Express meal: Duck egg, parmesan and shaved asparagus
INGREDIENTS
- 6 to 7 asparagus spears
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- Squeeze of lemon Juice
- Salt to taste
- 1 shallot – finely sliced
- Red chilli, chopped to taste
- Butter
- 1 duck egg
- 1 Garlic clove. peeled
- Baby salad leaves
- Parmesan cheese, couple of shavings
- Toasted ciabatta (optional)
METHOD
- With a peeler, shave the asparagus into a large bowl, slice the leftover stems into thin roundels and add to the bowl.
- Drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of a lemon, season with salt and set aside.
- Add shallot and chilli.
- For the duck egg, heat a non stick pan to medium heat. Add olive oil and knob of butter. As soon as the butter starts to foam, drop in the duck egg. Reduce temperature. Cook for a minute and a half to two minutes, basting with the foaming butter.
- For the last 10 seconds, drop in a clove of garlic.
- Remove from the heat
- Add the mixed salad leaves to the asparagus mixture. Toss
- Pile leaves on a plate.
- Top with duck egg.
- Top with parmesan shavings.
Recipe 1: Tomato, melon and olive tartare with parmesan crisp
INGREDIENTS
MELON AND TOMATO TARTARE
- 1/2 very ripe spanspek (orange flesh), peeled, deseeded and diced
- 8 plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, deseeded and diced
- 1 red medium heat chilli, finely diced
- 10 deseeded black olives, finely chopped
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Olive oil
PARMESAN CRISP
- Parmesan cheese
GRANITE
- 1 bunch basil
- 1 bunch coriander
- 1 cup olive oil
- 10 tomatoes, concassed
- 2 red onions, quartered
- 1 celery, roughly chopped
- 1 cucumber, roughly chopped
- 1 ltr tomato cocktail
TO SERVE:
- 200g fresh whipped goats cheese
- 100g semi-hard goats cheese
- Olive oil
PRE-PREP
TARTARE:
- Add ingredients into bowl. Add salt.
- Place in colander over bowl and leave to drain excess moisture for an hour or so.
- Reserve liquid.
PARMESAN CRISP
- Microplane parmesan onto non-stick baking mat
- Bake till crisp
GRANITE
- Put all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and leave to infuse in the fridge overnight
- Blend well, season with salt and pepper
- Strain
- Pour into a freezer safe container, cover and freeze
FINISHING
- Take frozen granite out to soften slightly
- Scrape a bit of the top and add to 1/2 cup unfrozen gazpacho. Warm and reduce slightly.
- Whisk parmesan olive oil into drained liquid to form a dressing
- Scrape granite with two forks.
- To finish the tartate, add olive oil and chilli to a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the concasse, chopped black olives and melon dice.
- Shape tartare onto each plate with a ring cutter, serve with a rouche of fresh whipped goats cheese, microplaned goats cheese, gapacho viniagrette , shards of parmensan crisp and scraped granite. Finish the plate with a drizzle of olive oil.
Recipe 2: Yoghurt crusted Springbok Leg, Aubergine Puree, Tomato Chutney
INGREDIENTS
- 1x Springbok Leg
- 2 Tbsps smoked paprika
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp fennel seed
- 1 Tbsp ground coriander
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 litre Double cream yoghurt
- 10 cloves garlic – crushed
- juice of a lemon
- salt
- 100ml olive oil
- 125g butter, cubed
AUBERGINE PUREE
- 4 aubergines
- Salt
TOMATO CHUTNEY
- 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 red chilli, chopped
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- Can of chopped, peeled tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
- Salt and freshly milled pepper
RATATOUILLE
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 yellow pepper, diced
- olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
- Couple of thyme stalks
- Salt
- 6 large courgettes, cut into half and then into quarters
- 1 bunch mint
- 100ml olive oil
TO SERVE
- Wilted baby spinach
METHOD
PRE-PREP:
AUBERGINE PUREE
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- Score the aubergines, pop onTO a roasting tray and roast for 30 minutes or until tender.
- Scrape all the flesh out of the skins while the aubergines are still warm, drain off the extra moisture through a colander.
- Season well with salt.
- Puree until smooth.
LAMB
- To a small bowl add smoked paprika, ground coriander, fennel seeds, ground cumin, olive oil, mustard and yogurt and mix welll.
- Pour the marinade over the springbok and rub it all over.
- Leave overnight to marinade.
- In a blender, mix together crushed garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest and olive oil. Set aside to use as baste.
TOMATO CHUTNEY
- Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil for about 5 minutes.
- Add the chilli and sugar and stir.
- Add the can of chopped tomatoes. Cook down for about 10 minutes.
- Add red wine vinegar.
- Add tomato trimmings from tomato tartare if you have, cook for a further 20 minutes. Season well and set aside.
FINISHING:
- Sauté peppers in olive oil, garlic and thyme for about 3 minutes, Season with salt and tip onto a roasting tray to stop cooking process.
- Warm the tomato chutney
- Get a large pan smoking hot, add olive oil. Brush excess marinade off the springbok, leaving a layer of marinade and carefully lay down in the hot pan. Cook, in batches, for about 3-5 minutes on a side, leave to rest in a roasting tray. Add cubed, cold butter to the last batch as its finishing to deglaze the pan. Remove the last springbok and add the juice of a lemon to the pan juices, along with 1/2 the basting sauce and a couple of dollops of the yogurt marinade. Strain over the resting springbok and set aside.
- Heat a griddle pan, toss courgettes with olive oil and salt and grill flat sides down until charred all over.
- Chop mint, mix with salt and olive oil. Toss the courgettes through the oil.
- To serve, add a dollop of aubergine puree to each plate
- Mix the sautéed peppers through the tomato chutney, spoon a generous tablespoon onto each plate.
- Slice the springbok across the grain. Serve.
- Finish with courgettes, wilted baby spinach and a splitting of olive oil.
Recipe 3: Lemon Meringue Thai Basil
INGREDIENTS
LEMON CURD
- Juice of 2 large lemons
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 175g castor sugar
- 70g cold diced butter
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 whole eggs
MERINGUE
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup castor sugar (250ml)
- Water to dissolve
- squeeze of lemon juice
- stalks from 20 leaves of Thai basil
TO PLATE
- 20 leaves of Thai Basil, sliced
- 200g store bought oat biscuits, crushed
- Punnet fresh raspberries
EQUIPMENT
- Sugar thermometer
- Blowtorch
- Mortar and pestle
PRE-PREP:
LEMON CURD
- Add egg, yolks, sugar, lemon zest and juice into metal bowl
- Over pot simmering water, whisk till thick
- Remove from heat and whisk in cold butter till incorporated
- Pass through a sieve and put into piping bag.
- Set aside till needed
CRUMB
- Blitzed biscuits to crumb
- Finely chop basil leaves and mix with the crumbs
FINISHING:
MERINGUE
- Add sugar water and stems to medium sized pot.
- Turn on heat. At 80 degrees, remove stalks
- Continue heating to 118 degrees.
- Whip egg whites with whisk attachment (KitchenAid)
- Once egg whites start coming up side of bowl, slowly pour sugar syrup onto whites. Beat until glossy.
- Place in piping bag
TO PLATE
- Sprinkle crumb over the base of the bowl
- Spoon curd onto the crumb
- Top with broken raspberries
- Pipe on a meringue swirl, blowtorch
- Serve