Cookery School - Day 1

Here are the recipes and photos from Day 1:

Lunch: Red Mullet Salad Nicoise

Dinner: Ballontine "Ark" Chicken Leg Stuffed with Goat's Cheese, Walnuts, Apple-Chive Beurre Blanc, Potato Rosti and Cabbage Parcel

Dessert: Millefeuille of Hazelnut Shortbread with Seasonal Fruit Salad and Vanilla Mascarpone

Red Mullet Salad Nicoise
SALAD NICOISE
½ little Gem lettuce
6 cherry tomatoes
12 green beans
6 anchovy fillets
6 pitted black olives, halved
4 small new potatoes
1 tablespoon baby capers
4 soft-boiled quail's eggs
truffle oil
olive oil
lemon juice
salt and black pepper

RED MULLET
2 red mullet fillets, scaled
lemon juice
olive oil
salt and black pepper

RED MULLET
Remove all the pin bones from the red mullet with tweezers and leave the skin on the fish (a good fishmonger will pinbone the fillets)

Place the red mullet fillets skin side up on a baking tray lined with a silicone mat and drizzle a little virgin olive oil over the skin and season with salt and pepper

Bake in a pre heated oven at 200C for 4 minutes until the fish is just cooked

SALAD
Bring the new potatoes to the boil and simmer until cooked. Refresh immediately into cold water to stop them cooking and cut into slices

Top and tail and blanch the green beans in boiling salted water until just cooked. Refresh immediately into cold water to stop them cooking and cut in half

Pick the little gem lettuce leaves. Discard any discolored outside leaves and wash well in water to remove any dirt

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and take the stones out of the olives

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and lightly dress with a lillie virgin olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning

Carefully place salad ingredients in a bowl making sure not to bruise any leaves

Dress the potatoes with a little truffle oil and season.

Place the cooked red mullet fillets on the top. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and lemon juice and serve straight away.

Ballontine "Ark" Chicken Leg Stuffed with Goat's Cheese, Walnuts, Apple-Chive Beurre Blanc, Potato Rosti and Cabbage Parcel
CHICKEN
10 chicken legs
2 chicken breasts, minced
1 egg
200 g soft goat's cheese
15 scallion, chopped
100 g walnuts, chopped
thyme, chopped
salt and black pepper

CABBAGE PARCELS
½ medium Savoy cabbage
2 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
15 g unsalted butter
salt and black pepper

BEURRE BLANC
150 milliliters white wine
2 shallot, finely chopped
25 g unsalted butter
300 milliliters chicken stock
80 milliliters double cream
½ apple, peeled, cored, small dice
chives, chopped
salt and black pepper

ROSTI POTATO
1 medium potato
2 tablespoons corn oil
25 g unsalted butter
salt and black pepper

PREP THE CHICKEN
Bone the chicken legs and remove any sinews

Trim any fat from the legs but leave the skin on. Season well.

COOKING CHICKEN LEGS
Whiz up the chicken breasts into a paste using a food processor. Combine with the egg, goat's cheese, scallions, walnuts, thyme and salt and pepper. (You could poach a blob of this until cooked to check the seasoning). Lay a golf-ball sized ball in the middle of the boned out chicken leg and spread to cover the width of the leg.

Roll the stuffed chicken legs into a ballontine, wrap tightly in cling film and secure the ends tightly

Place the chicken legs into simmering water and simmer for 20 minutes until cooked. You are looking for a temperature of 69C in the center of the chicken. Peel off the cling film and then the skin from the chicken legs and slice.

CABBAGE PARCELS
Remove a few outside green leaves from the cabbage and blanch in boiling salted water to soften. Refresh immediately in cold water and drain onto kitchen towel.

Finely shred the middle of the cabbage removing any stalk.

Melt the butter in a large pan and sweat the shallots and garlic until soft.

Add the shredded cabbage and a little water, cook over a high heat stirring constantly until the cabbage has softened and season with salt and pepper.

Drain in a colander to remove any excess liquid.

Line a mold or pudding basin with cling film, and then line with a layer of cabbage leaves. Place some shredded cabbage in the middle and mold into balls using the cling film to shape it tightly.

Place the cabbage balls in a steamer for approximately 6-8 minutes, unwrap, brush with melted butter and serve.

BEURRE BLANC
Sweat the shallots in a little of the butter until soft

Add the wine and reduce until it has almost disappeared

Add the stock and reduce by two thirds

Add the cream and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon

Add the diced apple and simmer for approximately a minute

Shake in the remaining butter a little at a time

Season with salt and pepper. Add the chopped chives and serve straight away.

ROSTI POTATO
Wash and peel the potato

On a clean tea towel grate the potato using the coarse side of the grater

Wrap the potato in the tea towel and squeeze out as much moisture as possible.

Season the potato with salt and pepper

Place a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add the corn oil and unsalted
butter

When the butter has melted and started to foam, place a handful of grated potato into the pan

Carefully push down and shape into a round using a palette knife or fish slice

Cook gently until golden brown on each side regulating the flame regularly to prevent them from burning.

When they are cooked place them onto a baking tray and reheat as required. Drain them onto kitchen roll to absorb any excess oil and then serve.

Millefeuille of Hazelnut Shortbread with Seasonal Fruit Salad and Vanilla Mascarpone
HAZELNUT SHORTBREAD
75 g flour
20 g hazelnuts, ground
30 g cornflour
90 g unsalted butter
30 g icing (confectioners') sugar

FRESH FRUIT SALAD
1 mango, peeled and diced
¼ pineapple, peeled, and diced
1 handful blueberries

VANILLA MASCARPONE
250 g mascarpone
500 milliliters double (heavy) cream
1 vanilla pod, split, seeds removed
icing (confectioners') sugar, to taste

SHORTBREAD
Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and add the softened butter and cream well

Add the two flours and ground hazelnuts and bring together as a dough.

Roll into a cylinder. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge (approx 1 hour)

Cut slices of the shortbread dough and carefully roll into biscuits

Shape round biscuits with a suitable sized cutter

You will require 3 biscuits per portion. Using a small round culler cut a small disc out of the middle of two of the biscuits. These are for the top and bottom of the finished dessert: the remaining uncut biscuit is for the middle

Bake at 180C for approximately 15 minutes until lightly golden brown

FRUITS
Prepare and cut the fruit into equal size pieces

Mix the fruit together in a bowl. place in the fridge until required

VANILLA MASCARPONE
Place the mascarpone in a large bowl

Add the vanilla seeds and stream in the double cream whisking all the time

Add the sieved icing sugar and continue to whisk until it forms soli peaks

ASSEMBLY

Pipe a layer of cream on two shortbreads

Add a layer of mixed fruit on top of the cream

Place the shortbreads on top of each other

Dust a little icing sugar over the third shortbread, place all the top and garnish with a little fruit

Put a little cream on the middle of a plate and place the shortbread millefeuille on the top. This is to prevent it moving on the plate