' CHESTNUT & MAPLE CREME BRULEE .'

Chestnut & Maple Creme brulee, Spiced Pumpkin tuile, Callebaut Chocolate decor and Roasted chestnuts.

                    When I think of chestnuts, for me its very much a winter thing. With fond memories of the big chestnut trees in Melbourne and the aroma of roasting chestnuts from the street vendors, wafting through the main streets and side alleys of the inner city hub or the sunday markets. Its a very comforting aroma that instantly makes you feel warm inside, despite the weather. For me the aroma from roasting chestnuts is such an association trigger for the city streets of Melbourne, as popcorn is for the movies. When I moved up to Queensland, where the sub-tropical climate and low chill in winter doesn't allow chestnuts to grow I noticed that the nut of choice for street vendors was the macadamia nut. The macadamia nut was virtually unaffordable for people of Melbourne and the thought of it being sold by street vendors, is that similar to Queenslanders and chestnuts, it just doesn't happen. So when I saw these chestnuts on the shelf I just had to purchase them for the nostalgia. This is a very simple recipe and you could be sitting down to eat your rewards in just over an hour, so below I've added A scaled recipe and detailed method for those that would fancy trying the recipe. Both the chestnuts and the maple syrup give the custard a real lift to an otherwise plain vanilla flavour.                                      
                    Into a blender I added 75g of chestnuts peeled and chopped together with 120g of milk, 15g vanilla extract, 15g of maple syrup an a pinch of salt. This was blended to a puree and set aside. In a bowl I whisked together 105g of egg yolks and 105g of caster sugar vigorously but without aerating the mix. To this I added 270g of heavy cream and the puree, these were mixed to incorporate and then poured into ramekins, this recipe makes 6 serves. I then placed the ramekins on a tray filled with water and baked them at 160 degree C. for about 55 minutes or until the brulee no longer trembles when gently shaken. The brulee's were then removed from the water bath and in a small saucepan I melted some sugar until syrupy and amber in colour. This was poured thinly over each creme brulee and allowed to set, giving the custard a thin caramel crust as apposed to the traditional technique to brulee sugar with a blow torch.                                                                                                                            
                    To accompany the dessert I made a spiced pumpkin tuile by melting 50g of glucose in a small saucepan over a low heat. To this I added 60g of pumpkin puree and this was then poured into a mixing bowl with 75g of icing sugar, 60g of flour, 1tsp of mixed spice. This was mixed to form a stiff batter and spread organically over a lined baking tray, these were then baked for 5-6 minutes in a 190 degree oven until the edges of the tuile's start to brown. While they were still warm I was able to shape them and then allow them to cool. To make the callebaut decors I simply melted the good quality Belgium couverture chocolate in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second stints, checking each time. This was then poured into a decorative mould and placed in the fridge to set before being sliced into decors. Below I've shown a few variations of plating up, using different shaped ramekins, tuile's and decors.

' EGGS BENEDICT. V-1.1 .'

70 degree C. Egg yolks, Poached whipped egg whites, House hollandaise, Crispy parma ham, Maple bacon curls, Toasted English muffin, Olive herb and Tarragon sprigs.

             

                    Eggs Benedict is a classic breakfast dish that has stood the test of time and the basic four ingredient combination of bacon and poached eggs on an english muffin with hollandaise sauce, has been a target for deconstruction, reconstruction by many a modern day chef. In this version (1.1) I've employed some of the techniques to the eggs made famous by chef Wylie Dufresne's Eggs Benedict served at his world renown WD-50 restaurant. Wylie does his egg yolks sous vide 70C for 17 minutes producing yolks that have a texture of soft dense fudge that coats your mouth. And another of his techniques is to poach whipped seasoned egg whites in barely simmering water, forming a savoury meringue that is delicate and dissolves in your mouth. This plate took me back to the days at Acland St.

