' EDIBLE FOREST FLOOR in WINTER .'

Deep fried Reindeer Moss, Pine oil powder, Truffle oil powder, Truffle infused Dark chocolate branches, Porcini creme fraiche, Morels and Semi-dried Parsley leaves.

                  When plating this taste sample dish theres one ingredient that sparked the whole dish when I thought about it. A couple of weeks back the family went for a drive to the rainforest nearby and after we had some lunch we drove to a popular water hole. The 100m walk to the water whole from the car park was littered with native bush food plants from a rejuvenation program many years ago. Along the walk I came across a piece of reindeer moss growing suspended in the branch of a tree lining the path. I brought the sample home and started the research on its gastronomical ability. After a bit of research and a positive identification I found that the moss used to be served at one the worlds most famous restaurants in Denmark called ' Noma '. The danish restaurant served the lichen deep fried, seasoned with porcini mushroom powder on a saucer of live moss with a side dish of creme fraiche. So I decided to take the idea and serve the lichen with a few other european forest inspired ingredients to accompany, creating a scene from the winter forest floors of europe.                                                          
                   The methods for all the preparations are listed below and are not in order of execution.            
DEEP FRIED REINDEER MOSS- This was simply as it says deep fried and very quickly before being left to drain on a paper towel. The fried light brown fibres of the lichen dissolves, crumbling away on your tongue leaving a delicate taste of earthy truffle, with sweet grassy and vanilla notes.        
PINE OIL POWDER- To make this powder which is the one with greener tint, I made some pine oil by blending together chopped pine needles and olive oil until the oil turns green and the pine oil has infused with the olive oil. This was then strained and mixed at a 40/60 ratio with N-Zorbit which is a Tapioca Maltodextrin, which is a modified starch like corn flour but made from cassava root. N-Zorbit has the ability to turn fats into fluffy powders that melt back to their oils on your tongue with next to no spoiling to the flavour. The pine oil and n-Zorbit were mixed together using a fork until fluffy and powdery. The downfall to the starch is when it becomes in contact with any other fluid other than oils or fats, N-Zorbit turns to an instant sludge and not a delicate fluffy powder.                                                  
TRUFFLE OIL POWDER- Same as above except substituting the pine oil for white truffle oil.

TRUFFLE INFUSED CHOCOLATE BRANCHES- This were made by roasting parsley stems in the oven until brown and hard, these were then coated in melted dark chocolate mixed with a little truffle oil and placed in the fridge to set.
SEMI-DRIED PARSLEY LEAVES- I simply placed the leaves on a flat tray and dried them out in an 80 degree C. oven until they just turn light brown, before removing and setting aside to plate.
PORCINI CREME FRAICHE- To make the final prep I placed dried porcini mushrooms in a spice blender, blending to form a powder, I then mixed the powder with some creme fraiche until it was all incorporated. This was then placed in the fridge to chill and firm back up before serving.

' SPICY CHOCOLATE SALAD .'

Chilli spiked Chocolate pudding, Nasturtium blooms, Watermelon Radish greens, Olive oil and Aged Balsamic vinaigrette and vanilla salt. 

                    This creation came about from a conversation I had with mum about a week ago or so at my cousins sons first birthday celebration. We were talking about our common interest food, and how she feels so strongly about the Mediterranean food culture, the simplicity, the whole food ethics and so on but how times are changing even over there. People are becoming more willing to participate in the unusual or the un-tried. How our children's tastes have been exposed to a greater number of food combinations than any generation in the past. The conversation went on and mum made a reference to how chocolate is being applied in many different ways now from just the humble chocolate bar, and she went on to state that we are now seeing chocolate in beer and wine, who knows whats next. At the time I'm looking a bowl of fresh garden salad on the table and mind starting ticking. When I got home I got onto the laptop to see if there were any chocolate salad recipes out there and low and behold there was a photo of a chocolate salad in a blog entry from years back by the food ideas group. So with a bit of improvisation and my adaptations I came up with this simple chilli spiced chocolate salad.                    
                    For this prep I started with the base for the chocolate pudding by gently heating some cream in a saucepan and adding cocoa powder, chopped de-seeded red chillies and melted bitter sweet chocolate, mixing to incorporate. Allowing time for the chilli to infuse, I then strained the mixture removing the chilli and placing the mixture back into the saucepan. To set the pudding I wanted something to be able to cut cubes but also have a velvet mouth feel, so I used carrageenan both iota and kappa which gave me tenderness with rigidness. I added the gums to the chocolate cream and while whisking, I brought the mixture to 80 degrees C. before removing from the heat and pouring into a plastic mould. This was then placed in the fridge to chill and set. To accent this pudding I foraged the vegetable garden for some nasturtium leaves and baby radish greens, both having a peppery bite to them each. Once the pudding was set, it was un-moulded, diced into bite size cubes and dressed in a vinaigrette of olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar, then all the ingredients were tossed together and plated. The salad was then seasoned with a little vanilla salt, something I had prepared some months ago by infusing salt with vanilla beans in a container sealed over time, bringing out a delicate sweetness and aroma to the salt.

