Tagliolini with Green Asparagus and Black Truffle

We do have a daily special in our Italian Restaurant, Terrazzo and we do serve it as well in our second restaurant, Sea-Fire-Salt. It makes sense as both restaurants are actually served out of the same kitchen, so the special is easy to be prepared for 2 restaurants

 

We like to make some nice homemade pasta dishes, they are usually so tasty and one can immediately spot the difference between bought and homemade.

 

For me to make pasta is totally relaxing, it is fun and I love to see how the dish comes together. Yes it is a bit more work than just buying pasta, but at the same time it is much more rewarding to eat it as well. If you don't have the time or the patience to make your homemade pasta, then go and buy some high quality chilled pasta which is available in good supermarkets

 

This is id a bit on the rich side, with the creamy sauce, but it is really simple to make

 

The recipe is for 4 friends as a main course or for 6 friends as a starter

Pasta
500 g (1 lb) Flour
5 Eggs
25 ml (1 oz) EV Olive Oil
5 g Salt

Sauce
500 g (1 lb) Green Asparagus
200 ml (5 oz) cooking liquid of the Asparagus
50 g (2 oz) Onions
100 ml (3 oz) Cream
15 g (0.5 oz) Corn starch
30 g (1 oz)Black truffle
Salt
Pepper
70 g (3 oz) Parmesan shavings

For the pasta dough mix all the ingredients together to a firm dough
Knead well
Let it rest for at least 2 hours before rolling out

For the sauce

Clean the green asparagus
Cut the heads off and then cut the stems in small pieces, keep some asparagus to cut into slivers
Blanch the Asparagus in a small amount of water which can then be used for the base of the sauce
Fry the onions in the melted butter without color
Add the asparagus and then the cooking liquid and cream
Bring to the boil
Thicken with corn starch which has been mixed with some cold left over cooking liquid
Season to taste

Toss the pasta in the sauce

Drizzle the pasta with truffle oil and generously slice fresh black truffle and Parmesan shavings on it





 

Chicken Breast, wild Mushroom Ravioli

 

I just felt like cooking, just had this urge of doing something nice, something tasty. I went into the walk in fridge and there was this chicken lying, just calling out my name: "Come here, take me, cook me!!!!!"

How could I resist?

I took the chicken gently and off I went into the kitchen. I first deboned carefully the breasts, making sure the wing bone is nice and clean and then leaving the skin on. Then I took the legs off ready to be braised. The just would be made from the bones, so I chopped them roughly together and in a hot pan and a little olive oil roasted them till they were nice and brown. Adding some carrots, onions and celeriac, I roasted everything a little longer. Then the tomato paste and of course the wine. Ahhh, the smell was just wonderful and I knew already that the chicken would be happy with the result, hehehehe.

Anyway, I braised the legs on low temperature in the stock and when they were nice and tender I took them out, reducing the stock till it was strong and powerful

Then I took some lovely wild mushrooms, sauteed them with onions and garlic, added at the end the chopped chicken legs and some spinach for color. That was then my filling for the ravioli.

So I just had to roast the chicken breast, do some lovely, crunchy fresh vegetables and voila, my chicken dish was done......sounds easy? It is.........sort of, I have to admit, it is a little time consuming to braise the leg, make the pasta dough, finish off everything and ......it was worth every little move, every taster.

That is why sometimes I just cook a dish, this chicken is not on the menu and I only made 2 portions.....just for fun. It relaxes me, other people do yoga....not me, I cook, it takes my mind off the everyday hassles going on around me, it makes me ME again.

Ahhhhhh, now you want the recipe? I thought so, then let me share it with you. Just one more word of advise....it is a little labor intensive, but worth the while making it

5 ea Chicken, whole
500 g Pasta dough
100 g Wild mushrooms
25 g Onions
15 g Garlic
100 ml White wine
150 g Spinach
25 g Basil
30 g Butter

250 g Broad beans
250 g French beans
250 g White asparagus
250 g Carrots
30 g Butter
Salt
Pepper

Debone the chicken, keeping the wing bone and skin on the breast
Roast the bones till brown, fry the legs in a little oil
Then braise the legs with the bones together till tender
Strain the sauce off and discard the bones
Debone the legs and keep the meat for the ravioli
Chop the onions and garlic finely.
Sauté in olive oil
Chop the mushrooms and add them to the sauté
Deglaze with the white wine, add chopped chicken leg
Simmer till all liquid has evaporated
Add the roughly chopped spinach
Season to taste and cool the mix down

Roll out the pasta dough thinly.
With the pasta dough and filling make half-moon shaped ravioli
Blanch them in water then shock in ice water
Drain off the water and add some oil to the ravioli to prevent them from sticking together

Blanch the vegetables and roast the chicken breast
To finish the plate, heat the ravioli and fry them without color in a bit butter and basil julienne
Heat the vegetables up and season to taste
Have the reduced sauce ready
Plate everything nicely on a plate

Chicken Roulade with Lobster Mousse

I am on a roll at the moment. We are changing a lot of dishes on the menu, have new promotions coming up and therefore there is a lot of cooking and testing going on. I wanted to give you a very special recipe, something we actually did for the Valentines menu, but because I was so busy with other things had no time to make a blog about it.

