MINTY FRESH

How stunning is this mint, its such a strong green color, looks so healthy and has reached the size it is without  being pumped with chemicals and hormones....WHY.... because it comes from my garden.

I used it for my demonstrations at Good Food and Wine Show.

GOOD FOOD AND WINE SHOW WITH ALVIN

Last weekend was the Good Food and Wine Show in Joburg and SMEG had a stand with Foodiction and Spekko, we had the spekko competition running on the stand the whole weekend and then on sunday the winner was announced BUT the most exciting part was that Alvin Quah from Masterchef Australia was on our stand judging the competition and doing daily demos.

The show was packed on Saturday and Sunday so much so you could barely walk from stand to stand but there were a few gem stands with a difference, the one that stood out the most was the beer stand where they put a plastic cup on a disc and it filled with beer from the bottom up, fantastic concept and great interest from lots of people, right opposite it was a "new style" pork stand that served the most amazing ribs i have had in a long time.

The other new interesting stand I really loved was the flavoured, alcoholic cream in a can...so basically its like Orley whip cream in a can you get but it had 4 flavours, chocolate and cherry being my favourite but it was alcoholic so great for desserts, to top on hot chocolates and coffees, actually to top on just about anything :) ha ha.

JUDGING IN ISTANBUL,TURKEY

I was extremely privileged to be invited to judge at the 2011 Jeune Chefs Chaine des Rotisseurs competition this month in Istanbul, it was the competition I won last year and it was so interesting to be on the judging side this year.

Istanbul is amazing, it never sleeps, there is bumper to bumper traffic at midnight, you only really go the restaurants and 10pm for dinner, and the people are really accommodating.

I walked to Taksim square the one evening and it was hilarious to see Mc Donalds and Burger King slap bang in between all the beautiful Turkish restaurants. Sampling the street food was divine, but there beef is ummmm, interesting, I tried shish kebabs, simit, some sort of cheese and egg baked thing, Turkish delight, fresh and dried dates, spices, fruits, felafel filled with chicken and so much more I cant remember.

But there are 3 things I had that stood out the most, the apple tea - it seems drinking tea is their past time and its served in these stunning little glasses, Turkish coffee which you should definitely not have before you want to sleep and then from this little patisserie i tried what i thought was a savoury bagel type thing with hazelnuts on top but was actually filled with a chocolate, raisin and cinnamon filling, it was divineeeeeee.

I also went on a dinner cruise down the Bosphourous river which was spectacular, we had dinner on board and belly dancing, the bubbles where flowing and it was still boiling hot at midnight.

OK enough about my memorable experience back to the competition, there were 21 competitors from all over the world, their black box was a giant lobster, rack of lamb with 21 bones, figs, aubergines and a leek.

The kitchen I just have to boast held 6 SMEG ovens, in turkey, cool hey. The competitors settled in quickly and then the judging started. There were 4 kitchen judges from Australia, Canada, France and me from SA.

We worked as a great team and they were so willing to spread their knowledge of judging onto me and for that I'm very greatful.

The winner of the young chefs competition was from USA, 2nd from Germany and 3rd from Columbia.

All in all it was an unforgettable experience that I would love to do again...OH YES I forgot to add I was invited back to judge next year, BERLIN, here we come :)

OFF TO TURKEY

Its T minus 3 days till Im off to turkey to judge the chaine des rotisseurs young chefs competition, I cant wait to sample turkish cuisine, shop around in the the spice markets, be a tourist before my work there starts.

so no blogging for 2 weeks and when im back i will fill my blog with pics of all the stunning food I ate and places I saw.

LOUIS ROEDERER CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH

I was very privileged to be able to go to the Louis Roederer champagne brunch on Sunday morning at the Hyatt hotel.

It was absolutely mind blowing, besides the fact that your champagne glasses were never allowed to be empty and were constantly being topped up either with the Louis Roederer Brut 2004 and Louis Roederer Rose 2006, but we were also all treated to a glass of Louis Roederer Cristal 2004, wow, amazing, words cannot describe.

