From Asia to Paris at the Newcastle's Game Festival this year

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.