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.