Venison, fondant potatoes, sloe and wild berry jus, parsnip crisp & Tuna dish

I know, the potato fondants are over done!  I was experimenting with just cooking in butter and not finishing off in stock. Needs more practise. 

Razor Clams, Clams, Celeriac Fondant, Pea Puree

The sauce - Soften diced fennel and celery in butter in a pan, (keeping 1/4 for the pee puree and 1/2 for the razor clams).  Add add several glasses of white wine and reduce by half. Add about 3/4 of a litre of fish stock (home made and top quality preferably) the reduce vigorously, add some double cream and further reduce until it is just enough to coat the fish in a thick jus.

Fondant - (which is underneath the fish in the centre) slice the celeriac into 20mm thick slices and use a cutter to make discs.  Soften them in butter for 5 minutes then add stock just to the level under the top of the discs.  Cook until soft, approximately 20 minutes and keep topping up with more fish stock every few minutes. 

Pea Puree - Cook peas in butter then add the softened fennel and celery with a little double cream and season.  Put this through a fine sieve and put the fine puree mixture into a piping bag ready for serving. You can put the piping bag in warm water to keep the temperature up. 

The Clams - Was clams and razor clams to remove any grit.  Discard any dead ones. Add several glasses of white wine to the remaining diced fennel and celery and bring to boil and reduce a little.  Then add the clams and cook for 30 seconds with the lid on, then add the razor clams and cook for 45 seconds again with lid on the turn off the heat.  Remove the razor clams immediately and set aside, slice into small sections, season and place on the celeriac fondant.  Remove any unopened clams the serve.

Drizzle on the sauce and garnish with samphire, fennel fronds. Then add a generous squeeze of lemon or limes. Delicious! 

Duck Breast in Massaman Curry with Potatoes & Cashew Nuts & Crispy Duck Skin

• The 8'C 2'G Curry Paste Paste - Blend together
• 25g of Cashew Nuts
• 2 Cloves of garlic
• 1 red Chilli
• 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground Cardamom
• 2 Cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon
• 15g of fresh Ginger
• 1 lemon Grass stalk
• 1 large shallot
• 1/4 nutmeg
• 1/2 tbsp of palm sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp fish sauce

• Slightly brown off some whole cashew nuts in a dry pan. 
• Just cook duck to very pink and slightly under (as you see fit pan/roast) then slice or dice, set aside.
• Soften 1/2 Onion, add 2 Cardamon pods and 1 Star Anise half way through
• Add 2 tbs Paste, cook for a minute.
• Add 400ml Coconut Milk - Simmer 20 mins
• Add potato & cook until soft
• Add duck to warm but not over cook then serve immediately with browned cashew nuts placed on the plate. 
• Fresh Coriander to garnish 

Lemon thyme roasted Poussin with Pearl Barley, Artichoke puree & a Sweet Potato rosti

Yep, that artichoke puree again!

Fillet of Lamb with Celeriac Mash, Artichoke puree & Marsala jus

Artichokes are in season and an abundance in the garden right now.  Very fiddly but worth the effort. 

Chocolate Orange Ganache with Pink Grapefruit Jelly

Chocolate orange ganache, pink grapefruit jelly, raspberries and tempered chocolate triangles with Chantilly cream.

Martin WIshart Cookikng Competition

I've been accepted onto the Martin Wishart competition for my Venison dish which is very exciting.  Needless to say, I'll be practicing this a few more times before I have to cook on the 6th November.

Scottish Venison with port and sloe sauce, fondant potatoes, venison haggis, pea puree, parsnip crisp, curly kale and foraged pink purslane.

Rose Veal Tartar

The father-in-law had a hankering for rose veal tartar so after a small shipment from Drumachloy Farm on the Isle of Bute, his wish was my command.  One topped with a Scotch Quails and the other just the yolk.

Grey Mullet

Gery mullet, mashed potato, caramelised carrots and a fish stock veloute.

Indian Bread Pakora, Onion, Spinach Pakora, Chicken

Bread Pakora is a really interesting Indian food that has not really hit the street of the UK.  It consists of a fried or toasted bread sandwich, with a filling of well quite a few different things. 

