Breakfast was fun! Sheila had (strongly) hinted at Egg's Benedict for breakfast by buying English Muffins the night before. I decided what the hell and jumped into the kitchen.
First things first and I had to make the hollandaise sauce. I added a little vinegar to a glass bowl over a double boiler, added a little ground black pepper and allowed this to heat and reduce a little. I then added about 150g of salted butter and whilst this melted, I separated two egg yolks and beat these together. Once the butter was melted, I added the egg yolk to the butter mix, still over the double boiler and started stirring with a whisk. Within about 5 minutes, the sauce had thickened nicely and I instantly immersed the glass bowl into cold water to shock the sauce and cool it down. I continued to stir, releasing the heat and was very satisfied with myself when the sauce didn't split and was beautifully smooth and glossy. A little salt to season and done.
Next, four rashers of bacon went under the grill, four eggs followed shortly after into a poaching pan (I know, cheating a little!) and lastly two muffins cut in half decended into the toaster. As soon as the toaster popped, I spread a little butter on the muffins, added a slice of grilled bacon, then the poached egg and finally dolloped on the hollandaise... delicious! Add a cup of fresh ground coffee and who could ask for more?
Whilst breakfast was being savoured, we wrote up our shopping list for our dinner later in the day. The plan was to stop off at Korea Foods and then pop into Tesco for the balance of the goods, drive home and drop of all the food, refridgerate as required, then jump in the car to shoot off to the ski show. It was a tight run affair, but we managed to get to the show at about 12:30, only 30 minutes later than our original plan.
Whilst at the show, we came across the Les 3 Vallees Resort Bar stand and they had a chef demo on. Outstanding!!! The chef we saw was Mickael Weiss from Le Coq d’Argent in London who was demo'ing tartiflette. The MC stated that only people sitting in the audience would get a tasting... needles to say, we sat. Mickael started by adding onion to an oven proof frying pan and allowing them to colour and caramelise a little . Pancetta lardons were added and allowed to sizzle for a short time, then chopped garlic and fresh thyme was added. Stir, stir, stir, fry for 3-4 mins, then add boiled chopped potato. Stir gently as you don't want to break up the potato too much, then add a couple of spoons of creme fraiche and stir again, combining all the ingredients. Add a handful of chopped parsley and... you guessed it, stir again!
The pièce de résistance however, was the reblochon cheese added on top. Taking the cheese from the fridge, so it isn't too soft, cut it down the middle lengthways so you have two circles of cheese, still with the skin on. Place these circles of cheese skin side up on top of the mix in the frying pan and plonk it in the oven (180C) for about 10 mins.
Quite honestly, sitting in the audience and getting the garlic, onion and pancetta aroma's wafting over you was incredible. It was a relief when the tartiflette was handed round, as I don't think it I could salivate anymore... the taste more than lived up to the expectation. Only have a small portion however, as the dish is stunningly rich and very creamy and gooey! Served with a fresh baguette it would be awesome.
A couple of circuits of the show, a holiday booked, boots, ski's etc looked at and then back home! Prep to do...
The menu for the evening was Fresh Spring Rolls, Chicken and Cashew Stirfry with Jasmine Rice and Green Tea Tiramisu. Our 6 guests arrived a little early, so I got them involved and in short order all the mise en place was done.
The fresh spring rolls consisted of rice paper, cos lettuce, fresh mint leaf, fresh sweet basil, fresh coriander, julliene carrot and julienne cucumber, beanshoots, vermicelli noodles, prawns and finally chive.
The prawns I cooked off in a little butter with salt and pepper in a frying pan, taking care not to overcook them. Removing the prawns from the pan, I dabbed off the excess fat with kitchen paper and allow them to cool. The vermicelli noodles needed about 2 minutes soaking in a covered bowl of just boiled water. This is off the heat. I added a little chicken stock powder to the water to flavour the noodles. After the two minutes, drain the noodles and allow to cool.
The lettuce was torn into 3 finger width and length pieces. All the herbs leaves were removed from the stalks and the carrot and cucumber was cut into 15cm length jullienne strips and the chive was cut to the same length. The length was designed to be short enough to fit onto the rice paper when folded.
Finally to the creation! A labour of love... Soak the rice paper circle in a bath of warm water for a few seconds then place it on a tea towel. On the bottom half of the rice paper, layer in order the lettuce, mint, coriander, basil, carrot, cucumber, beanshoot and vermicelli noodles. Roll over the bottom flap of the rice paper, fold in the two outside edges, then roll tightly till 75% rolled. Now, along the length of the roll, place 3 cooked prawns and then 3 strips of chive slightly poking out the right hand side of the rice paper. Roll it closed and place it on a serving plate. The rice paper will seal because it is now transparent and slightly sticky from the water bath. The idea here is that the prawn will be close to the surface so you can see the colour through the rice paper and the chive poking out the top will create a little visual appeal.
Next, a little dipping sauce of palm vinegar, palm sugar, fish sauce, grated carrot, diced shallot and crushed peanuts completed the dish. Well, almost... I had bought a few Chang and Singha beers this morning at the Korean shop and these went down just fine with the meal. The exclamations of delight at the dinner table were all worth it!
Before we sat down for starters, I had put the Jasmine Rice on to cook so this was ready when I got back to the kitchen. I left it in the cooker to continue steaming whilst I prepared the main meal. I have found my rice cooker indispensable when doing any Asian cooking. Buy one!!!
Into a wok went a little oil, then onion, garlic and chilli. I cooked this for a while then added the sliced chicken breast. I allowed this to cook for about 8 minutes, then added chicken stock, a little white wine and a mix of hoi sin sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce and palm sugar. I allowed this to reduce for about 5 minutes, but still not happy, I added a little cornflour to get the right consistency in the sauce. I then added roasted cashew nuts and roughly chopped spring onion. Another couple of minutes and it was ready to serve.
A bowl of sticky Jasmine rice and a bowl of Chicken and Cashew Stirfry graced the middle of the table and everyone tucked in. The fragrance was amazing and coupled with a Singha beer, all was right with the world for a short while.
And finally, time for the coup de grace! Keeping with the Asian theme we had going on, I decided on Green Tea Tiramisu (thank you, Ellie Hoeve of Almost Bourdain). Probably one of the easiest 'posh' desserts I've ever made, yet so yummy, fresh and light. The ingredients include finger biscuits, green tea (duh!), mascarpone cheese, double cream, castor sugar, egg yolk, matcha powder and pistachio nuts. I have changed it slightly from the Almost Bourdain recipe as I added an extra 200g of mascarpone cheese as this created a thicker, creamier sauce.
You start off by combining the two egg yolks with the 75g castor sugar and beating till smooth and creamy. Then you add 450g mascarpone cheese and finally fold in 300ml double cream. Stick this mix in the fridge to cool and set a little. Whilst this is happening, make a cup of strong green tea and allow this to cool.
Using ramekins or dessert glassware, layer the finger biscuits into the glass and spoon over 1-2 tablespoons of the cold tea. Sprinkle on the matcha (I used a small sieve as I found it easier to control the quantity being sprinkled). Grab your cheese mix from the fridge and add a couple of spoonfuls to your glass and smooth it out. Repeat the process again until your glass is full. Finally, sprinkle more matcha onto the top layer of cheese mix and then add a few crushed pistachios as garnish and an extra texture.
The dessert was so good in fact, that our guests insisted on seconds so thankfully there was a designated driver and she popped me round to the local 24hr Tesco to buy more ingredients!
All I can say is Saturday was a good day... especially for a foodie like me!
