The Edinburgh Reporter December 2019

24
FOOD
Recipe of the month
Scottish Salmon fillet, Smoked
Mussels & Langoustine with
Lemon & Anchovy Puree
This recipe is by Glenn Roach,
Regional Executive Chef of the
Surf & Turf restaurants in the
Macdonald Holyrood Hotel,
Edinburgh and others in the group.
Smoked Mussels
300g wood chips
100g oats
200ml eden mill no.9 whisky
150ml water
400g Mussels
Soak the wood and oats in
whisky and water for minimum 1
hour.
Put chips in a gastro tray with
a steamer tray insert on top and
cover with foil. heat the tray with
chips gently until 120 degrees (no
higher!)
Dry mussels with j-cloth (drier
they are the more flavour they will
take in)
Once temperature is reached
open foil and place mussels in tray
Remove from heat and leave on
the side for approx 1 hour until
mussels take that nice smoky
flavour
Lobster Bisque
2kg lobster carcasses
1 Litre olive oil
200g carrots
200g onions
200g fennel
10gr white pepper corn
10gr coriander seeds
2 Star anise
1 garlic head
500gr tom plum chopped
60gr tomato puree
100ml cognac
400 ml water
10gr salt
1 bay leaf
5 thyme sprigs
Place roasting tray with oil
on solid top and add lobster
carcasses roast well and then
remove from heat and deglaze
In a separate pan sweet carrot,
fennel, onions and garlic no colour!
Add the spices and herbs after
10 mins and sweet for further 5
mins
Now add tom paste fresh toms
and water, cook out for further 10
mins and add carcasses.
The Edinburgh Reporter
Add the water top below the top
of the carcasses and bring to boil.
Simmer and cook for 20 mins,
pass through and drain well then
pass through fine sieve
Langoustine
1 whole langoustine
In a pan of boiling water blanch
the langoustine for 3 minutes and
then place in to ice water.
Once cooled half the langoustine
using a serrated knife and grill
with garlic butter for a 4 minutes
Salmon Fillet
All the young food dudes…
by Juliet Lawrence Wilson
I started my first catering
business at 22 years-old and
began work on my first and only
restaurant at 24. I had great
experiences from my culinary
business, and though I was naive
in many aspects of the food and
drink industry I look back with
fondness, particularly for some of
the magical nights where diners
had a beautiful meal in a fantastic
atmosphere.
One evening the whole restaurant
stood up to sing “Happy Birthday”
to an octogenarian. That was the
sort of dining room I wanted it to
be: vibrant, excited and inebriated!
And then there were the dull, quiet
Tuesday night’s… As ‘they’ say, it’s
all a learning experience.
Yet I’m delighted to see that
some young things are making
moves in the food industry. 14
year old Grace Warnock has been
named the Champion Baker in the
Contini Bake Off 2019 following
their nationwide search.
Nationwide, being Scotland.
Political!
Grace won for many baking
triumphs, but including the rather
Christmassy Trifle Cupcake,
combining vanilla cake, custard
filling, jelly cake (made for her own
jam, if you please!) and whipped
cream icing. Grace’s fabulous
concoctions will be gracing
the afternoon tea plates of the
Scottish Cafe on the Mound this
month.
Merry Christmas Trifle to you,
Grace!
If you start at the bottom you
can get to the top. Congratulations
to Jake Hassall, 25 year old chef
at the Waldorf Astoria, who won
100g fresh Scottish salmon fillet
20g butter
5ml lemon juice
5ml vegetable oil
In a nonstick frying pan add 5ml
of oil and take up to a medium
heat.
Place salmon filet skin side down
in the pan and cook until you get a
nice golden colour on the skin.
When the fish is 50% cooked
add butter and flip the fish over
and base the foaming butter add
lemon juice at the end
the Flavour and Flair international
contest in London. He started
his career as a potwasher and
is now an up and coming talent.
Already up and come, I imagine.
Remember: liberate now and again
from hotel style cooking, Jake.
BBQ the Christmas dinner. Set
yourself free.
For aspiring cooks, young
or old, my Christmas gift
recommendation is Cooked To
Perfection by Anne Willan. My
parents bought this perfect starter
cookbook for me from the late
‘Two Fat Ladies' Clarissa Dickson-
Anchovy Puree
6 oil-packed anchovies
2 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. finely chopped flat-leaf
parsley
In a blender or food processor,
pulse the anchovies with the
garlic, rosemary, lemon zest and
crushed red pepper until the garlic
is finely chopped.
Add the lemon juice and olive oil
and puree until smooth.
Add the parsley and pulse just to
incorporate.
Lemon Puree
200g lemons peeled
5g turmeric
15g sugar for each blanch
Place peeled lemon rind in a pan
and just over with water
Add turmeric and sugar, then
blanch and refresh.
Continue to blaunch 9 times.
After last blanch blitz till smooth
adding just water to blend easily
(You want the puree to be thick)
To finish Add stock syrup and
lemon juice before you serve
Wright. Sadly her Grassmarket
bookshop is long gone but she
suggested for me a tome that
teaches technique that sets you
free in the kitchen. For example, if
you can make a white sauce you
can also cook a beautiful soufflé!
Willan's sophisticated ‘Home
Economics' should be on the
school, curriculum.
There's no greater gift to yourself,
family or company than to be able
to cook a filling or fabulous meal,
and she teaches you with aplomb!
Carina Contini with Grace Warnock winner of the Contini Bake Off
Jake Hassall chef at the Waldorf Astoria - The Caledonian