Actually there are several different filling suggestions. Generally paneer cheese or mashed potatoes and usually with a spicy chutney and a sour or sweet chutney like tamarind chutney .  Don't take my word for it, check this link. or a bread paneer pakora recipe both from Sanjeev Kapoorkhazana who has some brilliant videos on You-tube.

I also served this with onion and spinach pakora, chicken and spiced coriander topping. The best flout to make the pakora's is Gram flour.  Mix the gram flour with your chosen spices, add water and mash together to get the right consistency.  You can always cool them in the fridge to help hold their shape before frying until golden brown.

Red Snapper with Saffron Thai Risotto

Simple red snapper fillet with sweet chilli, coriander, fish sauce, ginger and garlic combined with home made fish stock to infuse the risotto.

Busy day, created fish stock, chicken stock, spicy prawn and squid Singapore noodles for lunch before dinner.

Duck Breast on Mashed Peas with Mint

Pan Fried Duck Breast with mashed peas (boil, then add some chopped mint and a splash of olive oil before putting into a mini-chopper for a few seconds).

Red Mullet with Saffron Risotto, Parsnip Purée, Fennel Sautéed Peppers and Fennel Veloute

First time cooking red mullet and hopefully not the last.

Roast Pigeon, Caremlised Carrots, Mashed Potato and Port Jus

Brown the whole pigeon in a pan on all sides, then put in the oven at 150C for 10-12 minutes. Leave to sit under tin foil for at least ten minutes, before removing the breasts (legs optional) and serve.  The pigeon must be served pink, don't over cook, if its slightly under when you remove the breast, just flash fry it for 30 seconds in the pan.
 

Julienne the carrots, and place in a pan with some butter to saute, then add in a couple of spoons of sugar and cook until caramelised.

For the Jus, soften a shallot before adding in a glass of red wine and/or port and burn off the alcohol.  Put in a bouquet garni (or bay leaf, rosemary, thyme) and some game or chicken stock and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.  Put on a medium heat until it thickens then strain off shallot and herbs to leave the jus. Season to taste and add sugar if it is a little tart, then reduce to a syrupy glace.
Serve and pour any excess butter from the carrots over the potato.

Baked Monkfish, with Truffle Risotto, Pea Puree

Fillet of Venison with Parsnip Puree

Clams with Thai Noodles

It has been such a long time again and  I've forgotten what exactly what these all were.

Pheasant with Sloe Gin and Port Sauce, Soured Red Cabbage and Carrot Puree

To cook the pheasant heat oven to 200C, cook and a heavy based oven proof pan for 10 minutes on on breast, then turn and 10 minutes on the other.  Then cook on the back for another 10 minuntes.  This will vary on the size of the bird so check the juices after 25 minutes of cooking to make sure you don't over cook this.  (Place a skewer deep into the fattest part of the bird and remove and watch the colour of the juices, when the juices run clear and not pink, then it is ready.) Rest for ten minutes.

The sauce takes about 45minutes to an hour so start this before the pheasant. Soften onions and a small clove of garlic.  Add good quality chicken stock (or preferably home made) and bay leaf, star anise, 8 crushed pepper corns, thyme, a little rosemary, then reduce by half.    Add a large glug of port and a few dashes of sloe gin, some red wine vinegar and sugar until you get the correct sweetness and of course season.  Cook this right down to a thick sauce that will at least coat the back of the spoon if not a bit thicker.   This will give a lovely wintery, gamey sauce that will compliment the pheasant.

Serve with what ever takes your fancy, I used roast cubed potatoes, carrot puree and soured cabbage.

Christmas Dinner 2011

Starter - Scallops with Prawn and Haddock Tortellini and a Chorizo Cream
I've been playing around with making my own tortellini fillings for a while now and getting the pasta thickness just right.   If it is too thin, you cannot place them individually on a plate as they are self supporting but have them too thick and they are wasted.  I've found that the second thinest setting is the best on my pasta machine.

