The Gourmet Gent

Ingredients:

• 2 free range frying steaks
• 400 grams of exotic mushrooms
• 2 bulbs of garlic
• ¼ bunch of scented thyme
• 25 grams of capers
• 50 grams softened butter (for finishing off the steak and the burnt butter sauce)
• 15 grams of raw diced shallot
• A glug of olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Natural organic sea salt

When preparing mushrooms, especially exotic ones you have to very careful, as they are delicate; to clean them gently brush with a clean pastry brush. When preparing mushrooms you want to use a very sharp knife, and only trim the ends, as the beauty of this is dish is the simplicity and rustic-ness.

1. To begin place a heavy based pan onto a very high heat, allow the pan to come up to temperature, you will be able to see this as it begins to gently smoke.
2. On an artisan wooden board place your two frying steaks, hit them with a little olive oil and then season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, by oiling the steak before it goes into the pan you are not burning the oil which will taint the flavour.
3. Place the steak into the frying pan away from you, allow to cook on one side for a minute as these are very lean steaks they will take no time to cook, for me to regulate the cooking of the steak I generally turn it over every minute until it has reached the desired finish which in this case is medium rare.
4. Once the steak is nearly ready add a knob of softened butter, along with some crushed garlic cloves and a little thyme, as this will perfume the butter as it melts. Then blast the steak with the perfumed butter as this gives the steak a beautiful rich buerre noisette flavour.
5. Remove the steak from the pan along with the thyme and garlic, lay this on the plate first and then place your steaks on top as this will help to infuse the steak whilst it rests but also add some attitude to your wonderful resting juices. Resting on a pre-warmed plate for around the same time as it took to cook, as this allows the temperature to evenly distribute through the steak, as well the allowing the steak to relax.
6. In this time add your freshly prepared mushrooms along with a little more butter you want the mushrooms to have body so quickly sauté them to release their nutty flavour.
7. Place onto your plate alongside your relaxed steak.
8. To make a beautifully quick burnt butter sauce, add a little more butter to the pan, adding your capers as they will deglaze and remove all of the cooked on goodness. Then remove from the heat, add your raw shallot and pour over the steak and mushrooms.
9. Enjoy with fresh artisan rye, roasted garlic and a glass of red.

Vampire killers… the Gent’s roasted whole bulb garlic:

• 2 bulbs of garlic
• 15 grams of oiled thyme
• Pinch of sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• A glug of olive oil
• 20 x 20 cm tin foil

1. Pre-heat you oven to 180 degrees.
2. To begin these beautifully roasted alliums, carefully using a sharp paring knife pierce the outer skin as this allows the aromats to penetrate the bulb whilst it cooks.
3. On the base of the tin foil lay your oiled thyme; place your garlic bulb on top, as this will stop the garlic from burning on the base therefore acting as a trivet.
4. Next, season with freshly ground black pepper, sea salt and a good glug of olive oil.
5. Roll the tin foil to make a parcel, in which your garlic will stem and cook, place onto a baking tray and cook for 45 minutes you want your garlic to be sweet and roasted. The best way to tell when the cloves are cooked to perfection; they should easily pop out of their casing.
6. Once cooked leave in the tin foil to cool, and serve with some artisan bread

Wine and Whiskey Pairings:

Red wine– Shiraz from California or Australia as this frying steak is a very lean piece of meat, this would pair better with a win e which has less tannic, some maybe choose a merlot, Bordeaux, sauvignon or cabernet.

Whiskey – Monkey Shoulder Blended Whiskey, Rye Whiskey.

Beer and Stout pairing – 1809 Berliner Weisse, Steeped Empero’s Lemon Saison, Iron Sunrise.

N.B – To make this dish Pescatarian, pan fry some sustainable sea bass fillets as they have a beautifully meaty texture which pair so well with the buttery softness of the sauté mushrooms, a nutty yet sharp hit which is delivered via the burnt butter sauce.

Clean, elegant and beautiful celebrating the essence of fresh pasta.

Lemon Tagliatelle:

