AVO on toast
INGREDIENTS:
Olive oil for drizzling
1 slice sourdough, 1cm thick
1 clove garlic, cut in half
1 fresh avocado, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons chunky cottage cheese
1 teaspoon creamed horseradish
1 shallot, diced
1 chilli, deseeded and diced
Half a bunch of coriander, chopped, reserving some for serving
Juice of 2 limes
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 fresh avocado, peeled, quartered and frozen
METHOD:
Heat griddle pan on medium heat
Drizzle bread with olive oil and chargrill for 45 seconds on each side
Remove and, while warm, rub with halved garlic clove on each side
In a bowl, mix fresh avocado with cottage cheese
Add creamed horseradish, shallot, chilli, coriander and lime juice and season with salt and pepper
To serve, top toast with the avocado mixture, drizzle with olive oil and finish with a few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
Finely grate frozen avocado over this and serve
ONION RISOTTO
METHOD:
RISOTTO
Melt the butter and toast the rice for 3-4 minutes in a large flat-bottom pot
Add 600ml chicken stock, stirring until absorbed and rice is half cooked
Remove onto a tray and allow to chill
Heat remainder of chicken stock for the risotto
Heat a large saucepan with olive oil and butter
ROASTED ONION
Place the onions into a roasting tray
Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt
Add thyme and garlic cloves, cover with foil and place in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius to roast for 25-30 minutes, remove and keep covered
SOUBISE
Melt the butter on medium/low heat
Add onions, garlic, star anise and thyme
Cover with parchment paper and cook on medium heat until soft
Don’t let onions brown
Remove star anise and thyme and blend until smooth
Set aside for later (to use ½ in risotto and ½ as sauce)
FINISHING
Place roasted onions in, flat side down and cook until golden brown
Reheat risotto in the warm chicken stock
Add onion soubise, cheddar and chives into the rice and cook for 7 minutes
Plate and serve with braised baby onions and cheddar shavings
INGREDIENTS:
RISOTTO
150g butter
250g Arborio rice
1,5L chicken stock
ROASTED ONION
15 baby onions, peeled but with roots kept intact, and halved
Olive oil
Salt, to taste
Handful of thyme
8 cloves garlic
SOUBISE: half is used for this recipe
200g butter
8 large onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 star anise
1 bunch of thyme, tied together
FINISHING
250g grated mature cheddar, reserving some for serving
25g chives, chopped
CHICKEN, WHITE ONION
INGREDIENTS:
SOUBISE
200g butter
8 large onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 star anise
1 bunch of thyme, tied together
CHICKEN
26 chicken thighs bone in, skin on
Salt, to season
Olive oil
80g thyme
1 onion, quartered
1L chicken stock
BABY SPINACH
200g baby spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
METHOD:
SOUBISE
Melt the butter on medium/low heat
Add onions, garlic, star anise and thyme
Cover with parchment paper and cook on medium heat until soft
Don’t let onions brown
Remove star anise and thyme and blend until smooth
Set aside for later (to use ½ in risotto and ½ as sauce)
CHICKEN
Season thighs with salt and olive oil and cook in a pan, colouring on each side
Add thyme and onion
Add chicken stock to pan, half cover the chicken
Do not cover skin
Put the lid on and cook for 90 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius
When cooked, remove chicken and place on a tray, leave to cool
Reduce braising liquid to a glaze consistency and set aside for later
When chicken has cooled, pull out chicken bone, keeping thigh and skin intact
Set aside for later
FINISHING
Trim cooled chicken thighs, keeping the trimmings
Cook spinach in oil and butter
Brush each thigh with chicken glaze and roast chicken thighs in the oven at 190 degrees Calsius until the skin is crispy
Heat a non-stick pan with olive oil, add chicken off cuts and fry until crisp
Plate and serve chicken with soubise sauce and spinach
SEA BASS, COUSCOUS
METHOD:
SPICE MIX
In a pan, dry toast the cumin, coriander and fennel
Add to a mortar and crush
Add garlic flakes, chilli powder, paprika and salt and mix
Set aside for later
COUSCOUS
Rub olive oil into couscous
Pour boiling water over, cover in cling film and leave to steam for 20 minutes in a warm place, fluffing occasionally
Keep covered and set aside for later
Heat a non-stick pan and toast the pine nuts and pistachios
Add the dried fruit, nuts and chilli to the couscous and mix through gently
Mix the chopped herbs through the couscous
SEA BASS
Skin and portion sea bass, reserving the skins
Heat a non-stick pan, add the skins to the pan, season with salt and leave to crisp
Weigh the skin down with another pan while crisping
Set aside
Rub fish with spice-rub mixture
Heat oil in a large non-stick pan and cook fish for 4 minutes on each side, adding butter at the end
Baste as it cooks. (Can reheat in oven if needed, but preferable to serve immediately)
Plate and serve sea bass with couscous
INGREDIENTS:
SPICE MIX
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon garlic flakes
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon salt, plus extra for seasoning
COUSCOUS
Olive oil for cooking and for the cous cous
200g pearl couscous
200ml boiling water
100g pine nuts
100g pistachios
100g raisins, soaked
100g dried Turkish apricots, diced
100g dry figs, chopped
1-2 scotch bonnet chillies, chopped
SEA BASS
Mauritian sea bass (100g per person), skin on
1 bunch of mint, chopped
1 bunch of coriander, chopped
Butter for frying
Juice of 2 lemons
LEMON POSSET
INGREDIENTS:
850ml cream
250g castor sugar
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
Zest and juice of 4 lemons
100g pistachios
100g blueberries, halved
CONSOMMÉ
1kg ripe raspberries
150g castor sugar
Juice and rind of 1 lemon
METHOD:
PRE-PREP
Heat cream with castor sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon zest
Remove from heat
Add lemon juice and mix
Pass through sieve and pour into serving containers
Chill, preferably overnight
Place 800g of the raspberries and castor sugar in a metal bowl and stir to coat
Add lemon juice and rind
Cover with cling film and heat over a pot of simmering water
Cook slowly for about 1 hour
Remove from heat and place in a fine sieve over a bowl to catch the juice
Leave to drain in the fridge, preferably overnight
FINISHING
Top possets with remaining raspberries and pistachio
Decant the berry consommé into serving jugs
Plate and serve