It is a bit time consuming to make, but the result looks really stunning and is worth the effort. I wanted to create a stunning looking dish that amazes with its clear lines, classically and flavor.

Funny enough to combine lobster and chicken is nothing new, it has been done since 100 years by French chefs. The beauty of this combination is that both ingredients, as different as they are, the flavors just go wonderfully together.

I have then paired it with a simple potato gratin and fine green beans. A little chicken jus and the dish is finish.....ok, it is not that easy, but really worth the effort.

So here is the recipe
2 Chicken legs
250 Lobster meat
150 Salmon
300 Cream
10 Salt
3 Pepper

450 Green Beans
25 Butter
5 Garlic
10 Shallots
10 Salt
2 Pepper

250 Tomatoes
25 Olive Oil
5 Salt
1 Pepper

2 Potatoes
200 Milk
300 Cream
5 Nutmeg
10 Salt
2 Pepper
100 Parmesan

Method

De bone the chicken legs and remove all skin
Flatten the legs a little
Blend Lobster meat and salmon in blender, add seasoning
The add ice cold cream, make sure everything stays cold
Take plastic wrap and spread it on your working place
Spread the mousse on the plastic
Then put one deboned leg on it
Roll it carefully and make a knot on each side
Make sure the plastic is nice and tight

Poach in water for 20 minutes at 85 C Cool down in the fridge
When using take the plastic off and fry in butter till golden brown, then finish off in the oven

Clean the beans and blanch, then fry with shallots and garlic, season to taste
Roast the tomatoes in the oven till semi dried

For the potato gratin boil up cream with garlic, onions salt, pepper and nutmeg
Cut the potatoes very thin, then add 2 layers of potatoes and then some of the flavored cream.
Repeat till you have a nice stack
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 180 C Cool the gratin down over night
The next day cut it in portions, sprinkle with Parmesan and heat up in the oven

Beef Fillet with Wild Mushrooms

I have to admit, the title of this blog is giving very little away and is even a bit boring. There is so much more to this dish than a piece of beef with a couple of wild mushrooms.....I mean wild mushrooms on its own is already a treat, but you will see in this combination, wow

Some the hidden items are foie gras, yes, the famous and infamous foie gras is featuring again. I love it and some people hate it, but because I love it, I will feature it again and again, sorry, but we all have our weaknesses and this is one of many, and I mean many.

For the foie gras I take the small off cuts, let them melt and then mix them with the wild mushrooms and some bread crumbs in order to make a nice crust. Then I give a small slice of fried foie gras on top as well, just to make it a bit more decadent. Of course I give a generous helping of sauteed wild mushrooms, mmmmmm I am getting hungry just writing the blog.

2 hours have passed between the last paragraph and this one. I was doing the pass in the restaurant and yes, we were serving some of these special beef fillets and I got hungry just looking at them. It was a busy evening and the new dishes were sold successful with great feedback, so I am sure that you will be enjoying this dish when you cook it

Here is the recipe

1.6 Kg Beef fillet
0.5 Kg Foie Gras
0.1 Kg Chanterelle mushrooms
0.1 Kg Cepes mushrooms
0.1 Kg Oyster mushrooms
1.6 Kg Potatoes
0.25 L Cream
0.25 Kg Butter
0.05 Kg Shallots
0.1 Kg Shimeji mushrooms
0.1 Kg Enoki Mushrooms
0.1 Kg Eryngi Mushrooms
0.1 Kg Butter
0.03 Kg Garlic
0.05 Kg Parsley, Italian
0.3 L Demi Glace
0.1 L Merlot

Method
Cut the beef fillet in 150 g portions Cut the foie gras in 50 g portions
Cut the mushrooms finely
Fry the mushrooms in a bit butter, season
Mix with bread crumbs, egg white and foie gras
Fry the beef to the desired temperature
Let it rest for a couple of minutes
Top with the mushroom mix
Flash under the salamander
Make a creamy mash with the potatoes
Clean the mushrooms and saute in a bit butter, garlic and shallots

Pipe the mash on the plate, use some demi glace for garnish, plate the fillet and sauteed mushrooms around, add some glaceed onions

Hamburger Galore, the spicy Accra Burger

There I am again, this time with a spicy version of our hamburgers. I call it the spicy Accra Burger as a little homage of the town I live in at the moment.

