Food for a gathering, to be shared with Poetry
To start, a crowd pleasing grazing board, Inspired by my partner An-noors obsession with The Sopranos. Specifically, the Tony Soprano Sandwich.
Gabagool & Pickled Peppers with burrata, olives and ciabatta toast
You will need
Coppa Ham
250g vinegar pickled peppers
2 Burrata
Olives, available at Poetry
Tomato Chilli Jam, available at Poetry
Fig and ginger preserve, available at Poetry
Ciabatta, toasted with Olive oil or Chilli Oil, available at Poetry
Sea salt flakes, available at Poetry
Pea shoots
Exotic tomatoes, cut in half
1. Arrange the ingredients on a beautiful serving board. Sprinkle sea salt flakes onto the burrata & garnish with pea shoots just before serving.
Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings with Sundried Tomato, Parmesan & Crispy Burnt Butter Sage
The phrase “side dish” doesn’t seem to fit. I fell in love with this dish in a restaurant years ago. I was training staff in an Italian-ish spot in Parktown North and this was meant to be a new menu item- it never made it- I’m not sure why. It has been one of those-easy to prepare- crowd pleasers that pleasantly blows everyone away every time I prepare it.
For the tomato,
a splash of olive oil or chilli oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 x tinned crushed tomatoes or pizza sauce- I like to use Mutti Pizza Sauce if it’s in the cupboard
60ml marinated sundried tomato
1. Combine the ingredients in a pot- blend until smooth with a hand blender and simmer for approx. 15 minutes. Season with salt.
For the burnt butter sage
100g butter
a handful fresh sage leaves picked off the stem
1. Slowly warm butter in a pan as the butter begins to bubble and sizzle add the sage leaves and swirl the pan around until the butter browns and sage is crisp.
For the dumplings
250g ricotta, drained
500g baby spinach, blanched, drained and finely chopped (squeeze out all the excess water & cool)
1 egg, beaten
50g flour
50g semolina
70g parmesan cheese, grated
Pinch fresh nutmeg, finely grated
Salt to season
To make dumplings, combine the ricotta, spinach, egg, flour, semolina, parmesan, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Taste the mixture and season accordingly either by adding more salt or nutmeg.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil
Roll the mixture into 5cm balls.
Place the dumplings in a steaming basket, on top of a pot of boiling water, for 3-5 minutes or until the dumplings are warm all the way through
serve with the sun dried tomato sauce, crispy sage & grated parmesan
Citrus Zucchini noodle & avocado pear with snap peas, fresh coconut & soy pumpkin seeds
For the dressing
1 lemon, juiced
1 lime, juiced
1 orange, juiced
a pinch of sea salt
a slash of olive oil
Chef’s notes: add honey- if you’d like to add a bit more sweetness- for me the orange juice was sweet enough
1. Combine the ingredients to make a dressing
For the salad
Pumkin seeds
soy sauce
1 punnet Zucchini noodles
1 punnet sugar snap peas cut in half
1 avocado, cut in half & sliced
a handful fresh coconut, grated
mung bean sprouts
1. Toast the pumpkin seeds in the oven at 180 C for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven add a splash of soy sauce and let them cool before storing in an airtight container.
2. Combine the salad ingredients, pumpkin seeds and citrus dressing before serving
Ostrich Wellington with Shitake Mushrooms, Onion Marmalade & Roast Garlic
served with Carrots & Pea Pesto
I have been a professional chef for 10 years now and I must admit I have never made a Wellington. It is one of those old school recipes that you see in books and on old British cooking shows. It’s been on my list of recipes to make since I first saw one being prepared on the tv. Here’s my version. You need time and patience but it’s worth the effort.
