Crispy Risotto by Chef Igor Macchia

Here is a recipe that I though many of you would like because even so it is a Michelin starred recipes, you can actually as well use your left over risotto and dress it up beautifully. Of course we made everything from scratch, but that should be like this in a 5 Star hotel.

This dish we served as a Canape during our guest cocktail which is part of the whole guest chef experience, like this all the guests have the possibility to have at least a taster of Chef Igor's fantastic cuisine

As the other dishes, this one has a couple of items that might be difficult to get. One of them is Stracciatella. Even I was not really sure what it was so I asked one of my best friends....Google! and the answer was pretty easy. It basically is a type of Burrata, a buffalo Mozzarella with a creamy interior. It is generally very difficult to find so take Burrata instead....it will work very well

Bottarga is a dried fish roe from Italy....depending on quality it can be quite expensive but as you don't need much, go for a really good quality....you really just need a sliver on top to give the lovely salty flavor to it

Ingredients for saffron risotto:

300 gr             Carnaroli rice

     2 lt             Vegetable stock

   30 gr            Olive oil

   50 gr            Butter

   50 gr            Grated Parmesan cheese

     2 gr            Saffron

                        Salt

                        Pepper 

Method for saffron risotto:

·         Heat olive oil in a pan, add the risotto and roast for about 2\3 min. Add boiling stock flavored with saffron and cook for around 13\14 min. Add all other ingredients and season with salt and pepper if needed.

·         Lay the risotto in a tray of about 2 cm thickness and keep cold. Once the risotto will be cold, cut with ring mold. Flour the risotto and pan fried in a non-stick pan with olive oil.

Ingredients for presentation of the plate:

  1 nr               Crispy saffron risotto

10 gr               Stracciatella di mozzarella

  3 gr               Bottarga (air dried roe)

  1 nr               Tahoon cress

  1 gr               Roasted barley malt powder

Method for presentation of the plate:

·         Plate warm crispy risotto, add the stracciatella, roasted barley malt powder and sliced air dried roe. Garnish with tahoon cress before serve.

Fruit Bread

We have started an amazing little cheese board in one of our outlets, called The Living Room. Here we serve a cuisine which we like to call personal dining. This means, the chef goes to see the guests during breakfast, asks them what they like to have and then will cook a personal menu for them for either lunch or dinner or both. Of course there are many guest that still like to opt for the normal a la carte, but the personal dining gives a whole new dimension to the experience here

So with the cheese board that has mainly European cheeses on at the moment, I needed a bread that compliments it to perfection and I started digging in my old recipes.....what I found you can see below and of course I am happy to share the recipe

I am very happy now with the cheese board, it reminds me of home and sometimes I can't stop but have a little nibble

Recipe
200 g Dried Pears
300 g Dried Figs
200 g Dried Prunes
200 g Dried Apricots
200 g Dried Apples
1000 ml Water
600 g Flour
40 g Yeast, fresh
 Salt and
cinnamon

120 g Almonds
160 g Hazelnuts
100 g Walnuts
150 g Raisins

Method
Cut the dried fruit in cubes
Leave in the water over night Add yeast and flour
 Add nuts let the dough rest for at least one hour

Form the loafes proove them for another 20 min before baking

Breakfast: Fried Egg Dosa with Potato Curry

Again I have taken a fabulous idea from Australian Gourmet Traveler and have implemented it here with us as an a la carte breakfast. The Fried Egg Dosa with Potato Curry. Dosa is a traditional Indian pan cake, completely gluten free which is great. The flour is actually made with rice and lentils which originally get soaked over night and then ground to a paste. Yogurt is added and then it get "fermented over night in the fridge.

Sounds like a lot of work? Yes you are right it is But luckily we live in a time of convenience products and you can buy a Dosa Premix in most good Indian Grocers. Then you just follow the instruction on the packet....hopefully there is an English translation....

The curry is a very simple curry and on top of that a dry curry, so there is no sauce. But it is delicious and fills your tummy.

I usually just fry the Dosa, do my eggs on the side, then top the finished Dosa with the eggs and potato curry, generously sprinkle with freshly grated Coconut and then put a lot of fresh Coriander on top and Voila, you got a great and different Breakfast.

Do I just eat it for Breakfast? No, for sure not. I can eat the Dosa anytime of the day, but that is just because I like it at any time of the day.

