The Gourmet Gent

Focaccia ingredients: 

1 KG plain flour
640 ml water
100 ml of olive oil
20 grams of natural yeast
20 grams of sea salt

1. To begin in a large mixing bowl, pour your water, olive oil and natural yeast into the base of the bowl.
2. Either using a wooden spoon (or your hands), lightly stir to incorporate the water, oil and yeast together.
3. Next add your 1Kg of plain bread flour and lastly your sea salt.
4. Mix using a bread mixer or with just your hands until you have a glossy dough, which doesn’t stick to the bowl.
5. Allow to prove in a warm place for at least 30 minutes until the dough has doubled in size, as this is the yeast beginning to work.
6. Whilst your dough is proving pre-heat your oven to gas mark 6 and then prepare your toppings for this loaf. I decided to chiffonade some sage leaves, with freshly picked rosemary and lastly juliennes of banana shallots.
7. Incorporate together with a pinch of natural pink sea salt, as this releases the natural oils out of the herbs and a little moisture out of the shallots.
8. Once the dough has risen, add some brunoised rosemary to run through the dough, as this helps to perfume the dough, but also helps to elevate the other herbs.
9. Knock the dough back and lightly oil two large non-stick baking trays, place into the oven for at least 45 minutes with a dash of cold water (as this helps to develop the crumb)
10. To check that your focaccia is cooked all the way through, the dough should be light golden brown, crisp on the bottom and light and airy.

Roasted Vine Tomato soup ingredients:

1 Green chilli sliced (with the seeds left in)
1 red chilli sliced (with the seeds left in)
1 shallot (peeled and sliced)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 Large onion (sliced)
Organic tomatoes
2 bruised bay leaves
2  pricked rosemary sprigs

1. To begin your roasted tomato soup, keep your British organic tomatoes on their vine as this helps to perfume both the cooking oil and soup giving it a wonderful greenhouse aroma.
2. Lightly oil and season your tomatoes with a pinch of pink sea salt and black pepper.
3. Roast on a high oven for 30 minutes until popped and light blackened as this will help to impart a smoky note to the soup.
4. For your base slice 1 large green and 1 red chilli (with the seeds left in), 1 large shallot sliced, 1 large onion sliced and 2 cloves of garlic crushed.
5. Add these to the pan along with a glug of olive oil, cooking out on a light heat until you have a Lyonnais texture, as this is the base of your soup where you can lay your flavour foundations.
6. Once ready add your tomatoes (still with the vines attached) along with two large bruised bay leaves and two picked sprigs of rosemary.
7. Add your tomatoes and allow to cook away on a low heat, enabling the flavours to merge.
8. To finish this soup add the juice of one lemon, and blitz, as this is a no wastage soup I kept all of the vines, rosemary and bay leaves in the soup and just blended the soup using a high powder hand blender. As this is where the minerals and vitamins of the vegetables are locked in.
9. If you like a silky smooth soup you can pass your soup through a fine chinois
10. To garnish in a frying pan lightly fry off some sage leaves once fried remove from the oil and lay onto a piece of j cloth and hit with a little sea salt.

This is a great winter warmer of a soup as it is vegan, gluten and diary free.
This soup freezes in vac pac bags or your normal freezer zipper bags – the perfect  healthy quick lunch or dinner on hand when you haven’t got the time.

Ingredients

• 150 grams raw Devonshire beetroot
• 100 grams of carrot peeled and grated (on a fine grater)
• 80 grams of rolled oats
• ½ of pack finely chopped parsley
• ½ of pack of finely chopped dill
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Sunflower oil to cook the burgers

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.
2. To begin add your ingredients into a large bowl, mix with your hands, adjust the seasoning of the burger mix.
3. Shape into small balls
4. Lightly flour the outside
5. Allow to set in the fridge along with the flour this helps to ensure that your burgers don’t break up.
6. Place a large saucepan onto a medium heat, once the pan begins to lightly smoke add a dash of vegetable oil and allow to warm through.
7. Add your patties allow to colour on both sides until lightly golden brown and crisp place onto a lined baking tray.
8. Now place in the oven for 20 minutes until warmed through.
9. These burgers are a great healthy meal which are high in minerals and low in fat and most importantly VEGAN.

