' GARLIC & GINGER SCAMPI with AVOCADO .'

Grilled garlic & ginger Scampi , Smoked salmon mousse , Avocado & Ginger mint puree , Edible sand , dried nori and pea greens.    

                   Summer inspired seafood entree of garlic and ginger grilled scampi accompanied by a smoked salmon mousse and avocado puree. Keeping with flavour of the sea I served an edible sand made from crumbs and other goodies of sea nature such as salts, dried fish, seaweed etc. The avocado puree remains fresh on the palette with a hint of ginger mint to lift it as well as lime juice, instead of the ever so popular guacamole pairing of avocado and garlic.                                                                        
                   Halving an avocado and removing the seed, I scooped the flesh from the skin into a blender with a little cream, lime juice, fresh ginger mint and a little seasoning. This was bended to form a smooth lime green puree nice and creamy. I then split a large scampi in half lengthways and cleaned the head cavities of the scampi halves. Making a basting sauce from butter, minced garlic and ginger I coated the flesh of the tail meat and filled the head cavity. I then placed the scampi flesh side up on a flat tray and placed the tray under the grill to cook for around 8-10 minutes, basting the meat every 2 minutes while their cooking. Once their cooked I removed the tray from under the grill and let them rest. In the meantime I placed some cream cheese, cream and smoked salmon in a blender and blended the mixture to a mousse consistency. To make the edible sand I mixed in a bowl some panko crumb, bread crumb, black and white sea salt, pink salt, ground dried fish, ground dried nori seaweed, evaporated sugar cane juice and wakame miso oil. The miso oil is simply sesame oil mixed with wakame miso paste and is rubbed through the crumb mix just before serving.                                                                
                    I plated this by swiping the top half of the plate with chilled avocado and ginger mint puree. I then arranged the scampi halves on the plate showing the succulent tail meat to the diner. With the salmon mousse I made four quenelles and arranged them between everything else on the plate and garnishing them with a slim strand of dried nori seaweed. With a spoon I carefully placed mounds randomly on the plate of the edible sand  and then finished the plate off with some fresh pea greens.

' GARLIC & SOUR CREAM .'

De-hydrated garlic butter sponge , Black garlic , Sour cream , White wine poached garlic , Garlic aioli , Lemon zest and garlic chives.

               In the back of everyones mind right now their thinking, 'the breath after this dish, can't do this one theres way too much garlic, pungent' . Well surprisingly this dish is full of techniques applied to garlic that brings out the under notes of a garlic clove rather than its raw pungent state. While out browsing the shelves after work this week I came across the black garlic you see. I've heard of this before but never seen or used garlic in this state. Black garlic sometimes wrongly referred to as 'black fermented garlic' is garlic which has been heat treated in its skins whole for several weeks resulting in the black cloves and not subject to microbial influence at all. Losing its pungent flavour in the process, black garlic parts flavours of tangy, sweet and syrupy with hints of balsamic vinegar or tamarind paste. Another application Garlic was used was poached in white wine also giving sweet flavours although contrasting to that of the black garlic. Two other preparations in this dish using garlic were the aioli and the garlic butter sponge and I brought in some colour and a fresh ingredient by using garlic chives to garnish. The change up and accompaniment is sour cream and a little lemon zest.  
              To make this garlic tasting I started by making the sponge first. In a bowl I beat some eggs until frothy and added some sugar and smoked salt, whisking again. In another bowl I melted a little butter with some de-hydrated garlic granules, this was then cooled and added to the eggs with some cold milk and a little baking powder, this was beaten until foamy. To this I worked in some self raising flour to form a batter, this was poured into a lined baking tin and baked at 160 deg.c. for about 20-25 minutes. Once the sponge was ready and sprang back to form when pressed, it was removed and allowed to cool before being torn apart for presentation. The poached garlic was simply simmered with a lid on low heat in a mix of butter and sweet white wine until soft and tender. The garlic was then removed and allowed to cool before being sliced thinly for plating. To make the aioli I placed egg yolks, crushed garlic, salt and sherry vinegar in a blender and blended to a creamy pale consistency, with the blender still running I trickle fed olive oil in slowly to form a creamy garlic aioli.                          
              To plate I placed a generous dollop of sour cream in the centre of the plate placing a chunk of torn garlic butter sponge to one side and some sliced poached garlic on top of the cream. In front of this display I placed whole cloves of the black garlic and a smaller dollop of the garlic aioli which was garnished with strips of lemon zest. A few lengths of garlic chive were arranged on top of the sponge and sour cream display to finish the plate off.