' food plays' WALDORF SALAD .'

Contempory Waldorf salad of Crisp Granny Smith apple, Roaring Forties Blue cheese, Roasted walnuts, Tender Crisp celery, Watercress and Blue cheese dressing. 

                    The waldorf salad is a classic salad that has endless possibilities of a reconstructed contempory twist to its presentation. The salad is traditionally made of apple, celery, walnuts and mayo on a bed of lettuce and was first created in the 1890's by Oscar Tschirky at the Waldorf Hotel in NYC. The are many variations using chicken, dates, grapes, sultanas etc. and the recipe I've chosen to recreate comes from a english restauranteur and owner of The British Larder. This variation uses the addition of the blue cheese through the mayo and as a crumbled accompaniment, which really stands up against the tang of the apple and the pepperiness of the watercress. This waldorf version delivers a diversity of textures and flavours that pack punch and harmonise collectively.
                   To make the salad I simply cored an apple slicing thinly into 2-3mm slices, these were lightly dressed in olive oil and lemon juice before being reassembled into an apple shape and chilled. Next I sliced the celery into 2-3mm matchsticks and reserved some young yellow leaves also dressing these in the oil and lemon juice before chilling. In a 180C oven I placed some walnuts on a flat tray and roasted them for about 10 minutes until nicely toasted and starting to release nut oils which intensify the flavour of the nut, these were then cooled, chopped roughly and set aside ready for plating. To make the dressing I creamed 1 egg yolk, 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 50g of Blue cheese, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, a pinch of sugar and salt, until smooth. Slowly I then added 50ml of olive oil and 100ml of sunflower oil while slowly whisking the mayo to form an emulsion, adding a tbsp of warm water if the mayo became to thick. The mayo was then chilled for half an hour before serving.                                    
                   To plate I placed the reassembled sliced apple in the centre of the plate, topping with young celery leaf, celery matchstick, sprig of watercress and a small thin tile of blue cheese. Around the apple I placed dollops of the blue cheese dressing at 12, 3, 6 and 9 0'clock, topping each with a different accompaniment. Next I arranged the matchsticks of celery, young celery leaves, watercress and crumbled blue cheese around the apple, scattering the roasted walnuts and seasoning the dish with a little cracked black pepper.                                      

 

' TWO LOCAL PRAWNS IN A BARK BOAT .'

 Local bay prawns in a Native lime berry, Chilli & Ginger sauce, aboard a Paperbark boat, served with Barley couscous and Captain Cooks spinach. 

                    This dish showcases some of the great indigenous foods we have been blessed with in our great country. Most of these indigenous bush-foods can only be found here too, making them a rare and cherished experience for me. In this little appetiser I use some fresh local bay prawns and marinate them in a marinade made of home grown native lime berries with chilli and ginger. These are cooked on the barbecue and served on a bed of barley couscous, which has been cooked in the liquor from steamed pipi's. And accompanied by some homegrown native spinach. The canoe was crafted from a trimmed sheet of bark from the paperbark tree in the front yard and made in similar fashion to the bark boats our indigenous people use for transport and to fish from. The boat was folded, pinned at both ends then soaked in water, before being moulded to shape and cured on a hotplate grill and set aside to harden.                                                  
                    I made the marinade by simmering Native lime berries, lime juice, caster sugar, salt pepper, red chilli paste, ginger paste and crushed garlic until reduced and slightly thickened. I then used a little of the sauce to form a paste with some corn starch and returned the paste to the sauce, stirring until the marinade thickens. I then removed the marinade placing in the fridge to chill before coating the green local peeled and deveined prawns and allowing to marinate in the fridge for an hour with half of the marinade and the remaining was set aside to be used as a plating sauce. The prawns were then cooked quickly on a hotplate basting with the sauce, once cooked they were placed two in a boat to be served. In a saucepan I placed a handful of pipis, some fresh thyme and chopped onions and steamed the pipis in a dry white wine. Once the shells were open I strained the cooking liquor and used the stock to cook the couscous. To finish I blanched the captain cooks spinach in pot of salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes before removing and steeping into an ice bath to retard the cooking process, the blanching removes most of the unwanted oxalic acid which gives native spinach a hairy mouthfeel if eaten raw, similar to the unripe bananas.