Hearts of Palm with Puree of Marrow Beans

I had never had a heart of palm before this.  I was a little nervous about this (with my two picky eaters)... but when my bro-in-law said 'Hearts of Palm?  I frickin' LOVE hearts of palm,' I realized this was good to go.

Unanticipated?  He didn't like BEANS.  And neither does his fiancee.  How is that even possible, to not like beans?  I mean, aren't they like, a staple?  One of the few things that you can keep dried or canned, and can really find a way to incorporate into anything?  I mean, maybe its me, but... how can you not like something that you can eat with breakfast (breakfast burritos with black beans is a favorite), lunch (cold in salads or hot in soups), dinner (cassoulet, stews, anything mexican)???  I just don't get it.

This was a surprisingly multi-stepped meal, from what it looked like on the page.  First up: mushroom stock.  It was supposed to be truffle-infused mushroom stock, but I couldn't find any truffles locally (and I didn't remember to order one), so it was plain ol' 'shrooms.


Mis:

I blanched everything, diced it - 

Then cooked it all together and added water.  At least I assume I added water at some point, since it was stock.

Like all stocks, I strained it, strained it again, strained it again.  You had to be extra careful with not dumping the whole thing through, since there was a lot of dirt/icky stuff on the bottom.  

Next up: beans!

I soaked the beans for a long time (I don't remember how long, but it was like twice as long as the instructions said).

Then I simmer the beans, again for a very long time, with the aromatics.


Hearts of palm:

I had never worked with fresh hearts of palm before, and was totally surprised at how soft they were from the outside.  If I didn't know better (having gotten them from Specialty Produce, best place ever), I would think they were cooked already.  But, knowing they were raw, I cooked them more.

In the meantime, i got started on the filling: weighed the brioche (luckily I didn't need a lot, since me/angry toddler had totally ripped into the amazing Bread & Cie brioche when I bought it on friday morning)

Mis for the filling:

I processed the bread until it was crumbs:

Then added the mascarpone, salt, and pepper, and processed it more.  I finished by drizzling the truffle oil into the mixture.

By this point, the hearts of palm were cooked and cooled, so I set about cutting them:

Then hollowed them out.  The hollowing-out process sounded like it was going to be really difficult, but I found that my fingers (and fingernails) could actually poke the centers out pretty easily)

I picked the best out, then using a ziploc baggie and pastry tip, filled them (then leveled them off with an offset knife).

A few quick tomato diamonds and herbs for flavor...

Then it was time to cook the hearts of palm!  Breaded in panko, then sauteed on either end... I wish I could eat ALL my food this way!

(not pictured: the quick sauce I made with the stock, cooked beans, hearts of palm, herbs, the tomato diamonds, and more white truffle oil, or the chive oil that I already had in my fridge)

Assembled!

It was pretty good, especially the hearts of palm/beans/mushroom mix, but I didn't love the overwhelming sense of truffle oil.  Maybe it would have been better if I had the truffles that were supposed to be in the bean mix/stock.  I think that i'm just not a fan.  I love mushrooms, I love truffles, but truffle oil just seems.. fake... compared to truffles.  In short: a lot of work for something that was 'eh'... not staying on the permanent list.  You know, that list i'll make in 5 years, after i've cooked through all of Keller, when I will totally remember making this.