On top of the endless supply of champagne was an endless supply of food that once again was out of this world, where even as a chef I did not know where to start.

There were tables of breads, cheeses, cold meats, salads, seafood from spider crab clause to giant prawns to lobsters, then a roast leg of beef that was so huge I don't even want to know what the actual size of the animal was, whole baby pork, curries and stews, one of my favourites was white wine risotto served in a giant Parmesan wheel so as you scrapped some of the risotto onto your plate the heat of the risotto had melted some of the Parmesan and you scrapped a cheesy, creamy risotto.

I'm sure I have forgotten a lot of the other savoury food but I have to move onto the dessert which could have been awarded a gold medal, besides from the presentation of all the decadent desserts the taste of each was amazing.

I think I sampled everything from mini tiramisu cakes to macaroons, mini chocolate mousse domes, puff pastry crisps, homemade ice creams, apple strudels with vanilla sauce, baumkuchen dipped in chocolate and YES I did eat all of it....

This Sunday was one of the high lights of my year.

LOOKING FOR A CHEF

Hello all

Im looking for an enthusiatic, easy going chef/person who would like to run their own coffee shop, I would need light lunches to be made with the menu changing every second day or so, have fresh cakes, muffins baked daily, no nights unless there is a function - not often, tues-sat, 8-5pm and sat 8-3pm.

Im happy to give this oppertuninty to a student fresh from chefs school if you willing to handle the stress and pressure of running it yourself.

You need to have good ideas, be neat, clean and presentable, have a good knowledge of food hygiene and menu costings.

If you are interested please email me on stacey@smegsa.co.za  The position is in johannesburg in fourways along william nicol.

Thanks

ANOTHER BEAUTY FROM THE GARDEN

Fresh parsley from the garden, our garden, home grown, the way to go, go green guys...

SUNDAY LUNCH

OCTOPUS PASTA

This was my Sunday lunch, Octopus pasta - Mauritian style, absolutely mouth wateringly delicious.

I bought baby octopus from La Marina, Miguel made his Mauritian tomato sauce, we quickly flash fried the octopus then added the tomato sauce and allowed it to simmer for 2 minutes.

We served it with al dente spaghetti that had been tossed in sauteed garlic, red onion and melted butter and finished off with some fresh chives stirred through.

The combination of the rich tomato and octopus sauce with the al dente herbed spaghetti was the perfect way to spend a Sunday lunch and OF COURSE we had bubbles with it.

BLACKEND SPRINGBOK LOIN

SPRINGBOK AND TOASTED SESAME SALAD

Instead of the usual hot beef salad, which is a great spring salad because its a warm salad while its still a little cool outside, BUT trying to use more local/traditional produce I want to change it to a springbok salad.

Remembering that springbok should not be over cooked and rare in the middle its delicious if you melt butter in a pan and as it starts to turn a golden nut colour place the springbok loin in and season well all over, brown on all sides then deglaze the pan with brandy and allow to flame. Remove the springbok and allow to rest. Slice thinly.

Make some black pepper and garlic croutons by cutting cubes of ciabatta, drizzle them with olive oil and black pepper and bake at 180'C until golden and crispy. Rub fresh garlic over them.

Toss some mixed lettuce leaves together, cut some cherry tomatoes in half, some blanched asparagus tips and fold together with the springbok and croutons and the liquid from the pan you browned your springbok in.

Crumble some goats feta on top and sprinkle a few toasted sesame seed over and serve while still warm.

DUCK AND RASPBERRY SALAD

SPRING RECIPE 2

These 2 flavours work together in harmony and produce a mouth watering dish, the tartness of the fresh raspberries and raspberry vinaigrette cut through the fatty richness of the duck.

Recipe:

1 small pkt watercress
1 small pkt mixed lettuce leaves
5 baby corns, cut into 3
10 mange touts, cut in half
2 cakes black pepper feta
2 cooked duck breasts, crispy skin but pink inside
1 punnet fresh raspberries
50ml raspberry vinaigrette
100ml grape seed oil
seasoning

Method:

Toss all together and serve with some warm homemade wholewheat bread, slightly toasted and rubbed with garlic.

