Serves 4
Ingredients
16 small green asparagus spears
Good handful of peas
Around 10 radishes
A quarter of a fennel bulb
Twenty cherry tomatoes
Handful of wild rocket
4 slices of wholemeal or multigrain bread
fresh goat’s cheese
40g of parmesan
Black pepper
Method
Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil and get a bowl ready with water and ice cubes. Cut the tips of 16 small green asparagus spears into 5 to 6 cm lengths, rinse and immerse in the boiling water along with a good handful of peas. Drain and immediately plunge them into the iced water to keep their colour. Leave for 2 minutes, then drain with a slotted spoon and lay on a dry tea towel.
Peel and wash around ten radishes and slice into fine rounds (about 3 mm) with a mandoline slicers. Rinse a quarter of a fennel bulb and slice into thin slivers of the same size. Wash and dry about twenty cherry tomatoes and halve them. Remove the stalks, wash and dry a handful of wild rocket.
Toast four slices of wholemeal or multigrain bread on one side only. Spread fresh goat’s cheese on the slices of bread Line the halved cherry tomatoes along the centre of each slice Then layer the silvers of fennel, radish slices and peas on top. Slice the asparagus tips lengthwise and scatter them over. Then shave 40g of parmesan with a vegetable peeler and add these. Finish with the wild rocket leaves.
Add a generous twist of freshly ground black pepper and keep cool until ready to serve.
Serves 4
Ingredients
440g Shoulder, neck & shin of Lonk lamb, cut into 3cm pieces (equal quantaties)
1 rack of under shoulder chops, trimmed and chimed cut into 4 neck chops
1 boneless best end of lamb
600g tarleton onions, thinly sliced
500g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled, medium size
10g plain flour
40g salted butter – melted
2 ½ tsp fine sea salt
White pepper
25g golden granulated sugar
10g melted butter (for brushing the top of the hot pot)
Pickled Red Cabbage
300g finely shredded Red Cabbage
1 star anise
400ml red wine
275ml malt vinegar
140ml white wine vinegar
140ml balsamic vinegar
5 bay leaves
10 whole cloves
1tsp whole black peppercorns
1tsp whole pink peppercorns
1 stick cinnamon (snapped in half)
5 whole dried chillies
250g sugar
80g course sea salt
Tangled Garden Leeks
2 bundles extra fine garden leeks
500ml mineral water
1 tbsp natural sugar
100g butter
Pinch of salt
Tangled Garden Carrots
120g baby tangled carrots
500ml mineral water
1 tbsp natural sugar
100g butter
Pinch of salt
Method
Season the lamb and the lamb chops with salt, sugar and a good pinch of pepper, dust with flour, put the lamb into the base of the hot pot dish and place the 4 chops evenly around the perimator of the dish.
Sweat off the onions in 15g of butter with half a teaspoon of salt for 2-3mins (to sweat is to cook without colour in a covered pan, on a moderate to hot temperature). Spread the onions evenly on top of the lamb in the hot pot dish.
Put the 4 neck chops evenly around the perimeter of the hot pot bowl, pushing them firmly into the onions (make sure the clean bones are sticking prominently out of the hot pot dish).
Slice the potatoes vertically [2mm thick]. Place in a medium size bowl, add the remaining 25g melted butter, season with 1 teaspoon of salt and a pinch of white pepper, and mix well.
Place the stainless steel cutter in the centre of the hot pot dish on top of the onions (this is to leave a space to put the roasted loin of lamb, when ready to serve). Put the sliced potatoes evenly on top of the onions, reserving the best-shaped potatoes for the final layer. Place the hotpot in a pre-heated convection oven for 2½ hours on 140°c.
Seal the loin of lamb until golden in colour. Then roast the loin for 8-10 minutes until pink. Then remove the loin and allow it to set for 5 minutes on a cooling rack. Brush the golden potatoes with a small amount of melted butter. Remove the stainless steel cutter, and carve the lamb loin and place it in the centre of the hot pot. Serve with pickled red cabbage, organic tangled carrots and leeks.
Pickled Red Cabbage
Half and quarter the red cabbage. De-vein away the large stem and finely slice the red cabbage leaves. Salt the red cabbage well in a colander for 2-3 hours until a deep rich colour is achieved. Drain and wash all the salt away thoroughly – pat dry.
Place all the vinegars, wine and sugar in a suitable pan and reduce by half. Place all the dry ingredients in a pestle and mortar and coarsely pound. When the reduction is near completion throw all the dry spices into the reduction and allow to infuse for 5 minutes. Pass the reduction through a fine sieve and while warm pour onto the red cabbage.
Place the cabbage in a suitable jar and seal. The liquor should just cover the cabbage.
Tangled Garden Carrots
Carefully wash the carrots and clean thoroughly. Place the carrots in a heavy bottom pan, add the sugar, butter and a pinch of salt, barely cover with water. Bring to the boil and cook until tender. Remove the carrots from the cooking liqueur and reserve. Reduce the cooking liqueur by half then return the carrots and keep warm.
Tangled Garden Leeks
Carefully wash the carrots and clean thoroughly. Put the leeks into butter, boiling salted water and rapid boil for 30 seconds, remove and mix with the carrots.
Find out more about Nigel .
Ingredients
Parfait
6 large egg yolk
150g sugar
1 vanilla pod
500g double cream
50g of sweet stem ginger syrup
1.5 leaves gelatine
Rhubarb
4 sticks of rhubarb
75g sugar
150g ginger nut biscuits crumbs for the base
Method
Mousse rings
Prepare your mousse rings by spreading the biscuit base evenly between the rings and flatten with the back of a spoon.
Parfait
To make the sabayon put the egg yolks in kitchen aid bowl ready. Bring the sugar to the boil with a little bit of water. When the sugar reach 115⁰C start whisking the egg yolks. When the sugar reaches 120⁰C slowly pour the syrup over the eggs. Keep on whisking until it is cold. In a separate bowl whisk the cream, ginger syrup and vanilla seeds until it has reached a soft peak. Gently fold the cream into the sabayon in 3 stages. Now pour into your rings and freeze overnight.
Rhubarb and rhubarb jelly
Top, tail and wash the rhubarb. Then cut 1.5inch pieces. Cover the rhubarb with the sugar, cling film and microwave until soft. Drain it through a sieve, but keep the liquid for the jelly. Soak 1.5 leaves of gelatine in water. Bring 180ml of your rhubarb syrup the boil, squeeze out the excess water from the gelatine and dissolve. Let it cool a little bit before you pour it over the parfait and return to the freezer until needed.
To serve
Put a little bit of rhubarb compote on the plate, this will stop the parfait from sliding around. Remove the rings by blow torching the it very quickly and putting it on the rhubarb. Put the rest of the rhubarb onto of the jelly and garnish with crispy sweet puff pastry.
Chef Pienaar is head chef atAudley Retirement Villages.
We hope you have a wonderful Easter, from Team FOUR