Recipe

250 g Dosa Mix
170 ml Water

1 kg Potatoes
50 g Ghee
100 g Shallots
25 g Garlic

20 g Chili, green
20 g Mustard Seeds
20 g Curry Leaves
20 g Masala mix

100 g Fresh Coconut, grind
30 g Coriander, fresh
3 ea Lime wedges

10 ea Eggs

Method
Peel and cut the potatoes in cubes
Put in sauce pan, cover with water and bring to the boil
Simmer till al dente
Pour off the water

Cut Shallots and garlic in fine slices
Heat ghee and saute shallots, garlic and chili till caramelized
Add mustard seeds, curry leaves and masala mix
Saute another 2 minutes
Add the potatoes and toss quickly

Fry the Dosa on a crepe pan
Fry the eggs separately

Put a Dosa on the plate, add egg and potato curry
Generously sprinkle with coconut and coriander
Serve with lime wedges

Brunch: Scallops, Chorizo and fried Eggs

Something different for Breakfast, Scallops and Chorizo, something that actually goes really well together. And yes it goes really well for breakfast or a brunch.

Is it my idea? No it is not so I can't take credit for this brilliant combination. I saw it in the Australian Gourmet Traveller, a magazine that I love since many years and have found a lot of inspiration, so here it is, the credit goes to Australian Gourmet Traveler.......thank you very much

This dish is part of the new Breakfast menu, and it is already one of the favorite dishes I am happy that it sells well. The breakfast is a lot busier than expected, I thought the guests would still prefer to go to the buffet where we have a huge choice of food, but no, our guests in the pool villas seem to enjoy the tranquility of having breakfast up at Sunset Restaurant

So without further ado, here is the recipe

Recipe
1 kg Sour Dough Bread
75 ml (3 oz) EV Olive Oil

20 ea Eggs
50 ml (2 oz) Oil
50 ml (2 oz) Butter

400 g (14 oz) Scallops
200 g (7 oz) Chorizo dried

100 g (3.5 oz) Coriander
Maldon Salt
Pepper black

Method
Cut the bread in 1.5 cm thick slices and toast on both sides in olive oil

Heat the oil and butter, fry 2 eggs at the time

Grill the scallops (2 per person)
Cut the Chorizo in 7 mm cubes and fry till crisp

Put the fried egg on the toast
Top with the grilled scallops and Chorizo

Generously garnish with fresh coriander
Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and Maldon Salt

Serves 10 friends

Breakfast: Potato, Leek and Gruyere Tart with poached egg

Trust me, here in the Maldives we are absolutely rocking. We just opened our new Restaurant Outlet, Marrakesh, now just 2 weeks later we are starting a new a la carte Breakfast outlet. We decided that the guests of our Pool Suites should have something special, after all the Pool Suites cost nearly double of a normal suite. So we decided to have something like an Executive Lounge just for them.

Here one can have Breakfast in tranquility, sitting outside beside the pool, everything is possible. The best thing is, one does not have to go and choose the goods from the buffet, no, here the buffet comes to the table. Fruit, Cheese, smoked fishes and Pastries are served family style, then the hot breakfast is a la carte.

The first Breakfast is a delicious Potato, Leek and Gruyere Tart with a poached Egg and Garden Greens. Simply delicious and relatively easy to prepare.

The Gruyere Tart can actually be made in advance and can be frozen, then you just defrost the Tart and bake it up again.

Of course you can as well use this dish for a lunch or a brunch..... anything is possible. I always think of Asia where there is no continental Breakfast as we know it, yes there are breakfast dishes, but not like we have in the Western World

Anyway, let's not talk too much, here is the recipe and enjoy

Recipe

Dough
300 g Flour
135 g Butter
6 g Salt
120 ml Water

Filling
150 g Leeks
30 g Onions
10 g Garlic
150 g Potatoes
100 g Gruyere Cheese
120 ml Cream
120 ml Milk
3 ea Eggs
1 g Nutmeg
4 g Salt
2 g Pepper

Poached Egg
10 ea Eggs
1 l Water
50 ml Vinegar

Garden Greens
100 g Mesclun Lettuce
50 g Baby Carrots
50 g Green Asparagus
70 ml EV Olive Oil
30 ml Balsamic Vinegar

Method
Mix all ingredients for the dough quickly
Keep in the fridge at least 2 hours, best overnight
before using
Roll the dough 3 mm thick, cut round discs and put in Individual quiche forms, punch holes with a fork and freeze
Bake at 180 C straight from the freezer till half baked