If you fancy something creamy to top it off…
Try my beer wholegrain mustard mayo:

Ingredients:

• 6 egg yolks
• A squeeze of lemon
• Cap of white wine vinegar
• 200 ml of cold pressed olive oil
• 200 ml of vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon of beer whole grain mustard

1. To begin separate your eggs into a large glass pyrex bowl, next add your lemon and white wine vinegar and a touch of sea salt, whisk to combine.
2. Next into a large jug add your olive oil and vegetable oil, whisk to combine again.
3. Now add this mixture into your eggs in a steady stream or otherwise you will oversaturate your yolks – if the mayonnaise becomes too thick either add some more lemon juice or ideally a little touch ofwater.
4. Taste and correct seasoning to your liking.
5. Decant into a clean jar and reserve in the fridge for up to three days if not for immediate use.

Proteins:

Free Range Chicken

1. Cut into sauté (a classical French cut for poultry made of 8 pieces) – leg, thigh, breast, wing, winglet x2 and French trim this means exposing the bone.
2. Place a large frying pan onto a medium heat, once the pan has began to lightly smoke add a little low flavoured oil.
3. Place your chicken into the pan away from you, I usually begin with the legs and thighs. Cook until golden brown and crispy, once at this point lay your chicken into a pre-prepared resting tray with fresh thyme and crushed garlic.
4. Repeat until you have coloured off your chicken pieces. For the breast, add a little crushed garlic and thyme, baste with foaming butter, once done lay under the breast to infuse and act as a trivet.
5. Place into the oven at 180 degrees and cook for 10 – 15 minutes, until cooked all of the way through and tender.

Roast chicken butter sauce:

1. To begin this sauce place your crown and under of the chicken into a baking tray, drizzle with a little low flavour oil and a touch of sea salt.
2. Roast on 180 degrees until golden brown and crispy, this is a great sauce to make use of the items which would otherwise go to waste.
3. Remove from the tray and place into a large saucepan. Deglaze the baking tray with a little white wine, once deglazed, add to the rest of the chicken into the saucepan.
4. Ensure that you cook off the wine or otherwise the wine will just take-over the sauce.
5. Once deglazed and ready, pass through a fine muslin and reserve in the fridge until you are just about to serve.
6. Reheat in a saucepan and emulsify with a little butter like you would as making a Beurre Blanc.

Pickled shallots:

1. In a small saucepan toast off 2 star anise and a teaspoon of mustard seeds. Once lightly toasted place into a pestle and mortar and crush lightly to release the essential oils.
2. Place this into 150 ml of white wine vinegar and bring to the boil, once at this stage add your peeled and sliced half moon shallots into the pickling liquor.
3. Cook until pickled and al dente.
4. Reserve in a sterilised jar until required later on at plating.

IPA braised shallot halves:

1. To begin this garnish sliced your shallots in half leaving the skin and root attached.
2. Place a large frying pan onto a medium heat once the pan has began to lightly smoke add a little low flavoured oil.
3. Next place your shallots cut side down and roast until lightly golden and brown.
4. Once at this point add half a bottle of IPA a reduce to glaze place a lid over the pan to create a little steam which in turn cooks your shallots.
5. Once ready remove the pan from the heat and bast over the reduced glaze.
6. Remove from the pan and place onto a large dinner plate to cool.

Braised Fennel Bulbs:

1. To begin slice two large fennel bulbs into 8
2. Place into a large baking tray and add sliced lemons, a little white wine, along with a little cold water.
3. Cook for 30 minutes with foil on top, until al dente or can be pricked with a paring knife. Once at this point remove the foil from the top and place in a hotter oven of 190 degrees to lightly colour until a little golden on the ends.
4. Reserve in the pan until required later on in the process.

Pescatarain option:
For the protein, re-place the chicken with sustainable sea bass

1. To prepare your fish using a sharp knife make small cuts along the back of the fish as this helps to impart heat and flavour ensuring you achieve the perfect crispy skin.
2. Place a large frying pan onto a medium – high heat, once lightly smoking and up to temperature add a little oil and place into the frying pan away from you (so that you don’t get splashed)
3. Cook until lightly golden and crispy (around 70 % of the cooking time)
4. Once cooked flip and baste with thyme infused butter.
5. Remove and place onto a piece of J –cloth as this helps to absorb any excess cooking oils or butter.

To plate:

1. Onto pre-warmed artisan plates lay your fennel to the left of the plate
2. Next add your IPA braised shallot and then lastly your perfectly pan seared fillet of sea bass.
3. For your chicken carve with the grain and lay onto the right of the plate, to finish add your chicken butter sauce and serve.
4. Offer your guests some bread as that butter sauce is just to0 good. GG
5. Serve with a cold crisp bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.