october offerings - ' SHEEPS MILK CURD .'

Fresh Organic Ewes milk Curd served with a spring salad of Garden peas & greens, Asparagus, Green Courgette, Sprigs of Mint and Sage flowers.

                      Its been a while between posts and I do apologise to any followers, there has been quite a bit on my plate recently, so to speak. Not so long ago a local good mate of ours just got his lambs done and came over with some spring offerings. Amongst some quality cuts of grass reared lamb, there was also a whole, skinned sheep head and about 3 quarts of fresh ewes milk. I was a bit taken back by the sheep head at first, but I've always wanted to have a go at pickled lambs tongue. The only thing is I wasn't quite sure what to use to remove the tongue. Immediately when I saw the milk my mind ticked over with thoughts of food pairings for ewes milk yoghurt and milk curd. Sheeps milk, despite not widely drunk in modern culture, has a far more superior protein value and has almost twice the fat content of cows and goats milk. These qualities make sheeps milk perfect for cheese making with some fine examples such as Manchego, Pecorino and Roquefort.                                                                            
                     This milk curd has been made using lemon juice to curdle the milk which imparts a nice faint hint of citrus freshness through the curd. I started by heating some of the ewes milk in a saucepan until just before boiling point, about 87-91 C. The milk was then returned to a gentle low heat before I added some freshly squeezed lemon juice. Stirring to separate the curds and the whey, I then strained the curd through some cheese cloth and forming a ball, I squeezed out any excess whey. To serve a gave the curd a dressing of some macadamia nut oil and seasoning of cracked back pepper. All the vegetables were tossed in olive oil and lemon juice and the plate was garnished with sprigs of mint, olive oil herb and purple sage blossom.
                                                                                                    

' 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.

' SWEET CIDER CLAMS in PEA DASHI SAUCE .'

Sweet Apple cider poached Clams in Pea Dashi sauce with Pea butter, Shelled sweet peas, Fennel blossom and Thai Purple Basil flowers.

                      This little taster dish taking you from the shores to the garden bed doesn't look like too much has gone into it and this would be a great misconception and in fact is an example of the way contempory cooking is going. This dish is actually quite refined in the flavours and the techniques to reach the outcome. Modernists chefs or cooks out there today instead of just grouping ingredients together are dissecting individual ingredients, pulling them apart so to speak and refining or enhancing individual elements of a particular ingredient. In this dish the humble sweet pea has been tampered with dividing the watery part of a pea from its solid starches, in doing this the sweet, grassy flavours of a pea are more enhanced as the flavour is not diluted in all the starch of a pea. When this pea water thats been extracted is then enhanced with kombu seaweed and bonito fish flakes, ( the ingredients of a dashi broth) and then vacuum sealed and allowed to impart in the pea water via a 53 deg. c. sous vide bath, the resulting taste of this pea water is just incredible. Thicken this water up to a sauce consistency and serve with Sweetened cider poached clams for a heavenly taste sensation.                                                                      
                     I began making this dish by cooking some sweet peas in boiling water until soft and tender. Once drained I cooled the peas in a chilled water bath, drained and pureed in a blender with the smallest amount of water, just enough to help the blending process. This was then placed into a cheese cloth lined colander allowing the puree to drain its liquid, towards the end the pulp was squeezed through the cloth to get the remaining pea water. This process was then repeated with the collected water another couple of times until most of the solid matter was out of the water, leaving the water a vibrant lime green colour. The solids captured in the cheese cloth was then scraped into a bowl and set aside in the fridge, this is the pea butter. This separation is done using a centrifuge in a commercial kitchen and gives a more pure result and it would be a true statement if the purist would say my primitive separation doesn't have the same effect. But for those of us that can't afford a centrifuge for home cooking can still appreciate the concept to a certain point. The pea water was then frozen solid into ice cubes before being placed into a food grade plastic pouch along with a piece of dried kombu kelp and some bonito flakes. The pouch was then vacuum sealed and placed into a 53 degree C. sous vide bath for 30 minutes allowing the dashi flavours to infuse with the now defrosted pea water. The pea dashi was then  removed from the pouch and strained into a saucepan which was then brought to a slow simmer and then removed from the heat. With a small amount I made a paste with a little arrowroot flour adding this back to the dashi and returning the saucepan to heat for a minute, whisking to thicken the sauce. The sauce was then set aside. Just before serving I placed a saucepan on a medium heat with enough sweet apple cider to cover some clams, when the cider reached a simmer I placed the clams and chopped shallots to the cider and placed a lid on the pot poaching the clams until they open up. These were then removed from the stove and using a slotted spoon placed into a small pool of the dashi sauce in the centre of the plate, Smearing some of the warmed pea butter to accompany and finishing the plate with a forage from the backyard garden adding a hint of anise with the fennel blossom bursting with fennel flavoured pollen and some tiny purple basil flowers also carrying the flavour of its origin.                                  