For the wellington
1 roll puff pastry, defrosted
400g Ostrich fillet
2 tsp butter
2 cloves garlic
fresh rosemary
approx. 70g Coppa ham or prosciutto
240g Shitake mushrooms, cut into quarters
2 cloves Garlic crushed
a handful fresh thyme, pick the leaves off the stem
3 Tbsp onion marmalade
sea salt flakes
1 egg, beaten for an egg wash
For the Ostrich,
1. Season the ostrich fillet with salt and pepper. Heat a non-stick pan and sear the ostrich fillet on a high temperature for about 2 minutes on each side do not cook the fillet for more than 5 minutes. Add the butter, garlic and rosemary.
2. Remove from the heat. let the fillet cool then put it into the freezer- we want to cool it down as much as possible before we bake it. approx. 3 hours is good enough. Go on to prepare the other components.
For the mushrooms,
1. Put the mushrooms, thyme leaves, crushed garlic and a splash of olive oil into a large oven tray. Roast the mushrooms at 180C until the mushrooms soften and dry out- we want to remove as much moisture as possible from the mushrooms in the oven.
2. Blend the mushrooms with the onion marmalade – similar consistency to a pesto and set aside.
To assemble the wellington,
1. put plastic wrap onto a clean work surface, about two rows should be enough
2. Arrange the Coppa ham on the plastic wrap, overlapping the edges
3. Evenly spread the mushroom mixture onto the Coppa ham
4. put the cold Ostrich fillet onto the mushroom mixture and roll the ham, mushroom and fillet into a tight log. The plastic wrap should be on the outside only. Put the log into the freezer while you get the pastry ready.
5. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface.
6. Gently remove the plastic wrap form the ostrich fillet log and put it onto the puff pastry. Tightly wrap the puff pastry around the fillet, ham and mushrooms.
7. Cut off any excess puff pastry
8. brush with egg wash
9. Bake at 180C for approx.. 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden. I cooked mine for 25 minutes and my 400g fillet was medium rare.
10. Serve immediately.
For the pea pesto
200g peas
1 clove garlic
2 pieces preserved lemon
salt to season
a handful toasted pine nuts or cashew nuts
1. place the ingredients on a blender and pulse until the ingredients combine- I like to keep it a little chunky rather than a smooth paste.
Serve the Ostrich Wellington with the pea pesto, roast carrots and some radish micro herbs if you feel fancy.
I didn’t need gravy but you could add some gravy to your prep list.
Pineapple cake with Mascarpone Whipped Cream
The idea of caramelised pineapple, maraschino cherries in a dense butter cake batter served with spoonful’s of vanilla mascarpone whipped cream have excited me since I saw it in an old magazine from the what seems like the 70’s.
My version is made with almond flour, coconut, tinned pineapple rings and a lovely dark brown caramel.
You will need
For the cake batter
200g butter
200g sugar
4 eggs
165g almond flour
75g desiccated coconut
For the pineapple and cream
50g sugar
50 butter
1 tin pineapple rings
1 jar maraschino cherries
1 x 250g mascarpone
250ml whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla paste
For the cake batter
1. Line 4 large ramekins with butter and sugar (you will need a ramkin that is big enough for a pineapple ring) OR
you can use a baking tray
2. Beat the butter and sugar until the butter is creamy and the sugar has incorporated
3. add the eggs one at a time
4. fold in the almond flour and desiccated coconut
To assemble
1. warm the 50g butter and 50g sugar in a pot on a low heat until the sugar caramelises- remove the mixture from the heat and add a splash of cold water and a tsp of cold butter to bring the caramel together- stir with a wooden spoon.
2. put the caramel at the bottom of each ramakin or oven tray then add the pineapple rings
3. put the cake batter on top of the pineapple rings
4. bake for approx. 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
5. Let the cakes cool slightly.
6. Remove them from the ramekins.
7. Use a butter knife to loosen the sides and gently usher the cake out of its ramakin.
8. whip the mascarpone and whipping cream with vanilla– add a 2-3 tsp of icing sugar if you’d like it sweetened.
9. Serve the pineapple cake with the whipped cream and maraschino cherries.
