Pontet Canet wines @ Soneva Fushi

It was a great day, we had a special wine dinner with wines from Pontet Canet, one of the most prestigious Bordeaux wines. We even have the owner, Melanie Tesseron, of the chateau here so we were in for a real treat.

I made a menu that matches the wonderful wines from the Chateaux, all red wines so there challenge was on. Especially for the dessert as it is really difficult to match a red Bordeaux with dessert. So I decided to go with Valrhona Fair trade chocolate. The chocolate comes in three ways, one flavored with rosemary, then one with orange and the last with pink pepper corns.

But let me start at the beginning of the dinner, some Champagne and home cured salmon, a dish that goes so well with Champagne. We did a little duo, one cured with citrus and the other with beetroot. Just a little salmon roe on top, and it was finish.

cured sustainable ocean trout

beetroot, orange, salmon roe, endive

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tortellini

peas, mushrooms, butternut, olive oil, truffle

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Grain-fed Bresse chicken

snails, sun-dried tomato, celeriac, herbs

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beef

potatoes, mushrooms, shallot, spinach, truffle jus

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goats cheese

smoked tomato, cream

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Valrhona fair-trade grand cru chocolate

rosemary, orange, pink peppercorn

Then we had tortellini, three kind all filled with a different filling, one with peas, one with mushroom and one with butternut. I love pasta and feel that even with a classical French menu we can sere a little pasta course. It is a very playful dish, quite labor intensive but beautiful to look at

Then we had the duo of Bresse chicken and snails. The chicken comes from the Bresse region, they are absolutely fantastic tasting chickens, slightly yellow in color from the feed which is corn. The breast is filled with sun-dried tomatoes and then rolled, the skin still on, then poached, cooled and pan fried just before serving. It goes beautifully well with the herbed snails and the red wine

Then the main course is a very traditional one, basically one could call it beef parmentier which means beef and potatoes.....just of course shooshed up a little.

The cheese course is a very important course on this menu, I decided to go for a twice cooked goats cheese souffle, even so it doesn't say on the menu, I like to keep some surprises up my sleeve. This is served with a slightly smoked tomato sauce and pesto, just a couple of drops as otherwise it will be too overpowering

The wines of course were out of this world. Pontet Canet is not just a Grand Crus Classe 1855, but it is the first and only bio-dynamic Grand Cru Classe in Bordeaux. I am not telling you how much one bottle costs, that you can find out for yourselves, but just to let you know the 2010 was awarded 100 Points by Parker, which means it is basically a perfect wine.

We had 6 different vintages, I mean to have one vintage is already a treat, but to be able to taste 6 different years, to see how different the wines are each year, knowing that they come from the same soil....is simply amazing. It is all depending on the weather, just amazing

Canapes: Dill Scones with smoked Salmon

I think the first question that comes up is, why to put dill in scones, does that actually work? Yes it does, it is a great combination of sweet and savory. I remember that I have written a blog about making scones, yes I know it is a long time ago, but this time it is actually just a variation of the other scones and it is worth while talking bout scones again. I love scones, I have them in all variations, with jam, with cheese, clotted cream or savory with salmon.

The only difference in the scone dough is that I use chopped dill in addition to the other ingredients and then that they are generously topped with cream cheese and then either smoked salmon or cured salmon.....yes cured salmon or gravid lax that had a lot of dill in the marinade. Salmon likes to be paired with something on the sweet side, it just marries perfectly with the delicate flavor of the salmon.

I have here again the recipe for the scones, just in case you have forgotten it or don't want to look for the blog with the recipe

Recipe

560 G Cake Flour

10 G Baking Powder

2 G Salt

80 G Sugar

1 Each Lemon Zest

1 Each Orange Zest

30 G Dill, chopped

250 Ml Buttermilk

130 G Butter

130 Ml Water

2 Each Eggs

Method

Sift all the dry ingredients

Mix flour and butter together

Mix everything quickly to a dough

Roll the dough out and cut out scones

Let the scones rest for at least 1 hour before baking

By the way, I have to tell you how the car launch went.....it was a lot different than expected. After the canape tasting the message came through that they don't have the budget for such elaborate canapes, so we actually sold just the normal ones. Pity as there were cars costing a fortune and we ended up serving Spring Rolls, Mini Burgers, Prawn Tempura and Chicken Lolly Pops. There was no Jaguar on show, but at least a beautiful black Land Rover Defender 110. What a stunning car it is, real rough going a car that looks absolutely indestructible.

