Provençal Vegetable Plate with Black Truffle

For the poultry stock

1. Add the celery, carrots, and button mushrooms to the white stock in a large pot.

2. Sear the onion halves cut-side down on a flat top or dry skillet until deeply browned and caramelized.

3. Add the ducks and hens, black peppercorns, and caramelized onions to the pot.

4. Simmer gently, skimming the foam and impurities off the surface continuously, for 1 hour.

   Then 60 min of waiting

For the dried vegetable broth

5. In a pot, heat olive oil and sauté the fresh carrots, onion, celery, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and crushed black pepper until softened without browning.

6. Add the mixed dried vegetable scraps to the pot.

7. Deglaze with the geranium vinegar.

8. Pour in the carrot juice, bring to a simmer, and cook rapidly for 10 minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavors.

9. Place the pickled geranium leaves in a sieve over a bowl, pour the reduced broth through it, and let infuse for a few minutes.

   Then 5 min of waiting

10. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve or cloth into a clean pan.

For the leaf condiment

11. In a mortar, pound the washed vegetable leaves with the pulp of the roasted lemon, a small spoonful of mustard, and olive oil to create an emulsified green paste.

For the vegetables and assembly

12. Wash, trim, and peel the carrots, radishes, baby zucchinis, baby leeks, baby fennel, green beans, snow peas, and artichokes. Place them in ice water after trimming.

    Reserve all vegetable peelings and scraps, dry them in a dehydrator or low oven, and save them for making vegetable broth.

13. Peel the outer layer of the black truffle and finely chop the peelings to use in the sauce.

14. In separate small pans with hot olive oil and a smashed garlic clove, gently cook the carrots, radishes, baby zucchinis, leeks, and fennel over medium-low heat with lids on, adding a pinch of salt to release their natural moisture, until tender.

15. Glaze the radishes with a splash of vinegar in their pan.

16. Blanch the green beans and snow peas in salted boiling water for 1 minute, then transfer to ice water to stop the cooking and preserve their bright green color.

17. In a separate pan, sear the prepped artichokes in olive oil with garlic, deglaze with white wine, cover, and cook until tender and slightly caramelized.

18. Arrange the cooked and blanched vegetables tightly into a round ring mold to form a structured bouquet.

19. In a pan, melt a knob of butter, add the finely chopped truffle peelings, then pour in a splash of the strained poultry stock.

20. Place the vegetable ring inside the pan and spoon the warm truffle sauce repeatedly over the vegetables to rehydrate and glaze them, about 4–5 minutes.

    Then 4 min of waiting

21. Finish the pan sauce with a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena IGP and olive oil to form a vinaigrette-style emulsion.

22. Spoon a base of the leaf condiment into a shallow serving bowl.

23. Carefully remove the vegetables from the pan, lift off the ring mold, and place the vegetable bouquet onto the leaf condiment.

24. Garnish with shaved black truffle, oxalis flowers, lemon caviar, and pickled geranium leaves.

25. Pour the warm dried vegetable broth around the plate just before serving.

26. To roast a lemon for the leaf condiment, bake a whole lemon at 460°F (240°C) until softened, scoop out the roasted pulp, and discard the seeds and rind.

27. All vegetable scraps (peels, tops, trimmings) are dried and stored in airtight glass jars to be used as an ingredient for the dried vegetable broth.