Strawberry Panna cotta with a pepper and beetroot sauce

Panna Cotta


Ingredients

80ml strawberry sauce
250 ml full cream milk
300ml fresh cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
75 g castor sugar
2 tsp gelatine

Method

Combine the cream, milk, vanilla essence and sugar together in a pot and bring to the boil take off the heat.
Sprinkle the gelatine into 30 ml hot water and stir until the gelatine has dissolved. Add the gelatine to the milk and cream mixture. Strain this mixture through a fine sieve into a jug. Pour the strawberry mixture into ramekins and refrigerate until set, usually over night.

Beetroot and Pepper sauce

Ingredients

10 beetroot top and tailed
½ cup of sugar
400ml water
1tbsp ground pepper corns

Method

Place beetroot on to a tray and roast in the oven at 180 degrees celcius until cooked. Place the beetroot, sugar and water into a blender and blend. Bring the beetroot mix to the boil in a pot, turn down and simmer until the beetroot juice has reduced by a third. Strain through a fine sieve add the ground pepper and allow to cool in the fridge.

When the strawberry panna cotta’s have set de-mould them by dipping the ramekins in some hot water then invert them onto the serving plates. Drizzle some beetroot and pepper sauce onto them garnish the plates and serve. Makes enough for 4 portions.

This dessert recipe might sound a bit way out but try it. It has all the makings of a good dessert with a twist.

I came up with this dessert whilst having some fun at work using a few things we had lying around. The flavours worked so well together that we put it on the menu. Turned out to be one of our biggest selling desserts until we changed the menu and took it off. We disappointed a few people by taking it off but it was time for a change.

This dessert does sound a bit strange with the ground pepper in the sauce but it does tantalize ones palette. All the makings of a good dessert with a twist.

Poached Lightly Smoked Salmon Trout, Tagiatelle, Rocket And Basil Pesto

A quick and easy salmon pasta dish recipe to enjoy on a summers evening with that someone special.


250 grams lightly smoked salmon (skinless)

180 grams tagliatelle pasta preferably fresh

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp basil pesto ( freshly homemade pesto always better in this dish )

60 grams wild rocket leaves ( washed and dried )

30 grams good quality Parmesan cheese shavings

freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

Poach the salmon in a pan, make sure the fish is covered by the poaching liquid. Simmer the salmon for about 5 minutes or until it is cooked. Lift the salmon out of the water and cool slightly on a board, then flake into large pieces.

Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until al dente following the directions on the pack. Drain the pasta and return to a hot dry pan, add the oil and pesto toss together. Fold the rocket and salmon into the pasta and warm through until the rocket is slightly wilted. Divide between two warm plates, season with freshly ground salt and pepper and scatter on the Parmesan shavings. Can add another dimension to the dish by adding some chopped up sun dried tomatoes when you add the pesto and oil. If you are not into the smokey flavour just poach some fresh salmon and take off the skin before flaking it. Enjoy with a good bottle of chardonnay.

Simple Molecular Gastronomy

Time to start playing with your food,only for the rebel in you, no more yes mom. (insert evil laugh here) Down to business then. his is one subject that has taken off in the last few years and most chefs touch on it once in awhile and fanatical few do it in a awe inspiring way. Here are a few recipes to try and you may just surprise yourself and take them to a new level. Blueberry caviar, simple to do if you can source the ingredients and great fun to try. Use it on ice-cream or a garnish for your favourite dessert a teaspoon full in a glass of bubbly, way out and interesting.
To the recipe>>>

What you will need:

a few bowls
a fine mesh strainer
a very accurate kitchen scale
an immersion or stick blender (can use a normal blender)
a syringe (can use a traditional squeeze bottle)

250 grams blueberry juice
500 grams water
2.0 grams sodium alginate
2.5 grams calcium chloride

Mix the sodium alginate and blueberry juice, measure 100 grams blueberry juice with the sodium alginate and blend. Then mix in the rest of the carrot juice and set aside to let the air bubbles that where added by blending to dissipate. Then dissolve the calcium chloride into the water. Place the strainer into the bowl with the calcium chloride solution, so the strainer is nearly submerged. Suck some blueberry mix into the syringe or squeeze bottle. Slowly squeeze drops of blueberry mix into the strainer in the calcium chloride mix. Try to make the drops about the size of salmon eggs. Let the caviar set for 30 to 45 seconds. The amount of time you wait will determine the wall thickness of the caviar, you want the caviar to hold together but, pop in your mouth when eaten. Rinse the blueberry caviar by moving the strainer out of the calcium chloride solution into fresh water. Should be used straight away but can stand in the fridge over night. Starts to solidify but is still perfectly edible. Have fun with this recipe for now.

Easy Recipes For Success

Having been a professionel chef for eight or so years, I have had many requests from my friends, mainly guys on what to cook for their partners on special occasions. Usually they need something really easy to prepare that is affordable and will be a palatal orgasm on a plate. Hopefully they have done their homework and found out what their partners, likes and dislikes are, making my task a little easier to accomplish. My record is 100% happy customers so far, using fool proof tried and tested recipes that I have used and perfected from my own and other chefs experiences. Here is a quick and easy seafood recipe that really works well and has never let me down. Just make sure your partner has no shellfish allergies with this one, could be an end of a relationship, you have been warned.

Crispy Prawns and Scallops in a Red Curry Sauce.
Serves 2

250 g raw prawns, deveined and peeled, leaving the tail on
125 g cleaned scallops
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium ripe tomato, diced
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest as garnish

Combine prawns, scallops, oil and red curry paste in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour. Heat a heavy-based frying pan until it is very hot. Toss the seafood in the curry paste to coat it well and fry in small batches, tossing frequently until done. Dont overcook seafood or it will become tough. Remove pan from heat and add the seafood, lemon juice and diced tomatoes and stir well. Serve with steamed rice and a few lemon wedges and a nice glass of crisp white wine. Finish the meal with a chocolate dessert the way to a womans heart. Awesome food, stunning evening and all done by you, can only be a win win outcome. Enjoy.