Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category
The absence of updates can be attributed to “not much happening in the kitchens“…
Over the past month (and up until the end of February) we have been catering to groups of international journalist that are at the hotel to attend a launch of a new car by a large motor company. Everyday different journalist arrive for the presentation, to test drive the cars, take photos and make films. Every night dinner is served in the restaurant, every night the food is the same. Its an easy month or so for the cooks!
However culinary mundane it appears, I take great pride that some Laotian dishes are being served day in and day out. The international reporters get to feast upon Larb Gai, Nham Dok, a very spicy Pad Kemou, and a whole host of other Asian treats.
January also saw the time when the Spanish give out their festive presents. On the morning of the 6th, wide eyed children wake to see what The Three Kings have left them. The Three Kings are more famous than Santa, who may leave them a small gesture on the 25th of December, but its the 6th of January that is the most important day for the children….. and adults!
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This year I gave away some homemade sauces. Buying presents is cool, but time consuming, making them yourself not only saves time, its also a pleasure.
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Small jars of homemade Chili Oil made with Spanish Ham. Slightly sweet, salty and spicy, a great accompaniment to any dish. The recipe can be found here.
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Chili Dulce (Sweet Chili Sauce), for all my Spanish friends who cant seem to get enough of it at their local Chinese restaurant. They eat this stuff with “everything”! 
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Here is a recipe for something that has absolutely nothing to do with the restaurant. This dish is not served at the hotel, it would cost far too much to produce, plus its huge. Prepare to commit gluttony in the extreme! 
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There is no real name for this dish, though it tends to get called the “Vienne Burger” by the other cooks, though I like to refer to it as The Effing Burger!
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But is it really a (Gourmet) Burger, or a Steak Haché on steroids? You decide…
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I do know a few things though, if it was for sale it would need to carry a Health Warning. Vegetarians and Weight Watchers should look away now… Those who would like to sometimes spoil themselves and indulge….read on….
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Its really easy to make and would probably feed two people, but where is the fun in that?
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Ingredients:
- 260g Beef Tenderloin
- 180g Fresh Foie Gras
- 80g Onion
- 25g Blue Cheese
- Slice of White Bread
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Only five simple ingredients to produce a mammoth supercharged unadulterated burger… yey! Burger porn…..
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The beef should be fresh as possible because it will be served rare to medium-rare. It should be cut by hand in to small chunks, but not minced, you want to to retain some texture.
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The Foie Gras should be cold so that it is easily cut, again in to small chunks. I have also been known to add beef fat to the recipe, if you choose to do that, you will not need so much Foie Gras.
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Onion finely chopped, roughly the same size as the beef chunks.
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Blue Cheese, Stilton is the best, but if you cant get hold of it, any strong blue/green veined cheese will work equally well. Try to get as much of the “moldy part” as possible. Why cheese? Well the flavour it imparts on the burger reminds me of the wonderful Dry Aged Beef steaks that I had in NY and FL.
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Chopped white bread is used as the binding agent.
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Everything goes in to a clean bowl and gets gently kneaded together. No need to overwork the ingredients, you just want them to bind and not become mushy.
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Shape in to a patty. Its important that it should be at least 4cm´s in height. Wrap it up in cling film and place in to the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up, but not for longer otherwise the inside will become too cold.
To cook the burger carefully place it in to a greased hot pan. It will smoke quite a lot so make sure you have sufficient ventilation. When the bottom part is charred and crispy, carefully turn the burger over, being careful not to splash yourself with the fat that the goose liver will have released.
Do not. I repeat. Do not overcook it. If overcooked the Foie Gras will just melt and you´ll be left with a rather fatty soggy mince meat patty.
Once it has cooked, place on to a warm plate (its important to have warm plates) and season with Sea Salt Flakes. Serve. Enjoy. Yield to the pleasure. Get someone else to do the dishes. Be selfish.
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Cutting through the outer crispy charred shell, you´ll be greeted with a smooth luxurious combination of succulent meat and fat.
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The oozing Foie Gras just melts in your mouth….
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Firstly, let me wish everyone a very happy 2010!
Now that all the hotel Gala Dinners throughout the festive season are finally over, I can spend a week or so relaxing!
This past month has been busy, however with careful planning ahead, it was relatively easy. Once all the Gala Dinner menus were confirmed, it was all a case of getting things ready on time. The only obstacle that we faced were the deliveries of the ingredients. The working week is cut short when Christmas and New Years Eve fall on weekdays.
Talking about “planning ahead”, I have been making lots of Cured beef.
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For some bizarre reason I decided to cure some beef in Orange Juice and Brandy.
I think that the idea came about one day after I had prepared a few plates of Bresaola (Italian air-dried salted beef) and later that week, one night at home I enjoyed a glass of Macallan Whisky, (a Single Malt that is matured in Sherry Casks from nearby Jerez de la Frontera). I had obviously written down this idea at some point during that evening, (okay, perhaps I had more than one glass! 
), and found the slip of paper a few days later.
Bresaola is salt cured before being hung for 2-3 months. I am not really (that much of a) patient person, so that idea was out of the window even before I begun. I knew that I wanted a sweetish flavour, so I chose a nice Brandy from Jerez, which is also matured in Sherry Casks.
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The Tenderloin (Fillet) is packed in to a bag with Orange Juice, Brandy, Spices, Salt and Sugar and left for 4 days.
On my first attempt I cured the meat for only 24 hours, but found that the resulting meat was still too raw and soft inside. After a few more tries, I worked out that the best texture to my liking appeared after 96 hours.
The meat is removed from the bag and washed before being pat dry. During its time in the bag, the meat has shrunk and become more compact and darker.
I would like to share with you the recipe for one of my Signature Dishes. 
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This dish has been on my menu since the beginning of my culinary adventure in Spain, and remains our most ordered Starter.
The translation of “Goong Che Nam Pa” would be “Fish Sauce Soaked Prawns”, which doesn’t sound so inviting to the palate! In fact the prawns are not marinated in purely Fish Sauce!, that would be far too salty, instead they are soused in a special salty-sweet-sour dressing.
The traditional version of this dish has the prawns butterflied, briefly marinated and served with various condiments. To make it more adaptable to our diners palates I decided to have the prawns served paper thin, similar to a Carpaccio and added new condiments that would complement the interesting and natural sweetness of the prawns.
There are various stages of preparation and method required for this dish, but do not be put off by the long list of ingredients and instructions. Once everything has been made, it only takes a few minutes to get the dish ready for serving. Every component can be made in advance and kept frozen or chilled until needed.
The recipe is for five servings, though the recipes for the Dressing and Crystal Shallots will produce far more than what is needed, however these can be stored in the fridge, the Sauce for ten days and the Crystal Shallots for up to three weeks.
I have often posted about (and get emails about) our chilled Clear Tomato Soup which we use as an “amuse bouche”.
When the dish is first presented on the table as “Chilled Tomato Soup”, there are glances of bewilderment on our guests faces, these glances of confusion soon turn to surprised acknowledgment when the summery taste of garden tomatoes hits the palate.
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INGREDIENTS:
This is really a simple, yet flavour packed recipe.
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Ripe Tomatoes. We often use Cherry Tomatoes too, which results is a clearer finished product. The type of tomatoes is up to you, (Tomatoes on Vine are a good choice) 3kg´s will normally give you just under 1½ litres of soup.
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A bunch of fresh Basil. You could also use Coriander, but the flavour of Basil and Tomatoes is one of the oldest culinary partnerships.
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