300 grams of 00 flour

3 whole eggs

Sea salt

1. To start the pasta dough place the OO flour and Maldon sea salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. Create a volcano shape in the middle of the flour, as this is where you will crack your eggs into.
3. One by one crack your eggs into the centre of the flour, discarding the shells. Use a metal fork to whisk the eggs (you can do this before in a Pyrex jug) Now using a clean wooden spoon begin to drag the OO flour in from the edges and incorporate the eggs and flour.
4. Once the dough has reached a beautiful crumbly consistence start using your hands to pull the dough together, press with your palms. Once the dough is ready and all of the flour and eggs incorporated tip out onto a floured service.
5. Begin to knead the dough as this builds the glutens up, after 10 minutes of kneading, your dough should be smooth and silky.
6. Once at this stage wrap your dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes as this allows the dough to relax.
7. Having rested the pasta dough it is now time to shape it. You can either do this by using a rolling pin or using a pasta machine, as this will ensure that all of the pasta is even once it has reached your desired thickness. (On a pasta machine you have three settings as these enables you to work the dough down to the desired thickness)
8. After rolling the dough to fit to the machine, run the dough through the thickest setting 10 times, ensuring that you fold in half each time as this helps to ensure the dough is silky and glossy.
9. Once you have achieved this, run the dough through the same setting two more times, but this time without folding. Then drop the machine down a stage and on each run the dough through two times.
10. If the dough gets too tricky to handle section it off into more manageable lengths the aim is to be able to read a newspaper through the dough.
11. IMPORTANT TIP – also ensure that you flour both the surface and the pasta machine itself or otherwise your dough will stick, be careful not to pull the dough, instead gently guide it out of the machine, this way you don’t reshape or stretch the dough.
12. Once you have reached this stage, drape the pasta over your airer, and then you have two choices you can either use the tag attachment or roll the pasta and then slice it using a sharp knife. This way the result is more rustic, but it all depends on the look that you are going for.
13. Once you are happy with your pasta drape over your airier until it is required later.

While the pasta rests its ANTIPASTI TIME:

For my antipasti I wanted to celebrate the freshness that grilled peppers and sundried tomatoes, with a little lemon can give to a dish. Although this is not a seasonal dish the beautiful thing about using jarred grilled peppers and sun dried tomatoes is you can use them all year round.

Ingredients:

the zest of 1 lemon

8 sundried tomatoes – (julienne cut)

2 grilled bell peppers – (julienne cut)

6 basil leaves – (chiffonade cut)

10 grams of toasted pine nuts – chopped roughly

2 raw garlic cloves – pureed

1 glug of olive oil

Freshly cracked black pepper

1 glug of sundried tomato oil

You want your ingredients to be relatively rough as they offer both different textures and dimensions to the dish, but most importantly if you are going to be eating these with a warm artisan loaf you want a more rustic antipasti.

1. To assemble place all your prepared ingredients in to a large artisan bowl, muddle with a little olive oil and sundried tomato oil again. The amount you choose to use comes down to personal preference, as some people prefer looser or thicker antipasti.
2. Place into the fridge until it is required later on (allowing time to infuse)
3. To transform this antipasti you can add a little grated hard Italian cheese of your choice as this delivers both a creamy texture but also acts as a subtle seasoning.

Time to cook the tagliatelle:

Just before cooking your pasta place your sourdough baguette, into a pre-warmed oven of 180 degrees, to form that crust gently spray the bread with a little cold tap water, as this helps to the build up a little moisture.

1. Place a heavy based pan of hot water onto the heat, add a good pinch of sea salt as this will season the pasta while it cooks.
2. As this is a beautiful light and subtle dish with hints of lemon, infuse your cooking water by placing half a lemon into the water, as the lemon comes up to the boil it will infuse and perfume the cooking water. The starchy water forms the base for the moist sauce.
3. Once the water is boiling add your tagliatelle, to tell when it is cooked the pasta will rise to the surface and of course feel free to taste to see if it has reached that beautiful al dente state, where the pasta has a little bite left within it.
4. Cooking time should roughly be 5 minutes.
5. Once the pasta is cooked drain off the water ensuring you keep some of the cooking water back.
6. To form your sauce in the pan add a good glug of olive oil, 25 grams of grated parmesan, the juice and zest of one lemon and of course the star of the show; the cooking water, as this gives the sauce a beautiful depth and silkiness.
7. Bowl off into pre-warmed artisan bowls, to garnish add a fresh basil leave, serve and enjoy with family and friends.

Serves Four People:

For the Vegetable stock:

• 1 white onion – peeled, fine dice
• 1 large carrot – washed, peeled and fine dice
• 1 Celery stick – washed, peeled and fine dice.
• Rosemary stalks
• 1 bay leave bruised
• White pepper corns
• 150 ml White Wine
• 5 litres of cold water

To begin the  beautiful aromatic vegetable stock, weigh out and prepare all of the ingredients as stated above.

1. In a large heavy based pan add a dash of olive oil, once the oil has came up to temperature add your vegetables, sauté until golden brown as when making any stock base colour equals flavour.
2. Next add your herbs, for this I am also using the stalks from the rosemary as they release a beautiful perfume to the stock, this woody herb is the star ingredient in this classic dish.
3. Along with your white pepper corns, add your white wine as this deglazes the pan, removing all of that cooked on goodness which will enrich and flavour the stock, cook the wine off a little as otherwise all your stock will taste of will be alcohol.
4. Add your cold water, and allow to come to the boil, once you have reached this stage, allow to stand for a minimum of 2 hours to allow all of the ingredients to infuse.
5. To finish the stock pass through either fine muslin or Chinoise, skim off any excess fat and reserve to one side for later.

For the base of pay lentils:

• 500 grams of pay lentils
• 1 banana shallot diced
• 1 white onion diced
• 2 garlic cloves fine diced and then pureed
• Fresh thyme (5 sprigs)
• Dash of olive oil
• Knob of softened butter

To begin the Pay Lentils weigh and prepare all of the ingredients as stated above.

