Salt and coffee roasted beet salad recipe

Ingredients

• 4 cups kosher salt
• 1 cup ground coffee
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large stems each of fresh dill, tarragon, and thyme, chopped into several pieces
• 1 ½ cups egg whites (about 1 dozen large), lightly whisked
• 1½ pounds mixed small to medium beets, preferably red, golden, and striped Chioggia, scrubbed but tails (root ends) left on

• 1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk
• ½ cup (4 ounces) heavy cream
• ½ small shallot, minced
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon (3 grams) low-acyl gellan gum
• Kosher salt and ground white pepper
• ½ cup (4 ounces) apple cider
• 2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
• 1 cup (8 ounces) dry red wine
• 4 fresh mission figs or rehydrated dried figs, quartered
• ½ cup fresh or frozen blackberries
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

• ½ small fennel head, about 3 ounces, sliced thin on a mandoline
• 1 grapefruit, preferably a Rio Star or other red variety, peeled and sliced into segments
• 4 ounces creamy fresh goat cheese
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Mâche sprigs, or pok choi, mizuna, watercress, or small mustard leaves, or chive blossoms

To Prepare the Beets
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Combine the salt, coffee, sugar, and herbs in a bowl. Mix in the egg whites. The mixture will feel like wet sand.
3. Pack about 1 inch of it in the bottom of a baking pan. You will want a deep pan or pans, perhaps a pair of bread loaf pans. If any beets are appreciably larger than the others, or larger than 1 ½ inches in diameter, cut them in half.
4. Arrange the beets in the pan(s) and pack the salt mixture around them as fully as possible. Bake for 50–60 minutes, until the beets are tender. Poke around with the tip of a paring knife to check.
5. Remove the cooked beets from the salt mixture and rinse them off. Keeping the different colors separate, peel the beets, leaving a few of the better-looking beet tails in place. Place the beets in a bowl, cover them, and chill them in the refrigerator until needed.
To Prepare the Buttermilk Gel
6. Combine the buttermilk, cream, shallot, horseradish, and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil (it will bubble up).
7. Stir in the gellan gum and return the mixture to a boil.
8. Cool over an ice bath, season with salt and pepper, and chill in the refrigerator until needed.
To Prepare the Fig Blackberry Puree
9. Pour 2 tablespoons of the apple cider into a small ramekin, sprinkle the gelatin over it, and let it sit for several minutes.
10. Combine the rest of the cider, wine, both fruits, sugar, and vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook until the mixture reduces by about half, about 5 minutes.
11. Stir in the gelatin-cider mixture and bring to a boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Cool over an ice bath and chill in the refrigerator until needed.
Putting it all together
12. Swoosh several spoonfuls of fig-blackberry puree across the center of each of 4 plates. Arrange the beets over the puree. You want to divide the colors out somewhat equally among the plates, and stand a beet or 2 in each serving so that its tail is wagging in the air. You can cut some of the beets in chunks if needed to portion them. Strive for a nice mixture of the different colors. Lean fennel slices around and between the beets and then add a few grapefruit segments. Spoon a couple of small mounds of buttermilk gel on each plate. Scatter cheese on each and drizzle with a bit of olive oil, enough to make everything glisten. Garnish with sprigs or leaves and serve.