'Spaghetti Bolognese' #2

So after the weekend neither of the preparations I had left in the kitchen really worked out. The Parmesan mix was just the same and didn't turn into noodles and the consomme was too dense and didn't clarify when defrosted. Well actually the sauce was too reduced and so at fridge temperature was still a solid gel. I ended up clarifying it the normal way and it was fine. For the noodles I decided, after talking with a friend (cheers Reuven) to use only the whey from the Parmesan and 1.5% Methyl-cellulose.
Success. Well Kind of. The noodles set and we're really intense Parmesan flavour. However the flavours were all wrong.The consomme was far to strong and masked the flavour of the noodles. As you can see the first Syringe I used was to thick and the noodles were more like tagliatelle, but a thinner hole sorted that out. So to the next task. I have a lighter tomato flavoured broth to clarify tomorrow and maybe 2% methyl for a firmer noodle. I'll let you know.

'Spaghetti Bolognaise' or not?

I've been thinking of ways to use metil-cellulose since I received it and thought it would be fun to re-do an old classic, Spaghetti Bolognese. I decided to make a bolognese consomme with Parmesan 'metil' noodles. After e few failed attempts at clarifying with gelatin due to incorrect % I decided to use this method for the consomme. After a night in the freezer the broth is slowly de-frosting as we speak in the fridge over the week end.

Next came the noodles. I wanted a really intense Parmesan flavour and so decide to make some Parmesan serum. I let the serum sit in the fridge overnight and when I came back the next day I was confronted by two very different products from the day before. The serum had split and I was left with a kind of 'curd' and 'whey'. Both had a very strong Parmesan flavour.

I separated them both and decided to use the whey for the noodles. I'm now left with a new product to play with after this. Parmesan Curd/Butter. Its super smooth and really intense. More fun next week, maybe replace butter content in pastries with it, or slip it under the skin of poultry who knows at this point.

So that's we're I'm at at the moment. I'll post the finished product when I get to work on Tuesday

Char-Grilled Rock Melon, Goats Cheese'Nougat', Baby Turnips & Carrots 'en Aigre-Douce'.

This is a returning and evolving vegetarian dish this winter. The original dish infact, wasn't vegetarian at all, and was servred with seared foie gras. However the lack of fresh foie down under led me to re-do the dish as a vegetarian option, with the fatty foie replaced with lovely fresh goats cheese. Last year we roasted the melon but I thought the smokiness of the grill would be good this year. To give it a another dimension I added a favourite preparation of mine 'Goats cheese Nougat'. The nuts change each time but today we are using pistachio, almond and hazelnut. The carrots and turnips are tossed in foaming butter before deglazing with Jerez vinegar and maple syrup. Toss in some grape cheeks and choppped chives and dress the plate. The combination of the slight bitter turnips and the sweet carrots come together well with the dressing. The dressing also bings out the smokiness and cuts the fatty nougat.

'Bacon & Eggs on Toast'

This was a dish I put together for a regular customer of mine. I had some 62 degree eggs that I'd been playing with. So I kind of did a version of 'Bacon & Eggs on Toast'. We warmed the peeled eggs up in the 'Roner' and then dressed them with a 'Buttered Toast Foam' and some 'Jamon Crumbs'. Just a little fun but the customers loved it.

Tartare of W.A. Scampi and Hiramasa Kingfish, Heirloom Tomatoes, Cherries and Macadamias

This dish started life as an entree in the summer (Kingfish Carpaccio, Scampi Tartare, Tomato and Macadamia, Grain Mustard Dressing) and when we were writing the new Dega menu we thought we'd trim it down a little to include it as the first course. We removed the carpaccio and instead diced up the bellies of the kingfish and mixed them with the Scampi. The beautiful marbleing in the belly made the whole preparation a lot richer with a great mouth feel. The cherries and tomato go fantasticaly together and cut nicely through the fatiness of the kingfish. The grain mustard complements all the elements well. Finish with some winter purslane and red garnet and some microplaned macadamias and its a great dish of textures and flavours.