1. To begin this classic French dish of braised lentils, in a heavy based range master pan add a dash of olive oil along with a knob of softened butter, once the butter is lightly foaming add your shallot, garlic, onion and thyme, reduce the heat and allow to sweat until they go soft and translucent, this will take roughly 30 minutes.
2. Once the base is ready add your 500 grams of lentils and cook them off a little, then add enough of your vegetable stock just to cover, as you can add more later on if needs be.
3. Place on a medium to low heat with the lid on and allow to cook, what you are looking for is a beautifully cooked lentil which is tender and al dente.

Honey Roasted Vegetables:

1. I chose to use heritage varieties of carrot and beetroot as they offer a different dimension to the dish in both flavour and colour. To celebrate these beautiful legumes I decided to roast them in a little olive oil, thyme and of course locally sourced sustainable honey.
2. In two heavy based trays drizzle lightly with a little olive oil, and place into the oven to warm, when preparing fresh vegetables most of the important vitamins and minerals can be found in the 4 mm thick skin, so don’t peel them as you are effectively loosing this. Now wash them under cold water, dry the beetroots and cut into quarters, leaving the baby carrots whole. Place into the tray with 4 sprigs of oiled thyme.
3. Cook for 30 minutes first at 180 degrees celcius, then remove from the oven drizzle with honey along with a little Maldon and black pepper, return to the oven for another 30 minutes.
4. To check if they are cooked pierce with a paring knife, there should be a little resistance but the knife should easily go all of the way through.
5. Make sure to check how your lentils are getting on.

Roasted walnuts:

1. Place a heavy based frying onto a high heat, once the pan is up to temperature add 12 walnuts to the pan, roasting for about five minutes.
2. Then remove from the heat and whilst they are still warm decant into a clean tea towel and rub to remove the skin.
3. Put aside the peeled walnuts into a little bowl until they are needed later.

Rosemary and walnut pesto:

• 60 grams of picked rosemary
• 60 grams of roasted and peeled walnuts
• Dash of olive oil
• 20 grams of grated parmesan
• Pinch of Maldon

1. To begin this fresh pesto, weigh and prepare all of the ingredients as stated above.
2. Then into a marble pestle and mortar, add your walnuts and crush, at this point it really comes down to personal preference; as some people prefer a chunky pesto or a fine pesto.
3. Add your rosemary and bash to release the natural oils.
4. If needed add a little olive oil
5. Add your Parmesan and mix together, season and reserve to one side until it is required later on.
6. Check your carrots, Beetroots and Lentils:

Don’t Hake the P@£%

4 fillets of sustainable Hake:

To ensure that the fish is beautifully cooked, cook it for 80% of the time on the skin and 20% on the top flesh and now allow for resting.

1. Place a heavy based frying pan onto the heat, add a little olive oil and a knob of softened butter.
2. Allow the butter to colour and foam a little, then place the hake portions into the pan away from you, ensuring you leave a gap between each as this allows the pan to regain its temperature resulting in even cooking.
3. To ensure that your fish is cooked perfectly the Gent uses the 12 o’clock rule; think of the pan as a clock and place each hake fillet clockwise around the pan this way you know which order they entered the frying pan.
4. Ensure that the skin is golden and crisp, flip over to quickly cook the top flesh, remove from the pan and allow to rest in a warm place.

To plate: 

Pre- heat an artisan plate, onto which lay a bed of the bruised lentils, next place your fillet of hake on top, then add 4 quarters of the your honey roasted beetroot along with 6 whole baby carrots garnish with the roasted walnuts and lastly drizzle the pesto over the skin of the fish.

Serve and enjoy with a glass of good white wine..

Sauvignon Blanc

Pinto Blanc

White Rioja

Burgundian Aligote

Ingredients:

• 1 banana shallot finely sliced
• 1 white onion finely sliced
• 1 punnet of chestnut mushrooms – half finely sliced, the other half quartered
• 500 grams of jersey royals –part boiled and then finely sliced
• 4 sun dried tomatoes
• 1 large roasted bell pepper
• 4 medium free range eggs
• Olive oil

To begin this versatile dish weigh and prepare all of the ingredients as stated above.

1. To begin this dish part boil your new potatoes, to test whether they are cooked, pierce with a paring knife, drain and allow to steam.
2. Heat a large frying pan, once up to temperature add your new potatoes along with the finely sliced onion and shallot. Cook until they are lightly golden, as colour equals flavour.
3. Next add your mushrooms, for an extra mushroom hit use the stalks, slice in half and add in as well.
4. Allow your mushrooms to cook until they are just tender, season with freshly ground black pepper and Maldon sea salt.
5. To finish, crack four eggs into the pan and place under the grill to cook, once cooked add your tomatoes along with your pepper.
6. Quickly flash the pan on the hob.
7. To serve, portion up onto pre-warmed plates ensuring that you don’t break the yolks, enjoy with a mug of freshly ground coffee and buttered sourdough toast.