From ASIA to PARIS in Newcastle’s
Game Festival
I had the pleasure of attending the Game Festival in
Newcastle this weekend; I met some amazing people and had a great time. To be
honest I had never actually cooked with game meat before so I “winged” it like
there was no tomorrow. I’m stoked about the feedback that I got. The people
went crazy for the dishes and I’m thinking of making them some of my signature
dishes. So it was basically a little trip around the world. The menu stretched
from Asia to Paris with a touch of English.
For the starter I mad two types of Asian Inspired Springbok
Carpaccio served with Micro Herbs and toasted garlic Ciabatta. It not exactly
two types as I used one large fillet of Springbok that I cut in halve, made one
straight forward rare and the other
fillet I gave a good rub with Chinese 5 spice before I seared it
slightly also still very rare.
ASIAN STYLE SPRINGBOK CARPACCIO
·
500g Springbok Fillet / or sirloin
·
Chinese 5 Spice
·
Low Sodium Soy Sauce – 3Tbls
·
Rice Wine Vinegar – 2Tbls
·
4 x Star Anise
·
2 x Cloves Garlic – grated finely
·
2cm Fresh Ginger – grated finely
·
2Tbsp Muscovado Sugar
·
1 x Small Red Chilli – keep it whole and prick
it a few times with the tip of your knife, just to infuse the sauce with its
essence and not its full heat
·
Cling Film – cheats way of making Carpaccio
·
Rolling Pin – a great tool when cheating with
Carpaccio
Method:
FIRST Carpaccio – all you do is to take off the silver skin
(which is usually very tuff) then you take a very sharp knife and cut very thin
slivers. Set aside.
SECOND Carpaccio – Again here remove the silver skin, take a
good pinch of Chinese 5 spice and rub into the meat very well. Set aside for a
few minutes while you gently heat a frying pan on medium heat. Take the fillet
and lightly sear it on all sides no more than 2 minutes maximum. Set aside to
cool completely. Slice the fillet into very thin slivers.
In a small sauce pan add the Soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar,
garlic, ginger, star anise and the pricked chilli, bring to a simmer and stir a
few times, just to make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool so
it can thicken. You need thick gooey syrup like consistency just to drizzle
over the finished Carpaccio.
Now the fun part starts- take some cling film and place a
long stretch of it over your workspace, dot the underside with some olive oil
so it doesn’t slide around. Very important that you star with the raw slivers
first as you don’t want the 5 spice flavoured slivers on the raw product. Place
them randomly onto the cling wrap spaced out evenly, place another layer of
cling film over the raw slivers. Take the rolling pin and roll them to wafer
thin almost paper thickness. Remove the top layer of cling film and gently lift
the capriccio slices onto the serving platter. Follow the same instructions
with the flavoured slices of fillet. Then arrange them onto the same platter in
another direction.
TO SERVE: Drizzle the Carpaccio with the Asian reduction,
sprinkle with micro herbs (Coriander & rocket), some chopped red chilli and
spring onion. I served mine with a day old stale Ciabatta, rubbed with garlic
and a splash of olive oil then lightly toasted. MAGIC I TELL YOU!
KUDU BOURGUIGNON
Classically a
French dish with a good SA twist. The original recipe requires baby onions, I supplemented
with something a bit more South African and these ingredients will be what are
in most of our houses at any time, except maybe for the Kudu meat.
·
1KG
Kudu Meat – any cut will do, cut into bit sized chunks
·
150g
Seasoned Flour – salt, pepper, dried herbs
·
1 x
Packet Fresh Thyme
·
1 x
Packet Fresh Parsley – Italian
·
1 X
Packet Fresh Coriander
·
4 x Large Brown Onions – diced
in large cubes
·
6 x
Carrots – cut at an angle (love it)
·
1 x
Packet Small Baby Potato’s – cut in halve
·
1-2
Bottles of Good Quality Shiraz/Merlot –
one for the food the other to enjoy with the food
·
1 x
Packet of Streaky Bacon – Kudu is usually a dry meat so the bacon is purely for
extra fat and flavor, diced finely
·
1 x
Punnet of Mushrooms - optional
Method:
Heat a large casserole dish on the stove top. Add a splash
of oil and fry the bacon and onions till golden and crisp. Remove the onions
and bacon from the pot and add another splash of oil, liberally rub the Kudu
chunks in the flour and brown them in batches in the heated casserole. Once
browned remove and set aside keep doing this till all the meat has a nice brown
colour, now put the onions, bacon and meat back into the pot. Add 1 bottle of
wine and give it a good stir, now add the carrots, baby potatoes, 1lt of water
and a big bunch of the thyme stir again and bring to a boil on the stove. Once
it boils place the casserole’s lid on and place it in a pre-heated oven around
180 ͨc for about 4 – 5 hours, till the meat is tender and you have a nice thick
stew like sauce.
Serving Suggestion: Serve with a good dollop of Mock Mash
(recipe follows) a good sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley and coriander. And
lastly a glass of red wine, preferably the same as the one you cooked with.
MOCK MASH
This is truly an amazing invention; some people can’t tell
the difference between the mock mash and the real thing. As the name suggests
this is exactly what is says a mock, no potatoes in site. This literally takes
you about 5 minutes and it tastes great!
·
1Lt Milk – full cream of course
·
500g Semolina Flour
·
1 Large Garlic Clove – grated into the milk
·
Salt & Pepper to Taste
·
250g Salted Butter
·
60ml Olive Oil
·
Freshly Chopped Parsley – for decoration
Method:
Add the milk, grated garlic clove, salt & pepper to a
pot over medium heat. Once the milk starts to simmer, turn down the heat and
slowly start pouring in the semolina flour whisking non-stop. So you will end
up with a silky smooth mash consistency. Immediately turn the heat off then add
the butter and oil and incorporate with a wooden spoon. It’s up to you if you
want to add the chopped parsley while you mix the butter and oil or if you want
to sprinkle it over later.
