3181 Mess

Prep Time: 1 hr 30 mins + cooling

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Cook Time: 40 mins

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Blueberries and sliced strawberries and kiwi, to serve

Crushed freeze-dried raspberries, to dust

Meringue

2 egg whites, at room temperature

100g caster sugar

½ tsp cornflour

½ tsp verjuice or white vinegar

Yuzu Curd

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

165g caster sugar

100g unsalted butter

250ml yuzu juice

Raspberry Puree

2 x 125g punnets raspberries

2 tbs caster sugar

Chantilly Cream

300ml thickened cream

1 tbs icing sugar

1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 110C. Line two oven tray with silicone mats or baking paper.

2. To make meringue, beat egg whites with an electric mixer to form soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture is thick, glossy and sugar has dissolved. Whisk in cornflour. Whisk in verjuice.

3. Spread half the meringue onto one of the lined oven trays until 5mm-thick. Place remaining meringue into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm nozzle and pipe 3cm-round mounds onto remaining tray.

4. Bake for 40 minutes or until crisp and firm to the touch. Cool in oven for 1 hour with door slightly ajar. Break into shards.

5. Meanwhile, to make yuzu curd, whisk eggs, yolks and sugar in a medium saucepan, off the heat, until smooth. Add butter and juice. Stir over low heat for 10 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain into a jug. Pour into 4 holes of a 50mm-diameter (30mm deep) half sphere mould and 8 holes of a 28mm-diameter (15mm deep) half sphere mould. Freeze until firm. Remove from moulds 5 minutes before serving. Use a palette to transfer to serving plates.

6. To make raspberry puree, stir raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Blend with a stick blender until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve. Refrigerate until cold.

7. To make Chantilly cream, whisk all ingredients until soft peaks form.

8. To assemble, use a palette knife to smear a little raspberry puree and Chantilly cream onto serving plates. Top with yuzu curd half spheres and the mounds and shards of meringue. Dot with sliced kiwi, strawberries and blueberries. Dust meringue with freeze-dried raspberry powder.

Bavette with Red Wine Jus

Prep Time: 1 hr 20 mins + marinating

Cook Time: 1 hr

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 eschallot, halved

2 tsp olive oil

20g butter

4 Dutch carrots, scrubbed, halved lengthways (we used heirloom)

2 bunches baby asparagus, trimmed

Finely grated black truffle and fresh horseradish, to serve

Bavette

150ml olive oil

6 garlic cloves, crushed

4 tbs thyme leaves

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

600g bavette steak (flank)

25g butter, chopped

Pumpkin Puree

600g butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 4cm cubes

1 tbs olive oil

¼ tsp ground cumin

2 tbs thickened cream

Red Wine & Port Jus

1 tbs olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 eschallots, chopped

1 carrot, coarsely chopped

125ml red wine

125ml port

300ml beef stock

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs thyme

50g butter, cubed

2-3 tsp truffle paste

Method

1. To prepare bavette steak, first marinade it to tenderise the meat. Combine the oil, garlic and thyme in a non-reactive airtight container or ziplock bag. Rub steaks all over with a generous amount of sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper. Add to container or bag and seal. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight to marinade.

2. Preheat oven to 200C.

3. To make pumpkin puree, place pumpkin in an oven dish. Add oil and cumin. Season. Toss to coat.

4. Roast for about 45 minutes or until very tender. Transfer to a blender and add cream. Blend until smooth. Season.

5. Meanwhile, to make jus, heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook garlic, eschallots and carrot until soft. Add wine and port. Simmer until reduced by two thirds. Add stock, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened and reduced. Strain into a clean pan over medium heat. Whisk in butter to form a smooth, glossy jus. Whisk in truffle paste. Season. Before serving, whisk in any juices from rested, sliced meat.

6. Heat a chargrill over medium heat. Peel layers off eschallot halves to form ‘petals’. Spray with olive oil and chargrill, turning, until tender.

7. Heat oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook carrots and asparagus, turning occasionally until tender. Season.

8. Bring bavette steak to room temperature. Remove from container or ziplock bag.

9. Heat a large lightly oiled frying pan over medium-high heat. Add steak and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until a crust has formed and meat is cooked as desired. Add butter for last 2 minutes of cooking, basting to coat. Transfer to a warm plate and cover lightly with foil to rest for 10 minutes. Cut into 5mm-thick slices, against the grain.

10. Serve bavette steak and pumpkin puree with asparagus, carrots, eschallot petals and red wine and port jus. Garnish with finely grated truffle and horseradish.

Tips

We cooked our bavette steaks sous-vide on the day (for 5 hours at 47C), before searing, as we were cooking for a large number of serves and wanted to ensure an even result. Here we have provided a more conventional method (simply marinating) which is easily reproduced at home.

