Jul 3
I’m a young chef. I know I need to have more restraint and understanding with my flavours and techniques – but hey, I’m trying and I’m learning. One day I was craving French Onion soup, and saw oxtails on special: so the two came together.
Meet one of my best friends @ home:
Scarlet; my ovenproof casserole pot. Slow cooking master. Chilli, curry, pulled pork, braises of all kinds; hell, I’d even poach an egg with it!
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Aug 12
So Maitre Karl Bistro in willoughby have their crepes in the recent good living, and I have the recipe (as any good chef copies down as many recipes as possible from their previous workplace) – Karl and Paivi, if you are reading this – I loved working for you! Many great memories!
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Jul 3
Planning to start my own joint before I hit 30, and even though I’ve only been a chef for a bit over 4 years, I’ve developed my own style of cooking – my head is messed up with both Asian and French techniques and ingredients and I find it very hard to separate the two, as shown in two dishes that I’ve created so far (but still perfecting):
Duck, Cabbage and Shiitake mushroom wontons fried in Duck Fat, roasted duck skin, Sriracha and lime mayonnaise – Eat about 30 of these during a world cup match + good jap beer ftw
Kobe wagyu sirloin, grilled king oyster mushrooms, ginger and shallot pound, Chilli and Sichuan pepper beurre blanc; side of lightly pickled celeriac, carrot, radish slaw – Sounds like a mouthful, but it’s all about subtlety and balance and really letting the sexy, crazy fatty but melt in your mouth goodness of 9+ wagyu do all the talking.
Bon appetit / 吃得好
Let me know what you think!
Nov 9
Scallop Boudin w/ pea puree; salmon roe
You may or may not have seen this on the menu at Manu Fiedel’s L’etoile bistro in Paddington; but a French head chef taught me how to make this long before it appeared on any menu in Sydney!
I would like to share with you the recipe:
500g FRESH scallop meat (roe off)
300g cream
3 egg whites
handful of chives
salt to taste (read method)
Blend the scallops, then pulse in the 300g cream, egg whites and a teaspoon of salt- Be careful not to overblend it, creating bubbles! Bubbles = no good. At the same time, make sure all the ingredients are well combined (you’ll end up with a white paste-like consistency).
Fold in the chives.
Put a small amount in the microwave for 10secs, to test whether there’s enough salt in the mix, adjust salt in mix as necessary.
Wrap up about 5 tablespoons of mix in glad wrap;
then wrap that over with cling film, ending up with a christmas cracker looking thing.
Poach in simmering water for 15 mins.
Slowly remove the sexy thing out of it’s shell, then serve with:
- Blue swimmer crab miso soup
- Cauliflower puree or soup, salmon roe, truffle oil
- pea puree
- (how Manu does it) a bisque or crustacean jus
- Parsley risotto, fried garlic/eschallots
- Let your imagination go wild
Hope you can use this simple but elegant dish for your next dinner party 
Lamb Backstrap w. crumbed lamb’s brains; mash, ratatouille.
You can crumb and fry literally anything; chicken, beef, fish, brains, potatoes and even pancakes:
This time, I’ll stick on the savoury side and give you my (Alsatian) restaurant version of a schnitzel mix; instead of the ol’ flour and egg, mix:
100g flour
16g paprika
pinch of cumin
5g sea salt
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 eggs
pinch of pepper
shot of cognac
3g tobasco
20g dijon mustard
16g milk
(don’t be afraid to double the recipe if you think it’s not enough)
Whisk all that together really well (especially watch out for powders that aren’t mixed properly) – mixing it in an electric mixer is best if you can be bothered cleaning up after.
Coat your desired product in the mix, then into panco (Japanese) breadcrumbs and into the deep/shallow fryer. If you’re not sure how hot the oil should be? if it sizzles when it enters the oil, it’s good, if it’s smoking, it’s not.
Bon Appetit!
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