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NOV52557
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Recreate Hugh Wallace Recipes from The Restaurant on Virgin Media at Home

Architect Hugh Wallace is taking on the Head Chef challenge in this episode of The Restaurant.

Hugh is one of Ireland’s most respected architects with an international portfolio to his name. He appears on TV as one of the judges on Home of The Year.

Hugh has been interested in food and cooking since childhood and his menu features a number of classic dishes with which he hopes to impress the Critics. For starters; Hugh served a Classic Dublin Bay Prawn Cocktail but his second starter; Warm Tomato Consommé with St Tola Goat Cheese, Spinach & Pine Nut Ravioli was the winner on the night.

On Mains; Roast Rib of Beef served with very trendy, Hasselback Potatoes. The second main; Natural Smoked Haddock, which was poached in milk proved to be a simple but highly regarded dish on the night.

Hugh, served two desserts; Poached Pear with Calvados Ice Cream which was made with Irish Brandy and the second choice was a cheese course; Cáis na Tíre Cheese on Chargrilled Tartine Sourdough drizzled with Acacia Honey, Crispy Pancetta & Pomegranate.

The Guest Critic who joined Resident Critics, Marco Pierre White and Rachel Allen to rate Hugh’s menu out of 5 stars was Philippe Farineau.


STARTER

Classic Dublin Bay Prawn Cocktail, Sauce Marie Rose, Brown Soda Bread

Serves 4

Ingredients

– 10 small cherry tomatoes, halved
– 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
– Dash of balsamic vinegar

For the Marie Rose sauce:

– 4 tbsp mayonnaise
– 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
– 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
– 1/2 tsp prepared English mustard
– Dash of Tabasco
– Dash of Worcestershire sauce
– Squeeze of lemon juice

To serve:

– 20 small little gem lettuce leaves, trimmed
– 4 lemon halves, individually wrapped in muslin
– 20 large Dublin Bay prawns, cooked and peeled
– Small handful of fresh chives, cut into 5cm pieces
– Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
– Brown soda bread, to serve

Method

1 To make the marinated tomatoes, place the cherry tomatoes in a bowl and season generously. Sprinkle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Cover with clingfilm and set aside at room temperature for at least 10 minutes (or up to 1 hour is fine) to allow the flavours to mingle.

2 To make the Marie Rose sauce, whisk together the mayonnaise, ketchup, olive oil, mustard, Tabasco and Worcestershire in a bowl. Season to taste and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Cover with clingfilm and chill until needed.

3 To serve, arrange 5 Little Gem lettuce leaves in each glass serving dish and set on a plate with a lemon wedge to the side. Add the cooked prawns, marinated cherry tomatoes and teaspoons of the Marie Rose sauce. Garnish each one with a piece of chive. Serve with brown soda bread.


STARTER

Warm Tomato Consommé with St Tola Goat Cheese, Spinach & Pine Nut Ravioli

Serves 6

Ingredients

For the consommé:

2 kg ripe heirloom tomatoes
1 1/2 tbsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
good handful dried rose petals
1 tsp ground black pepper

For the pasta:

550g strong ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting
6 egg yolks
4 eggs
2 tsp olive oil
pinch of fine salt
egg yolk wash (1 part water to 1 part egg yolk)
semolina flour, to dust tray

For the filling:

280g fresh baby spinach
350g St Tola soft goat cheese (no rind)
2 egg yolks
1 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
25g toasted pine nuts

For the croutons:

1 small baguette, diced into 5mm squares
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper

To serve:

100g mixed baby heirloom tomatoes
1 tbsp snipped fresh chives
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1 To make the consommé, blend all of the consommé ingredients together in a blender. Line a strainer with 4 layers of cheesecloth and pour the consommé over it, catching the liquid in a bowl or pot. Let this sit undisturbed in the refrigerator overnight or at least 4 hours. Discard the cheesecloth with any remaining solids. Cover the consommé and reserve until ready to use.
2 To make the pasta, place the flour, egg yolks, eggs, oil and salt in a food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds, until the mixture binds together. Be careful not to overwork.

3 Remove from the blender and bring together with your hands to form a semi-soft dough. Alternatively, you can also do this by hand on a clean work surface: make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, then mix the wet ingredients into the dry using your fingers to add the dry ingredients little by little.

4 Work the dough hard for about 2 minutes, until it’s smooth, silky and elastic. Wrap in cling film and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour, if time allows.

