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.

Honey & Lavender Cupcakes

Honey Cupcakes with Lavender Icing – to die for

These are great and quick to make.

You’ll Need:

225g Unsalted Butter – softened

225g Caster Sugar

225g Self- Raising Flour

4 x Fresh Eggs

2Tblsp of Honey

5ml Vanilla Paste

For the Icing

200g Cream Cheese – room temperature

50ml Honey

200g Icing Sugar

2 Drops of Blue or Purple Food Colouring

1Tsp of Dried Lavender Leaves

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 200 ͨc. Combine all the Cupcake ingredients in a bowl, beating everything with a wooden spoon, till thick & pale. Spoon the Batter evenly into a non-stick muffin tin lined with Cupcake cases. Bake for 20min only, test with a skewer. Place each cupcake on a wire rack to cool completely. Then set aside and prep for the icing. Whisk with an electric beater the cream cheese, icing sugar, honey and the food colouring till smooth and light. Spread each cupcake liberally with the icing, and sprinkle over the dried lavender from a height. And they are ready to serve.

 

 

Chocolate Fondant's

Chocolate Fondants

These gooey little gifts from God are definitely something you should memorize by hart seeing that they are so easy and quick to make. It will be sacrilege if you don’t prepare them with the respect they need. Now gent’s I’m saying this from personal experience, Chocolate Fondants will bring any woman to her knee’s. So sit up and pay attention. The key lies in the 8 minutes baking time leaving you with a gooey centred little cake with a slight crusty outside.

You’ll Need:

250g Dark Chocolate

250g Butter

1½Tblsp of Flour – all purpose

3 x Eggs – whole

Pinch of Salt

Extra Butter for the Ramekins – this recipe works perfectly out to 4 medium sized ramekins or 2 large ones

Extra Cacao – for dusting the ramekins

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 200 ͨc. Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a bain-marie (double boiler, making sure the bowl does not touch the water or your chocolate will become grainy and extra bitter) you want a very smooth concoction. As soon as the butter and chocolate are melted completely and whisk lightly, remove the bowl from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Take 4 ramekins or 2 large ones, and butter them very well. If you don’t they won’t come out of the ramekin all perfect and glorious. So don’t be shy with the butter. Take about a half a teaspoon of cacao to each ramekin and turn the ramekin in all directions making sure the entire ramekin is covered with cacao on the inside. Pour out any excess cacao. Know whisk in the three eggs into the slightly cooled mixture, whisking vigorously till all is well combined. Sift in the flour and a pinch of salt, take a rubber spatula and fold in the flour gently. Pour the mixture evenly into each ramekin before placing the ramekins on a baking sheet. Pop them into the pre-heated oven for 8 minutes ONLY. Any longer and you’ll end up with a dry sponge cake like thing, with no gooey centre. Once the 8 min is over take them out of the oven and let cool for a minute or two, before taking a sharp knife and slide it around the outsides of the little cake just to loosen it. Take a kitchen towel and flip the ramekin onto a plate. Shake gently and pull away. Serve with Chantilly cream or a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.

Milo Gelato - Easy, all Cream Milo Ice Cream

 

This week I’ll be sharing with you the most amazing Milo ice cream recipe ever! No it is not too cold for ice cream and besides after my last few savoury recipes, it’s time for something sweet and delicious. This is an all cream ice cream, usually ice cream has a custard base but this is a very straight forward recipe.

Milo Gelato

I got a taste of this and I couldn’t believe that it was not a custard based dessert. Silky Smooth & creamy to the 9’s an all-out jaw dropper.

You’ll Need:

·         150ml Scalded Full Cream Milk

·         150g White Sugar

·         5ml Vanilla Extract

·         1150g Milo – I know it sounds like a lot but the flavour dissipates in all the cream

·         50g Milo – reserved for just before setting

·         25g Cacao –sifted twice

·         800ml Fresh Cream - chilled

Method:

In a small pot on the stove bring the milk, sugar, cacao and Milo to simmering point, stirring till everything is dissolved, immediately remove it from the heat and cover the milk directly with some cling wrap to stop a skin form forming. Leave to cool completely before lightly whipping the cream to soft peak stage along with the vanilla, now fold it through cooled milk mixture and pour everything into an ice cream machine and follow the manufactures instructions. When it’s done churning and you’re about to spoon it into a freezer proof container, that’s when you sprinkle in the extra 50g of Milo. With every spoon just sprinkle some Milo over, even out the surface of the tub your freezing it in and place it in the freezer for 4 -6 hours or till set.

