My competition entry...

Yesterday was an eventful day.  It was my company's chef of the year competition and I was taking part again following the fun I had last year.  This year, however, the RAF chefs had entered...

We recently won the contract to provide the catering service for the RAF across the UK and we inherited all of their chefs and service personel. I knew these guys would be good as they are professionally trained chef's who cater for officers mess's day in and day out and are extremely experienced at what they do.

My entry was simple as I planned a range of dishes that were slightly adventurous yet could be put into our business the next day.  Apologies, but no photos asthis was not allowed during the competition...

My menu was 4 plates each of starter, main and dessert within 2 hours.

• Fresh Summer Roll with Plum Chicken
• Chilli and Coconut Stirfry Chicken with Jasmine Rice and Thai Green Chilli Flatbread
• Green Tea Tiramisu

I started out with having to butcher a fresh chicken.  This involved removing the breast and leg and thigh from the carcass.  The carcass was put aside along with the drumsticks and wings.  I used the breast for the stirfry where I removed the skin and excess fat and sliced against the grain.  The thighs were de-boned and minced for the summer roll.  

I had just finished the butchering, made the marinade for the stirfry and mixed the minced thigh with the plum sauce when I glanced at the clock.  30 minutes had gone!  Good grief, I'd have to get a move on.  From somewhere I found an extra gear and even started multi tasking a bit.  Yes, I realise this is hard for a boy... 

The summer roll (unfried spring roll basically) consisted of shredded lettuce leaf, chopped basil, mint and coriander leaf, bean sprout, cooked vermicelli rice noodles, julienne carrot and cucumber, whole chive and diced chicken thigh cooked in plum sauce all wrapped in rice paper.

A dipping sauce made up of 150ml water, 50g sugar, 50ml palm vinegar, 35ml fish sauce, a little grated carrot and diced shallot accompanied the summer roll. 

I fell in love with this dish when we first experienced it in Cambodia whilst on honeymoon.  The dipping sauce is vital as it adds the salty vinegary tang required by a very fresh and light starter.

To start the main course, I added 100ml Coconut Milk, juice of 2 squeezed limes, 1 chopped chilli, 2 cloves chopped garlic and 15g sugar to a bowl.  To this I added 2 chicken breasts, sliced into bite size bits and followed up with a twist or two of salt and pepper.  The bowl went straight into the fridge to marinade for about 30 minutes.

To prepare, I added one red onion, sliced into wedges, 1 chopped chilli and a crushed garlic clove to a heated wok.  After a couple of minutes, I removed the chicken from the marinade and added this to the wok.  I discarded the remaining marinade.  Once the chicken had sealed, I added the remaining 150g chopped red pepper and 100g sliced mushrooms. 

When the pan was sizzling away and the red pepper was a little soft, probably a wait of about 3-4 minutes, I added 300ml Coconut Milk, 150ml Chicken Stock and a little corflour to thicken.  I left the wok to bubble away for about another 3-4 minutes, I then tasted and adjusted the seasoning and I was ready to serve.

During all of this mayhem, I made the flatbread.  I added a cup of plain flour to a bowl plus a third of a cup of water and 2 tablespoons of Thai Green Chilli Paste.  Both hands in and I mixed it all together, adding a little flour as required to remove the stickyness of the dough.  Once I was happy with the consistency of the dough, I added a little olive oil to a frying pan and heated it up.  I formed the dough into a ball and flattened and stretched it out to the size of the pan and then added it to the hot pan.  After a couple of minutes, I flipped the bread and cooked the other side.  Once done, this was cut into portions for serving.

The rice was easy.  2 cups of Jasmine Rice into a rice cooker along with 3 cups of water.  Salt to taste, turn the cooker on and let it run its course.  I put the rice on about 30 minutes earlier than required as I love the texture and fluffyness of rice when allowed to steam for a while after cooking.

To garnish the chicken stirfry, I zested a lime (before juicing) and mixed this with some dessicated coconut.  A pinch of the mix on top of the chicken looked fresh and appetizing.

The dessert was a little tricky purely because I was whisking by hand.  This wasted time and I won't make this mistake again!  Two eggs with 60g caster sugar in a bowl, beaten till slightly stiff and when the whisk is dragged through the mix, it leaves lines.  To this I added 250g mascarpone cheese and then I folded in 100ml whipped cream.  This mix went straight into the fridge to cool.

Each ramekin was layered with sponge finger biscuits, broken to fit, then followed by a couple of spoonfulls of strong green tea to soak into the sponge and then a layer of the cheese mix to just cover the sponge biscuits.  I sprinkled on the Matcha powder and repeated the layering.  To garnish, I sprinkled on a few chopped pistachio nuts and called, 'Desserts away!'

I was done!  With 2 minutes to spare of my alloted 2 hours... 

Even though I didn't win or wasn't placed, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and to top it all, I have another competition chef's jacket to add to my collection!

On a side note, seeing the finished dishes, I can confirm that the RAF chefs are really really good...