5 Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into 4 balls. Re-cover 3 balls and work with one at a time. Flatten the ball slightly with the base of the palm of your hand and run it through the thickest setting on your pasta machine, which will roll it into a thick sheet.

6 Fold the two ends into the middle and run the pasta through the machine, still on the thickest setting, three or four more times, until the dough feels silky and pops as you feed it through the rollers. This will make the sides of the pasta fill out to the full width of the pasta machine.

7 Lightly dust both sides with flour and run it through the machine on a thinner setting. Repeat this process through the settings until the sheets are 1–1.5mm thick. If the dough starts to stick to the rollers, smooth over a little flour and cut it in half at any stage if it gets too long to handle.

8 Lay the sheet of pasta out flat on a clean tea towel while you roll the other pieces, starting back at level one. Leave for a couple of minutes to dry out before cutting into shapes.

9 To make the stuffing, cook the spinach in boiling water until tender. It should take only a few minutes. Drain and try to squeeze as much water out as you can, then chop very finely. In a food processor, blend the goat cheese, and egg yolks until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and fold in the rest of the ingredients with the spinach. Place the filling in a pastry bag. Reserve refrigerated until ready to fill pasta.

10 Make the goat cheese ravioli: when you are ready to prepare the pasta, unwrap your dough and cut off a piece of the dough ball, rewrapping the unused dough until you are ready to sheet it. Feed the dough through your pasta machine, starting at the widest setting. (A pasta-rolling device such as the tabletop Gemini or the roller attachment for a stand mixer is ideal for sheeting the pasta.) Continue to feed it through the machine, gradually reducing the thickness setting until the dough is 2mm thick. Your sheet should be approximately 12.5cm and 30cm long. Lay the sheeted dough onto a lightly semolina–floured work surface. Continue sheeting the dough to make 4 or 5 sheets; this will give you an extra sheet with which to practice. As you work, keep each sheet covered with a dry towel to prevent the dough from drying.
Working with 1 dough sheet at a time, cut the sheet in half to make 2 long sheets (about 7cm wide). Pipe a row of one tablespoon mounds of the goat cheese filling onto one of the sheets, leaving 2.5cm in between the mounds. Brush the egg yolk wash around the filling. Lay the other sheet on top and press. Pushing air out from around the filling, tighten the dough down around the filling. Cut out the ravioli with a square, fluted cutter (5cm wide); use a pasta wheel or knife if you don’t have a cutter. Place the finished ravioli on a tray dusted with semolina flour (to prevent sticking). Cover and refrigerate until time to cook.

11 Make the croutons, preheat oven to 180C. Toss the bread cubes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place them on a sheet pan and bake in the oven until crisp and golden brown, turning periodically for even browning (about 15 to 20 minutes). Store in a tightly covered container.

12 To serve, depending on the size of the tomatoes, halve or quarter them so that they are all bite-sized pieces and are easy to scoop up in your spoon as you enjoy the soup.

13 Bring a large pot of boiling salted water to a rolling boil, then cook the goat cheese ravioli for 2-3 minutes. (A good way to check for doneness is to remove one and taste it. The pasta should be firm but cooked through, and the filling warm.)
Heat the consommé gently over medium heat. When it is hot, divide it among warm serving bowls. Place 3 of the small ravioli in the soup and scatter a few tomatoes and chives throughout. Drizzle one teaspoon of the extra virgin olive oil into each serving.

14 On the base plate that the soup is served on, place the soup spoon and fill each spoon with the croutons. This will give guests the pleasure of stirring in the crunchy bits on their own and ensure that the croutons remain crisp.


MAIN COURSE

Natural Smoked Haddock, Roast Cherry Tomatoes & Fennel

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the fennel wedges:
2 large fennel bulbs
2 tbsp rapeseed oil

For the cherry tomatoes:

4 vines of cherry tomatoes
1-2 tbsp garlic infused rapeseed oil

For the haddock:

500ml milk
½ onion, thickly sliced
1 bay leaf
175g natural smoked haddock, pin boned and skin on

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 220C. To prepare the roasted fennel wedges, trim the hard round stalks at the top of the fennel bulbs and discard the outer layers. Cut the remainder into thin wedges and place in a large, shallow roasting tin. Drizzle over the rapeseed oil and toss to coat, then season to taste. Place the fennel in the bottom shelf of the oven and roast for 30–40 minutes, until the wedges have softened and lightly browned, stirring once or twice to ensure even cooking.