St.Kilda in Melbourne where I served time as a breakfast chef, starting my commute to work at 4am to get to the restaurant to set up for busy breakfast crowds of Eggs Benedict and some its variations. My main task and one of the two main tests I had to keep my job was the big batches of 2 dozen egg hollandaise sauce, there would be two to do sometimes three. My first morning on my own after earning the trust of head chef to make the sauce I split the sauce halfway through, a bit of panic set in with the time I had lost not to mention the eggs. I managed to get it back with a little cold water and I was saved, since then I've never had to make such large quantities of the sauce so I use a quick method which is fail proof using a blender.                                                                                                                    
                    I've outlined the techniques and methods to this dish below in order of execution .
70C SOUS VIDE EGG YOLKS- For the yolks I lightly beat the yolks breaking the membrane up and then seasoned them with a little salt and pepper. I then placed the yolks into a sealed piping bag and in a 70 degree C. water bath for 17 minutes but after cutting the tip of the bag and trying to pipe the yolks were still runny so the piping bag was sealed again and placed in for another 30 minutes at which I achieved the texture of fudge.
POACHED WHIPPED EGG WHITES- In a mixing bowl I placed some egg whites with a little seasoning and using the electric whisk, I whipped the whites to a soft peak before adding a little cream of tartar and whipping to a stiff peak. Using two dessert spoons I made quenelles and placed them gently into an 85 degree C. water bath to poach, turning over after 2-3 minutes and then removing with a slotted spoon.
HOUSE HOLLANDAISE- This is my quick, fail proof easy blender version and not the traditional over the stove whisking until your arms drop off in hope through the whole 10-15 minutes that you don't split it and ruin your work. So here goes on the stove I gently melted 10 tablespoons of unsalted butter without letting to much liquid to evaporate off the butter. In a blender I placed 3 egg yolks, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, a pinch of both salt and cayenne pepper, blending on a medium speed until the mixture becomes lighter in colour about 30 seconds. The friction from the blades heats the yolks up a bit and the blending motion adds air making the mix light and fluffy. I then turned the blender to low and drizzled the melted butter in slowly while the blender was running, continuing to blend for further 5-10 seconds until the butter incorporates. Store beside the warm stove top until ready to serve.
CRISPY PARMA HAM- I placed thin slices of the parma ham on to a lined baking tray and baked the ham lightly on both sides in a 160 degree C. oven until crispy.
MAPLE BACON CURLS- To make these which give a sweet element to the dish I simple rolled maple cured streaky bacon and fixed them with a tooth pick before basting in maple syrup and pan frying until caramelised and crispy, removing the tooth pick to serve.
TOASTED BREAKFAST MUFFIN- To make this I simply sliced thin slithers of the muffin, rubbing them in the rendered fat from the bacon and maple syrup, before lightly toasting both sides under a grill.
OLIVE HERB & TARRAGON- Both these herbs make the perfect match for egg dishes and were both harvested from our veggie garden to be used as finishing garnish for this plate.

' BRAISED LEEK with OYSTER MUSHROOM .'

Oven braised Leeks with Sugar-cane raised Brown oyster mushrooms , Wild rocket , Green apple & chilli jelly and Miso & maple foam.

                      This little taster dish is a perfect way to showcase some of the mushrooms coming to harvest of late. My mycology set up is outdoors and has very little climate control so having said that the mushroom season for me is between now and late october, outside of these dates the temperatures
are just too high and not ideal for growing. I grow mainly oyster mushrooms (of all colours) and I have
some log cultured shitake that are half way too fruiting. The oysters I grow are raised on pasteurised sugar-cane mulch and are grown in bags, ziplock bags and in buckets. My method of using inoculated dowel spawn has been a success but this season over winter I will be trying grain spawn poplar wood boards and recycled paperback books to mix things up a bit. It will be interesting what the different growing mediums will have to the overall taste of the final product. I think the sugar-cane fed mushrooms have a slight grassier taste to store bought oysters which I find are quite bland in taste. Leeks are also in season right now but for this dish I used store bought leeks. The wild rocket has been
a perpetual patch in my garden for 2 years now, going to seed and the seedlings keep popping up giving me an all year round harvest of the mustard flavoured green leafy and not to mention those little
mustard flavoured flowers I often include in my dishes. This plate is packed with flavours from the sweet flavours from the braised leeks to the spice of the chilli to the earthy and grassy flavours of the cane fed oyster mushrooms and the Unami flavours of the miso in the foam. This also makes for a great little vegan option for an entree.
                          I started by chopping the leeks into 1 inch thick pieces and placing them into a roasting pan. I then added some vegetable stock to come to the top of the leeks but not covering them, to this
I drizzled a little sesame seed oil, seasoned and covered the pan with foil before placing into a 160 deg. c. oven and braising for an hour until soft and sweet. In a saucepan I placed chopped green apples and some green chillies with half water, half cider. This was brought to the boil and reduced to  simmer for around half an hour until the apples were pulpy. I then poured the pulp into a cloth bag and allowed to filter for around 2 hours,collecting the juice. I then added the juice to a clean saucepan adding sugar, allowing 500g for every 500ml of juice and a little lemon juice. This was brought to the boil for about 10 minutes before being poured into hot sterilised jars and sealed for later use. I then sauteed the mushrooms in a little unsalted butter and seasoned them with salt and cracked pepper. Just before plating I placed some rice wine vinegar, white miso paste, maple syrup, soy sauce and soy lecithin into a tumbler and using a stick blender I formed bubbles. The excess liquid was poured off leaving just the foam which was kept in the fridge until ready to use.                                                                                    
                            To plate I spooned a little half set apple, chilli jelly in the middle of the plate arranging the braised leeks on top accompanied by the sauteed oyster mushrooms. I then spooned the foam over the dish and garnished the plate with some wild rocket and cracked black pepper.