MICRO BLACK FOREST SUNDAE
MAKES APPROXIMATELY 5 GLASSES
For the cherry purée
pitted cherries 1 kg
caster sugar 150g
water 200ml
For the cherry jelly
cherry purée about 500ml
water 10g
stock syrup (see recipe on following page) 125ml
gelatine 28g
For the marquise
70% chocolate 37g
butter 12g
sugar 14g
eggs 2 large
egg yolk 25g
double cream 46g
For the cherry granita
cherry purée about 500ml
stock syrup (see recipe on following page) 100ml
sparkling water 500ml
Basic stock syrup
caster sugar 150g
water 300ml
lemon zest 2 strips
First make the cherry purée. Melt the sugar into the water in a pan over a low heat. Add the cherries and cook for 15 minutes over a medium heat. Blend in a blender till smooth, pass through a sieve and cook down in a pan till thick, around 20 minutes.
Make the stock syrup (also use this for the orange sorbet on page 51.) This will make about 500ml of syrup, but any surplus can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three weeks and used to dress any type of summer fruit or salad.
Put the sugar and water in a small, heavy-based pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon zest and bring to the boil for 5 minutes. Allow to cool, then strain and transfer to a glass container with a lid, and place in the fridge until required.
To make the cherry jelly, pass the cherry purée through a fine chinois sieve – make up to 2 litres with the water. Add more if necessary. Add the stock syrup. Take a small portion of the liquid and warm, melt in the gelatine and add back to the mix. Stir.
To make the marquise, melt together the chocolate and butter. In another pan, boil the sugar with a little water to a soft ball and pour over the whisking eggs to make a pâté bomb. When the pâté bomb is cool, fold into the melted chocolate and butter. Mix in the cream. Set aside.
To make the cherry granita, pass the cherry purée through a fine chinois. Add the stock syrup. Mix well. Gently stir in the sparkling water and try not to lose all the bubbles. Freeze in a plastic container until solid.
To plate, put the marquise into glasses then top with the cherry jelly, then with the granita.
TANGERINE AND HONEY TART WITH ALMOND MILK SORBET
SERVES 6-8
For the sweet pastry:
plain flour 250g
icing sugar 50g
cold butter 125g, diced
lemon zest of ½
large egg 1, beaten
milk a splash
For the heather honey cream:
good double cream 300ml
buttermilk 6 tbsp
heather honey 4 tbsp
For the almond milk sorbet:
water 80ml
whole milk 320ml
sugar 80g
ground almonds 100g
To serve:
20 tangerine segments, icing sugar, chopped pistachios, chopped mint
Mix all the ingredients together either by hand or in a food processor and knead until smooth, then let rest in the fridge until cold. Roll out into small individual tart rings, about 3in, fill with baking beans and bake at 160C/gas mark 3 for 15 minutes. Take out the baking beans and brush with beaten egg and bake for 3-5 minutes until hard.
To make the heather honey cream, whisk together all the ingredients and set in the fridge. To make the almond milk sorbet, simmer the ingredients for 20 minutes on mid heat on the hob, then chill overnight or a minimum of 2 hours, then pass through a sieve and churn in an ice-cream maker.
To serve, fill the pastry cases with the honey cream, then place the tangerine segments on top. Cover with icing sugar and blow torch till caramelised and sprinkle with pistachios and mint. Serve with the almond milk sorbet.
BEETROOT AND BLOOD ORANGE SORBET
SERVES 4-6
For the beetroot purée:
beetroot 1kg, washed and chopped
sugar 75g
thyme 3 sprigs
water to cover
For the sorbet:
beetroot purée 500g
blood orange purée (see below) 250g
glucose 50g
stock syrup (see recipe above) 100ml
lemon juice to taste
For the beetroot jelly:
beetroot reduction 500ml
stock syrup (see recipe above) 250ml
bronze leaf gelatine 4 leaves
For the yoghurt snow:
200g natural yoghurt 200g
Granny Smith apple 1
To make the beetroot purée, boil the beetroot until cooked – keep immersed and reduce water down until not quite dry. Blitz in a blender and sieve.
To make the orange purée, blend segments of blood orange with syrup.
To make the blood orange sorbet, combine all the ingredients in a bowl, then churn in an ice-cream maker. Or use a plastic container, whisking it regularly.
To make the jelly, mix together the beetroot reduction and syrup, melt the gelatine leaf into the mixture, pour into a container and leave to set in the fridge.
To make the yoghurt snow, place yoghurt in a bag and freeze. Grate with a Microplane on to a frozen tray. Make a salad of apples, sliced thinly, and cover in lemon juice to prevent browning.
To plate, place the sliced apple on to the plate, then a quenelle of sorbet and pieces of beetroot jelly. Powder the snow over the top and serve.
