Kiwisizzler

Potato Roesti with Hot-Smoked Salmon & Wild Mushroom Relish

Rare Beef, Salsa Verde, Ciabatta Toast

The Dining Room

Thai Asparagus & Feta Risotto

Beautiful Ceiling!

Smoked Mackerel & Sour Cream Mousse and Basil Crisp

Baby Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto Crudo with Saffron Mayonnaise

Pickled Wild Mushrooms, Quail Egg, Watercress Caviar

My team and I recently catered a VIP canape function for our CEO at the Queen Mother’s former residence. What an amazing opportunity! The building is as pristine as if she had departed us only yesterday. It is full of amazing artwork, wall and ceiling decorations and paintings and is kept beautifully.

Our spec was that the canapes were for VIPS including the grandson of Winston Churchill and that they had to be perfect. Needless to say, they went down to a fantastic response and we loved every minute of it.

Scored yourself a bit of beef? Here’s what to do with one of my favourite cuts – the tail.

Get your butcher to cut the tail into segments, if it’s not already.

Cut up some carrots, onion, leek and celery nice and chunky. This is called mirepoix.

Get together some thyme, bayleaves and parsley stalks. Tie them in a bunch with some string. This is your bouquet garni.

Heat a pan nice and hot. Add a touch of oil and then the oxtail.  Seal the oxtail in small batches until nicely coloured. Put the oxtail into a deep roasting dish.
Once the oxtail is sealed, toss the mirepoix in the pan, ensuring a nice golden colour. Add the vegetables to the oxtail.
Deglaze the pan with a bit of red wine and add that wine to the roasting dish along with the bouquet garni and  a little beef stock. Cover the tray with tin foil.
Place the roasting tray in the oven at 160°C for around 2 1/2 hours, or until the meat falls off the bone.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. As the meat cools it will absorb the cooking liquor, keeping it nice and moist. Once cool, strain the liquor and reduce to a nice sticky consistency. The juices will contain a massive amount of natural gelatine. Strip the meat from the bones and add to the liquor along with the vegetables. Season to taste and serve with creamy mashed potatoes or even as a risotto. LUSH!

I love tomatoes. They are one of the things I look forward to most in summer and I always grow half a dozen varieties each year. This year I grew around 25-30 plants with varieties such as Money Makers, Golden Sunrise, Tigerella, Strawberry tomatoes and Cherry tomatoes all doing very well. Last week I was picking 500g+ each night after work…very satisfying.

One of my foodie childhood memories is making tomato relish with Mum so I’ve decided to have a bash and share my recipe.

Enjoy!

1.5kg tomatoes – quartered and ‘eyes’ removed

3 large onions – chopped

1.5 cups malt vinegar

1.5 cups demerara sugar

1.5 Tbsp mustard powder

1 Tbsp hot curry powder

½ tsp chilli powder

2 tsp salt

1½ Tbsp cornflour

1. In a large, heavy-based saucepan simmer the tomatoes and onions over a low-medium heat until they have released their liquid and reduced by around half. Stir frequently. This will likely take around 1-1½ hours.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and lower the temperature to a very gentle simmer.
3. Continue cooking for around 2 hours until the relish has reduced by around 1/3 and thickened slightly.
4. Mix the cornflour with a little water and add to the relish.
5. Simmer a further 5 minutes.
6. Store in sterilized glass jars until needed. For best results leave the relish to develop and integrate its flavours for a few weeks before consumption.

Here’s a recipe for this classic Provencal sauce. The traditional version doesn’t rely on egg yolks but they do help to emulsify and enrich it!

3 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
Splash of lemon juice
3-6 cloves freshly crushed garlic
300ml olive oil

1. In a small blender, whizz the yolks, salt, lemon juice and garlic (to taste).

2. Slowly add the olive oil.

Hollandaise is an emulsified sauce consisting of acid – lemon juice, fat – melted butter, and an emulsifier – egg yolk. Mayonnaise is made in a very similar fashion, the obvious differences being hollandaise is served warm and uses butter instead of oil. Vinaigrette is closely related to mayonnaise but lacks the egg yolk.

The history of hollandaise sauce stretches back over 350 years to 1651, when François Pierre La Varenne, the author of the groundbreaking cookbook Le Cusinier François described this sauce by saying “avec du bon beurre frais, un peu de vinaigre, sel et muscade, et un jaune d’œuf pour lier la sauce” or “make a sauce with good fresh butter, a little vinegar, salt, and nutmeg, and an egg yolk to bind the sauce”. Over the years, variations have been written about using a variety of different methods and ingredients but we are here to talk about the classic version.

Hollandaise is a French ‘mother’ sauce (one of five that are used as a base in the Haute cuisine repertoire) and was believed to have mimicked a Dutch sauce. Derivatives of hollandaise include but are not limited to: béarnaise sauce (tarragon & wine reduction), maltaise sauce (blood orange), choron sauce (tomato puree & bearnaise reduction) and mousseline sauce (whipped cream).

To make the basic recipe, the normal ratio of ingredients is 1 egg yolk:1 tsp lemon juice:4-6 Tbsp. butter. You may find it easier to make more rather than less.

1. Clarify the butter – heat the butter in a pan until it comes to the boil. Let it cool a minute or 2. Skim the white froth from the top. Gently pour the clarified butter into a jug, leaving behind the watery whey.

2. Whisk the egg yolk(s) in a stainless steel bowl.

3. Add the lemon juice.

4. Heat the yolks and lemon juice over a double boiler, whisking constantly until they thicken. This is called a ‘sabayon’.

5. Slowly add the warm clarified butter, whisking constantly. It should be poured in a steady stream. Too fast and the sauce will split. If the butter is too hot or too cold, it may also split. The clarified butter and the sabayon should be the same temperature to get a good result.

6. Season with a little salt and pepper.

I’ve had a request for a few tips for a really good hollandaise, so here’s my own recipe, based on sauce bearnaise but without the tarragon. You will need a blender for this method although it will turn out perfectly fine using the method above.

Reduction:

1 cup white wine

1 tsp black peppercorns

A few sprigs of thyme

1 bayleaf

1 shallot, finely chopped

1. Heat the above ingredients together in a small saucepan.

2. Reduce to around 3-4 Tablespoons and pass through a fine sieve.

For the hollandaise:

2 Tbsp reduction

3 large egg yolks

250g butter

Salt and cracked pepper to taste

1. Bring the butter to the boil. Pour into a jug and put aside to cool slightly until it is nice and warm. Around 45-50˚C should be fine.

2. Bring the reduction to the boil.

3. Put the egg yolks in a tall blender.

4. With the motor running, slowly add the hot reduction.

5. Continuing with the motor running, slowly add the warm butter (don’t worry about clarifying it!) in a slow, steady stream.

6. Season to taste.

Tips:

We’ve skipped the step of heating the yolks over a double boiler, which is why we add the hot reduction. It is important that the reduction is hot so that it lightly cooks the eggs. Very important as hollandaise is a ‘high risk’ product and is susceptible to growing bacteria quickly.

Be patient when adding the butter. Too fast and it will split. Start very slowly and finish very slowly. Make sure the butter is not too hot or you will end up with a bowl of runny scrambled eggs!

Some people don’t like the look of speckles of pepper in their sauce. You can replace with fine ground white pepper instead.

If made properly, the sauce should be smooth and creamy. The flavour you are looking for is a balance between the richness of the butter and a slight tang of the reduction. It is to be served warm, not hot, and should be kept no longer than 2 hours before discarding.

To make béarnaise sauce (great with a nice steak!), add freshly chopped tarragon to the reduction and/or the finished sauce.