Here food is spicy, sometimes very spicy so I thought it would be good to have a spicy hamburger on the menu. The response I got so far from our guests is great, the hamburger is flying out, nearly as popular as the Ambassador Burger (which by the way is named after out hotel here)

I am trying to use local produce, and as there is usually plenty of Mango (except they are out of season for a couple of month every year) I made a spicy mango chutney. The the grilled pineapple slice, the bacon and often I pour a little chili dressing on it as well

So one has this sweet and spicy sensation which goes very well with the meat. The meat as mentioned before is always a mix of meats. I like to have flavor, so what we do is a blend of local beef which is very tasty, but often a bit tough and Karan Beef from South Africa which gives the patty a lovely richness

2 Kg Local Beef

100 G Lettuce

150 G Tomato

75 Ml BBQ Sauce

50 Ml Oil

1 Kg Pineapple

150 G Bacon

350 G Mangoes

10 G Chili

50 G Sugar

75 Ml Vinegar

Grind the beef and form 200 g patties
Season and grill to the desired cooking temperature
Cut the mangoes in cubes and simmer with chili, sugar and vinegar till thickened
Cut the pineapple in slices and grill, finish off with a bit brown sugar under the grill
Cut the burger bun in half, butter it and toast golden brown
Layer the lettuce and tomatoes on it
Generously pour BBQ sauce on the tomatoes
Place the patty on top
Then top with Pine apple, bacon and chutney
Put the bun top leaning on the hamburger

Serve with French fries and side salad

Rice Casimir

Now we are really going wild here. This is one dish that has become a staple of Swiss Cuisine even so it is as un-Swiss as it can get. It is a Chicken Curry in a Rice Ring with poached fruit (often out of the can), a dollop of cream and then toasted almond.......

Swiss??? Yes it is. It has its origins in 1952 when Moevenpick put it on their menu for the first time.....and the rest is history. This dish is so common in Switzerland that even in the chef training, the apprenticeship, we had to learn how to do it and many restaurants still have it on the menu.

The only thing the Rice Casimir has in common with a good Indian Curry is.....Curry Powder, but that's it. It is not spicy, but actually slightly sweet.

And I have to admit, I grew up with it, happily ate it when we went to a restaurant and still like it, it brings back childhood memories, like the Moevenpick Birchermuesli.......more about that you will read soon in my Breakfast Blog.

The funny thing is that many people who are not fond of curry really like this this, just because it is not really a curry.

So, I won't let you wait any longer, here it is, the famous Rice Casimir Recipe!!!!!

2.2 Kg Chicken Breast
100 G Curry Powder
10 G Chili
50 G Masala
5 G Cinnamon
1 Ea Bay leaf
1 Ea Glove
1 Ea Pepper Corns

400 Ml Cream
400 Ml Coconut Milk

1 Kg Pears
1 Kg Pineapples
1 Kg Peaches

500 G Rice
75 Ml Cream
50 G Almonds, toasted

Slice the chicken Breast in fine slices
Fry in a bit oil Add curry powder, Masala and other spices
Add coconut milk
Simmer till the chicken is soft
Add cream
Season to taste

Poach pears, pineapples and peaches
Plate a rice ring
Put the curry in the middle
Garnish with the fruit
Serve with whipped cream op at the end with toasted almonds

Serves 10 Guests

Penne with Lobster

Now, after I showed you all the fun time we had with the fishing, I thought I will share the recipe for the Penne with Lobster. This is really a typical Italian dish, totally simple, but the flavors are just exploding on your palate.

The base is a really good tomato sauce, chunky, not a fine one, a sauce where you are generous with everything, garlic, onions, basil and the ripest plum tomatoes you can find on the market

Then the lobster, it has to be fresh, really fresh. We just boiled it quickly to kill it, then took the tail out, cut it in pieces and added it at the end to the tomato sauce. Like this you got all the lovely lobster flavor, but it won't be overpowering

Then you cook the Penne, OK, again, don't go for your cheap brand on the shelve of the super market, but spend this extra couple of cents and buy a really good brands like De Cecco, you will see it is worth it.

Make sure you cook the pasta really al dente, you want to finish the cooking process in the sauce, that the pasta soaks up all the flavours of the lobster and the sauce, again, you top quality pasta will do that

There are many top restaurants that actually cook the pasta in the sauce, like this you will have the ultimate flavor, I tried it and yes, it really works

OK, now here is the recipe

100 g (3 oz) Onions
50 G (1.5 oz) Garlic
100 ml (3 oz) Olive oil
500 G (1 lb) Tomatoes
50 g (1.5 oz) Basil

2 kg (4 lb) Lobster

1 kg Penne Pasta

Cook the penne pasta al dente and keep on the side

Cut the onions and garlic in fine cubes
Saute in the olive oil without color
Add the quartered tomatoes
Add salt, pepper and basil
Simmer for about half an hour

In the mean time blanch lobster, get the tail meat out and cut in cubes
Add to the tomato soup and simmer for another 5 minuts, season to taste

Add the penne and heat them up in the sauce, serve immediately

The dish tastes best with a generous helping of freshly grated Parmesan

Salmon Ravioli

I am coming back to make home made pasta, yes still a favorite of mine. This time we make salmon ravioli, not with smoked salmon, but with fresh salmon. The idea is that the pasta dough really has to be super thin, then the ravioli has to be frozen before cooking. Like this the inside will be warm, but not well done. It need a couple of tries to get this right, it is for sure not the easy cooking, it needs experience, patience and knowledge......but then, the ravioli is really nice too if the Salmon is well cooked, so don't worry too much about it

I try to make this dish really light, even so there is some butter in the sauce, I have omitted the cream completely. I take the leeks and onions, they get sauteed a bit in butter, then I add one cup of fish stock, I boil it up, make sure the leeks is soft. Then I add the ravioli, cook them quickly, add the tomatoes and some more butter and finish. The for the garnish I used some frisee lettuce and flat leaf parsley.