' plated CHICKEN , PEA & NOODLE SOUP .'

Plated Free range chicken broth , Garden pea caviar , Fresh egg noodles , Shredded chicken breast , pea flower & greens.

                     Its the beginning of mid autumn here and you wouldn't think so weather wise, with only the night temperatures dropping ever so slightly, the humidity is still high and the day temps are in the high 20's pushing 30. The peas in my garden have shot up and we're starting to get our first pods and the snow peas are in prolific flower, great signs of a good crop. This dish was inspired by the garden harvests and with a left over chicken frame in the freezer I decided to serve up a plated soup. To add a little twist I turned the broth into a thickened sauce and made pea caviar using the 'cold oil spherefication' technique form pureed garden peas.                                                                                        
                      To make the chicken broth sauce I began by placing in a large stock pot a frame from a free range chicken, caramelised onion halves, chicken breast fillets, chopped carrots, celery, parsley, bay leaf and seasoning, covering with water I brought the stock to the boil reducing to a simmer for 2 and a bit hours. This was then strained and the breast fillets were put aside for shredding, some of the broth was reserved to make the sauce and the rest was placed into a small sauce pan with some fresh garden peas and brought to the boil. Once the peas were cooked they were placed into a blender with a little of the cooking stock and blended to a puree, this was then stained and set aside. I then placed a tall glass of canola oil in the freezer allowing the oil to chill and thicken for about half an hour. In a small saucepan I put the strained pea puree and 1% agar agar heating to a simmer while whisking to dissolve the agar powder, this was then removed and allowed to cool to 60 deg. c before I removed the oil from the freezer and prepared to make the pea caviar. With a syringe I drew up the pea liquid and slowly drop droplets of the liquid into the cold oil, as they slowly sunk to the bottom of the glass they had time to set solid. Once a dropped all the liquid I strained the the glass of oil, collecting the oil in a jar for later applications and trapping the caviar in the strainer, these were then rinsed and set aside for plating. In a bowl I combined flour and eggs and made a simple dough, kneading for 5-10 minutes. After chilling the dough for half an hour I rolled the dough out on a floured surface before passing through the rollers of the pasta machine, this was then run through the spaghetti attachment and dusted with flour to keep the strands separated. In a large pot of rolling salted boiling water I cooked the noodles for 2 minutes before removing and placing under cold water to stop the cooking process. To finish the sauce I placed the reserved chicken broth in a small saucepan bringing to broth to a simmer, with a little of the heated broth I added some arrowroot flour and made a paste before adding back into the broth and whisking to incorporate. Once the sauce had thickened I removed the pot from the heat ready for plating.                      
                   To plate I began by spooning some of the chicken broth sauce in the centre of the plate. I then arranged the shredded chicken breast, pea caviar and egg noodles on top of the broth. Garnishing the plate with droplets of broth with pea caviar, pea greens and topped with a pea flower.                    

' THREE 'n' ONE DEGUSTATION .'

COURSE 1- Chilled mint pea soup , creme fraiche , wild rocket flower & fennel frond . COURSE 2- Seafood morsels (poached pipi, smoked tiger prawn, balsamic baby octopus, battered whitebait, crumbed soft shell crab) served on edible sand with fresh french tarragon. COURSE 3- Raspberry gelato, blueberry labna, fresh blueberries, dehydrated purple yam crumbs & pink tropical micro edible orchid in a vanilla tuile.

