Francois Pienaar’s wife, Nerine, contacted Neill to cook for a dinner party for friends being hosted in their home in Clifton. Renowned for their warm and generous hospitality, an invitation to dinner at the Pienaar’s is highly anticipated and an invitation to cook for it is something that Neill always looks forward to.
What’s on the menu at the Pienaar’s dinner party?
- Ham hock croquettes, truffled pea puree, fried quail egg
- Cottage cheese gnocchi, yellowtail, lemon emulsion
- Chocolate soup with whipped custard
Neill sources most of his ingredients at Wellness Warehouse as they not only support local suppliers but carry a wide range of healthy organic products. You can shop online by visiting: www.wellnesswarehouse.com
Recipe 1: Ham Hock Croquettes with truffled pea puree and fried quail egg.
- 3 smoked ham hocks, pre-prepped
- Chickpea Flour
- Eggs to crumb
- Bread crumbs – Panko crumbs give it a great crunch!
- 500g cooked peas
- 500ml chicken stock
- 10 quail eggs
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Truffle oil
- Pea Shoots
HAM HOCKS:
- Boil whole ham hocks in a large pot for 2 to 3 hours or until cooked (bone comes out).
- Remove ham from cooking liquid, leave to rest and cool in a bowl.
- Turn up the heat of the liquid in the pot and reduce by half.
- Once ham hocks are cool, shred with hands.
- Add ladles of reduced liquid to bind and moisten shredded ham.
- Place the ham in a cling film lined metal tray and cover with cling film. Place another tray on top to weight it down before refrigerating overnight to set.
- Once ham hock is set, remove from fridge and cut into 2cm X 2cm cubes with a sharp knife.
- Crumb the ham hocks by coating cubes in flour, whisked egg and then bread crumbs.
- Place on tray and refrigerate till needed.
PEA PUREE:
- Cook peas and place in a blender
- Heat chicken stock in a pot (always use hot stock for purees!)
- Add chicken stock to the peas and blend slightly
- Add a drizzle of truffle oil, being careful not to overdo it as it is a strong flavour
- Blend again till smooth
- Season with salt and refrigerate till needed.
FINISHING:
HAM HOCK
- Heat oil for deep frying
- Deep fry crumbed ham hock till golden (about 4 minutes)
- Remove from oil and drain on paper towel.
PEA PUREE
- Heat pea puree and place in squeezie bottle
QUAIL EGG
- Heat a teaspoon of oil in pan.
- Remove the top of the quail egg with a small serrated knife
- Pour into non-stick pan.
- Cook for a few seconds till set and add a piece of butter. Cook until done with yolk still runny
- Remove from the pan and place on a piece of greased Clingfilm till needed.
TO ASSEMBLE
- Lightly dress your pea shoots with a touch of truffle oil and spread over the plates.
- Place 3 ham hock croquettes on each plate and top with a quail egg
- Add a squeeze of pea puree in the middle of the plate between the croquettes
- Top with a quail egg and serve
Recipe 2: Cottage Cheese gnocchi and yellowtail with a lemon emulsion.
GNOCCHI
- 250g Full fat cottage cheese (chunky)
- 1 egg yolk
- 85 g plain flour
- Salt and pepper
- Zest and juice of ½ a lemon
LEMON EMULSION
- Olive oil
- Salt
- juice of 2 lemons
YELLOWTAIL
- 10 X portions of 120g yellowtail fish fillets (at room temperature when cooking)
- Sea Salt
- Olive oil
- 1 lemon
- Baby spinach
- Baby rocket cress to garnish.
GNOCCHI:
- Bring large pot of salted water to the boil.
- Drain cottage cheese through a muslin cloth, hang for at least an hour or preferably overnight to remove the excess moisture.
- Remove cheese from muslin cloth and place into a metal bowl.
- Season with a touch of salt and pepper and add the lemon juice and zest
- Add the egg yolk and mix gently
- Add the flour and mix till combined. (Depending on how wet your mix is, you may need to use a touch more flour. But don’t overdo it as you want light, fluffy little pillows of gnocchi!)
- Once mixed, drop tablespoon sized rounds of the mix into the water and cook. (Be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Rather cook them in two or three batches.)
- You will know they’re done when they rise to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon, gently place on an oiled tray or plate and set aside for later.
LEMON EMULSION:
- Place lemon juice into a pan and season.
- Heat gently but don’t reduce the liquid
- Transfer the juice to a jug and whisk using a hand blender
- Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the juice to start emulsifying
- When it’s silky smooth and a pale yellow colour it’s ready. Set aside for later.
FINISHING:
GNOCCHI
- Heat oil in a medium non stock pan
- Sauté gnocchi in warm pan until golden in colour
- Add sprigs of fresh thyme for flavour
- When golden on all sides, remove and drain on paper towel
- To serve, refresh the gnocchi in a pan with a little oil
YELLOWTAIL
TIP: Make sure your fish fillets are as dry as possible and at room temperature when cooking
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees
- Heat a bit of oil in a pan
- Season fish fillets on both sides with sea salt
- Sear on both sides for +- 2 mins till a nice colour is achieved, but don’t cook all the way through
- Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and season with a touch of salt
- When ready to serve, heat the yellowtail in the bottom of the oven, together with the remaining lemon halves for about 5 minutes
- Wilt the spinach in a pot with a little butter. Remove and drain.
TO ASSEMBLE:
- Place 4 or 5 sautéed gnocchi onto plate
- Add a spoonful of spinach alongside the gnocchi
- Gently place the fish on top
Garnish with baby rocket cress, dress with lemon emulsion and serve.
Recipe 3: Warm chocolate soup with whipped custard
CHOCOLATE SOUP
- 200 g butter – melted
- 480 g dark chocolate, the best quality you can get
- 2 Tbs raw cacao nibs
- 460g egg whites
CUSTARD
- 200ml milk
- 6 egg yolks
- 100g caster sugar
- 1 vanilla pod, split and deseeded
PRE-PREP
CHOCOLATE SOUP:
- Bring a medium sized pot of water to a simmer.
- Put dark chocolate and cacao nibs in a metal bowl and melt over simmering water.
- In a separate pot, melt the butter
- Add the melted butter to the melted chocolate and mix gently to combine.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg whites until blended.
- At this point, it can be refrigerated till needed.
WHIPPED CUSTARD
- Heat milk, sugar, vanilla pod and vanilla seeds in a medium pot.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks.
- Remove vanilla pod and add warm milk to the egg yolks mixture.
- Return onto a medium heat, stir to thicken slightly and cook through.
- Remove from heat and allow to chill till needed.
FINISHING AND ASSEMBLING:
TIP: These take 9 minutes exactly and should be served straight out of the oven. So wait until the main course is done to finish this dish.
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
- Place 1 ladle of chocolate mixture into soup bowls,
- Bake at 180 degrees. (It should be just set on the outside and liquid in the middle)
- Whisk a dollop of mascarpone into the custard while soup is baking.
Remove soups from oven, top with cacao nibs and whipped custard and serve.