2 To roast the cherry tomatoes, arrange the vines on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzle over the garlic infused oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast for 8-10 minutes until lightly charred and just beginning to split.

3 To poach the haddock, pour the milk into a large frying pan or sauté pan, add the sliced onion and bay leaf and bring to a simmer.

4 Carefully place the haddock, skin-side down into the liquid and simmer for two minutes then turn over and simmer for another 2 minutes.

5 Lift the haddock out of the milk and set aside on a plate, cover and keep warm in a low oven if necessary.

6 Arrange the fennel in warmed wide rimmed bowls and put a piece of the poached haddock on each one. Garnish with the roast cherry tomatoes to serve.


MAIN COURSE

Roast Rib of Beef, Hasselback Potatoes, Red Wine Jus & Horseradish Cream

Serves 6–8

Ingredients

1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp English mustard
2 tsp sea salt
1.5kg French trimmed rib of beef on the bone, at room temperature
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 large onions, peeled and quartered with root left intact
2 large carrots, halved lengthways
1 garlic bulb, broken into cloves (not peeled)
small handful of soft thyme leaves
2 tsp plain flour
150ml red wine
400ml veal or beef stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
hasselback potatoes and horseradish cream, to serve (see separate recipes)

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 230C. Heat a small frying pan and toast the peppercorns until aromatic, then place in a pestle and mortar and grind until cracked. Mix in the mustard and salt. Wipe the meat with damp kitchen paper and rub with the mustard mixture.

2 Pour the oil into a roasting tin and add the onions, carrots, garlic and thyme, tossing to coat. Season to taste, then push to the edges and sit the beef in the middle of the vegetables. Roast for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 200C and roast for 10 minutes per 450g for rare, 12 minutes for medium-rare and 20–25 minutes for well done. A joint this size will take just under 1 hour. Take out and baste halfway through the cooking.

3 When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove it from the tin along with the onions and carrots and place on a platter. Cover with tin foil and leave to rest for 30 minutes before carving.

4 Meanwhile, quickly make the red wine jus. Pour the juices from the roasting tin into a jug, discarding the garlic and thyme, and leave the fat to settle on top, then skim off the fat and discard. Reserve the juices. Stir the flour into the roasting tin, scraping the bottom of the tin with a wooden spoon to remove any residue, then gradually stir in the wine and allow to bubble down then stir in the stock and reserved juices. Place directly on the hob and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring. Pour through a fine mesh sieve into a gravy boat.

5 To serve, carve the rested beef into slices and arrange on warmed serving plates with the hasselback potatoes and a dollop of horseradish cream. Hand around the red wine jus separately.

Hasselback Potatoes

Serves 4–6 (as a side)

Ingredients

1.5kg (3¼lb) small even-sized potatoes, peeled
sea salt
about 100ml (dripping or duck fat
3–4 fresh thyme sprigs
handful of garlic cloves, unpeeled

Method

1 Using a sharp knife, thinly slice each potato about two-thirds through. Place the potatoes in a pan of cold water with a pinch of salt, then cover and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Drain the potatoes and leave in the colander to cool slightly, then give them a good shake to fluff up the edges.

2 Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C. Put a roasting tin in the oven with a 1cm depth of vegetable oil, dripping or duck fat for a few minutes, until just smoking. Carefully tip the potatoes into the hot oil with the thyme sprigs and garlic, then quickly spoon the oil over the tops of the potatoes and season with salt. Roast for about 45 minutes, turning occasionally, then carefully pour off most of the fat. Return the tin to the oven and cook for another 5 minutes, until crisp and golden. Serve immediately.

Horseradish Cream

Serves 6 (as a side)

Ingredients

5cm piece fresh horseradish root
200ml sour cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
pinch caster sugar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 To make the horseradish cream, peel and finely grate the horseradish root. Place the soured cream in a bowl and add the grated horseradish, mustard, lemon juice and caster sugar. Season to taste and stir until well blended. Spoon into a serving bowl, cover with cling film and chill until needed.

Curry Spiced Cauliflower

Serves 4-6 (as a side)

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 head cauliflower
300g Greek strained yogurt
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 400C and lightly grease a small baking sheet with vegetable oil. Set aside.

