Where's the cream?

I’m on holidays at the moment, so I thought a 3 course meal was in order. As I was flipping through the current (April 2012) of the MasterChef magazine I came across these three dishes courtesy of Matt Moran. All in all these three courses worked well together. They were all light and flavoursome in their own special way. It was a good combination of flavours to welcome in the new cooler season of autumn. This is a long post – three courses to get through, you may want to get a coffee or a wine (depending on your time of day) before you start! Enjoy….

First course – Fennel, lemon and orzo soup with aioli toasts (Serves 6)
The soup couldn’t have been easier to make. Sweat off a finely sliced leek with two cloves of chopped garlic. Add finely sliced fennel from two baby bulbs. Cook over medium until fennel is beginning to soften. Meanwhile cook orzo (risoni) for 5 mins in boiling water, it will finish cooking when you add it to the soup. Add the risoni and 1L vegetable stock to the soup and allow to simmer about 10 mins, until fennel is softened. Finally add the juice of a lemon and it’s lemon rind. Season, with salt and pepper, as you go. At first I only added half the lemon juice, and then tasted the soup – it definitely needed the rest. Serve with reserved fennel tops, any left over lemon zest and aioli toast.

For the aioli toast – diagonally slice a fresh baguette and toast under the grill or on a grill pan. For the aioli either buy the best one you can find, or use 1/3 cup egg mayonnaise, add to it 1 crushed clove of garlic, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Stir it up to combine and taste. Don’t add too much lemon juice or it will turn into a sauce and be far too sour. You want enough lemon juice to ‘loosen’ the mayonnaise and to add that little tang to the aioli. Spread the aioli on the toasted bread, and serve with the soup.

This soup was light in colour, texture and flavour. There was the right amount of lemon, to match up with the crunchy aioli toast. A lovely way to start the meal – we had to be careful not to eat too much. There’s more than enough soup in this recipe to feed 6 using these quantities, or add more stock and risoni to feed more hungry mouths.

Second course – Roast duck with lentils, pumpkin and orange (Serves 2)
I have to say straight up that I’m not a massive fan of lentils, but I didn’t let it deter me. This dish also includes Brussels sprouts, which I then found out Andy had never eaten. I tried to describe the flavour, but it’s kind of hard to. In his favour, the sprouts are deconstructed for this dish, so it wasn’t like he was facing a whole bowl of boiled ones!

I started by rinsing then cooking 100g green lentils in boiling water till al dente (15 – 20 mins), then draining them and setting aside. Whilst they were cooking I diced 200g butternut pumpkin, and mixed it with the zest of an orange and a dash of olive oil. This then went on a lined tray into a 200C oven for 20 mins to roast. After scoring the skin of 2 duck breasts, I placed them skin-side down in a cold fry pan, and cooked them over medium heat for about 8 mins, until the skin was golden and crisp, and most of the fat was rendered. The duck breasts then went on a pre-heated oven tray into the oven (once the pumpkin had come out) for about 5 – 6 mins (cooked to medium). They then rested, covered till I was ready to slice and serve.

Meanwhile, leave only about 60mL (1/4 cup) of duck fat in the fry pan and add 1 thinly sliced red onion and 1 crushed garlic clove. Cook over low heat for 10 mins, until lightly caramelised. Trim bases of 125g Brussels sprouts and place in colander in sink. Pour over boiling water to lightly wilt, then refresh in cold water, and drain well. They will then be bright green and looking like mini lettuce cups! Add the juice of the orange you zested earlier and 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar to the onions, simmer and cook for 2 mins until nearly evaporated. Add 60 mL red wine and 60mL chicken consommé (or stock, don’t tell Matt Moran!) and ½ - 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard to the onions. Simmer and cook for 8 mins or until syrupy and reduced. Add lentils, pumpkin and Brussels sprouts leaves, simmer for 1 minute to warm through. Slice duck and serve on top of the lentil mixture.

As I said above, whilst not being a lentil fan, this was indeed quite tasty. The deconstructed Brussels sprouts were an interesting flavour, and not at all like Brussels sprouts really. That being said there were too many lentils and not enough pumpkin for my liking. So, next time I’d halve the lentils and double the pumpkin and onion.

Third course – Apple and Polenta Tarts with Apple Caramel
These were easy, quick and delicious. Start with the caramel – 40g butter, 2 tablespoons cloudy apple juice and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, in a small pan. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stir till sugar is dissolved. Peel and core 1 granny smith apple, and thinly slice it. Add the pieces to the caramel once it is simmering, toss to coat and leave for 2 mins, till apple starts to soften. Remove apple and set aside. Put the apple skins in the caramel and turn it off, till it’s time to serve.

Meanwhile, grease the base and sides of 4 x 8cm (3cm-deep) tart pans with removable bases. Line the base too. Beat 50g softened butter and 55g (¼ cup) caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 egg, and beat until combined. Add 55g (1/3 cup) polenta and beat until combined. Sift 75g (½ cup) plain flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder and ¾ teaspoon salt in a bowl, and then add to polenta mixture alternatively with 60mL (¼ cup) cloudy apple juice. Divide amongst pans (they will be half full). Place apple slices, overlapping, in a single line on top of each tart, and press slightly into batter. Bake 20 mins at 180C, until golden. Cool on a wire rack, then remove from pans.

And this is where the title might start to make sense…. Serve with a dollop of cream (or scoop of ice-cream) and drizzle with apple caramel (remove the skin from it before drizzling!). As I was serving this up I naturally went to the fridge to get the cream I had bought, and could not find it! I looked and looked, and finally remembered I’d been cleaning out the fridge earlier in the day and remembered throwing out what I thought was old cream, alas it turned out it was not. Anyway, I didn’t miss the cream on my plate as the apple caramel sauce was more than enough for me. I enjoyed this dessert – it was light, and had a slightly crunch to it because of the polenta. Next time (as well as cream/ice-cream), I was thinking it could maybe do with a hint of cinnamon or cloves or mixed spice. Something to ponder...