WOMENS DAY ARTICLE

This was an article that came out on womens day from the HOTEL AND RESTAURANT MAGAZINE

GOOOOOOO WOMEN................

Plea for more recognition of women in tourism

August 8th, 2011 by Andrew Moth | Categories: food, hotels, industry, people, restaurants, tourism, training

In the picture above is Stacey Lee Chan, one of the growing number of women chefs helping to expand the appeal of the South African hospitality industry as a career choice.

A plea for greater recognition of the role played by women in the tourism and hospitality industries has been made by Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU), on the eve of National Women’s Day tomorrow.
Although women performed key roles and responsibilities at all levels of the Western Cape’s tourism industry, their valuable contribution was not always acknowledged, he said.
“Tourism and hospitality are labour-intensive industries providing ample opportunities for women with their unique strengths and abilities to thrive. Significant progress has been made, but we are concerned that in some of the sub-sectors women are still struggling to break through the proverbial glass ceiling,” Gilfellan said today.
“Although women are well-represented in the tourism industry, too many occupy the lower echelons of the employment structures. It is time that more of them are employed as general managers, directors of companies and senior executives in government and other agencies.”
In recognition of the importance of women in the industry, CTRU fully supports the following United Nations World Tourism Organisation proposals to elevate the role of women in tourism:

• The general improvement of the role and status of women in the tourism industry
• Create awareness of the opportunities available to women at all levels of the travel and tourism industry
• Ensure that women’s matters and gender equality are high on the agendas of tourism policy and legislative processes
• Support good training, development and career opportunities for women in or wanting to enter the industry
• Support policy and legislation that provides for equal opportunity and equal pay for female employees
• Strongly speak out against sexual and other exploitation of women and children in the industry
• Acknowledge and celebrate women’s immense contribution to the industry

SPRING BLOSSOMS

I had decorex for the past few days and in the estate where it was being held I came across this tree that was blossoming, they are the first sign of spring and so gorgeous I just had to take a picture.

These blossoms make me think of a stunning warmish Saturday afternoon brunch with warm bagels filled with smoked trout, cream cheese, freshly sliced avocado and a good squeeze of lemon juice and cracked black pepper with a glass of rose bubbles, all seated under a blossom tree.

Spring brings along a stunning assortment of fruit and vegetables, use whats in season as its at its best.

Enjoy spring and keep watching and reading for some stunning simple, yet classy and sassy spring recipes.

TOFU AND CHICKEN SOUP

For everyone who doesn't like tofu or doesn't know how to cook it and serve it here is a simple way to make tofu taste mouth watering.

Firstly it has to be fresh fresh tofu, which you can normally get at any Chinese shop.

Then you make a strong chicken broth and put the tofu in when it boiling hot so it basically poaches the tofu.

The tofu will then cook in this broth and absorb all the flavours of the broth.

Serve the broth with some freshly chopped spring onions, if you don't go back for a second bowl something is wrong with you :)

Enjoy TOFU...

SECOND ATTEMPT

So the first time attempt at making rotis was ummmm, not so successful but Miguel made these the other night and that are divine, correct texture and taste and yet no disrespect his dads rotis are the ultimate best.

I love being married to a Mauritian, it opens up so many more doors on the culinary side, their food is so flavourful and different and I love having the opportunity to learn and eat a different style of food on a daily basis.

YUMMY rotis

HOME GROWN MUSHROOMS

Miguel and I bought a "grow-your-own" mushroom kit from the garden shop a few weeks ago and are now able to reap the benefits. After daily spraying of water in a sunny room that doesn't reach over 25'C, covered with a plastic bag to form the condensation, we have grown our first round of white oyster mushrooms and its fantastic.

Its so much more rewarding having a dinner with the produce that you have grown either from your garden or from a box( ha ha).

So dinner tonight will be a simple home- grown garlic and butter sauteed mushroom pasta and I think I will use the tomato and chili flavoured linguine I got from Italy.

