notes and quirks from the Nellie kitchen
120g Quinoa white
120g Quinoa red
120g Mixed vegetables (carrot, broccoli, red onion, baby marrow, red pepper, celery, cauliflower – cut into small pieces, blanched and refreshed)
12g Pumpkin seeds
12g Gogi Berries
12g Mixed toasted chopped nuts
12g Mixed seeds toasted
5g Mint chiffonade
5g Parsley picked
50-60g lemon an herb dressing
Options add cumin and smoked paprika to the dressing
Add some bacon pieces or feta for extra flavour and variety
Duck Breast
Charred cauliflower puree, confit liver ravioli, pickled cauliflower leaves, duck pancetta
Inspired by the beautiful free range duck we have been getting and the insane flavour we get out of curing them smoking and hanging, to transform into duck pancetta ”it cannot me compared to any duck ham I have ever tasted due to the superb quality of duck we have been receiving. It was inevitable that cauliflower would be its lifelong partner for this dish after tasting the wild flavour of the breast it needed that creamy earthy flavour that the cauliflower brings to the relationship”
We have a tendency to discard skin and bones very quickly after filleting, but there is a fair amount of flesh that remain after filleting. The easiest is the use a spoon and scrape off the excess. Then we have done two items one was a croquette with quinoa and some lemon zest and the other was a tartare. With these two examples we have opened a whole lot of other possibilitie
Coffee Pork Ribs Photo credit – www.crushmag-online.com
Jaco created this recipe for on of our shoots with crush online, must say it is perfect for those lazy Sunday afternoon braai’s or even for a new years day braai. A lot of marinated ribs are available off the shelf ready for the braai. But there is nothing more satisfying than cooking own ribs flavouring a vegetable stock with ginger, cloves and star anise. Then basting the ribs for the braai with this coffee inspired sauce.
Yield: 2kg pork ribs, 4 portions
INGREDIENTS
for the pork ribs
2kg pork ribs, cut into 500g portions (par-cooked)
For the coffee basting sauce
70ml double espresso
70ml bbq sauce
70ml sweet Indonesian soya sauce
2g sambal oelek
5g fresh ginger, grated fine
5g corn flour
METHOD
Place the ribs on the braai and first warm them before starting to brush them with the basting sauce
Brush the rib every time you turn them and only leave them for about a minute or two on each side, to avoid caramelising the meat too much
Cut the ribs into small riblets and serve warm
To prepare the coffee basting sauce
Combine the coffee, sweet Indonesian soya sauce, ginger, bbq sauce and mix well
Take some of the coffee sauce and add it to the corn flour and mix into a slurry
Ad the slurry back to the coffee sauce and pour the mix into a small sauce pot
Warm the sauce until it starts to thicken – check the flavouring
Remove from the heat and cool
Use a brush to baste the ribs while they on the braai
500g Honey Roasted Butternut
200g Roasted Red Peppers(deseeded and skinned)
50g Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Dressing
30g Honey
1 Tbsp Mustard Dijon
40ml Vinegar white wine
90 ml Oil Canola
Chakalaka basted Swiss chard and grilled, morogo puree, braised pulled shank brinjal parcel, steamed brinjal rubbed with morogo puree and baked
Although we have always enjoyed springbok on menu in some shape or form, this popular chefs table dish is a combination of South African flavours and ingredients that comes from Dion’s inspiration eating from venders out side of huge factories in Jozi (pap, smilies (sheep head), morogo and chakalaka)”I still go and catch a lunch every chance I get when I’m in Jozi “
Trout Belly
Whenever we clean trout the normal rule is an approximate waste of 50%. Considering the cost is one thing, my problem is the amount that is left, the amount that is flogged most of the time to the bin. We want perfect pieces of fish with no bones with no belly.
The belly is the best part, fatty and with so much taste. So as part of this little discovery on our journey we decided to hot smoke the belly. From there we have endless possibilities from salad, pate, rillette, terrine and kedgeree.