But here is the recipe

500 G All purpose flour

100 G Semolina flour

240 G Egg yolk

2 Ea Eggs whole

50 Ml Olive oil

Water

Salt

900 G Salmon fillet

100 Ml Olive oil

50 G Dill

70 G Onions, fried

200 G Leeks

200 G Tomatoes

100 G Onions

10 G Flat leaf Parsley

10 G Dill

Method for the Dough

Mix all the ingredients well

Maybe you might have to add some water

Let the dough rest overnight

Method for the filling

Cut the salmon in small cubes

Mix with olive oil, fried onions, dill, salt and pepper

Roll the dough out paper thin and cut out round ravioli

Put a bit of the salmon mix inside, close it and blanch it very quickly

Put the ravioli in ice water to stop the cooking process

Cut the leeks and onions in small pieces

Fry with a little butter

Add fish stock

Boil up and simmer till vegetables are soft

Add the ravioli, boil up quickly

Add tomato concasse, parsley, dill and and butter

Serve immediately

Salmon Tartar

The Salmon Promotion has started so we will have a couple of salmon recipes, some very simple ones and some that will be a little more involved, but still easy to be made

I love salmon, I know many think that it is a boring fish, but it all depends on whatone does with it and of course what one buys, there is salmon and then the is SALMON. Of course we are not all able to buy the wild salmon and have to resort to the farmed one, but if you are able to get a wild salmon, just go for it, the flavor is superior, the texture and the color.

The best ever salmon I had was in Greenland when I was there with the ship "The World" and we stopped at a couple of harbour towns along the south coast of Greenland. Then in Quartoq we bought fresh salmon from the market. It was there between Seal Ribs, Ling Cod, Halibut and Whale Meat and Blubber. I could hear the salmon whispering,"buy me, buy me!" it was just so amazing, the salmon was caught that night in the waters along the coast. We made some sashimi first for ourselves and then put it on the menu as a salmon tartar, there is where I made this recipe originally.

Of course there are other spots where one can get top grade salmon, one of them would be in Seattle at the Pike Market. While living in Seattle I must have gone countless times to the Pike Market to get fresh salmon, every time it was a real treat.

Of course the farmed salmon is very good too, there is nothing wrong with it, but I guess I am a bit soiled and have tasted the difference, but if you go in the supermarket and see some nice, fresh salmon on the ice, go for it. Make sure you smell the fish first before you buy it, it should have a clean, fresh smell, then you are basically ready to go.

Here is the first of the recipes, a really, really easy start, the salmon tartar

600 G Salmon fillet, fresh
50 G Shallots
2 Ea Lemon, juced and rind
10 G Salt
1 G Pepper
15 G Dill
15 Ml Olive oil

50 G Frisee lettuce
50 G Rocket lettuce
50 G Lollo rosso lettuce
15 G Dill

50 G Cucumber
50 G Fennel

30 G Pommery Mustard
50 Ml Olive oil
20 Ml Cider Vinegar
10 G Honey
5 G Salt
1 G Pepper
Cut the salmon fillet in small cubes of about 5 mm
Chop the shallots finely Marinate the salmon with shallots, lemon juice salt, pepper, dill and olive oil

Plate the salmon tartar in a ring in the middle of a plate
Wash the lettuces and garnish the tartar

Put the cucumber cubes and fennel cubes around

Make a vinaigrette with mustard, honey and all the other ingredients and drizzle over the salad

Pancit Vegetarian

Last night we cooked again a pancit, a great pasta especially if you are gluten intolerant. I made it even nearly vegetarian, nearly because I still like a bit meat in my pancit and have added just a bit pork at the end, but it would taste delicious without.

There are so many Pancit recipes, I think one could dedicate an entire Blog just about Pancit, it depends very much in which region of the Philippines the Pancit is made, so it actually might differ a lot.

The main ingredient is the noodles, usually one uses the rice noodles, but many versions use the egg noodles. I say, take whatever you like best as Pancit means pasta, so it doesn't matter that much.

