly easy (provided you have a mandoline slicer), and quite impressive and magically tasty when it’s complete. You wouldn’t believe that it tastes that good and rich when it’s nothing but vegetables, cream, a little butter, salt, and pepper. Best of all, it’s a make-ahead recipe, so you can make it well in advance and on the day you serve it, it’s not much stress at all. By all means, make the pavé separately from the bison or beef. Serve it as a side with grilled steaks or anytime you want a side of potatoes.
But, speaking of stress, when we get to the directions, we’ll share a teeny tiny little lesson learned and a tip that can help you avoid a big mess we experienced once when we made this.
One tip before we get started, though: if you’re going to make this, invest in a decent mandoline slicer (I think you can get one for $30 or $40, though you can pay a lot more for one that’s more adjustable). It’s a good investment for slicing like you’ll be doing with the pavé.
This is a recipe from Workin'—More Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter, which is loaded with good stuff to cook, serve, and eat.
This serves 4, so make more.
INGREDIENTS
| Pavé 1 celery root, peeled and thinly sliced 4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced 1 rutabaga, peeled and thinly sliced 4 parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced 1 sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced 5 cups heavy whipping cream 2 tablespoons butter, melted salt and freshly ground pepper | Parsnip purée ½ cup chopped peeled parsnip ½ cup milk salt and freshly ground pepper Bison 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil 4 6-oz. bison tenderloin pieces (or beef filet mignon) salt and freshly ground pepper Garnish 1 cup hot meat stock reduction 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil |
DIRECTIONS
Prepare the pavé: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the vegetable slices in 5 separate bowls. Add 1 cup of the cream to each bowl and toss gently to coat the slices evenly. Line an 8-inch-square pan with aluminum foil and brush the foil with ½ tablespoon of the melted butter. Arrange a layer of the celery root slices in the bottom of the pan, overlapping them slightly, and lightly season with salt and pepper. Continue to layer with the rutabaga, parsnips, and sweet potato. Continue alternating layers until all the vegetables are used. Cover the pan tightly with a second sheet of aluminum foil brushed with ½ tablespoon of the butter. Place another 8-inch square pan over the foil and weigh it down with a brick or other heavy ovenproof object. Bake for 2½ hours, or until the root vegetables are tender. Leaving the weight on the pan, refrigerate the pavé for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
Now here’s our tip, followed by our lesson learned. Put a large jelly roll pan or something on the rack underneath the pavé while it bakes to catch any drippings that are pushed out. One of the times we made this (just once), a lot of the cream was pushed out as the pavé baked and was compressed under the weight of the second pan. The resulting smoke was what alerted us to the problem It was nearing the end of its baking time, so the pavé was fine when we took it out. We were preparing it two days ahead of our planned dinner, but our oven was on a tight schedule, so we decided we had better run the oven through its self-cleaning cycle immediately. A few hours later, I heard a wooshing, sucking sound and looked over to see smoke and a little flame puffing from the vent, and then being sucked back inside. Inside: flames. We turned off the self-cleaning cycle and the flames died quickly, and apart from the copious smoke, there was little issue. The next morning we wiped out the charred remnants by hand and safely ran the cleaning cycle again, resuming our cooking plans with no further issue. But that’s something best to avoid altogether. Have something underneath the pavé as it bakes.
When ready to serve, remove the pavé from the refrigerator, remove the pan and weight and the top foil, and invert the pavé onto a sheet pan. Remove the bottom foil and cut out four 2-inch squares (the remaining pavé will keep in the refigerator for several days). Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the pavé squares and cook 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Carefully turn the pavé squares and cook for 4 minutes, or until warmed through. (If the pavé is still warm in the middle, it can be heated in a 375°F oven for 5 minutes.)
Prepare the parsnip purée: Cook the chopped parsnip in the milk over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the parsnip is tender. Purée the parsnip with enough of the milk to make a smooth consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Prepare the bison: Prepare a medium-hot grill. Brush the grapeseed oil over the bison and season with salt and pepper. Grill the bison for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until medium-rare. Remove from the grill and let rest for 3 minutes. Trim the ends and slice each tenderloin piece into 3 pieces. Season the slice meat to taste with salt and pepper.
ASSEMBLY
Spoon some the parsnip purée in the center of each plate. Place a piece of the pavé just left of center on each plate and arrange the sliced meat in the center. Spoon the stock reduction over the bison and around the plate. Sprinkle with rosemary leaves and drizzle the olive oil around the plate.
Wine Notes
Choose something earthy. The cookbook recommends cabernet franc from the Loire, such as Saumur-Champigny. I’d also consider something from Chile, where the loamy terroir of their cabernet sauvignons and Bordeaux may provide the appropriate earthiness (and fit my taste a little better). Alternatively, if I really wanted to make Janette happy, we’d have a Bordeaux from St. Emilion: Figeac, for example.
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