Fennel....how many ways? With rabbit and iberico bellota

Yum!  OK so I used slow cooked fennel in orange juice and star anise as per my previous dish, I pureed cooked fennel with reduced rabbit stock and a little butter, I braised fennel pieces in rabbit stock.

I deboned a rabbit leg and halved it, made two parcels wrapped in iberico bellota ham, and poached it in plastic wrap and water for seven minutes, then rested for another 7 minutes.  Served with slow roasted red onion.

This is one of the best dishes I've eaten ... EVER.

Fennel and Pork

Pork fillet marinated in anise seeds, salt and pepper.  Cooked in plastic wrap to just under medium.  Fennel - caramelised (oven cooked with salt and sugar), slow cooked in a zip lock bag with orange juice and star anise at 70deg for 5 hours, shaved fennel pickle (simply mandolin the fennel and add sushi vinegar), served with some of my black olive oil.  The salty oil being the perfect balance to the sweet fennel and anise pork.

If I were to do this dish again I would add a savoury component, I decided when eating it that a roasted red onion puree would be just the thing to bring it together.  Regardless a delicious dish.

Lamb backstrap, lamb jus, black olive oil, oven dried black olives, courgettes and squash

This recipe was taken from my Daniel Boulud cookbook "Daniel".

I used lamb backstrap instead of rack as I prefer the cut here in Dubai.  Lamb rack is super expensive and hard to get trimmed.  I salted the lamb and left it uncovered in the fridge overnight.  The result on cooking it was a really lovely crusty caramelised exterior while a perfectly rare - medium rare internal.

The prize for me from this dish and one that I will take and repeat, adding it to other dishes is the oven dried black olives.  Semi dried Greek or Moroccan olives are required, destone them and put them in a very low oven (90deg C or so) for about 5 hours.  The result is delicious.  Crunchy and almost caramel in flavour along with the salt of the olive.  Daniel's recipe is to use these for the black olive oil.  I used half for the oil (simply blitzed with olive oil) and half I kept as crunchy garnish.  Absolutely gorgeous things.

Pork fillet, butternut squash puree, black olive oil, oven dried black olives, red wine jus

This was an extension of the venison fillet I cooked recently.  A few changes to suit the pork.  The balance I've got to say was sublime.  As with the venison dish, just complete perfection on the plate (for my taste).  Texture from oven roasted squash seeds and those olives that I've become obsessed by.

Andy's butternut squash puree, butternut squash ravioli, scallops and burre noisette with sage

Classic deliciousness.  He's so clever and hardly cooks at all!!

Tomato, olive, basil, grilled courgette and squash salad...

Again, simplicity deliciousness and lunch at it's best (with a glass of chilled German Riesling).

Iberico Bellota, grilled capsicum, tomato, basil, crostini....

And with the addition of oven dried olives.....Yum.

Venison fillet, roasted parsnips, butternut squash puree, red wine reduction, roasted red onion

OK so I'm going to float my boat with this one.....yummy yum.  The venison was coated in crushed juniper berries, allspice berries, salt and black pepper then cooked in plastic wrap for just 3 minutes at a high boil, rested for at least 7.  Rare and perfect.  The red wine reduction had a touch of blackcurrent jelly for balance.  The butternut squash puree benefited from some rich chicken stock, cream and butter along with a good dose of nutmeg.  The roasted parsnip and red onion were chewy and sweet.  A perfect dish to enhance an expensive cut of meat.

YUM!!!

Same dish, another night but with the addition of beetroot which worked well too

Venison carpaccio with a Chinese 5 spice dust, shaved parmesan and grapes.

We had springbok tartare in Johannesburg once that had been marinated in some concoction of spice I'll never forget.  The dominant note being star anise.  I decided to use a Chinese 5 spice mix on some venison.  Sliced paper thin (freezing first helps this).  The grapes added a slight sweet acidity that balanced especially with the parmesan.  Elegant and delicious starter.

A different take on a thai beef salad

Hmmm, this is an unusual one for me but one I'd recreate in a flash.  I marinated some beautiful eye fillet in a thai roasted chilli paste (bought, the lovely dark sticky sweet one you get in a jar).

The beef was tied tight in plastic wrap with the paste in the fridge for a couple of days to keep it shaped and firmly marinating, brought out of the fridge to get to room temp before cooking.  I dusted the fillets with rice flour, brought some oil to medium temp and properly shallow fried (i.e. oil half way up the sides of the fillets, turning several times to achieve a golden crust).  I cooked them to rare, rested for a good 10 mins in a low oven on absorbent paper and served with a spicy thai apple salad that I love which has an addition of fresh green peppercorns.

A crunchy pungent delight and if you are like me and find thai beef salads a bit of a waste of good beef try this style of cooking the whole piece.  You'll be rewarded!

Atul Kochhar's crusted prawns with grape sauce

The actual recipe from Mr Kochhar was using scallops and I had some prawns....would also be good with scallops of course.

