White truffle custard, mushroom ragu

From the first time I made Thomas Keller’s white truffle custards I served them with a mushroom “ragu” rather than Keller’s black truffle “ragu” of veal stock base. I feel mushroom and truffle is a good combo, and never looked back: porcini, chicken stock, perhaps a little vinegar, but no truffle (afterall, the custard is already truffled). I must try Keller’s version one day, but these aren’t bad nevertheless.

Vanilla-star anise buttered lobster, white wine mussels, lime oysters

Vanilla-star anise buttered lobster, white wine mussels, lime oysters

Lobster: warmed in a clarified butter that has been infused with vanilla and star anise.
Mussels: it’s hard to beat the classic French version, so I didn’t try – mussels steamed in a sauce of white wine, shallots and butter.
Oysters: just lime zest and a little lime juice.

Duck Salad

Duck Salad: duck confit, roast kumra, butter bean purée, crispy bacon, mâche, raspberry vinegar

Using only extra virgin olive oil to confit the duck at 90-95°C (195-203°F) yielded a soft texture. The bean purée was prepared by rehydrating dry beans, boiling the beans in herbs (rosemary, bay and thyme), purée-ing, and reducing the purée.
The combination was interesting, but I’d drop the kumra/sweet potato in future.

Lamb medallion, eggplant purée, mint salad, lamb jus

Lamb medallion, eggplant purée, mint salad, lamb jus

Essentially the same dish concept as this or this, which has become a standard for me. It perfectly suits the use of quality Australian lamb and eggplant/aubergine.
Eggplant: roasted to soft, then finished on the BBQ to add a smokiness before being being puréed, having a little yoghurt added, and reduced to the appropriate consistency.
Mint salad: young mint leaves, dressed in a little rice wine vinegar.
Lamb jus: a standard lamb stock, reduced.
Lamb: BBQed loin meat (only) from the rib – I feel it’s the perfect cut for this.

Cheese

Manchego, Comté, English crackers, fresh walnuts, quince paste

Like any quality ingredient, good cheese (and at over A$100/kg it better be!) needs little doing to it/accompanying it.

Carpaccio of summer fruits

Carpaccio of summer fruits

Thinly sliced white peaches and white nectarines, dusted in vanilla sugar ground to a powder, splashed with lime juice, and chilled, with a few cherry pieces for contrast. Stone fruit paradise. (Essentially, this is just a refinement of this previous execution, wherein the tangelo didn’t work.)

Strawberry and Rhubarb Trifle

Strawberry and Rhubarb Trifle: fresh strawberries, crème anglaise, stewed rhubarb, rhubarb jelly, ginger 'crumbles'

The height of British summer translated to a rainy Australian summer’s day.

Fried lamb liver, poached quince, rocket, sage, onion, walnuts, crutons, balsamic

Just a slight divergence from the classic combinations, and they all worked well together.

Braised lamb shoulder with puy lentils and celery

Braised lamb shoulder, puy lentils, celery, reduced braising sauce

Lamb shoulder and classic aromatics (onion, celery, carrot) fried off before a little tomato passata, duck stock, puy lentils, garlic, bay and thyme were added. Oven-braised at about 170°C (340°F) for a few hours. The braising liquid was then strained off and reduced (in which the celery was par-braised to al dente) with rosemary. Classically delicious. A ceramic casserole dish makes an incredible difference!

The lightness (12.5% abv) of Bernard Baudry’s Chinon Franc de Pied 2003 was perfectly balanced with the lamb shoulder dish, even if the acidity was a little high in pairing the dish for me. The wine was fantastic: integrated red fruits verging on plum, touches of woody leather/polish, good balance with slightly resolved (yet still pleasantly astringent) tannins and a slightly rounded palate.

Strawberry-rhubarb-basil sorbet

Strawberry-rhubarb-basil sorbet

A refractometer can be a lot faster to use than a hydrometer for measuring the sugar concentration of liquids.
I welcomed the suggestion to add basil to the strawberry and rhubarb juice. A small-handful (a few sprigs) of sweet basil was juiced with the fruit, and was more than sufficient (for the 600 ml of juice) to provide a green-herbal edge with just a touch of anise, creating an interesting variation on the strawberry-rhubarb flavour. I’d do this again, though with slightly less basil next time.

Pheasant and Quail Terrine, beetroot salad, raisin purée

Terrine: pheasant leg and breast, quail breast, chicken livers, prosciutto, seasoning, white wine.
Beetroot salad: grated fresh beetroot, dressing of red wine vinegar, lime juice, soy sauce and honey.
Raisin purée: plumped and puréed, plus verjus.

Paried fairly well with a very youthful, lemony and (unfortunately) only slightly toasty Roederer Brut 2005.

Scallop, baked pumpkin, fried chicken gyoza, green curry foam

Scallop, baked pumpkin, fried chicken gyoza, green curry foam (not shown)

Scallop: seared.
Pumpkin: baked in Sherry, garlic and ginger.
Gyoza: minced chicken, spring onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce; poached then fried.
Foam (not shown): essentially a Thai green curry sauce that’s heavy on the aromatics (i.e., coconut milk flavoured with shrimp paste, fish sauce, lemon grass, garlic, ginger, galangal and kaffir lime).

I was pleased with this dish concept, and it proved one of the most popular dishes of the day. The flavours are classically complimentary and the dish offers a variety of textures. The gyoza needs to have the sufficient crunch (not executed to perfection here), and it seems lecithin may be foam-challenged when it comes to coconut milk, but otherwise successfully executed.

Condrieu, Burgundy

Prosciutto Mushroom, dill green beans, Bordelaise sauce

Proscuitto mushroom, dill green beans, Bordelaise sauce

Mushroom: slow baked with butter, garlic, thyme and white wine; formed into a cylinder wrapped in prosciutto.
Beans: fresh garden greens, poached and tossed in melted dill butter. (I recommend pairing dill and green beans.)
Bordelaise sauce: veal stock, red wine, shallot, marrow.

Domaine des Croix Beaune 1er Cru Bressandes 2006
Savoury cherry, almond, cherry wood and a little compost on the nose. Not a spectacular nose, but subtle and savoury. Well balanced, with pleasantly soft sandy tannins. Whole and gently expressive even if not impressive. Being neither fruit forward nor funky, and savoury in nature, this actually complimented the dish surprisingly better than many other Pinots might have.

Lamb Medallion, eggplant/aubergine purée, peas, mint, rosemary jus

Lamb Medallion, eggplant/aubergine purée, peas, mint, rosemary jus

Essentially a simplified version of this dish (or this dish). Execution suffered a little here. It’s important to have flavoursome eggplant/aubergine.

Tasmanian ‘Brie’, croutons, poached nectarine

Tasmanian 'Brie', croutons, poached nectarine

MSR Auslese Riesling

Persian pavlova, saffron meringue, cardamom cream, rose water strawberries, pistachios, rose petals

The saffron didn’t work here (though it’s possible the quality of the saffron was to blame), but otherwise a suitably delicate, light, summery dessert.