The rice noodles are so flavorful because they are actually cooked in the stock and then suck themselves full of the flavorful juice

Recipe for 4 friends

60 g (2 oz) Garlic
100 g (3 oz ) onions
150 g (5 oz) Mange tout
300 g (10 oz) Oyster mushrooms
150 g ( 5oz) Green beans
Soy sauce
Water
Half a packet Rice noodles
Chili
Pepper

Fry the onions and garlic in oil on low heat till they start to brown on the edges, then add all the vegetables.
Saute for a while before adding the soy sauce and the water.
Boil it all up and add the rice noodles and a bit chili
Simmer till the noodles are soft and all the liquid is gone. If the noodles are not cooked, just add some more water

If you want to take meat, use pork (best belly) and fry it at the beginning with the onions and garlic, then add the liquid and simmer till tender

Prawn Tempura

I just want to tell you about my latest recipe, a Prawn Tempura. It is most probably the easiest recipe you can imagine and I have to be honest, not really a proper tempura. All I take is beer, flour, salt and pepper, that is all. The dough gets beautifully crispy and is so tasty. It is not a beer batter inthe traditional sense as there is no eggs and egg white in it, it is quick to make and keeps for a couple of days in the fridge

The good thing is that one can take anything to make a tempura, scallops, fish or vegetables, there are no limits

Recipe
350 ml Beer (any lager will do)
160 g Wheat flour
Salt
Pepper

Prawns

Method
Mix all the ingredients for the tempura dough and let it rest for half an hour

Take the prawns and marinate them very slightly with a mix of Soy, Lime juice and Fish sauce
Marinate them for half an hour

Make sure the prawns are not wet with the marinade, then roll them in a bit flour, shake the excess flour off, then dip it in the tempura batter and then deep fry it immediately

You will have a thin and crispy crust on your tempura

Swordfish on Asparagus Ragout

I got yesterday some fresh sword fish, but not just fresh, I mean really fresh. My supplier called me in the morning to tell me that he just got a swordfish that has been caught last night, a huge fish that is around 85 kg. For me it was a no brainer, I want some and told him to bring me a nice chunk of the fish which he did later that afternoon. It was a 30 kg piece of the fish, just wonderfully fresh.

I filleted the fish and gave the belly to my Asian Chef to make some lovely Sushi and Sashimi, he was very happy about the nice fresh fish and then I portioned the rest to sell in the restaurant

Being a fish that overcooks easily I decided o cut it on thick squares of around 220 g (about 9 oz) then just season it with salt and ground black pepper, roast it in olive oil and put it for 4 minutes in the oven, finish. In the meantime I made some asparagus and a bit sauce vierge with black olives in it, deep fried some potatoes and the dish was finished

I give you now the recipe that you can cook it at home, you will love the taste of the fish with the olive oil and the olives. The tomatoes in the sauce give a nice balance to the richness of the fish

Recipe
1 kg Sword Fish fillet
Salt, Pepper
Olive Oil

60 g (2 oz) Shallots
15 g (0.5 oz) Garlic
90 g (3 oz) Parsley
30 g (1 oz) Black Olives
90 g (3 oz) Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper

450 g (16 oz) White asparagus
450 g 916 oz) Green asparagus

Method
Chop the garlic and shallots finely
Do the same with the parsley
Cut the depipped olives in half, then slice finely
Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 10 seconds, then put in ice water and peel the skin
Take the pips out and cut in small squares
Mix all the ingredients carefully and season to taste

Season the fish with salt and pepper
Fry in olive oil on both sides till golden brown
Finish off int eh oven at 160 C for 5 minutes

Toss the asparagus in butter with a little water till it is hot and glazed

Plate the asparagus on the bottom, then dress the fish on top

Drizzle the sauce Vierge around an garnish with the deep fried potatoes

Beef Curry

Let's continue with doing some very easy Indian food, something that is maybe not the real thing but comes pretty close. Not all of us live in urban areas where one can find all the ingredients needed to do a proper curry or anything the traditional way, so sometimes one has no choice than to take a short cut and do something the fast way.

Still it is a lot better than just buying something frozen from the shopping center in the frozen section.....that is actually no comparison. Anyway, we did this beef curry and it came out really beautiful, it has been cooked for many hours, just nice and slow and all the spices had time to develop and give some flavor. I like to take a "lesser" cut for my curry, the main reason for it being flavor.

With the meat it is really very simple, the tougher the cut the more flavorful it is. Toughness comes from how much it has been used by the animal, so for example the beef cheeks and the Oxtail is extremely tough and has to be cooked for hours so the flavor is absolutely amazing whereas the fillet has basically never been used, so it is super tender but looses out in flavor. Not to say that a good beef fillet has no flavor, no not at all, but it is just a lot more subtle.

