40th Birthday Dinner

I finally reached 40 and I decided to roll-out the red carpet for some of the family. Below is my menu from 10th Sept 2010.

Home cured Gravlax infused with coriander

& ginger with a Hovmästarås dressing

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Sea Bass fillet with boulangere potatoes

arrowleaf spinach & a herb velouté

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Elderflower ginger strawberry

amuse bouche

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Galloway venison fillet with potato &

sweet potato mash in a red wine sauce

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Mint and Strawberry Ying & Yang sorbets

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I cured the Gravlax at home and used ginger and coriander as well as dill and served it with a Swedish sauce.

The Seabass herb velouté and potatoes were made with my own fish stock which I made after popping into Eddies Seafood Market in Marchmont, Edinburgh. They gave me the bones of five or six lemon sole which I boiled up with some onion, fennel and thyme. The herbs all came from my little garden.

The venison I bought on line from Blackface.co.uk, it arrived in one long sliver loin fillet and it was gorgeous meat. It went down very well and was served pink.

The sorbets were a bit of a giggle, rather psychedelic but a bit of fun. I just broke up the mixes in the freezer with a fork. They didn't exactly come out very smooth so since then I have bought my own ice cream machine.

Oddly enough the amuse bouche almost stole the show. I used the St Germain Elderflower liqueur, with ginger beer and frozen mashed strawberry ice droplets.

As for my birthday presents, all cooking (food or drink) related; some new kitchen knives, a tamis, mondolin, chinois, a Martin Wishart cooking lesson, a pestle and morter, silicone spatulas, magic and thanks all.

Fillet Steak with Redcurrant and Red Wine Sauce and Beetroot, Turnip and Parsnip Dauphinoise

Thick red wine sauce, looks a bit like chocolate. I used a lot of port in the sauce, the redcurrants were a bit sour. I tried the dauphinoise using beetroot, turnip and parsnip. I have decided I don't really like beetroot it tastes too much like mud for my liking. Soya beans and panchetta. Possibly a bit too many flavours on the plate!

Venison with Red Wine Sauce and Rosemary Herb Oil

I'm gutted this picture didn't come out well as this a cracking plate of food. I bought the venison from the farmer's market in Edinburgh and it was very tender. Nothing too complex, just leeks, mashed potatoes and venison in a thick red wine sauce.
There are two schools of thought to a red wine sauce, one where you sweat the onions in oil/butter first(then add pepper corns, garlic and bay leaves) and then skim off the fat when it is reducing. The other one is those that don't use butter as the sauce is said to split. Either way you can get the same result and you need to cook for at least 45mins to reduce the wine, then sieve off the onions etc. The rosemary herb oil just completed the dish.


The above picture didn't come out well and I just happened to find another venison dish I did but haven't posted, venison in a beetroot and caper jus, and sweat potato and potato mash.