HALIBUT WITH CHESTNUTS, CAPERS AND BEURRE NOISETTE
SERVES 2
halibut fillets 2
garlic cloves 3, crushed
bay leaf 2 sprigs
thyme 3 sprigs
butter 60g
chestnuts 8, chopped
lemon segments 2 tbsp, chopped
small capers 2 tbsp, chopped
shallots 2 tbsp, chopped
sprout tops 8, blanched and refreshed
parsley 2 tbsp, chopped
fish brown sauce (see below) 100ml
To make the fish sauce, heat oven to 180C/gas mark 4 and roast the halibut bones in a roasting tin with shallots and garlic. Pour into a large heavy-based pan, cover with chicken stock and fresh herbs, simmer for 10-15 minutes, pass through a sieve and reduce by half. Thicken with butter at the end.
Put a little oil in a non-stick pan then add the fish and crushed garlic and bay and thyme. When coloured on one side, turn over and add 30g butter. When it starts to foam and the fish is cooked, take out the fillets and let rest. Then add the rest of the butter, and when it starts to foam add the chestnuts, then the lemon, capers and shallots.
Cook for a few minutes then add the sprout tops and parsley and season with sea salt. Put the fish on to a plate and pour over the fish sauce and add the garnish.
TUNA FISH, SMOKED ANCHOVIES AND HERITAGE TOMATO SALAD
SERVES 4
bright red tuna portion 400g, cut into 4
plum tomatoes 2
cherry red tomatoes 4, sliced
green cherry tomatoes 4, sliced
black cherry tomatoes 4, sliced
smoked anchovy fillets 10
bonito 100g, sliced
baby shallots 3, sliced
baby basil leaves, sea purslane and wild oyster leaves a few per person, to garnish
For the ketchup:
Forum vinegar 25g
sugar 25g
ripe tomatoes 100g
fresh chopped tomato 50g
For the spice oil:
virgin oil 50ml
black pepper 1g
Jamaican pepper 1g
1 chilli
To make the tomato ketchup, cook all of the ingredients together for 10 minutes in a saucepan, then blend and season.
To make the spice oil, warm together the oil with the black pepper, Jamaican pepper, chilli and salt to taste.
Sear the tuna in a grill pan on the hob until pink, about 30 seconds each side, then rest for 5 minutes. Spread ketchup on a plate, cut the tuna in half and place on the plate with the sliced tomatoes, smoked anchovies and bonito. Garnish with shallots, the spice oil and fresh herbs.
RED MULLET WITH SARDINE ON TOAST AND TAPENADE
SERVES 4
red mullet fillets (pin-boned) 4,
120g-140g each
sourdough 8 slices, thinly sliced
extra virgin olive oil 100ml
sea purslane (blanched) 50g
For the sardine and tomato sauce:
olive oil 30ml
garlic cloves 2, chopped
shallot 1, sliced
sherry vinegar 1 tbsp
tinned sardines in tomato sauce 2 x 125g
tinned tomatoes 4, chopped
sprig of thyme 1, leaves only
For the tapenade:
pitted black olives 100g
anchovies in olive oil, drained 25g
capers 10g
olive oil to blend
To make the sauce, heat a little oil and sweat the garlic and shallot till tender. Then deglaze with the vinegar and add the sardines and tomatoes and thyme leaves and cook for 10 minutes. Blend then pass through a chinois and cook again till the sauce has a smooth texture, around 15 minutes. Add a little more olive oil to taste and season.
To make the tapenade, blend all of the tapenade ingredients; chill.
To serve the dish, toast the sourdough and then spread the tapenade over the top. Pan-fry the red mullet and season with salt and lemon juice. Put the red mullet on top of the toast and then on the plate. Drizzle over the sardine sauce and garnish with blanched sea purslane.
CONFIT SMOKED SALMON AND HORSERADISH SNOW
MAKES 4 PORTIONS
For the salmon:
London cure salmon pavés 4, 45-50g, chill until needed
olive oil 500ml
rye crispbreads 2 per person
baby watercress
new potatoes cooked in duck fat 1 per person, sliced
For the avocado purée:
avocado 1, peeled
lime juice of ½
creme fraiche 1 tsp
For the horseradish snow:
fresh horseradish 45g
milk 5 tbsp
double cream 5 tbsp
corn starch 12g
buttermilk 500ml
To serve:
pickled cucumber cucumber sliced, add to 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, sugar and mirin
Mix the avocado flesh with the lime juice and creme fraiche. Purée in a blender. Pass through muslin; season with salt to taste.
To make the horseradish snow, blitz the fresh horseradish in a vegetable juicer and keep the juice. Combine the milk and cream and heat, then thicken with the corn starch, add the buttermilk and the horseradish juice, season and cool.
Freeze the liquid into Pacojet containers to -18C and blitz in the machine a little bit at a time. Reserve in the freezer until needed.
To cook the salmon confit-style, immerse the salmon in a heavy bottomed pan of warm olive oil and cook on a low heat (65 degrees) for 8-10 minutes and remove shortly before serving.
Put salmon on the plate with sliced potato and cucumber, then garnish with watercress and horseradish snow. Slice crispbread into crouton-sized pieces and dot over salmon.