But now to the recipe

2 Kg Beef Topside, Cubes
50 G Tumeric
1 Kg Onions
50 G Garlic Paste
50 G Ginger Paste
50 G Green Chili
100 G Coriander
100 G Cashew Nuts, chopped
50 G Tomato Paste
2 Ea Bay Leaf
Cardamom whole
Cardamom powder
Coriander Powder
100 Ml Cream
50 Ml Oil Salt

Pre boil Beef cubes with whole spices
Strain and keep the stock
Slice onions and cook them gently with oil till they are soft and pasty, add in powdered spices
Saute beef cubes with garlic, ginger, tomato paste and chili.
Add some beef stock and finely chopped cashew nuts
Add the onion paste
Simmer till the meat is tender and the sauce has a thick consistency
Garnish with toasted almonds, chili and chopped coriander

Lobster Thermidor

Oh yes, now we talk, the Lobster Thermidor, what a beautiful way to prepare Lobster. Maybe not for the purist who would say that the sauce is taking away the lovely lobster taste, but I like to disagree. Yes it is nice to boil a lobster just in the sea water and eating it directly with a rereshing glass of white wine and some baguette, I have to admit it is actually really delicious....no even better.....it is lobster pure, cooked to perfection and simply tantalizing.

Still I like my Lobster in combination of something and have to say that I really love that. I have to admit as well that my Thermidor is most probably not tha original recipe... no it is defenitely not the original recipe but it is a yummy one and I think that is the most important part.

To explain in a couple of short sentences how I prepare it....very simple. I take a fresh lobster, cut in half, then quick on the grill, then a rich Hollandaise sauce enriched with goodies on top, quick under the salamender and voila, I got a perfectly cooked Lobster Thermidor.

Just a quick one about the killing of the lobster, which method is the best? Honestly, there is no perfect method but there are a few that are not that bad. Most probably number one is to put the lobster in the freezer for about half an hour, apparently that quietens him down completely and then the death is sudden when plunged into boiling water. The other one is to ut the head in half in a sudden movement......a little dangerous if not experienced and I am not sure if it works 100% as oftn one is not getting it right int he middle. Anyway, I heard that lobster are very sensitive creatures and I feel that if the lobster is calmed in the freezer for a while and there is plenty of boiling water....it is ok.

Do you want the recipe now? OK, I will part with it and hope you enjoy it as much as I do

Recipe
2 Each Lobster
30 G Shallots
50 Ml Cognac
200 Ml White Whine
½ Bunch Parsley, chopped
120 G Hollandaise Sauce
100 Ml Olive Oil
½ Each Garlic Glove
50 Ml Glace de Viande
100 Ml Fish Fumet
150 G Tomato Concassé
1 G Cayenne Pepper
Salt & Pepper

Method
Kill the lobster in boiling water
Cut in half, take the meat out of the tail and scissors
Remove the corail for later
Fry the lobster shell in olive oil, add shallots, parsley and garlic
Flambé with cognac, then add white wine, fish fumet and glace de viande
Simmer for 15-20 min
Strain the stock and reduce to required thickness
Add the corail and tomato concassé
Season with cayenne, salt and pepper
Mix up with the Hollandaise Sauce, add some chopped parsley
Fry the lobster meat and add some of the sauce at the end
Plate the lobster and pour the rest of the sauce on top

Double Baked Gruyere Souffle

Now we go with a really nice Vegetarian starter, but something that is not really Vegetarian because everybody likes it. The Souffle can be made in advance and then just baked again in the oven, even so I like it just after the first baking. I like to serve it on mushroom sauce, just go give it even more richness, but you can as well use some nice tomato and basil sauce or simply serve it with a fresh garden salad, the possibilities are endless

300 ml (10 oz) Milk
40 g (1.5 oz) Butter
40 g (1.5 oz) Flour
3 ea Egg Yolk
120 g (4 oz) Gruyere Cheese
5 ea Egg White

Pre-heat the oven to 210 C
Warm the milk and reserve

Melt butter in a heavy bottom pan, add the flour and mix, fry on low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to make a white Roux

Add gradually the warm milk, mixing well after each addition to ensure the mixture reminds smooth

Add the egg yolk, mix well and return to the heat, bring the mix to a boil and cook for one minute

Add the cheese and season to your taste, mix till the cheese is melted

Beat the egg white till soft peak, then fold one third of the egg white carefully under the cheese mix until well combine and fluffy, then add the rest and fold in carefully.

Butter ramekin mold and then fill them with the cheese mix to nearly the top

Bake for about 20 minutes or till firm

Either serve the souffle directly, or cool down and then bake again when needed. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

The mushroom sauce on the photo is optional

Brazo de Mercedes

We are going sweet again, very sweet I have to say and I love it. I am a sucker for sweet desserts and this dessert is sweet, very sweet. For this reason I will actually give you 2 recipes, one is the original Brazo De Mercedes and the other one is slightly changed, I added a bit Passion fruit juice that gives it a bit of an edge and instead of Condense milk I make a Vanilla Custard, like this it is not as sweet anymore, hehehe, but still sweet.

