Toasted nori and sesame seed, miso marinated roasted snapper, wasabi and ginger

This is really just play time for me because I rarely cook Japanese but enjoy the flavours.  I've got to say however it turned out beautifully.  I marinated some gorgeous snapper in miso and mirin, cooked a tiny bit of black rice and added sushi vinegar and ponzu, mixed some wasabi mayo with wasabi powder for an extra kick, a touch of sesame oil and toasted nori, ground it down and added the powder to black and white toasted sesame seed.

I was impressed and I cooked it.  That says it all really.

Middle Eastern salad of pear, cardamom, mint and purple basil

I've made this dressing based on one from Greg Malouf's cookbook loads of times now.  It's great with duck too.  Simply warmed honey with crushed cardamon, a little orange blossom water, salt and black pepper, a dash of dry sherry.  It's a beautiful dressing/sauce/whatever and goes really well when pears are added to the mix and cooked until just soft.  Serve at room temperature.  Mint, basil (purple in this case), toasted pistachios or walnuts and labnah or thick greek yoghurt.  A light delicious and elegant starter.

Lamb with Greek flavours

This dish was a knockout.  The backstrap of lamb was covered in ground allspice, fennel seed and coriander seed (all roughly ground in the pestle and mortar), rubbed in oil, salt and black pepper.  Seared a couple of minutes each side, rested for at least 6 minutes.

I made a simple salad of peeled cherry tomatoes, with a dressing of dried mint, olive oil, oregano, a touch of lemon juice and sugar to balance.  I warmed the tomatoes up in the dressing with a few olives to make a warm vinaigrette and served this with a thick yoghurt mixed with garlic, salt and fresh mint.

A sort of elegant greek salad with lamb.  This tasted more than the sum of it's parts.

Salmon, caramalised onion, hung yoghurt

The combination of salmon with sweet caramelised onion and salty something in this case hung thick yoghurt like a yoghurt cheese is wickedly delicious.  While not being the prettiest plate of food ever presented this tasted gorgeous, easy to prepare and just works somehow.  I served it with broad beans, peas, roasted leeks and purple basil.

Salmon with sauce vierge, caviar and tomatoes.

Speaks for itself.....

Lamb backstrap with red wine reduction

A simple red wine reduction using wine, a touch of port and chopped onion, cooked down to a beautiful sauce and strained.  Served with lamb backstrap cooked medium rare and rested, fennel, roasted baby veggies and peas.  Yum.

Greg Malouf

I bought the Greg Malouf "New Middle Eastern Food" about a year ago.  The recipes drawing from a far, drawing from differences in both culture and religion.  The recipes here exemplify a correct use of spice showcasing the ingredient yet the spice element being usually rather subtle.  (I've never met the guy or been to his restaurants but in my 30s I was was fascinated with MOMO, Malouf's restaurant  in Melbourne).  We lived in Hong Kong at the time.  These sorts of ingredients are some of the few that are difficult to source in HK so I couldn't even practice at home.

Having lived in Dubai now for a number of years I have developed a very keen interest in Middle Eastern cooking.  The diversity of this  cuisine is  mind-blowing.  I've used Malouf's recies many times as I have the ingredients on hand .  Malouf has a clean simplicity to his food that appeals to people after a lightness in cooking and not wanting a huge plate of what has become a global normality - in countries that can afford the cost of course

I feel it's a real pity that by and large (at the more middle to bottom end of the market) food is losing its' historical genuine factor, having no representation of grass route beginnings ( across the board in all cultures).  Dubai is a good example.  The fast food chains are popping up faster than you can blink and the growth here is escalating by the day.  Alas it's not just the growth of the fast food market but also the waistlines and it's turning into a problem that will affect generations to come.

A push to go back to traditional ingredients and hey why not with a modern spin such as Malouf executes with such aplomb. It's a glorious cuisine and I'd love people here to get back into it.

Venison again

A whole fillet, walnut and truffle oil, salt and pepper coated and then wrapped tightly in clingfilm for a couple of days in the fridge (tied off at the ends).

Served with a mushroom consume, porcini mushrooms, and leeks.   I've done this dish before, with the same success.   I cook the venison in boiling water (in the clingfilm) for 3 1/2 minutes per 300gm fillet. Then rest it for about 10 minutes.

The result, as per the last time I did this dish is the most tender succulent meat you can possilby imagine.  Cooked rare but perfectly rested.  A treat being an expensive cut but worth every single dirham.

Thai salad with crayfish

A new Thai dressing I've been doing lately is:

A few kaffir lime leaves
Fresh grated coconut
Fresh red chilli
A clove of garlic
Fish sauce
Thai roasted chilli paste (it's in the Thai section, dark in colour and sweet roasted in flavour, not particularly hot just rich and delicious).
Lime juice
A touch of sugar to taste

Blended together this is a gorgeous thick dressing.

In this dish I cooked some baby crayfish tails and deshelled.  Served with avocado sorbet, chopped cucumber and apple, fresh coriander and tomato.  Topped with fried shallot, toasted coconut and roasted dried red chilli.

I've done this dish with salmon and beef too (instead of crayfish here).  It's so delicious.  I would serve it with steamed jasmine rice as a main course.  Here it was a starter hence the sorbet and baby crayfish.  The balance is superb.

Scallop with sauce vierge and fish roe

Sauce vierge is a classic with scallops and once you eat them together you realise why.  Sauce vierge is a french warm vinaigrette.  I kept the pealed tomatoes whole rather than deseeded and chopped, therefore warmed in the olive oil with coriander seeds and lemon juice.  They gave a great visual and also meant the full tomato flavour was kept in tact.  This is a simple dish.  I prefer not to caramalise my scallops as I like them just kissed by the pan and tasting the gorgeous sweet sea flavour.  I find a full caramalisation disguises the natural sweetness but this is my personal preference.  The fish roe does not overwhelm, if anything it adds to the taste and this starter is a lesson in French simplicity and elegance.

Duck breast, jus, chewy parsnip..

Yum.  Middle eastern style jus with cardamon and orange blossom water scenting the sauce.  Beautifully cooked duck, crispy skin, chewy roasted parsnip.....
yum as I said!

King fish with leek ash emulsion, crisp roasted leeks, turnip chips, quails egg.

Really sounds too simple for words.  Honestly the flavours and textures were absolutely gorgeous.  I'm constantly amazed how the leek emulsion brings out flavours of different proteins.  It really is a sublime condiment.  I add bonito flakes and toasted nori to give it extra depth.  Simply served with roasted king fish, crisp baby leeks, turnips and soft boiled quails eggs.  Yum.

Salmon with Thai apple and tomato salad, thai curry panacotta

The salad dressing I used here was roasted Thai chili paste, a tiny bit of garlic, fresh red chill, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar.  The salad was sublime.  The apple and tomato with the dressing really did complement the salmon and Thai curry sauce (made into a panacotta which worked beautifully).  A complex dish in flavour and texture but easy to create and pretty stunning.