The shellfish is crusted in black and white sesame seeds, fresh ground coriander, cumin, a different crust on each piece.  The sauce is a bit of a revelation.  Simply blended seedless grapes with dried mango powder and some other spices.  A really simple dish that presents well, is textural balanced and light.

Raymond Blanc's scallop, cauliflower puree, cauliflower bhaji and curry oil

This is a recipe I stumbled upon trying to find an interesting complex dish that we could cook together.  Once made one time it's fairly simple from then on as it's the reference to the recipe and steps that takes the most time.

It's a great dish to cook with someone else.  The steps can be a bit cumbersome on you're own.  But having said that, the bhajis can be made before cooking the scallops and kept warm in the oven on absorbent paper.

The curry oil deserves to be suitably punchy.  The bhajis are made with both thai and indian spices.  This dish is absolutely sublime.  Trust Mr Blanc on this one and do it as per his recipe.  Gorgeous.

Raymond Blanc's scallop, cauliflower bhaji, curry oil, cauliflower puree, sauté of cauliflower.  

Made on another day, this time with a few flecs of salmon roe which is also beautiful.

Scallops, saffron corn puree, basil emulsion...

My incredibly clever partner in life is the most ridiculous cook and he never ever does it (other than occasionally, this being one of them).

A corn saffron puree balanced with a touch of lemon juice, salt and sugar, a basil emulsion, some warmed through peeled best quality cherry tomatoes, (and baked off tomato skin from those) and pan cooked scallops.  Finished with a couple of fresh mint leaves and salmon roe.  Yummety yum.  He's a keeper even after 25 years!!!

Andy's scallop with salmon roe, corn puree, basil emulsion, tomato and mint

Poussin with tarragon butter, fresh tomato chutney, roasted parsnips on Iranian bread

I did the right thing of salting my poussin a couple of days prior to cooking and then left uncovered in the fridge.  This of course draws out the moisture of the skin allowing it to crisp beautifully when cooked.  I admit, I shoved some butter and tarragon under the skin after it had developed it's dryness in the fridge.  I do like a tiny bit of butter and tarragon with chicken is perfection of course.   Goodness the French know this stuff and have been doing it for centuries.

I did a simple spiced fresh tomato chutney, roasted some parsnip till chewy, roasted some green local UAE long beans till chewy (similar to the Asian variety we used to get in Hong Kong). I popped some Iranian bread on the plate, it was the perfect base for the chicken, roasted green beans, tomato chutney, fresh basil leaves and served the buttery chicken tarragon sauce as a help yourself.

DIVINE.

Slow cooked confit fennel, port reduction, lamb backstrap, ...

Just taking a leaf from our trip to Hochsolden in Austria with the fennel.  Ummm, yummmm, 60 degrees or so cooked for 4 hours or so.

Lamb backstrap (as us Kiwis know it, maybe it's called loin in other parts of the world which is not correct terminology for this cut.. anyway...) marinated in a middle eastern concoction of pommegranate molasses, sumac, olive oil, garlic, touch of honey, salt and black pepper.

Served simply with the fennel, a port and red wine reduction, snow peas.... EXUISITE !!

Salmon with coconut curry sauce

This is taken from Vivek Singh's The Cinnamon Club cookbook.  Vivek uses kingfish and I had salmon.  I think any firm fish would be great here as would prawns or crayfish.  This is a sublime dish, the balance superb.  The fish is marinated in a sort of tandoori style marinade with yoghurt and therefore is unusual pairing it with a coconut sauce.  

The sauce is not heavy with coconut, the marinade fresh with lots of coriander and all together this just comes together in an incredible way with a clean light finish in the mouth.  I'll be making this one again, no doubt about it.  The base of the sauce is raw onion paste (i.e. ground raw onion and then cooked until golden).  This method is used in a few Indian dishes I've cooked to date and it always results in a rich deep flavour.

I served it simply with chopped tomatoes and Iranian flatbread.

Hotel Siam Bangkok Thailand

I read extensively about The Siam Hotel and the weekend supplement of the Financial Times "How to Spend it" had a quick blurb.  I love the FT and "how to spend it" therefore was kind of sold.  The Siam by chance was offering good rates and on enquiry threw in a private cooking class for myself and my husband.  

So getting to the nitty gritty.... by god this is a superb hotel.  The design, the staff, the management under the acutely talented and experienced New York expat Jason Friedman along with  Nawee Wattanasongsuit is absolutely exceptional.

If you were to peruse a beautiful Thai architectural museum with a design strong on art deco you would come a little close to understanding the aesthetics.  The lighting, the showcases of stunningly in keeping artefacts with detail beyond my (admittedly limited) knowledge. The lighting, the utter perfection,  I cannot think of a way to describe every nuance of The Siam.  If you are interested in beauty and design this is one of a kind.