REMEMBER 2 rules when cooking mushrooms...

1. Always cook your mushrooms in butter, the nutty butter flavour compliments the mushrooms well
2. always finish your cooking of mushrooms with a good squeeze of lemon, this adds a nice bite to the lemons and cuts through the butter as well.

If you remember these 2 rules your mushrooms will always be delectable.

HERE ARE SOME PICS OF OUR MUSHROOMS



BISCUIT MILL

I was in Cape Town over the weekend and went to the biscuit mill on saturday morning. I havnt been there in 2 years since I moved to joburg and was so pleased to see that it still attracts so many people that are all interested in amazing food, organic food, wine and coffee. There is no better way than to spend a morning there looking at all the passionate food stalls from fresh organic mushrooms, to honey to vegan food to organic chocolate and pastries to die for.

I couldnt resist buying a few things there as I was having family round for a dinner that evening. These are the fabulous mushrooms that I bought, organic south african proscuitto that was mouth watering. Just look at the freshness of it all.

I just scored then because I wanted to grill them

Pink oyseter mushrooms

PICTURES FROM HOTEL AND RESTAURANT

If you go onto www.hotelandrestaurant.co.za you will see the artical on the competition I won, but here are some of the pictures...

My winning dish

Concentrating on plating up

All the people that won in different categories, trying to smile with a mouth full of stiches after having a mouth op a few days earlier

IL LEONE

On wednesday night I went to Il leone and had the most amazing night, the food and wine was flowing til we literally rolled out of there.

We started with a bottle of processco that is absolutly the yummiest sparkling wine from Italy and a cold meat platter.

The rest of our friends joined and we went through to our table, we then all shared starters of amatriciana spaghetti and capreze salad with proper buffalo mozzarella.

My 3 other guests all had the special of beef fillet on the bone and vegetables while I tried the homemade gnocchi with bolognaise sauce, all was fantastic and was washed down by a delicious red.

We then finished the night with traditional tiramisu and homemade ice-cream and chocolate sauce and coffees.

Besides from the food being out of this world the atmosphere set the tone for a fantastic evening and staff were very professional and friendly, even the chef came to check we were alright and opened the kitchen early to make us a cured meat platter while we were waiting.

Everyone in cape town who hasnt been to IL Leone is missing out on a fabulous night.

INTERESTING WEEKEND

This was a very eventful weekend for me, on saturday morning I competed in the Hudson and Knights pastrex and mastercraft competition and I came 1st in the professional chefs section.

Then in the evening I was upgraded in the Chaine des Rotisseurs to Vice Conseuillier Culinaire, part of the joburg baillage commitee.

I will also be the inaugural chair for the young chefs club that is starting soon and will work along side Francis Krone as he heads up the young sommeliers club.

So a good weekend all round, being a chef really opens up a lot of oppertunities

COMPETITION DISH

I got through to the finals of the Mastercraft and Pastrex competition that is taking place this Saturday at SACA.

The dish im producing is a...

Caramelized onion and porcini mushroom mille- feuille with pan fried prawns, accompanied by a lightly curried cauliflower puree and a drunken grape vinaigrette.

This was the picture I entered for the competition but I'm going to change the plating for the final.

Hold thumbs everyone :)

RICE SOUP

Rice soup, for most people who have not tried rice soup they way my husband make it, they would think that it sounds horrible, tasteless and gluey, BUT when its flavoured up with soaked shitake mushrooms, chicken breasts and mushroom soy, its one of the most satisfying soup, especially in this cold weather.

