W.A. Marron, 'Kipfler' textures, Pearls of Caramelized Vinegar

This dish is the sum of 3 quality ingredients, W.A. Marrons, cocktail Kipfler potatoes and 'Cintra Estate' caramelized vinegar. The marrons are poele'd in foaming butter and left to rest while we put the rest of the dish together. The kipflers were getting at the moment have been so sweet and buttery and reminded me a little of the fantastic Jersey Royals that I used to get back in England. There so versatile and so I thought that I would shoe them off in a few different ways; boiled with lemon thyme and lemon zest, brushed with a little butter and crisped up as chips and made into a silky buttery mousse. Each preparation bring out a different quality of these fine potatoes.
The pearls or sago are blanched first and then left to marinate in the vinegar overnight. The next day your left with shiny pearls that hold a wonderful sharp and sweet taste. The caramelized vinegar is one of my favourite ingredients at the moment. The flavour is slightly sweet with a rich red wine taste. It makes great dressings and is great for livening up sauces . The Sauce is a reduced marron fume finished with some beurre noisette and a splash of cider vinegar and some chopped chives. The brown butter flavours in the sauce go well with the buttery kipflers and the pearls add a refreshing sharpness as you bite into them. We finish the whole thing with some slices of raw spring onion again as a balance to the richness of the other ingredients.

We've also had the dish with a warm mayo instead of the kipler foam however the textural thing worked best. As for the sago, well they take on what ever you marinate them in. I'm looking forward to makingYuzu pearls to go with some scallops and kos hearts. Later

Carrot & Saffron, Mango, White Chocolate, Liquorice

This is just something I was playing with and is completely different to the finished dish. Carrot and saffron puree, mango sponge, white chocolate sorbet, liquorice powder. Looked great and was full of flavour however not quite right. Back to the drawing board for this one but it has started another desert. I'll post it later this week along with my de-constructed opera cake. Later

'Coffee and Doughnuts'

This is the current dessert on the dega menu, and a little bit of fun. Its really simple but tastes great. Espresso creme brulee, infused with vanilla and cinnamon and Cardamom sabayon. The doughnut ice cream is made with Krispy Kreme originals in the paco jet. So smooth and very moreish, very moreish. Played with a few other things like croissant and danish. Krispy Kreme wins every time. Looks like the guys at 'Ideas in Food'http://http://ideasinfood.typepad.com/ideas_in_food/2008/03/putting-on-the.html are on the same vibe at the moment. The combinations are infinitive. We've put the ice cream on some pistachio soil to stop it sliding around and to fit in with the Moroccan flavours. Later

Saffron Rice Puffs

This is an idea I had after watching a series of videos, on http://gastrovideo.com/ , of the new techniques used at el Bulli for 2008. They make Parmesan souffles using rice puree as a base. We adapted it a little and cooked the rice with some saffron. After we mix it with some salt, Parmesan and egg whites. After mixing it well we spread it between a frame and let it set in the freezer. Once its set you can cut what ever shape you want and cook it on the silpat at 160 degrees C. This was the second attempt and a lot more successful. I found that the rice puree was too wet the first time and this meant that the souffle skin was to thin to hold the air. You just have to make sure that the rice is completely dry when you puree it. We sprinkled them with a little smoked paprika and served them as canapes. With rice being so absorbent the choices for flavours is innumerable. I'll let you know what else I come up with. The puffs ar really crisp and light and have a great saffron taste. Later

"Spaghetti" of W.A. Marron, Salad of it's Claws, Bolognese Tile, Truffle Puree

This is a new dish we've been playing with this week. Actually it started the week quite differently and I also began to play with Transglutaminase. I've used it briefly before have got a new supply from a great new company I've come across here in Sydney. The company is called creative-juice.com.au and there making it all the more easy to get Hydrocoloids e.t.c in Australia. Paul O'loughlin is more than happy to source and supply almost anything you might need. Good Job mate. Any way the technique is from WD-50, as I'm sure you will know, where the raw meat of the Marron is mixed with the Transglutaminase and then rolled out, rested and then poached. After you cool it you can pretty much treat the preparation as you would pasta. Hence the 'Spaghetti'. The bolognese is a tomato base with fennel, carrot and shallot which we bind with marron fume. The plate is dressed with some truffle puree which we cooked down in a little Madeira, brandy and brown chicken stock. The components are very rich and decadent so we balanced this with a very fresh, crunchy and aromatic salad; a little raw fennel, preserved lemon, fennel fronds and tiny hearts of baby kos. The dish will more than likely end up on the Dega menu and we haven't really decided whether to serve it hot or cold. It tastes great both ways. Win Win.

Steamed Ruby Snapper, Lemony Baby Squid and Vongole, Snow Crab and Harissa.

Hello everyone, sorry its been so long. The festive period never leaves much time for anything other than pushing on. However things have settled down now and I look forward to a good year. The end of last year has to have been the most demanding time I gone through in the 15 years or so I've been cooking. I'll save the story for another time. Back to the important stuff, food, food and more food. This is a dish we've been running for a few months now and I guess is coming to the end of it's time. For me its a great summer dish that is both light and fresh but full of flavours that bounce off each other. The snapper has been really good this year over Christmas and January. We simply just wrap it in glad wrap with some lemon oil and cook it at about 85 degrees in the steam oven. The garnish is made up of crisp sauteed hearts of baby Kos that we dress with Meyer lemon and confit garlic. We then use the citrus steam to gently heat the crab meat. The clams are cooked then the liquor is finished with a little cream and reduced to glaze the meat. We simply sear the baby squid. We make a fume with the bodies of the crab which results in a beautifully sweet and fragrant sauce which we finish with the roes. After that we finish the plates with a few dots of slightly spicy Harissa. Its good to be back and Ive got lots to post over the next few days. Later

Summer on it's way!

This week saw the arrival of the first Heirloom tomatoes. We recieved 10 different varieties all together. Its still early but the flavours are quite well developed and different already. I hope its going to be a good long season this year. Whaen the produce id this good I feel the least done to the product the better. I'll play with them a little in the way we cut and present them but at the end of the day the beauty is in the simplicity and realising that some times less really is more. Later!