 

' faux MICRO CHEESE BURGER & FRIES .'

 Caramel & Sesame seed macaron filled with Chocolate & Almond patty, Salted caramel slice, Diced Apple and Raspberry ketchup, served with Apple & Arrowroot fries. 

                  This dish is another sweets entry with a straight forward play on food or 'food play'. I've seen this dish or I've seen the macaron burger similar being served on degustation menus but I thought I'd go a step further and try recreate visually something we all are familiar with, that fast food giant. My macaron making experience from scratch was many many years ago and the macarons that I used to make were the traditional plain almond type, not the the modern day colourful types. So sucking in my pride I've used the help of Adriano Zumbo and his macaron mix, I chose the salted caramel variety to get the best resemblence of a seeded bun as I could, for the overall effect. The surprise for me that came from this dish was the apple fries, which upon eating at first I thought tasted like regular french fries. Weather my mind was tricking my taste buds or by-passing my taste buds altogether and operating purely from associated experience but I thought I was eating McDonalds fries and it wasn't until the aftertaste left on my palate that tasted of flavours similar to apple danish and with the raspberry sauce, that I realised this was part of a tasty dessert and how easily your mind can be tricked even if you know the trick.                                      
                 To make this food player I began by making the macaron shells the night before as per the recipe on the packet. As the piped mixture were resting on their trays before backing I sprinkled half of them with sesame seeds and baked them off for 16-18 minutes in a 150 deg. c oven before removing and allowing to cool. The shells were the placed in to a airtight container and stored in the fridge over night. The next day I began with the cheese burger fillings, in a bowl I mixed together melted milk chocolate, melted butter, almond meal and homestyle Orio cookie crumb. After forming the mix into a ball or dough like consistency I formed little patty rounds and placed them on the bottom half of the macaron as these were the meat patties. Next I used the caramel supplied in the kit and rolled some out thinly between two sheets of baking paper. I then cut little squares of the caramel slice to match the size of the patties and these were arranged on top of the patties to resemble melted sliced cheese. The raspberry coulis was from an older preparation but with some of this I added a little balsamic vinegar to cut the sweetness of the sauce and the entire dish and also give the coulis a more authentic ketchup look. The diced onions on the burger are made from really finely diced apple. The last preparation was the fries and all along I wanted to use apple as the potato substitute and I was just going to simply slice the apple julienne and fry them in hot oil. And it wasn't until I was cutting them I thought of the idea of frying them in a starch to give them more rigidness and structure. So I coated some in arrowroot flour and did a test batch and to my surprise they came up looking like a real french fry. I coated the rest and my stumbles through cooking rewarded me and became the final product you see.

  
                                                                           

' BLACK TRUFFLE TARTUFO .'

Tartufo of Chocolate & Vanilla gelato incased in a White truffle oil infused Dark chocolate shell , Chocolate fudge sauce , Cookie crumble Dirt & Sand , Shaved Black summer truffle & bee pollen granules.

