' BACKYARD SALAD #3 .'

Backyard winter harvested salad of Pea greens & Flowers, Watercress, Sorrel, Yellow Chard, Sweet potato greens, Nasturtium leaves & Petals, Watermelon Radish and Supremes of Blood Orange & Tangelo.

                  For this post I've done a quick little winter garden inspired salad to accompany some fresh citrus I had bought from the grocers. This tasty salad of winter greens with peppery and lemon notes has been dressed with a blood orange vinaigrette and makes perfect for an appetiser as it gets all those saliva glands going and taste buds zinging. The nasturtium leaves and petals along with the watercress and radish give off peppery and mustard flavour notes adding a little spice and warmth to the dish.        
                  To make this salad I started with preparing the citrus, slicing both the blood orange and tangelo into supremes and placing into the fridge to chill. In a bowl I whisked together some olive oil, blood orange juice, salt, pepper and panela until well combined, this was set aside. Next I went for a walk down the backyard to the vegetable garden and had a little forage for the winter greens, radishes and flowers. These were washed, the radish I sliced thinly and dressed the salad greens in the blood orange vinaigrette. The greens, radish slices, flower petals and prepared citrus fruit supremes were then arranged onto a plate and seasoned with some cracked black pepper.
                 When it was photo shoot time, I went outside to capture the days natural light like I usually do. But this time I had forgotten that I had let the chooks out to to free range earlier on. Well at the end of the shoot I was taking some variation plating shots and experimenting with a white back ground,  when the curiosity and patience had got the better of the White Sussex and she had to check out the backyard salad. Upon a closer look she dove in a started eating the salad, picking the tangelo supreme first followed by a frenzy of thrashing beak work annihilating my salad.

' BLOOD ORANGE SCALLOP CEVICHE .'

Scallops cured in blended citrus juice and arranged with Blood orange supremes, Brunoised vegetables, Preserved lemon, Micro herbs and nori seaweed tile, served in a Blood orange sauce spiked with chilli.

                   I love Scallops cooked his way and when the blood oranges hit the shelves, I had to try this ceviche recipe which uses a blend of juice from citrus fruits, blood orange, limes and lemon together with a splash of verjus, This looks like a lot of prep for 3 scallops but this is surprisingly easy to prepare and there is no cooking involved, in 45 minutes you've got a very tasty seafood entree that looks alright too. Each component has its place and involvement in the end finish of the experience. Have a go at this dish while the oranges are at their juiciest, below is how simple it really is.                                          
                   Here is a list of the preparations in order of method.                                                                    
SCALLOP CEVICHE- In a glass bowl I whisked together 1/4 cup of blood orange juice, 2 tbsp each of lime juice, lemon juice and verjus, pinch of sugar and salt, until the salt and sugar dissolved. I then washed and pat dried the scallops placing them in the bowl of blended juice and covering the bowl with clear film. The bowl was then placed in the fridge and the scallops were allowed to cure for 45 minutes.                                                    
BLOOD ORANGE SAUCE- In the time the scallops are curing I made the the sauce and prepared the finishing accompaniments. To make the sauce I simply whisk together in bowl 1/4 cup of blood orange juice, 1/2 tbsp of each lemon, lime and verjus and olive oil, this was then seasoned and given a splash of tabasco sauce before being placed in the fridge to chill.
FINISHING- To accompany the scallops and finish the dish I prepared a micro brunoise of red radish and celery. Then thinly sliced some watermelon radish, cut a nori sheet into little 1/4 inch square tiles and cut blood oranges into half supremes and preserved lemon rind into little pieces. The final garnishes did not require preparation and consisted of young yellow celery leaves, dill fronds and opal basil blossom.

' MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !'

Warm Fig Bread pudding , Bourbon and butter sauce , Drunken sultanas , Blood orange marmelade , Bourbon glazed walnuts , Chantilly cream , melted chocolate and mint leaves.

        First off I just want to wish everyone a very merry and safe Christmas and New Year and thank you all for your support and kind words over the past few months, will be back to blogging in the new year. This is a little take on things christmasy and with the alcohol makes you warm and festive.
       For the fig bread pudding I poached dried figs in red wine, thyme and sugar until soft. The figs were then blended to a puree before adding cream, milk and sugar. In a large bowl I cubed white bread and poured the mixture over the bread and allowed the bread to soak up the liquid. I then spooned the bread mixture into greased muffin tray inserts and baked in a 180 deg.c. oven for about 25-30 minutes. In a fry pan I dry roasted some chopped walnuts adding to this butter and sugar, coating the walnuts. I then poured in some bourbon and simmered allowing the mixture to reduce and thicken to a syrup. The nuts were then removed and set aside. The cream was simply whipped thickened cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract. The marmalade was made by simmering down blood orange juice, zest and sugar to a jam consistency. The sultanas were steeped in Jim Beam bourbon overnight and this was the bourbon used to make the bourbon butter sauce.
        To plate I placed the bread pudding in the centre of the plate spooning the bourbon butter sauce over the top of the pudding and pooling the sauce around the base of the pudding. I then piped some chantilly cream on the pudding and on the plate at 11 o'clock, 2, 5 and 8, each dollop of cream received a mint leaf. Next I placed the candied walnuts to the left of each cream on the plate following with the melted shaved dark chocolate then the marmalade and finishing with the drunken sultanas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

' BLOOD ORANGE & BEETROOT TARTLET .'

Blood orange & Beetroot Tartlet , Beetroot panna cotta , Persian cucumber , Asparagus , Hummus , Swiss cheese , Rocket , Red oak , Blood orange and edible flowers.

               This is a dish put together with left over ingredients making their way to areas of the fridge that don't see light, out of sight out of mind the saying goes, but not this time. I made use of these awol. veggies before it was to late and they become food for my worm farm. It came together quite well considering, the ingredients are slightly random but surprisingly works together and this would make a fabulous light lunch, brunch type deal. Next time I would just add a bit more beet juice to the panna cotta to try and achieve a more purple, maroon beetroot coloration rather than the strawberry looking one I've made.      
                The sweet shortcrust pastry was the first preparation for this meal, starting by combining flour, butter and sugar in a food processor to make a fine crumb, to this I added egg yolk and chilled water and processed bringing together a dough before turning the pastry onto a floured work bench and rolling out to a 3-4 mm thick disc. This was then covered between two sheets of baking paper and placed in the fridge for 30 minutes. Greasing muffin tins, I then cut circles with a glass out of the pastry and lined the muffin inserts. In a bowl I grated beetroot and mixed with blood orange juice, sugar, egg and a little flour, this was then spooned into the pastry shells and placed into a 170 deg.c. oven and cooked for about 25-30 minutes until the filling was cooked and the pastry just  browning. These were then removed and allowed to cool before serving. To make the panna cotta I simple heated in a small saucepan milk, cream, sugar, beetroot juice and agar agar at 2%. This was then brought to a simmer whisking to dissolve the sugar and agar powder, this was then poured into a 10 mm plastic tube and set in the fridge. I poured the remaining mixture onto a flat tray and placed it in the fridge to set. While these were setting I prepared the asparagus by washing, trimming and blanching asparagus spears of which were then steeped in an ice bath to stop the cooking procedure. The cucumber was shaved using a veggie peeler, trimmed and dressed in olive oil and seasoned. The lettuce greens were simply tossed in seasoned olive oil before being plated. I then made a hummus by placing chick peas, tahini, garlic, olive oil, cumin and lemon juice in a blender and processed to combine adding a little water and blending to make a smooth paste.