He of course tops his bowl with freshly chopped chili and coriander which I'm sure just adds even more flavour and texture to the soup, I on the other hand like the subtle flavours of the mushroom and chicken.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice, soaked
1 handfull dried shitake mushrooms, soaked until soft
2 chicken breasts
500ml vegetable stock
45ml mushroom soy
salt
pepper
chopped coriander - optional
chopped chili - optional

Method:

• Place the rice, drained shitake mushrooms and whole chicken breast into a pot with the stock and cook until the rice is soft.
• Remove the chicken breast and roughly chop up, set aside.
• Blitz the soft rice and mushrooms so that its chunky then add the chicken back into the soup and on a low heat, season the soup to your taste, allow flavours to infuse for a while and if to thick add more stock to thin out.
• Serve with fresh chili and chopped coriander

PALAZZO WINE DINNER

On saturday night the Palazzo Hotel at Monte Casino held a shiraz wine dinner. We drank shiraz right the way through each course, even with the dessert and the pairing were fantastic. The food was simple yet elegant and every plate was hot and tasty.

The dessert was exeptionally interesting as nothing on the dish was actually sweet except the strawberry ice cream but that had a roasted spiced red pepper dust over and yet the whole dish with the wine worked so well.

You should all go the the southern sun wine pairing dinners, they are exceptionally informative from certified sommelier Miguel Chan, you can see when and where they are on the southern sun website.

SQUID INK PASTA

My husband recently came back from Italy and he brough me back squid ink spaghetti. Last night he cooked it and tossed it through a mixture of green olives, onions, olive oil, white wine, parsley and chives and we finished it off with some truffle oil.

It was the most amazing tasting pasta I have eaten in ages. Simple, sophisticated and elegant.

HIRSCHS DEMONSTRATIONS

Hello All, sorry I havnt blogged for ages it been quite a hectic past few weeks, I have been in durban for the past week doing winter demonstrations in the hirschs store, in umhlanga and hillcrest and tomorrow a chocolate course in Ballito.

Im trying to bring back some of the tradtional dishes and make them more lively and enjoyable but easy for people to be able to make at home.

On the menu for the past week was...

Beef wellington with honey roasted vegetables and fresh herbs
Cinnamon and mint chocolate cream with homemade shortbread and dark chocolate brownies to dunk.

Here is a simple recipe and a few pictures that where taken.

Beef wellington

Ingredients:

1x whole beef fillet, cleaned

30ml oil

2 punnet mushrooms, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

30g butter

1x roll of ready-made puff pastry

1 egg

Seasoning

Method:

Brown the beef fillet all over to seal in all the juices then set aside.

In a hot pan melt the butter then add the finely chopped onion and sauté until lightly golden then add the mushrooms and cook until a dry mushroom mix, all the excess water needs to be cooked out. Season the mixture.

Unroll the puff pastry and lay in front on you, cover all over with a thin layer of the mushrooms, leaving 2cm open around the outside.

Lay the beef fillet in the middle and roll the pastry up over the beef. Seal the fold with egg wash, turn over and place the seam on the baking tray, egg wash over the pastry then bake at 180’C until the pastry is puffed and golden.

 Honey roasted root vegetables

Ingredients:

4 carrots cut into chunks

4 potatoes cut into chunks

4 parsnips cut into chunks

4 beetroots cut into chunks

100ml honey

100ml oil

Seasoning

Method:

Place all the vegetables cut into chunks in a roasting tray, drizzle over the oil and seasoning and roast until almost cooked.

Drizzle over the honey and allow caramelizing over the vegetables then serve with a slice of beef wellington.

CHEFS MAGAZINE

Hello All

Go look at the latest Chef Magazine issue 23, Im on page 29 commenting on Silwood School of Cookery.

LENTILS, LENTILS, LENTILS

Lightly curried lentils with layers of aubergine,topped with creamy mozzarella

I made this dish in durban the other evening for a function and everyone loved it, its great for vegetarians

Ingredients:

1 onion, finelly chopped

60g butter

15ml curry powder

250g lentils, soaked overnight

100ml white wine

2 cans, whole peeled tomatoes

3 aubergines, sliced and grilled

1 block mozzarella, grated

seasoning

Method:

• Melt the butter into a pot and saute the onions until lightly golden, add the curry powder and cook it for a few minutes.
• Drain off the soaked lentils and add to the pot, stirr for a few minutes then add 100ml white wine, once cooked away add the tinned tomaotes and stir every so often.
• Once the lentils are soft season well and set aside.
• Slice the aubergines lenghtways, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil, season well and throw some torn basil leaves all over, bake in the oven until lightly golden.
• Get a oven proof baking dish, spoon a layer of lentils down then top with a aubergine layer, sprinkle a little cheese, then continue this until all the lentils are finished and top with a final layer of cheese.
• Bake in the oven at 180'C for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and gratinated.
 