The filling is 70 prawn, 30% haddock or white fish.  Gently poach or bake the haddock but don't over cook as it will also have some cooking in the tortellini. Put the prawn and haddock with a little splash of single cream in a mini-chopper for a few seconds.  I also added a little taragon but not to much. Then that makes your filling, with any left overs, use that to place in the centre and build your green leaves on top to give height.

Chorizo and scallops is a well known combination but it can often over power the flavour of the scallops but if used as a chorizo cream, this leaves a subtle taste that is not overpowering.  Cook the chorizo first, then adding cream, put into a mini-chopper.  Put this through a tamis or sieve and you are left with a mild chorizo cream.  If you can leave the chorizo in the cream for a longer time, this will allow the flavours in infuse more.

Mains - Roast Pork from Sunnyside Farm with Sausages (the one I butchered), Celeriac Puree and all the trimmings.

Desert - Chocolate Ganach with Mango Jelly, Vanilla Ice Cream and a Baileys Cream Sauce.

Christmas Ham

Its Christmas, I'm so excited, I'll be cooking on and off today, tomorrow and on Christmas day.   Here is the best Christmas Ham recipe, its not mine but one I pinched off Jacqueline O'Donnell.  I also added some sloe gin to the glaze and use a carton of orange juice as well as apple and omitted the water.  Keep the juices that you boil the ham in, it makes a wonderful stock that you can use for pork gravy.   Well I think it will, will tell you on Christmas Day.

Recipe
6.5kg gammon, with knuckle bone
250ml red wine (1 cup)
Apple juice/water to cover
1 large onion, halved
2 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
1 head fennel, halved
2 star anise
1 x 15ml tablespoon coriander seed
1 x 15ml tablespoon fennel seed
1 x 15ml tablespoon mixed peppercorns
 1 bay leaf
 6 cloves

Ham Glaze:Approx. 20 whole cloves
4 x 15ml tablespoons cranberry or redcurrant jelly
 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
 ½ teaspoon red wine vinegar

Preparation: 1. Put all the ingredients, except those for the glaze, into a large pan, on the stove but off the heat, adding water until the ham is covered.
2. Turn on the heat and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and partially cover the pan. Cook for about 3 1/2 hours. (This may not seem long for a big joint, but as it will carry oncooking as it cools, and this is going to be eaten cold, I don’t want it overcooked. Nor do you.)
3. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6 (400F). Lift the ham gently out of the hot liquid, sit it on a board and let it cool slightly, not too much but just so that you can touch it without burning yourself.
4. With a sharp knife, strip off the rind, and a little of the fat layer if it’s very thick, but leave a thin layer of fat. I love this work: it is peculiarly gratifying seeing the hot blubbery fat slither off. Use the same knife to score a diamond pattern in the remaining fat on the ham, in lines about 2cm apart. Stud the points of each diamond with a clove.
5. Put the cranberry or redcurrant jelly, cinnamon, paprika and red wine vinegar into a little saucepan and whisk together over a high heat, bringing it to the boil. Let the pan bubble away, for about 5 minutes, so that the glaze reduces to a syrupy consistency that will coat the fat on the ham.
6. Now sit the ham in a roasting tin lined with foil, as the sugar in the glaze will burn in the oven as it drips off. Pour the glaze over the diamond-studded ham, then put it in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the glazed fat has caught and burnished. Take the ham out of the oven and sit it on a wooden board to cool (2–3 hours) before you carve it.

Aromatic Christmas Ham Make Ahead Tip:
Cook the ham, loosely cover in a 'tent' of foil and keep chilled for up to 1 week.

Razor Clams in Veloute

Razor clams are really easy to cook, soften a shallot, put in a few glugs of white wine, then just pop them in once bubbling and cook with a lid on for 60 to 90 seconds and no more.  Remove, then only use the white meat, reheat before serving.  Serve with what ever accompaniments you like.

Pork Loin with Stuffed Cabbage leaves and Mustard Foam

Pork loin with celeriac puree with stuffed cabbage leaves and a mustard foam.  I'm experimenting with lecithin to help stabilize my foams, getting there.