For this part of wasted we have cured the belly with sugar and salt in equal quantities for two hours. Then hot smoked the bellies for 20 minutes. We have also put away some of the smoked belly to access what it does after being frozen.
For the salad we pulled the belly pieces in large chunks added some red onion, samphire, carrot tops and lettuce.
Christmas pudding
Photo Credit www.crushmag-online.com
Our pastry chef Craig did this recipe a year ago for Crush, there is still enough time to pull this off.
Traditional Christmas pudding with cherries and brandy butter sauce
Yields 1 medium size Christmas pudding
Servings 5-8 people
Easy (Just time consuming)
Christmas pudding
Ingredients
½ cup Currants
1 cup Sultanas
1 cup Raisins
2 Tbls mixed orange peel
8 each Prunes
2 Gannysmith apple (grated)
2 tsp Chopped stem ginger
2 oranges segmented
2 each lemon zest grated
2 each orange zest grated
10 Tblsp Grand Marnier or any orange liqueur
10 Tblsp Brandy
10 Tblsp Dry sherry
10 Tblsp Dark rum
10 Tblsp Madeira or any sweet wine
10 Tblsp Guinness
10 Tblsp Ale
1 cup Dark brown sugar (Demerara)
3 Tblsp mixed spice
4 Tblsp ground almonds
4 tsp Suet or Veg suet if preferred
4 tsp bread crumbs
1 cup flour
6 eggs
Method
Soak the fruit, grated apple, mixed peel, ginger, orange segments and the zest with all the alcohol for 5 days. Turning the fruit once a day so the alcohol can soak evenly through the fruit.
Place the fruit in the mixer and add the rest of the ingredients, mix well
Line a mould, I used a small normal mixing bowl for this shoot, but any mould that fits the mix will do. Fill the mould and cover with silicon paper, then with tin foil. Steam the pudding for 3.5 to 4 hours
Brandy sauce
Yields 550ml
Serves 5 to 8
1 cup Milk
1 cup Cream
4 Tblsp Sugar
4 tsp brandy (or be naughty and add a few more)
1tsp butter
1Tblsp corn flour
Method
Boil the 50ml milk, cream and butter together. Add the remaining milk to the cornflour and bring it to the mix thickens. Then add the sugar and the brandy and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Take off the heat and cover plastic wrap to stop a skin from forming.
Drunken Cherries
Serves 5 to 8
1 ½ cups pitted fresh cherries
1 cup brandy
½ cup sugar
1 orange zest
½ cup juice
1 vanilla pod
1 cinnamon stick
Method
Place the ½ the brandy with the orange juice, zest, sugar, split vanilla pod and cinnamon in small pot and dissolve the sugar .Once the sugar has dissolved add the cherries and cook for 3 min. Take off the heat and add the remaining brandy. Let cool. Place in a air tight container or jar and use when needed.
Photo Credit www.crushmag-online.com
In this weeks salad from Oasis, Kim has made a great potato salad with a slight twist, combining potato and lentils in a light mustard dressing and Italian parsley. If this is not you choice of dressing change it up with a yoghurt dressing or a mayonnaise based one.
800g New Potatoes Boiled and halved
150g Cooked lentils
½ Red onion sliced
1 Cup picked parsley
Dressing
30g Grainy Dijon Mustard
40ml Vinegar white wine
2tbsp Honey
90 ml Oil Canola
20 ml Oil Grape seed
1 tbsp Chives sliced fine
Salt and pepper
20 ml lemon juice fresh squeezed
At the chefs table we celebrate heritage a lot, small elements from chakalaka to corn find it’s way on our menu often.In this dish with Smoked chicken confit ravioli we added the sweet corn in three parts as a puree with green chilli, charred sweet corn and puffed, then we added a little chakalaka oil to finish and for texture crispy chicken skin.
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