Serve with a nice roasted vegetable salad.
 

 



VEGETABLES AND LAVENDAR

Now I have tried a lot of different fresh herbs with my roasted vegetables but on sunday when we braaied we put some fresh lavendar sprigs in and roasted the vegetables on the braai. I will admit I was very skeptical at first because I thought it would totally overpower the vegetables and I was leaning more to lavendar being associated with sweet things...BUT I was sorely mistaken.

The subtle lavendar flavour just coated the vegetables and left a gently lingering flavour of lavendar on the palate which was fantasticly scrumptious. We also added  fresh thyme and butter to the vegetables but the lavendar was the distant flavouring and it worked really well.

So if you are roasting vegetables and you dont have rosemary, lavendar works just as well. TRY IT

BREAD ON THE BRAAI

Yesterday with the weather being so stunning I decided to stay at home and braai instead of going out, my husband always wants to experiment so he decided to make mini springonion and sesame seed bread rolls on the braai and they were absolutely divine.

He made the bread dough and allowed it to prove, then he folded in fresh springonions and sesame seeds, rolled it out, brushed with olive oil then folded up and allowed to prove for a little while and then straight onto the braai.

They had such a stunning flavour from the springonion and toasted sesame seeds and then the smoky braai flavour, you should definitly try these at home.

RECIPE:

850g flour
50g bran
10g yeast
15g salt
15g sugar
350ml water
300ml milk
3 springonions
45g sesame seeds
olive oil

METHOD:

• Heat the milk and water in a microwave for 1 minute, then add the sugar and the yeast and leave for 10 minutes.
• In a kenwood combine the flour, bran and salt then add the wet mixture and mix until all combines then knead in the kenwood for 7 minutes, the dough should be pulling away from the sides and form a ball, if not add more flour or more liquid.
• Cover the mixture and allow proving until double in size.
• Cut the springonion, knock back the dough and fold in the springonions and sesame seeds.
• portion into little balls, roll out and brush olive oil over then fold up and leave to prove for 15 minutes.
• Place onto the braai but only turn when you see a golden crust forming on the bottom of the bread. Turn over and cook on the other side.
• Serve hot with the meat and vegetables

NATIONAL CHAINE COMPETITION

Its the National Chaine des Rotisseurs young chefs competition next thursday at nestle, they will be competing for the international round which will be held in Turkey,Istanbul in september.

Its a mystery basket competition with the basket leaning towards turkish influenced foods where the competitors have 3 hours to cook and 3 course meal for 4 people, they then have their food crit by 6 professional judges and watched in the kitchen by 2 kitchen judges.

Every establishment should aid their young chefs to compete and better their skills and knowledge, and this competition is the way forward for them.

WHAT A FIND

Today I found out that there is a shop in boksburg that is called the UK emporium, and its like a mini supermarket with all UK products from food to beverages to toileries, how about that, a shop that sells overseas produce right on my door step and I didnt have a clue.

I cant wait to go shopping and see what the UK has to offer right here in johannesburg.

Lai Lai Gardens

I heard from a friend that this restuarant Lai Lai gardens in Illovo is fantastic, its in the thrupps centre. Im going to go try it out on sunday, its the best day to go but you have to book.

Will give it a write up on monday.

PETITS FOURS

On saturday I will be at Petits Fours deli doing a hands on demonstration on yeast based patisserie items and tea time treats.

Avocado magazine will be there to shoot pictures of the demo and place it in next months magazine.

The menu will be...

Homemade ciabatta bread
Croissants
Hands on roast chicken and butternut quiche
Hands on icing and garnishing orange cake

So look out for it it the next avocado magazine

GRAND DESIGNS SUCCESS

Grand designs was a huge succes not only for SMEG but for the Live chefs theatre as well.