Serving Suggestion: Few scoops with Kit Kat bars

If making by hand: Cool the heated milk mixture completely before adding the chilled cream. Whisk well to incorporate and pour everything into a freezer proof container. Take the container out every 30 minutes, whisking the contents with an electric whisk for a minute or two on high, return to the freezer. Repeat this process 4 – 5 times before leaving it to freeze till set (This will break down the ice crystals that form during freezing). This will ensure a nice, smooth and creamy texture. 

You can easily spruce this recipe up, by adding crushed up Romany Creams, ginger biscuits and basically anything you can think of. Whatever you like you can add. The milo can also be replaced with chocolate Horlicks which is just as amazing. I love to make two batches and swirl or layer the two flavours together just before it goes into the deep freezer

 

For more of my recipes visit www.sweetmafia-sa.com or contact me on thys@sweetmafia-sa.com

French Fruit Tartlets - The easy way

FRENCH FRUIT TARTLETS – The easy way

 

·         1 x Roll Ready Made Puff Pastry (Cut into squares 5 x 5cm)

·         500ml Milk

·         6 x Egg Yolks

·         2 x Whole Eggs

·         4Tbsp of Corn Starch (Mazina)

·         100g Sugar

·         10ml Vanilla Paste

·         200g Fresh Berries Mixed (strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries)

·         50ml Apricot Jam for the Glaze – thinned with boiling water 

 

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180ͦC. Place the pastry squares inside a large muffin tin and bake blind for 15 -20minutes till golden(I find the best way is to place a square of wax paper inside the pastry cup and fill it with baking beans). Make the crème patisserie by heating the milk to simmering point. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, yolks, sugar, mazina and vanilla. Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture whisking continuously, then  pour the egg mixture back into pot and cook till thickened, set aside and cool completely. Spoon the crème patisserie into the tart shells and decorate with the fresh fruits. Use a pastry brush and glaze the fruits with the apricot jam. Serve as is, or with a drizzle of runny custard.

Tequila & Lime Sorbet

Tequila & Lime Sorbet

·         250 ml water

·         375 ml sugar

·         45 ml grated lime rind

·         250 ml fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)

·         60 ml tequila

 

Method:

Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute or until sugar dissolves.

Cool completely. Combine sugar syrup, rind, juice, and tequila. Pour mixture into the ice-cream machine, spoon the sorbet into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze for 1 hour or until firm.

Spanish Flan

Spanish Flan

Flan is traditionally an English dessert and is nothing more than a crème caramel, but by adding cream cheese and condensed milk and calling it flan we have Spain on a plate.

·         250g Castor Sugar – for the caramel lining

·         2 x Tins of Condensed Milk

·         2 x Tins of Full Cream Milk – using the condensed milk tins to measure it out

·         2 x Tins of Ideal Milk

·         12 x Whole Large Eggs

·         250g Sugar

·         10ml Vanilla Paste – or one bean split and the seeds scraped out

·         150g Cream Cheese – smooth is best and at room temperature

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 170 ͦC. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the cream cheese and vanilla till nice and smooth.  Add the condensed milk and whisk well to combine, then the milk and ideal milk before adding the eggs and sugar. Whisk till everything is mixed well. Set aside and make the caramel, place the sugar in a very hot non-stick pan and leave till a caramel has formed, never stirring but rather swirling the pan so all the sugar melts evenly. Pour the caramel in base of a large cake tin or mould and make sure you line the bottom and about 1 – 2cm up the sides of the tin (ramekin, mould) and leave to cool and set. Once the caramel is set pour the custard mixture through a sieve into the tin, this is just to keep any unmixed egg bits or cheese behind as you want a silky smooth end result. Place the tin in a bain-marie (water bath) and fill it with hot water that comes up about half way of the tin. Bake the custard in the centre of the oven for anywhere from 1 - 1½ hours. The custard is cooked once you can insert a knife in the centre and it comes out clean. It still needs to have a slight wobble to it. Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating overnight. To unmould slide a very sharp knife along the rim of the tin ever so gently, place a plate over and flip it real fast. You want the custard to stay intact. Slice and serve as is.