' HOMAGE TO THE PEA .'

Green Pea & mint mousse served on Smashed peas with Chickpea fritters and a salad of Zucchini ribbons, Garden podded peas, pea greens & flowers.

                   Spring is definitely upon us here in Brisbane, Queensland and the day and night temps have climbed. With the onset of the warmer weather means the humble pea leaves the garden and its space becomes quickly replaced by beans. So as a way to say goodbye to winter and embrace the warmer months of spring and summer I've done a little homage to the pea. This dish is playful and pays tribute to the pea in its many different parts and stages of the plant, presented using a wide variety of cooking techniques from its raw state to a light creamy mousse to sweet and savoury fried fritters.
                   To make the pea mousse I cooked 300g of peas in salted boiling water until soft and tender, 100g of these were then placed into the blender with 100ml of milk, 100ml of cream and some finely chopped mint. This was then blended until smooth and poured into a small saucepan with a tsp of agar agar and brought to the simmer, whisking to dissolve the agar. I then separated some of the mixture and added some pure pea puree to make a greener tone. This was then spooned into a mould and placed into the fridge for a minute or two before pouring the rest of the original lighter coloured mixture on top, filling the mould. This was then placed in the fridge for half an hour to fully set before being un-moulded. For the fritters, I placed 100g of the cooked peas in a mixing bowl and mashed them until roughly smashed. To this I added 1 egg, 100ml of buttermilk, minced onion, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1/4 tsp of garam masala and seasoning of pepper and salt. This was all whisked to incorporate and put some air in the mixture before adding 50g of chickpea flour, 50g of plain flour and a 1/4 tsp of baking powder. With a wooden spoon I brought the mixture to a drop batter consistency. I then heated some ghee in a shallow frying pan and fried spoonfuls of the batter in batches, cooking for 2-3 minutes on each side. They were then drained on paper towel seasoned with citron salt and served warm. With the final 100g of cooked peas I mashed them in a bowl roughly with some olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. This dressing was also used to dress all the fresh greens and zucchini ribbons.

' 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.

' BREAKFAST of BLUEBERRIES .'

Breakfast of Blueberry Bagel & Mousse on a Granola of shortbread , rolled oats , chia seeds & honey served with Blueberry coulis & gelee , Creme cheese , Cinnamon myrtle flowers and fresh blueberries.

               At my work a section of the warehousing has recently become a storage facility and north side   Brisbane distributor for a well known bread company. So we pick orders for all sorts of bakehouse products including bread, pizza bases and bagels. Amongst their range of bagels they have a blueberry flavoured bagel of which has often been my breakfast of a morning. Sitting their at smoko with my warm buttered bagel and coffee has lead me to think what would I be wanting with this bagel right now if I could. Which to cut a long story short became the process of thought behind this breakfast dish. The bagels I've been eating for smoko is the bagel I used for this dish.                                                                                            
               The blueberry mousse was the first of the preps for this dish and to make this I heated some cream to the boil before removing from the heat and adding melted white chocolate, crushed blueberries and a little agar agar powder at 1%, this was then brought back to a gentle simmer whisking to dissolve the agar powder. Once the powder had dissolved the mix was then spooned into a greased plastic tube, three quarters of an inch in diameter and 3 inches long, this was then wrapped in clear film and placed in the fridge to set. The granola was made by mixing crushed shortbread biscuit, chia seeds, rolled oats and honey, this was then spread on a flat baking paper lined tray and placed into the oven at 160 deg.c. for about 10-15 until the granola was starting to brown. It was then removed from the oven allowed to cool and crumbled into 5-6 mm pieces. I made the coulis by placing crushed berries, lemon juice, sugar and a little water in a saucepan and simmering until all the sugar has dissolved and the fruit was collapsed. This was then strained and pushed through a sieve and set aside. The gelee is a combination of water, blue and red colouring, blueberry coulis and agar agar powder at 2%, brought to a simmer in a small saucepan while whisking to dissolve the powder. This was then poured on to a flat tray and set in the fridge. Once set using different sized biscuit cutters I cut circles from the blueberry agar gelee.          
                  To plate this breakfast I placed the gelee circles on to the plate, on top of these I spooned the granola which acted as a base for the mousse which was pushed out of its tube moulding using my thumb and cut into serving sized pieces to go on top of the granola. Each was accompanied with creme cheese, fresh blueberries, torn pieces of bagel and topped with blueberry coulis and edible flowers.