Cut the leeks in small cubes
Cut the onions in brunoise
Chop the garlic finely
Peel the potatoes and boil till soft
Saute the vegetables in butter, add potatoes
Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg

Beat egg, milk and cream till well mixed
Season withsalt and pepper

Put the vegetables in the quiches, pour Royale on top
Bake in the oven at 180 C till golden brown and baked

Bring the water and vinegar to a boil
Take the pan off the heat
Give the water a swirl and add one egg at the time
Poach to your desired cooking temperature

Plate the tart, put the poached egg on top
Cut the carrots and asparagus in fine slivers
Plate the salad next to the tart and drizzle with oil and vinegar

Recipe is for 10 friends

Vegan Cuisine: Punjabi Samosa

Yes we are going Vegan for a change, but in a way that it is amazingly tasty and anyone would enjoy it, not just Vegans.

OK, I have to admit that I usually use Ghee (clarified butter) and a little yogurt in the dough but it is easily left away and as tasty as if one uses Ghee. One can as well substitute with Soy Milk

There is a lot of Indian Vegan Cuisine, it is amazing to see the range of vegetarian and vegan dishes cooked in India. So we have brought some of it in our Restaurant called Just Veg.......as the name says, we do only serve vegetarian cuisine there and even in the kitchen, no meat of fish will be prepared.

Just Veg is the first and only Vegetarian Restaurant in Maldives and is part of the All-Inclusive Plan of Atmosphere Kanifushi, a relatively new hotel that is not even one year old. But the restaurant has already fetched honors in England when it was voted one of the top 10 restaurants in Maldives by Travelogy, a top Travel Agency in the UK, and something that we are very proud of.

Towards the end of the month we will get a Guest chef here, I am not telling you much yet, but yes he has a Michelin Star, he comes from Milano, Italy and the restaurant is Vegetarian.....not many of them have a Michelin star

Ingredients
1 cup All-purpose flour
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 tsp Carom Seeds
Warm Water as required
Salt to taste

For Stuffing:
500 gm Potatoes - Boiled, Peeled and Mashed
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
2 tsp Ginger Finely Chopped
2 tsp Green Chili Finely Chopped
1/2 cup Onion Finely Chopped
½ tbsp Red Chili Powder
2 tbsp Fried Cashew Nuts - Finely Chopped
1 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp Fresh Coriander Leaves
½ cup Green Peas, Boiled ½ tbsp
Dry Mango Powder
1 tbsp Oil

Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste

Method
Take a bowl. Add flour, salt, carom seeds, oil and mix well.
Knead a firm dough using warm water Heat oil in a pan.
Add cumin seeds when its splutter add ginger, green chili, onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes
Add red chili powder, garam masala, salt, dry mango powder, peas and mix well
Add mashed potatoes and cook for 4-5 minutes on medium heat
Add fresh coriander, fried cashew nuts and mix well. Keep aside
Take one lemon size dough and spread into a thin circle.
Cut it into half and make a cone of half circle with the help of water
Take a some portion of potato filling and place it in the middle of cone and close the cone with the help of water
Heat oil in a pan and deep fry samosa on medium heat.
Serve hot

Sunday Brunch at the Peninsula in Makati

Sometimes you have to treat yourself to something very special, something like a Sunday Brunch at The Peninsula in Makati, Manila. There are of course many great places to have a Brunch, but we thought to start with the Peninsula.

The hotel is already impressive but what impressed me most was that when we drove into the garage, the security came immediately as our car was too high, they guided us in a special parking slot that we could after our Brunch drive out again the same way......which we did and they made sure nobody would drive down while we are on the "wrong" road......now that is service and friendliness, the Brunch already started really good.

We were a little early so had time to browse through hotel, shopping is not great and sort of done like an after thought.....but there is a small pastry shop with home baked goods, yummy that is for sure.

While browsing we walked into the most amazing cupcake trolley and they had these little lollipops....chocolate pralines on stick, just amazing

The buffet is huge, the choice is amazing. It actually spreads over 2 restaurants, one having the more traditional Asian and Filipino dishes and the other the more continental, international dishes

There are plenty of action station, the chefs are busy at work, but at the same time looking well after the guests. They still have time to explain the food and chat to the guests.