2 Trim the base of the cauliflower to remove any green leaves and the woody stem.

3 In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt with the lime zest and juice, chilli powder, cumin, garlic powder, curry powder, salt and pepper.

4 Dunk the cauliflower into the bowl and use a brush or your hands to smear the marinade evenly over its surface.

5 Place the cauliflower on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the surface is dry and lightly browned, 30 to 40 minutes. The marinade will make a crust on the surface of the cauliflower.
Let the cauliflower cool for 10 minutes before cutting it into wedges and serve hot.

Marrowfat Peas

Serves 4-6 (as a side)

Ingredients

225g dried marrowfat peas
1 tsp baking soda
25g butter
good pinch of sea sat

Method

1 Soak the dried marrowfat peas overnight in a bowl of water with the baking soda stirred in. If you don’t have time to soak overnight, soak the peas for at least 4 hours.

2 Drain the peas through a colander and rinse them for 10 seconds under running water.

3 Place the peas in a pan and add just enough water to cover them, plus 2.5cm.

4 Bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pan with a lid.

5 Simmer the peas for 1-1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. The peas are done when they are lumpy and mushy in texture.

6 Remove the peas from heat and stir in the butter. Add salt to taste and serve hot.


DESSERT

Delectable Poached Pear with Calvados Ice Cream & Toasted Flaked Almonds

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the pears:
6 pears, peeled
500ml red wine
250ml water
300g caster sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod

For the ice cream:

500ml milk
25g skimmed milk powder
50g glucose syrup
1 piece pared lemon peel
4 vanilla pods
100g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
4-6 tbsp Calvados

To serve:

50g toasted flaked almonds
4 fresh mint sprigs

Method

1 For the pears, peel the pears and then remove the cores from the bottom of each one with a small teaspoon. Put all of the ingredients into a pan, then bring to the boil and simmer gently until the pears are tender but still holding their shape. Remove from the heat and set aside at room temperature to allow the flavours to infuse for a couple of hours or overnight is perfect.

2 For the ice cream, place the milk, skimmed milk powder, glucose syrup, lemon peel and vanilla pods into a pan. Place over a medium heat until it just comes to the boil. Take it off the heat and leave to cool.

3 Whisk the caster sugar and egg yolks together in a large bowl until thick and creamy, then whisk in the hot milk until evenly combined.

4 Pour the milk mixture back into a clean pan. The egg yolk will thicken the mixture but because there is not any cream present there is more of a risk that it might curdle so cook it over a low temperature, stirring constantly until the egg thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, then stir in enough Calvados to taste.

5 Pour the thickened custard into a bowl that is sitting over a bowl of ice. Then once cold, remove the lemon peel and vanilla pods.

6 Leave in the fridge for at least four hours and then pour into cryo bowl and add in liquid nitrogen, bit by bit until the ice cream is at the right consistency. Alternatively place in an ice cream maker and mix until you have achieved a smooth creamy texture.

7 To serve, arrange the poached pears in wide rimmed bowls and add a scoop of the Calvados ice cream to each one. Garnish the pears with the toasted flaked almonds and mint sprigs.


DESSERT

Cais na Tire Cheese on Chargrilled Tartine Sourdough drizzled with Acacia Honey, Crispy Pancetta & Pomegranate

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 thin slices pancetta
4 slices sourdough bread (preferably Tartine)
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
50g mixed baby salad leaves (include some mustard leaves & watercress if possible)
balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
200g Cais na Tire cheese
2 tsp acacia honey
4 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180C. Arrange the pancetta on a parchment lined baking sheet and put another baking sheet on top to keep the pancetta very flat. Bake in the oven to 6-8 minutes until crisp and lightly golden. Remove from the oven and drain on kitchen paper. Leave to cool completely.

2 Heat a heavy-based cast-iron griddle pan until smoking hot. Add the slices of sourdough and cook for a minute or so on each side until nicely charred. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your pan.

3 Put a piece of the chargrilled sourdough into each wide rimmed bowl and drizzle with a little of the olive oil. Add a small mound of the leaves and drizzle over a little more olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

4 Using a vegetable peeler, pare long thin slices of the cheese on top of each serving and top each one with two pieces of the crispy pancetta. Drizzle around the edges of each plate with the honey and finish with a little more of the balsamic vinegar. Scatter over the pomegranate seeds to serve.

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