                I've created this plate for something different and makes a perfect way to showcase a few different tastings in the one presentation. In hindsight if I was to do another 3 n 1 in this style of entree, main, dessert then I would not use techniques that don't hold their integrity by the third tasting. For example ice creams, sorbet, foams etc. just don't hold form by the time the diner gets to the dessert. For this preparation I've listed the method below in order of courses and with out a specific timeline.              
  COURSE 1- To make the chilled pea soup I first placed sweet peas, sprigs of common mint and ginger mint with a few chunks of triple smoked ham into a saucepan with water and brought to a simmer until the peas were tender. I then strained the peas removing the ham and placed the peas and mint into a blender with a little of the cooking liquid. This was blended to a smooth pourable consistency and seasoning was added, the soup was then placed into the fridge to chill. To serve I poured the chilled soup into a shot glass and topped the soup with a small dollop of creme fraiche, a wild rocket flower and fennel frond.                                                                                                              
  COURSE 2- The edible sand was made by mixing together panko crumb, ground ikan bilis, seaweed,  fried onions, black salt, sea salt and panela in a bowl with some olive oil and nakame shiro miso paste. The pipi was poached in champaign, shallots and thyme sprigs in a small saucepan over a medium heat until the shell opened. The meat was then carefully prised from its shell before being served. To smoke the the prawn I first peeled, de-headed and de-veined the prawn. The prawn was then cold smoked with hickory chips for around 4-5 minutes until it became opaque and beginning to take on a caramelisation, its important not to over cook, the prawn must still have moisture or it becomes tough and chewy. The prawn was then placed into olive oil with lemon juice, crushed garlic and chopped italian parsley. The baby octopus were first washed and cleaned then placed into a marinating dish along with balsamic vinegar, minced garlic and chillies, oregano and parsley together with a little olive oil and this was covered and refrigerated overnight. The battered whitebait is simply whitebait fish washed and drained and rolled in seasoned flour before being shallow fried to golden and removed on to paper towel to drain. These were then seasoned with salt before being served. The crumbed soft shell claw came store bought and was oven baked to golden before being plated. The dish was garnished with fresh french tarragon and looking back now needs a sauce to accompany.                                      
  COURSE 3- To make the labna which is a greek cheese made from yoghurt I simply hung some greek yoghurt, crushed blueberries and a little salt in a cheese cloth wrap in the fridge for 3-4 days with a bowl placed to capture the whey drain off. The cheese was then ready to be used vibrant purple in colour, this could then be rolled into balls and placed in a jar of olive oil and sealed for later use if you chose to. The raspberry gelato was made by heating equal parts milk and cream to the boil, this was then removed from the heat. In a bowl I beat egg yolks and sugar to pale creamy consistency to this I added one third of the milk and cream mixing to incorporate this was then added back to the rest of the milk and cream and on a low to medium heat while stirring, was cooked until the custard coated the back of my spoon. The mix was then removed from the heat and allowed to cool, in the meanwhile I blended raspberries to a puree and added this to the cooling custard, this was then poured into a metal container and placed in the freezer for 10-12 hours, stirring with a fork every 2-3 hours. The tuile was made by first mixing up a batter made from sugar, egg whites, melted butter, flour and a vanilla extract. This was placed into the fridge for 4-5 hours before being spread with a silicon spatula on to a baking paper lined flat tray and placed into a 170 deg.c. oven for around 8-9 minutes, the tuile was removed just as it started to take colour. Working fast I placed the disc over a rolling pin to achieve the taco shape of the tuile. After about 30-40 seconds of being out of the oven the tuile hardens and remains that shape. The purple yam crumbs were made by grating purple yam and placing spread out onto lined trays and placed in a 75 deg.c. oven for around an hour. The crumbs are then removed and allowed to cool. This course was garnished with a pink tropical micro edible orchid from my garden.                                                        

' MINTED PEA PIE with COCONUT ICE-CREAM .'

Cream Pie of Sweet Pea & mint on Oreo biscuit base , Coconut ice-cream , Pea puree , Hazelnut whipped cream ,  Coconut shortbread crumb , Coconut tuile , peas & mint leaves.

             This dish here is a classic example of using a common flavour combination in mint and peas, more renown as dinner or lunch ingredients being used in a dessert. I would say this dessert would fit better after a lunch rather than evening meal but none the less works well as a sweet dessert. I was fond of the pie as my wife commented that the ice cream was to die for and there needed to be more.                
             I started with the coconut ice-cream and the tuile the night before as these are the time consumers. For the ice-cream I brought equal parts milk and full cream to the boil with a little coconut essence, this was then removed from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes. During this time I beat egg yolks and sugar until pale adding the the milk to the eggs and mixing then returning to the stove in a clean pot I cooked the custard over a low heat for about 5 minutes until it became thick and coated the back of my spoon. This was then poured into a metal container and placed in the freezer over night, churning with a fork every 2-3 hours. For the tuile I made the batter by mixing sugar, egg whites, melted butter, coconut extract and all purpose flour in a bowl, this was then placed in the fridge for 4-5 hours. The mixture was then spread out ultra thinly using a icing spatula onto a baking paper lined flat tray then placed into a 160 deg.c. oven for around 7-8 minutes until just taking colour. These were then removed from the oven and allowed to cool. To make the pie I first made the base by crumbling Oreo biscuits into a crumb and adding melted butter, this was then pressed into a lined container mould and placed in the fridge to harden. To make the filling I boiled peas, strained them and placed the peas into a blender with a little water and blended to a smooth puree. Some of this puree was kept for plating and with the rest I added some cream and blended to incorporate. The mix was then poured into a small saucepan with a little sugar and 1. 5 % agar agar and brought to a simmer while whisking to dissolve the agar powder. The mixture was then removed from the heat and poured into the hardened base mould, this was hen levelled and placed in to the fridge to set before being sliced with a hot knife to be served. The biscuit crumb is a mix of desiccated coconut and crumbled shortbread biscuits. And to make the last preparation the hazelnut cream I simply whipped cream, panela and hazelnut essence together to form a stiff cream. Two types of mint were used in the garnishing of this dish, common mint and ginger mint, the later being darker.