This is another Cake from Philippines, so after the Buko Pie and the Sansrival, this is already my 3rd cake on the Blog that comes from this beautiful Country. There are so many more recipes and I am slowly getting them all together to have a nice recipe collection of Pinoy Recipes

The Brazo De Mercedes is actually very easy to make, but it needs a little timing with the baking of the Meringue as you don't want it to dry out, so take the time and check your oven often, you want it baked, but not too much color, that is really important. The Meringue must be nice and moist that it can easily be rolled later with the filling on it.

Now here the Recipes

Original Brazo De Mercedes

12 ea Egg White

300 g Sugar

50 g Corn Starch

1 Tin Condense Milk

20 ea Egg Yolks

Method

For the Meringue whisk egg white with one quarter of the sugar to soft peak, then add the rest slowly, beating it all the time. Ad the end mix the corn starch with some sugar and add it too.

Spread the mix on a baking tray with a non stick mat on it (Flexipan) then bake in the oven at 160 C for about 10 minutes

Cool the Meringue down

Mix the condense Milk with the eggs and beat in a bain marie till very thick and creamy

Pour on top of the meringue, roll tightly and cool in the fridge till completely cold

Passion Fruit Brazo De Mercedes

12 ea Egg White
300 g Sugar
50 g Corn Starch

1 Tin Passion fruit concentrate
12 ea Egg Yolks
350 ml Cream
0.5 ea Vanilla Bean
10 g Corn Starch
50 g Sugar

Bring the Passion fruit concentrate to a boil, take off the heat. Add the sugar first, then all the other ingredients.

Put the filling back on the heat and bring to a boil. The corn starch will prevent the eggs from curdling, but the mix needs to boil up, just briefly to activate the corn starch

Then pour on top of the Meringue, roll tightly and cool in the fridge till completely cold.

Snapper on Saffron Potato, Octopus and Tomatoes

Another recipe, this time a fish, you can use any fish available, as long as it is sustainable, that is really important. Why? Because we want to make sure that for generations to come there is still plenty of fish.

So, the dish is actually quite simple, but needs a bit time to prepare as there are a lot of ingredients. The tomato sauce you can make ahead, the same with the saffron poached potato, the octopus you can cook in advance as well, I usually cook is gently with vegetables and red wine, it gives a lovely flavor, then heat up everything, cook the fish, wilt the spinach and voila, you got a great fish dish that will wow away your friends, that is for sure.

But now to the recipe

SNAPPER

8 Snapper portions (120-140 gm)

250 g Picked spinach

Prepped octopus legs, 200 grams cooked weight

SAFFRON WINE POTATO

100ml white wine

4 ea Potatoes cut into 70mm circle 11/2cm thick

1 pinch saffron

100gm butter

Fish stock to cover

METHOD

Bring to the boil the white wine, saffron and leave over night. The saffron will leach into the wine giving it a great color. Sauté the potatoes with colour on both sides, add butter and cover with fish stock. Add saffron wine to taste and for the colour (to much saffron will go bitter.)  Finish in a low oven keeping the shape of the potatoes. Keep warm.

ROMESCO SAUCE

8 large tomatoes

12 red peppers

4 cloves of garlic

1 large chillies

1 ancho dried chillies soaked

250gm almonds

250gm peeled hazelnuts

6 thick slices of sourdough (fry in oil)


METHOD

Roast all ingredients except the bread and pulse in the robot-coupe, till smooth. Thin with fresh tomato juice and season with red wine vinegar, sea salt and fresh white pepper. Set aside.

TO SERVE

Saute with a nice crust on the snapper fillet and finish in a medium oven. Warm Romesco sauce. Cook Octopus in the fish stock quickly so it is transparent, then saute spinach and season to taste


Place a circle of Romesco sauce on a plate, dress the saffron potato on top and then place the snapper skin up on top of the potato. Place the spinach on top of the snapper and then finish off with the octopus. Dribble some paprika oil around and serve 

Panzotti Pasta

There are so many different shapes and colors of pasta, it is absolutely incredible, and I know that one could write a big book about it, the recipes, the flavors, the shapes and the origins.

I love pasta, always have and always will. I like to make my own homemade pasta and often I just cook it plain and then serve it with a little fresh butter and grated Parmesan, a dream for me. I like good quality pasta, if I don't make it myself, then I only buy the best available.

Today, we made another pasta that is not that well known, it is called Panzotti. Panzotti are actually nothing else than big, triangular Ravioli. We fill them with spinach and ricotta and serve them on a mirror of tomato sauce, then a little more spinach on top (just to make sure they look pretty and then of course Parmesan.

Filled pasta can be made in advance and then frozen. It makes sense as it is a lot of labor going into homemade pasta and it is worth to just make a bit more and freeze them, so next time you can just take them out the freezer and cook. If you freeze pasta, make sure that you put them in lots of boiling water while still frozen, do not defrost your pasta as otherwise the condensation makes the dough all soft and sticky.

But now to the recipe

PASTA

1kg plain flour

10 eggs

10gm salt

80ml olive oil

METHOD

Combine flour and salt. On a bench make well with flour. In a bowl add eggs and oil. Slowly incorporate the egg mixture with your hands until you form a dough. Knead the dough for about 10mins till a homogenous consistency. Wrap and place in fridge.