On friday I was in the chefs theatre demonstrating a menu consisting of Chicken, shitake and fresh herb springroll with a chilli and mint dipping sauce and then pan seared scallops with a lightly curried cauliflower puree with a druken sultana, red onion and gherkin vinegarette.

Then on the SMEG stand I demonstrated a simple dark chocolate, cinnamon and fresh mint fondue with coffee sponge, coconut marshmellos and citrus segments to be dunked in.

On saturday in the theatre again I demonstrated pan fried cob on a bed on sauted porcini and wooden ear mushrooms, dressed with a basil pesto dressing and a lemon sauce hollandaise.

On sunday on the SMEG stand we made a divine chicken curry which we served in the form of little bunny chows topped with a tomato, onion and fresh coriander salsa.

A good weekend all round with SMEG dominating Grand designs on many other stands and stalls.

STAR TOMATO

Has anyone seen a star tomato, this is what I found in my fruit basket yesterday ha ha ha, amazing what nature can do

WEDDING CAKE NO2

This is the 5 tierd wedding cake I made for a friends wedding on saturday... all 5 layers are a different flavour, the base is coffee then chocolate then almond then orange and the top is fruit cake.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

This was a menu I came up with in my 3rd year of chef school, its funny to see how quickly you grow being in the industry

Prosciutto wrapped fig skewers

~

Warm Goats cheese and asparagus tartlets

~

Venison carpaccio with a petit rocket and parmesan salad

~

Avocado Ritz with a twist

~

Mango and chilli sorbet

~

Black Trumpet crusted pan fried beef fillet with a red onion infused fondant potato and a panache of grilled vegetables with jus corse

~

White chocolate and frangelico panna cotta with poached summer berries and hazelnut biscotti

~

Fudge

Canapés

Prosciutto wrapped fig skewers

 Serves: 10

Ingredients:

5 very thin prosciutto slices

2 ½ ripe figs, quartered

15ml grated parmesan

Seasoning

Equipment:

 10 toothpicks/ 10cm skewers

 Method:

     ·        Cut each prosciutto slice lengthways into 2 strips.

·        Slice the figs into quarters then lay each quarter on a strip of prosciutto. Wrap up and secure together with a toothpick. Sprinkle over grated parmesan and season.

Preparation time:

 20 minutes

Plating:

 Remove the toothpick if desired and garnish with a chervil

Sorbet

Mango and chili sorbet

Serves: 10

Ingredients:

250ml water

250ml sugar

90g glucose

50g lemon juice

1 chili, deseeded and chopped

1kg mango, peeled and stoned

1 mango, peeled and sliced thinly

Equipment:

Ice cream machine

Blender

Fine chinoise

Stick stop

10 Chinese spoons

Method:

 ·        Combine the water, sugar, lemon juice and a chopped chili in a pot over a low heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved then turn up the heat and allow simmering for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat add the mango and blend until smooth. Pass through a fine chinoise, allow to cool in the fridge until cold then pour into the ice cream machine to churn.

·        Slice a mango thinly and dip into sugar syrup, place onto stick stop and place into the pass over night.

·        Once churned scoop into a container and freeze in the freezer. Scoop 10 balls and place into Chinese spoons.

Preparation time:

1 ½ hours not including freezing time

Plating:

Scoop 10 individual balls and place into Chinese spoons. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a dried mango crisp.

Friandise

Fudge

Serves: 10

Ingredients:

330g granulated sugar

100ml water

1 can condense milk

60g butter

30ml golden syrup

Equipment:

20x20cm tin, greased well

Method:

·        Dissolve the sugar in the water then bring to the boil. Add the condense milk, butter and syrup.

·        Allow simmering, stirring occasionally until the mixture is half way between soft and hard boil on the sugar thermometer. Remove from the heat and beat with a electric beater until the mixture holds a ribbon.

·        Pour into a greased tin and allow setting.

Preparation and cooking time:

30 minutes and 30 minutes