Exact cooking time of bavette will depend on size and thickness of steak.

Crayfish with Vadouvan Butter

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 20 mins

Serves 4.

Ingredients

4 crayfish (southern rock lobster), halved lengthways, cleaned

Lime wedges, to serve

Vadouvan butter

3 tsp vadouvan spice

10 curry leaves, thinly sliced

2 tsp olive oil

1 eschallot, finely chopped

½ tsp finely grated ginger

4 garlic cloves, crushed

250g salted butter, at room temperature

Witlof-cup salad

2 tbs lime juice

3 tsp olive oil

½ tsp white sugar

1 Lebanese cucumber, seeded, cut into batons

½ baby fennel, thinly sliced

2 tbs finely chopped flat leaf parsley

12 baby white witlof leaves

Method

1. To make vadouvan butter, dry fry vadouvan spice and curry leaves in a small frying pan over low heat until fragrant. Remove and set aside to cool.

2. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add eschallot and cook until soft and translucent but not browned. Stir in garlic and ginger cook until garlic is soft.

3. Place butter, eschallot mixture, spice and curry leaves in a processor. Season. Process until smooth and combined.

4. Place butter mixture on a 30cm square piece of baking paper. Shape into a log and roll to enclose. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into slices.

5. Meanwhile, to make witlof- cup salad, place lime juice, oil and sugar in a screw top jar. Season generously. Shake to combine. Place in a bowl with the cucumber, fennel and parsley and toss to combine. Divide mixture among witlof leaves and place on serving plates.

6. Preheat oven to 180C.

7. Heat a lightly greased chargrill over high heat. Season crayfish and cook, flesh-side down, for about 3-4 minutes or until lightly charred. Transfer to an oven tray, flesh-side up. Top with slices of the butter (melt any remaining butter in a small saucepan over low heat for service).

8. Roast crayfish for about 12 minutes or until just cooked through.

9. Arrange crayfish on serving plates with the witlof cup salad. Serve with lime wedges and any remaining vaudovan butter.

Tips

Vadouvan is a mild, sweet and smoky curry-inspired spice blend.

Exact cooking time of crayfish will depend on their size, weight and thickness.

Scallops with Black Pudding and Bloody Mary Butter

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 45 mins

Serves 4.

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil

75g panko breadcrumbs

200g Spanish black pudding

12 scallops, on the half shell

1 ½ cups rock salt

Bloody Mary butter

3 vine-ripened tomatoes

1 long red chilli, halved lengthways

1 tbs olive oil

½ tsp celery salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp tabasco sauce

150g salted butter, chopped

2 tsp lime juice

Watercress Puree

1 bunch watercress, trimmed

2 tsp olive oil

1 small white onion, finely chopped

1 small potato, peeled, cut into 1cm dice

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. To make the bloody Mary butter, place the tomatoes and chilli on an oven tray, cut-side up. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with celery salt. Season with pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes or until soft, collapsed and lightly caramelised. Remove from heat and cool 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a blender. Blend until smooth and place a medium clean saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in Worcestershire and tabasco sauces. Add butter and stir until melted and combined. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice.

3. To make watercress puree, prepare a large bowl of ice and water.

4. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add watercress and cook for 1 minute. Drain and transfer to the ice bath to cool. Drain and squeeze out excess water with your hands.

5. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and potato and cook, stirring, until both are very soft and onions are translucent, but neither are coloured. Transfer to a blender or processor. Add blanched watercress. Blend to form a smooth puree. Season.

6. Heat oil in medium deep frying pan over medium-low heat. Add breadcrumbs and season generously. Cook, stirring and tossing, until golden and crisp. Cool.

7. Cut black pudding in half lengthways and remove and discard outer skin. Cut black pudding into 5mm pieces (it will crumble a little on cooking).

8. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium heat. Cook black pudding, stirring and breaking it up, until crisp. Drain on absorbent paper.

9. Increase oven to 220C.

10. Place rock salt in a large bowl and add enough water, little by little, to form a coarse paste. Divide among serving plates (this will keep the scallop shells in place for serving).

11. Place scallops in shells onto two large oven trays. Drizzle with bloody Mary butter. Sprinkle with black pudding. Bake for about 4 minutes or until scallops are just cooked through. Arrange on serving plates on top of the rock salt. Sprinkle with toasted breadcrumbs and spoon or pipe on the watercress puree.

Tips

If you prefer a smooth, silky watercress puree, simply pass through a fine sieve.

As Bloody Mary flavours are often of personal preference, taste your Bloody Mary butter once it is made, then adjust with a little extra celery salt, black pepper, Worcestershire and tabasco sauces or lime juice, as you like.

We used a Spanish style black pudding which added an undertone of spice.

Exact cooking time of scallops will depend on their size and thickness.