FILLING

500 g Ricotta

500 g Spinach

100 g Onions

30 g Garlic

Salt, Pepper

METHOD

Cut the onions and garlic in very fine cubes, saute in butter till glassy.

Add spinach and ricotta. Season to taste. Cool down completely

Roll the pasta dough into thin sheets. Cut squares if the size 10 x 10 cm (3 x 3 Inches). Put a spoonful of the filling in the middle.

Put egg wash around the edges of the dough and fold it triangular like a ravioli. Press the edges gently together.

Cook till al dente.


SMOOTH TOMATO SAUCE

½ box ripe roma tomatoes

¼ head of celery finely chopped

2 large onions finely chopped

5 cloves garlic finely chopped

½ large leek finely chopped

1 bouquet garni

250ml vermouth

500ml nage

METHOD

Peel the roasted tomatoes, sweat the mirepoix, Add tomatoes and deglaze with vermouth. Add nage simmer the sauce until mirepoix is cooked then puree the sauce pass through fine chinois return to the stove heat till right consistency season

and cool.

Burns Dinner

What on earth is a Cock-a-leeky soup? Now, for that you need to be Scottish because today is Burns day. Burns was a Scottish poet and in his honor there is a very special dinner served on January 25. I am not going more into the man himself, because I am no great fan of poetry and have to admit, I never read one of his poems.

I can tell you more about the dinner, that is no problem, being a chef, that is the interesting part for me. It is actually a very simple 3 course menu, so we just incorporated it in our evening menu especially for the main course, it is a Haggis......now that is really not every-bodies favorite. It is a filled sheep stomach and the filling has all the intestines of the sheep.....like I said, not everybody would go for it. So we actually changed the main course a bit and de-boned a leg of lamb and filled it with a liver stuffing, much nicer and everybody who chose it enjoyed it very much.

Dessert is then a traditional Sherry Trifle, something everybody likes very much.

But now to the soup, as I have the recipe for it, it is really a lovely soup, not too refined, chunky pieces of chicken and cut leeks, these are the main ingredients. So here we go

1 ea Chicken whole

2 ea Leeks

3 ea Onions

3 ea Tomatoes

1 clove Garlic

2 ea Bay leaves

1 ea Cloves

Salt

Peppercorns

50 g Butter

Make a chicken stock with the whole chicken, the leek off cuts, onions, tomatoes, garlic and spices. Simmer for about 2 hours very slow.

Take the chicken out and strain the stock. Pull the meat off the chicken, that will be going back into the soup at the end.

Cut the leeks in fine slices, wash well as often there is still plenty of sand between the leaves

Fry the leeks in a little butter, without color, then add the chicken stock. Simmer till the leeks is tender, season to taste and add the pulled chicken just before serving

Salmon Confit on Parsnip Puree

Another nice starter we did here on Orion. Cooking with the guys is really fun here. It is a dedicated team of 11 chefs and Utilities and I can honestly say that it is a pleasure to be with these guys. Everybody works hard and the food that comes out of the galley every day is really good. I would love to be a guest and enjoy the daily treats

Salmon Confit


500 g (17 oz) Salmon Fillet
Coarse salt
Pepper
Bay Leaves
Lemon Zest
Olive oil

Make sure the salmon fillet is trimmed off all the fat (dark pieces), then rub it with coarse salt and pepper.

Put the salmon in an oven proof container, just big enough to hold it. Add the other spices and then submerge completely with olive oil. Heat the dish on the stove till the is about 55 C hot. Transfer the dish to the oven and poach at around 90 C till the salmon is still translucent, but flaky (about 30 minutes). Cool down and leave in the oil till you use it.

Pull the flakes carefully apart.

Parsnip Cream

500 g (17 oz) Parsnip, peeled and grated

250 ml (8fl.oz) cream

250 ml (8fl.oz) milk

3 leaves of gelatin, soaked

100 ml (3½fl.oz) cream, semi whipped

2 Tablespoons virgin olive oil, a light variety

100 g (3 oz) Shallots

½ cup baby leaves– basil, celery, parsley, cress  

Tomato Jelly

1 kg tomatoes, eyes removed

1 tablespoon Tabasco

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

35 ml (¼fl.oz) Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar

20 ml (¾fl.oz) verjuice

35 ml (¼fl.oz) Vodka

4 leaves of gelatin, soaked

For the Parsnip Cream, 
heat a large bottomed pot to high heat, sweat the eschalot until translucent, add the grated parsnip, cream and milk and continue to simmer on a high heat until tender, stirring occasionally.

Using a food processor, purée the parsnip until smooth and pass through a fine strainer and cool.

In a small saucepan, heat a quarter of the parsnip purée, adding the squeezed gelatin leaves to it and stir until melted and completely incorporated. Fold this warm mixture very quickly back into the cool parsnip puree and