Furthermore the staff are undeniable with attention, (not too much, just perfect) the personal butler service and ours was a sweetheart, the follow through with detail regarding individual activity and preferences from table setting in the evening through to drinking water in the room.

The rooms are of course stunning.  Huge, beautiful, tasteful, private.

The guest in this hotel wants for nothing but is not left feeling overwhelmed by overattentive staff.  Service is unobtrusive and observantly casual.

We had the privilege of attending a private cooking class.  A trip to the local market with Chef Thawachin who was knowledgable and didn't make us feel like stupid tourists which is difficult because we rarely take classes, and never tours so feeling like a disrespectful tourist was important!  On return from the market there was an area set for two, on the river, a purpose built kitchen and table for eating.  Chef Oil oversaw the class and was a complete delight.   Exceptional in her cooking and knife skills was a given, her personality is enigmatic.  We will treasure her memory.  Oh and the food was good too...VERY good.  We chose three courses in advance.  I'm a Northern Thailand cuisine fan as I like a lighter touch with punchy flavours and therefore chose a clean Tom Puk Taek (mixed seafood hot sour soup) for entree, Gaeng Hung Laey Gai (red chicken curry Chiang Mai style - cooked with herbs and spices with chicken stock) and a departure from the north with a Tubtim Grob for desert.  This is the one I hadn't tried in any variety before.  Water chestnuts coated in tapioca flour and pomegranate syrup than cooked to resemble the look (not texture or taste) of pomegranate, sitting in cold sweet coconut milk a few squares of coconut jelly and a topping of a stunning coconut water granita (traditionally simple staved ice).    Fresh, cold, not too sweet just perfectly balanced.  The textures of this dish with the firm jelly, crisp but sweet coated water chestnut, creamy simple cold coconut milk and frosty granita. Thais had textures to a fine art before Michelin started producing anything!

Suffice to say this is an extraordinary hotel.  Thank you to the Sukosol family for conceptualising this treasure in Bangkok and to the exceptional staff for the faultless guest experience.

Sitting room in our suite

Bedroom The Siam Suite

Bathroom (other basin on other side, this room is bigger than a normal hotel room)

The gym (What? this is a small hotel after all!)

View from our bath

Internal water feature

Our superb and gentlemanly chef Thawachin escorting a lady across the busy Bangkok street

Andy and Chef Oil (private cooking class)

Chef Oil presenting the Gaeng Hung Laey Gai

View from our private dining house,  (yes private dining house.  We were treated to our own dining house every night). The Siam Hotel sign in the foreground)

Swimming pool

Deep fried whole sea  bass with fresh herbs (delicious).

Internal courtyard water feature

Swimming pool

Hotel Library complete with both artefacts and two I Macs

Roasted salmon, Parsi style tamarind sesame sauce (courtesy of a Vivek Singh recipe), 5 hour fennel

On a recent ski trip we had the delight of eating some of the best food we have experienced every single night in the Schöne Aussicht Hotel, Hochsölden in Austria.

The chefs were very clever indeed.  Each course (5 courses each night, thank goodness for the skiing to burn it off everyday!) was sublime.  Perfectly portioned, seasoned, presented.  One of the dishes that intrigued me was arctic char served with a saffron emulsion and fennel that was so infused with flavour I had to ask the kitchen how it was cooked.  5 hours in a water bath at 70deg with aromatics.

So on getting home I tried this fennel number.  No I don't have a vacuum pack or water bath.  I used a ziplock bag and a crockpot with water.  The temp was around 65 degrees, not quite reaching 70 but the result was the same.  Utterly delicious.  I used fennel seeds, coriander seeds, a touch of salt and sugar and lemon juice.  Next time I will soak the fennel in acidulated water first to keep the whiteness of the flesh (I assumed lemon juice would suffice but did not quite keep it as white as I'd hoped).  It really is incredible how the flavours are fully absorbed by the fennel making it even more delicious than usual (I love fennel) but the crunch is maintained which is the result achieved in  the restaurant too.

The sauce is from my Cinnamon Club cookbook by Vivik Singh who is a spice master.  He serves it with duck and previously I have too but I actually think it worked even better with salmon.  I roasted some peeled cherry tomatoes for a touch of acid sweetness and made a fresh chutney of coriander and mango flesh.  Really a gorgeous dish.

Salmon, basil emulsion, tomatoes

The left over basil emulsion from the previous night served very simply as an entree of salmon, peeled but raw cherry tomatoes.  Simplicity at it's best.

Scallop ravioli, pan roasted scallops, basil emulsion and roasted tomato jus.

My husband who never cooks knocked up this with no recipe.  Made the pasta,  roasted tomatoes till black, blitzed and passed through a fine cloth, used the roasted pulp in the ravioli cases with scallops, dressed the plate with the roasted tomato jus, made a basil emulsion by blanching and shocking basil, blitzing with oil, a touch of lemon juice, garlic and salt and pan cooked some scallops.  This was DIVINE.  He's a clever chap!