                This is a dessert of pure indulgence and is a perfect way to see out the last summer days as we enter our first days of autumn here in the land of oz. As the heat is still around here in Brisbane, we are destined to see a prolonged late summer and the overlap of seasonal offerings but this also means a perfect scenario for raising autumn seedlings, giving them a strong start and establishment before the temperatures drop and day light decreases hindering photosynthesis. Anyway enough in the garden and more about this little stella. This dish isn't about showcasing expensive ingredients rather a dish with a perfect flavour pairing. What I noticed the most with this sweet, earthy flavoured pairing is the truffle gives the dark chocolate flavour the ability to last on the palate for ever, kind of like a fixative in soap holds the fragrance of a soap, truffle fixes the taste of the dark chocolate to the palate.

                This plate was fairly simple to put together, having said that I cheated with the gelato and opted for a store bought split flavoured gelato. This removed the a huge amount of time from the overall planning but in hindsight, next time I do this dish I intend to make my own vanilla flavoured gelato. As I found the store bought version didn't stand up to the plating and had melted inside the shell. With making my own I can adjust the gums and thickeners to my needs and produce a more durable gelato. The preparation of this dish started with the cookie crumbles, the first being the 'sand' or shortbread crumble of which I made a simple butter, flour and sugar dough, rolling out to 3-4 mm thick and cutting into cookie shapes before being baked in a 170 deg. oven for 15 minutes until golden in colour, the tray was then removed from the oven and allowed to cool before the cookies were pulverised to a crumb consistency. For the 'dirt' crumble I did a house-made Oreo cookie dough by mixing flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, a little baking soda, salt and sugar with an egg and unsalted butter, this was then rolled out to 3-4 mm thick, cut into cookie rounds and baked at 180-190 deg.c for 10 minutes before being removed and allowed to cool. I then placed the cookies in to a plastic bag and pulverised them to a crumb consistency. The trick to a good crumble is to shape the dough into cookies before baking rather than cooking as a flat sheet of dough, the biscuit shape is what gives a hardened crumb. I made the tartufo ( truffle ) next by melting some good quality ( 70% ) dark chocolate and adding to this a little white summer truffle oil. Using a melon baller I scooped balls of the gelato and with the truffle infused chocolate I coated the gelato balls, working fast to get them onto a parchment lined tray and into the freezer to set. While the tartufo were setting a began making the fudge sauce by bringing some cream, golden syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt and dark chocolate to the boil over a medium heat in a saucepan. I then reduced the heat to a low simmer and while stirring I cooked the fudge sauce out for about 5 minutes before removing from the stove and adding unsalted butter, vanilla extract and some more dark chocolate. This was then stirred until smooth in consistency and set aside to cool. The fudge sauce was then reheated in the microwave for 30 seconds to serve. And for the finishing touches I carefully shaved slithers of black summer truffle to accompany and garnished the tartufo with some delicate bee pollen granules.

' CHOCOLATE HALVA .' dessert

Halva mousse , Chocolate gelato , Poppy seed crumbs , Crumbled Chocolate Halva and Milk chocolate sauce .

                    This is an example of minimal ingredients although very much a labour of love. Halva translating to 'sweetmeat' derived from the arabic word for sweet, is essentially a crystallised paste of sesame seeds (tahini) and sugar. Halvah may be flavoured with nuts, coffee and in this case cocoa. Popular in the Balkans and all throughout the middle east and adjacent countries to the mediterranean sea. To take this recipe right back you first must make the tahini, then the halva is made from this allowing a day and half for the sugar crystals to grow and give the halva its distinctive texture.              
                    So the preparation of this dish began with the making of tahini sauce. First I toasted some sesame seeds in a 170 deg.c. oven for around 10 minutes, tossing them around frequently so they didn't burn. These were then allowed to cool for about 20 minutes before pouring the seeds into a food processor with a little olive oil and this was processed to a thick but pourable consistency. With the tahini made I made a start on the halva heating 2 cups of honey, stirring to prevent localised overheating. This was simmered to reach a 'soft ball' syrup or 115 deg.c. on the sugar thermometer.The honey was then set aside and allowed to cool for 5 minutes, meanwhile I gently warmed tahini to the temperature of 50 deg.c. and folded this into the hot honey syrup and added some vanilla essence. I then poured one third of this mix into a separate bowl mixing 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and a little chocolate essence. Into a lined plastic container I poured the vanilla mixture then the chocolate mixture on top of this, with a spoon I swirled the mixtures together to give a marbled effect with the chocolate. Once cooled the container was sealed with a lid and placed into the fridge for around 36 hours or so giving enough time as explained above to mature and develop its characteristic texture. Two days later and I began on the halva mousse of which I brought cream to boiling point, in a bowl I whisked together egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and thick to this I added one third of the cream mixing to incorporate and then returning the egg and cream mixture back to the heat. I cooked this on low heat stirring until it coated the back of my spoon, to this I added 1% agar agar, tahini, honey and simmered whisking to dissolve the agar. This was then removed from the heat and in another bowl I whipped cream to a soft peak and folded this into the custard mix. I then added chopped halva and poured the mixture into cylinder moulds with a little poppy seed crumb on the bottom, these were then placed in the fridge to set before being un-moulded for plating. I used my usual non machine method of making this gelato just adding some cocoa powder and chocolate essence in the heating of the milk and cream stage and then some melted dark chocolate at the custard thickening stage. To make the poppy seed crumb I placed sugar, flour, almond meal, poppy seeds and chopped cold butter into a bowl and using my fingertips brought the mix to a crumb with no remaining butter lumps through it. This was then placed in the fridge for an hour and then spread on to a baking paper lined flat tray and placed in a 170 deg.c. oven for around 10 minutes, before bringing it back to a crumb with a folk and finishing off a few more minutes in the oven for colour. To make the sauce I simply heated milk chocolate in the microwave until melted and free from lumps. I shaved and sliced pieces of halva as an accompaniment.