The whole function started early, a couple of promotional movies and then the canapes, by just after 7 PM we were already finished and prepared to go home. The huge wow and pomp......maybe another time.

Smoked Salmon Mille Feuille

We had some special guests in the restaurant today and they wanted to have something different. As a starter they requested smoked salmon, something rather common, but nice to work with. It is very versatile and can be paired with so many things.

I decided to go with Pumpernickel and cream cheese. Both are very traditional ingredients for smoked salmon. To make it a bit different, I simply layered the read with the flavored cream cheese and the smoked salmon. Pumpernickel is a traditional German bread made with rye, sometimes rye flower and often with whole rye "berries" which is the rye before it is ground, but then cooked, it is cooked very slowly, for about 198 to 20 hours on a fairly low temperature (120 C or 250 F) to give it the special texture and color. It actually tastes slightly sweet.

Then I gave a little bit of smoked salmon on the side, a small, crispy salad and just some vinaigrette. This is a starter that is so somple to prepare, but is really effective with the guests, my guests loved it.

So without much further ado, here is the recipe for this simple but delicious starter

 

Recipe

300 g (11 oz) Cream Cheese

30 g (1 oz)Garlic

30 g (1 oz) Parsley

1 pinch of Salt

1 pinch of Pepper

600 g (11 oz) Smoked Salmon

1 pack Pumpernickel

30 g (1 oz) Frisee lettuce

30 g (1 oz) Red Oak

30 g (1 oz) Lollo Rosso

30 g (1 oz) Chicory

60 ml (2 oz) Olive oil

25 ml (1 oz) Balsamic Vinegar

 

Method

Mix the crem cheese with the chopped herbs and season

The take a pumpernickel, add some cream cheese and then a layer of smoked salmon

Repeat this till you have used up all the Pumpernickel

 

Keep the Mille feuille for 2 hours in the fridge to settle

 

For the plating cut the Mille-Feuille in triangles

Then add some more smoked salmon on the side

Garnish with the salad, add the dressing

 

The recipe is enough for 4 friends

Cured Salmon

I have been away for a while, but now I am back in full swing with new recipes and tips, some more about travel and other interesting stuff.

One of the first things I did when coming back to work is some cured salmon, or Gravad Lax. This is a wonderful way of marinating fresh salmon, the flavor comes out beautifully and it is extremely versatile. I like to serve it with a honey-mustard dressing, rocket salad and beetroot.

Just a bit about the history of the cured salmon. It was originally done in the middle ages as a way of preserving the salmon as it is a seasonal fish. The fish was simply salted and buried in the sand to ferment. Of course the flavor of the fish was not even close to what we have today, it was a very strong smelling fish, but it gave food to the people in hard times.

Presently the salmon gets cured with a lot more ingredients, the other main ingredient is sugar, but then one uses as well juniper berries, black pepper, mustard seed and dill.

 

I tasted some absolutely amazing cured wild Norwegian salmon when I was in Bergen, Norway. There is one of the most amazing fish markets in the world, it has become very much a tourist attraction, but it is still authentic and a must for every traveller going to Norway. It is amazing the array of fresh fishes one can get there. One is welcome to sample and it is possible to buy some and eat right there. I was fortunate enough to be there early in the morning while working on one of the cruise ships and we had at around 7.30 in the morning tasters of cured and smoked wild salmon on freshly baked bread......with a glass of Aquavit....... yes the day started well. The combination is absolutely wonderful and I was hooked on the wild salmon. Of course I went wild in buying and all the residents on the ship were able to sample the salmon for the next couple of days while back at sea.

Recipe
1 Ea Salmon Fillet
50 G Salt
50 G Sugar
15 G Pepper black coarse
10 G Juniper berries
10 G Caraway seeds
10 G Mustard seeds
2 Ea Lemon rind
2 Ea Orange rind
250 G Dill fresh

100 G Onion

100 G Beetroot

50 G Pommery mustard
20 G Honey
30 Ml Cider Vinegar
75 Ml Oil

100 G Rocket

Method
Remove all the small bones from the fillet
Leave the skin on.
Sprinkle with all the ingredients, starting with salt and sugar
Crush the juniper berries slightly
At the end cover generously with freshly chopped dill.
Leave for three days in the fridge, then slice and serve.

The more salt and sugar used, the faster the salmon will cure.

Roast beetroot in the oven with the skin till soft
Cool, peel and cut in cubes

Slice onions in fine slices

Mix all other ingredients to a nice Dressing

Garnish with rocket salad and toasted brioche bread