The Pizza Station is another highlight, there is not just the normal Pizza but a sweet one as well and it looked absolutely delicious

Eating Brunch is a long and slow affair. You don't go there to have a quick bite to eat, no; you want to take your time and sample a bit of everything. I started with some continental cold meats, Oysters and smoked Salmon, all was of top quality, the cold meat on the photo is Bresaula, one of my absolute favorites!!!! It comes from the Valtellina region and is air dried beef.

Then I went on to try the Sashimi. There is a swell Sushi, but for me the rice fills my tummy too fast, so I skipped the Sushi. Sashimi was delicious with really fresh Tuna and Salmon

Then a main course, roast Prime Rib was so juicy and tender and a little Pork Belly, nice and crispy.

Then a bit of Tempura, Calamari were tender and overall great and crispy

No meal is complete with some cheese. I love cheese but have to say that the cheese selection was a bit disappointing. Never mind, it was still nice and the Croissant was fantastic. I love a good Croissant with a bit Brie

And then of course the desserts. I do have a sweet tooth and must say that I could have gone wild and have a lot more, but after all the great food I already had, I think I would have popped

There was still a little space, so I did go for seconds.....with a lovely cup of coffee, the Berry Panna Cotta was super light and delicious

So overall it was amazing. If you go, take the Champagne Brunch package, then you can wash down the delicacies with Moet et Chandon, something that is hard to beat. 

Hungarian Goulash

After all the travelling I am cooking again, yes and there is a lot to come. I will cook a lot of basic and simple dishes like the one we talk about in this Blog. The Goulash.

It can be an absolutely beautiful dish if properly cooked. One part that is really important is the onions. One uses a lot of onions. They don't just give a beautiful flavor, but thicken the sauce nicely too. At the end we add potatoes and because they cook in the sauce they are taking up all the flavor.

The difference here compared to other stews is that the meat does not get browned, either do the onions. Everything is cooked without giving color but as you can see on the first photo, the color at the end is still great. I have not added any stock to it. With the slow cooking and adding the salt at the beginning, all the juices from the onions and meat will come out and then the meat is braising slowly in its own juices.

As a spice we add a little bay leaves and of course caraway seeds. They are really important because they give a wonderful new level to the dish, something that makes your Goulash different and at the same time more original. Just be careful that you don't add too much to the dish.

What I find amazing cooking here in Maldives is that I am constantly exposed to Indian and Sri-Lankan cooking. Especially in Indian cuisine one finds often the gravy which is based on onions and like with the Goulash onions, it thickens the dish apart from giving it a lot of flavors. So even these two cuisines are so different in many ways....there are some similarities.

So try it out, the recipe is really simple and try to buy a lower cut of the beef, something from the leg that needs long cooking. There the meat has much more flavor which will add to the dish. Just take your time with cooking, it really has to simmer very slowly and would actually work well if cooked in the oven

So here is the recipe which is enough for 10 friends, because like this you can freeze some if you have less over for dinner

Recipe

1.5 kg (2,5 lbs) Beef cubes

750 (1,5 lbs) g Onion

75 ml (3 oz) Oil

400 g (1 lbs) Red Peppers

400 g (1 lbs) Tomatoes

60 g (2 oz) Sweet Paprika powder

8 g (0.3 oz) Caraway seeds

2 ea Bay leaves

15 g (o,5 oz) Salt

Pepper

Method

Cut the beef in 30 g cubes

Cut the onions in a fine julienne

Sweat the onions in the hot oil

Add the beef cubes and sweat at low heat

Add all the spices, red peppers and tomatoes

Stir well then simmer with the lid for 1.5 hours or till the meat is starting to get tender

Add the potatoes which are cut in 1 cm cubes

Simmer till all is soft but the potatoes are still whole

Season to taste

Serve with homemade Spaetzle

Magnum yourself

Manila has its own Magnum Ice Cream shop where you can make your own Magnum. This is soooo cool, an individual Magnum. There are shops as well in Hamburg, Paris and Istanbul, but to have one here in Manila is just absolutely amazing. The location is on the 5th floor in Aura Shopping Mall, one of the hip shopping malls in and around Manila. 

I always had a bit of a fetish for Magnum, I love the rich flavor of the ice cream and the lovely chocolate around, but to make your own flavor is just incredible. We had so much fun making our own flavor of Magnum, our own personalized Magnum.

You can choose from 2 ice cream flavors which is chocolate or vanilla, then from 18 toppings and 3 different dipping chocolates so you can make your own piece of art.