' INCA TRUFFLES .'

Inca Truffles (clockwise from front left)- Inca berry & milk chocolate , Pure cacao & kola nut , 85% Dark chocolate & bee pollen , White chocolate & pistachio nut.

            I have a deep passion for peru and especially the times of the Incas, Their complex management of crops, the growing, storage and distribution were systems well before their time. They had an ability to store large amounts of crops (maize, quinoa and potatoes) mainly in storage facilities which took 5 years in the making, these were built throughout their empire. The crops were then distributed from the centre of the city. Crops and meat were dried to ensure there was enough food all year round. They were different from the mayans and aztecs as they were the first of their kind to farm animals (lama, alpacas and guinea pig) to eat. The incas innovative growing systems of terraced garden beds gave them micro climates within the one area allowing themselves to grow crops of a broad spectrum almost all year round. Many of their foods introduced to the new world by the Spaniards have been the foods of our tables for many centuries, for example the humble potato and more recently quinoa. To make these truffles I've used some of the foods that were the staple diet of the incas including the Peruvian ground cherry ( inca berries), cacao (chocolate), kola nut and pistachio nuts. These truffles don't have the delicate mouth feels of your more modern day chocolatiers, but a more natural taste and feel of the raw ingredients used to make them.                                                                                                          
              To make these truffles I first prepared all the ingredients starting by grinding separately pistachio nuts and inca berries in a coffee grinder and set aside to be used as coatings. Next I placed in a blender sultanas, pistachio, apricots, inca berries, honey, salt and vanilla essence and blended to form a paste. This was then divided into portions and rolled in to balls using the palms of my hands, the balls were then dipped in melted milk chocolate and then rolled in the ground inca berries before being placed on a tray and into the fridge to harden. In a small saucepan I brought full cream to a gentle boil, this was then divided into two bowls. In one bowl I mixed the cream with melted white chocolate and in the other bowl I mixed the cream with melted 85% dark chocolate. Both bowls of genache were then placed into the fridge to harden before being rolled into balls. The white chocolate balls were then rolled in the ground pistachio nuts and the dark chocolate genache balls were dipped in melted 85% dark chocolate and topped with bee pollen. The last truffle was made from homemade chocolate using pure 100% peruvian cacao, melted cocoa butter, sugar and a little soy lecithin to emulsify. These were mixed into a paste and rolled into balls before being placed in the fridge to set. Once set I rolled the balls of cacao in a mix of cocoa powder and ground kola nuts. Kola nuts are high in caffeine and were once used in the original recipe for coca cola, it can be very hard to obtain, my kola nut was sourced from a herbal shop.                                                                                                                                          

Inca berry and milk chocolate.

85% Dark chocolate and bee pollen.

Pure peruvian cacao and kola nut.

White chocolate and pistachio nut.