' TEMPURA MELON with CHORIZO YOGHURT.'

Crispy Tempura battered Melon with Chorizo yoghurt, Balsamic vinegar pearls, Jalapeno and cilantro.

                  This is another one of those left over summer dishes inspired by the flavours of Mexico. The pairing of melon with any spanish or Italian cold cut always works well and this pairing is no exception. The sweet flavoured melon is encapsulated in a crispy light tempura batter and the spicy pork flavours coming from the chorizo yoghurt along with the kick from the peppers and the zing from the balsamic pearls makes for a great snack and could possibly be used as finger food in small portion sizes. if I did a take two, I would most likely exchange the balsamic pearls for a lime preparation of some sort giving the dish a citrus zesty element more true to the mexican theme.                                            
                   I started with the yoghurt sauce with this one, pulling apart some spanish chorizo sausages and frying them off to render the fat from them. Once the sausage meat was cooked through I removed them from the stove, draining and reserving the fat that rendered off while cooking. This was then cooled in the fridge until mostly solid, while this was cooling I prepared an emulsifier by bringing some milk to a simmer, shearing in some gellan at 6% and whisking to dissolve. Once dissolved this was poured into a container and allowed to set fully in the fridge 20-30 minutes. Then into a mixing bowl I added some 1/2 cup of plain natural yoghurt, 2 tbsp. of gellan milk and the reserved solidified chorizo oil. This was beaten to form a thick orangey yellow cream consistency and then placed in the fridge to chill before serving. To make the pearls I used the cold oil spherefication technique that I've used before, for information on this see 'tags' for explanation. Next I prepared the melon by slicing into rectangle shapes approx. 2cm wide, 1/2 a cm thick and 4 cm long, I coated these in arrowroot flour and set aside to soak the starch while I heated the frying oil and made a quick batter. For my batter I placed a cup of seasoned plain flour in a mixing bowl and with a whisk I gradually added some sweet apple cider, whisking to form a runny batter consistency. After testing the oil I coated the starched melon pieces in the batter and deep fried them until golden in colour before removing and draining on paper towel. To serve I smeared the centre of the plate with the chorizo yoghurt using a off set pallet knife.
Placing the pieces of battered melon on top of the sauce and arranging the accompaniments of thinly sliced jalapeno peppers, balsamic vinegar pearls and fresh cilantro leaves.

' FRIJOLES NEGROS with CORNBREAD .'

Cornbread with Black Turtle beans & Smoked chipotle salsa , Mexican-style chorizo , White maize kernels , Lime , Guajillo chilli , Tomatillo salsa verde , Sour cream , Queso fresco and pea shoots.

                In the heat of the summer I always enjoy my mexican food, weather its cobs of corn charred on a hot grill plate, generous butter and smoked salt or Fajitas done on the barbecue, the pairing of mexican and summer are perfect. Cornbread was the inspiration and hero of the dish here and to this I added nine other components to accompany the beautifully sweet starch. Below I've made a list of the preparations in some kind of order and by their titles.                                                                                  
   cornbread - I made the cornbread by sifting all purpose flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl I beat eggs, milk, and melted butter and to this I gradually added the flour mix beating to form a batter. I then poured the batter into a lined loaf tin placing into a 180 deg.c. oven and bake the bread for 25 minutes before removing, de-panning and set aside to be cooled on a wire rack before being torn apart to be plated.                                                                            
  queso fresco - This is a soft curd cheese made from coagulating cows milk with white vinegar, the result is similar to ricotta but with a sharper taste and more bleached curd. To make the queso fresco I heated some cows milk in a saucepan until just before boiling point, to which I then added a little white vinegar and removed from the heat stirring to separate the curds. I then ladled the curd from the whey and strained through some cheese cloth, the cloth corners were then gathered and the curd was hung in the fridge to drain excess whey before being crumbled for plating.                                                          
  chorizo - To make this meat mix I simple placed onion, garlic, jalpeno peppers, oregano, cumin, thyme, and a little oil in a food processor blender to make a paste. To this I added pork mince and mixed to incorporate, the meat was then fried off in a hot pan before being set aside for plating.                  
  tomatillo salsa - Into a saucepan I placed tomatillos, onion, garlic, green chillies, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, salt and a little white vinegar. To this I added water and brought to the boil before reducing to a simmer and cooking the tomatillos until soft about 10-15 minutes. The salsa was then poured into a blender and pureed to a green salsa verde sauce.                                                                                          
  turtle beans - These were soaked overnight before this preparation and then placed into a saucepan with a little olive oil, smoked paprika, onion and a bay leaf and sauteed before being covered with water and simmered for around 40 minutes. Once cooked they were drained and set aside to be plated.      
 smoked chipotle salsa - Using some of the cooked beans I added them and some onion, tomato, smokey dried chipotle peppers, green chillies, salt,vinegar, sugar, garlic paste, lemon juice and some smoked paprika into a saucepan with a little water bring to the simmer before removing to cool.                
 white maize - I simply cut the kernels from the cob using a sharp knife, dressing the kernels in a light coating of olive oil and lime juice I pan fried them in a hot skillet until just showing colour before I removed them from the heat and allowed them to cool for serving.                                                              
 guajillo chillies - These were simply sliced thinly, the sour cream and pea shoots were store bought.