We took 2 extremes, one I call death by chocolate, it was with chocolate ice cream, milk chocolate dipping and then all sorts of chocolate toppings, the other one was the sweet delight, vanilla ice cream with a caramel chocolate dipping. The toppings were white crunchy chocolate pearls, mini marshmallows and freeze-dried raspberries which just looked so lovely and gave a bit of acidity to the extremely sweet concoction

There are some strange toppings available like broken chips and broken pretzels.....strange?? Yes but it actually goes well. The saltiness brings out the chocolate flavor even better so even so it sounds strange, it goes well with chocolate

Magnum Manila offers more than just Magnums, one can actually eat there with savory and sweet plated desserts available. The savory menu includes about everything from sexy crostini to pasta and salads all the way to the roasted Rib eye 

Homemade Pork Sausage

Over 6 month ago I wanted to start making our own sausages here at Soneva Fushi and finally, the day has arrived that we have made our first batch. The sausage machine arrived about 2 weeks ago, we got finally the sausage skins, so there is no stopping anymore.

Have I made sausages before? Yes, once about 20 years ago, so I can't say that I am a master sausage makes, but what I can say is that I love sausages and that is enough.

Of course I read up a little on how sausages are made, we are going very simple here with no preservatives, my pork sausages must look like sausages and not like pink, ugly things. So off we go

First I had to clean the machine nicely, it just came out of the box and there was still a lot of wrapping on it, but then that was one. We don't have always the right pork cuts, so I just took some of the pork necks we had and put them through the mincer, that was easy. But of course I wanted a special sausage, not just a simple pork sausage, so I started to chop some onions and garlic and cut a whole load of Granny Smith apples in cubes. I took some very good EV Olive oil and sauteed the onions and garlic till glassy, but no color, than added the apples. Simmer till al dente and voila, that was it. I let the mix cool down completely.

Then I thought that in a meat loaf one always puts some bread and eggs in it. I did not want to add the eggs, but I know that old bread binds the meat nicely, so I just soaked it in some milk.

So far everything was very easy, I mixed all the ingredients together and added the seasoning, honey, salt and pepper. Of course as any good chef, I had to taste my mix, but no, I really don't want to eat raw pork......so I made a small patty and fried it, yummie, yes it was good, just a little more salt and it is perfect.

Still everything is very easy......but then cam the tricky part. I had to put the sausage skin on the machine which was a lot more difficult than expected. The skin tears quite easily and I had to be patient with my work. But at the end it was done, I had the filling in the machine and started turning.......ohhhhh I made a little knot in front to avoid the sausage mix to just come out, that did not work because now my sausage filled with air instead of meat.....Caramba.....so I cut the tip off and it worked well.

To fill the sausage is OK, one just has to be patient, not to turn the machine too fast and at the same time to make sure the skin is sliding off the nozzle easily. The result: An acceptable sexy sausage that just needed to be turned and fried.

When turning the sausage (like making the individual sausages) one sees immediately if the right amount of meat is in the sausage, if it is too much it will burst, if it is too little, then it is just not so pretty, but OK.

Finally, after more than 6 Month of waiting, I had the first homemade Pork and Apple Sausage in the pan, wow was I excited and the smell started to come up, the sausages started to take color, I turned them around a couple of times and........yes they were absolutely fantastic. I was so happy, my day was made, nothing could go wrong anymore.....

The the chefs had a try, we laughed a lot, of course some jokes were made, some really pretty and some really ugly sausages were produced, but the main reason is, we have now our homemade sausages. We will start making different sausages, beef, chicken, lamb, fish and more. We all learned a lot this morning and had a great time with our new toy, the sausage machine

So here is the recipe if you want to try at home, trust me it is a lot of fun and works

4 Kg Pork neck
500 G Onions
100 G Garlic
1 Kg Apples
500 G Bread
250 Ml Milk
30 G Honey
60 G Salt
10 G Pepper coarse

Sausage skins

Mince the pork neck in a medium to fine mincer, not too fine as otherwise there is not artisanal look

Chop onions and garlic finely
Cut apples in 5 mm cubes
Use Granny Smith or any other sour variety

Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil without color
Add the apple cubes when the onions are soft
Cook for another good 5 minutes till apples are cooked al dente

Cool down the apple mix

Add milk to dry bread and keep everything in the fridge overnight

Mix all ingredients well together, put in sausage machine
Make little breakfast sausages

The Chefs are trying out sausage making

Not as easy as it looks, but a job well done