Recipe of the week: Bread rolls

Ever wondered how we make our bread rolls? Well here is our recipe.

Just a few notes before you start:
– You will need a dough mixer/kenwood/kitchen aid or equivalent to knead this dough
– It takes lots of practice to shape the rolls, so don’t give up straight away!
– The fresh yeast can be substituted for dry yeast, just use half the amount

Ingredients:
800g flour
15g Salt
60g sugar
85g butter – melted
1 egg
18g fresh yeast
425g milk

Method:
Dissolve yeast in warm milk – leave for 5 minutes then combine with remaining wet ingredients.
Add to the dry ingredients in the dough mixer and mix for about 6 minutes until smooth. Fold into a
ball and place in oiled bowl. It can be refrigerated for up to 4 days. If using the dough on the same day, leave at room temperature for 2 hours before rolling it.

For rolls portion into 50g and allow to double in size on a lined baking tray. This will take approximately 1 – 1.5 hours. Egg wash, then bake at 180c for 16 minutes – rotating the tray at halfway. Makes about 24 rolls

Feel free to drop into the cafe and ask us any questions if you get stuck

Recipe of the week: Dark chocolate puddings

These chocolate puddings are deliciously decadent, best served with vanilla bean ice cream and without guilt!

The great thing about this recipe is that it can be made in advance and left in the fridge until you are ready to bake off.

Ingredients:
100g butter
155g sugar
100g dark chocolate
55g flour
3 eggs

Method:
Melt together first 3 ingredients in a pan. Leave to cool slightly and add flour and eggs. Pour into small ramekins and bake for approximately 7-10 min in a oven at 200C, until tops start to crack. Serve immediately with dusted icing sugar on top. This recipe will make 4-5 puddings depending how big your ramekins are.

Life as a vegetarian

I recently underwent what I called “Vegetarian January”. For all of January I eschewed all meats and seafood. Interestingly enough when people found out they thought it was for health reasons. As an avowed carnivore my friends were convinced there was something wrong with me. I didn’t do it for any other reason than professional interest – i.e. as a chef to see how difficult it would be.

To be honest it wasn’t that hard. It did require a little more meal planning to make sure you didn’t just eat stir fry or risotto. The upside was my wife did a lot of the cooking. She found it easier to cook without having to worry about the standard protein. I learnt to embrace quinoa, buckwheat and various other grains and nuts. Sometimes I think I missed the idea of meat rather than meat itself. Did I feel healthier? No. I felt exactly the same. In some ways I was probably unhealthier as I replaced meat with more bread and carbs.

I did learn one big lesson though. In general restaurants just don’t care about vegetarians. Oh they will make all the right soothing noises in public but bottom line is their menus don’t reflect this. Chefs don’t get Vego’s. And if your vegetarian and gluten free, well you should probably stay home. Even though we have always had a decent vegetarian selection, a bi-product of my food experiment was the addition of another vegetarian dish to the menu. I essentially didn’t eat out the second half of January because of the lack of menu choices available.

So what did I learn? A little more balance in my eating habits. Not to automatically think of the protein element first but on the rest of the dish and I still really don’t get quinoa. So having had a glimpse of life as a vegetarian how did I spend February 1st? At a friend’s birthday party eating marinated lamb from the BBQ. I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.

Recipe of the week: Goats cheese souffle

Here is the recipe for our popular and delicious goats cheese souffle. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
40g butter
45g flour
225ml milk – heated
75g goats cheese
20g grated parmesan
3 eggs – separated
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Method:
Melt the butter in a pot, then add flour, cook for 2 minutes. Slowly add heated milk to the cooked flour and whisk quickly to remove any lumps. Add cheeses and continue to whisk. Remove from heat and add beat in egg yolks. In another bowl whisk egg whites and lemon juice until they form soft peaks. Fold egg whites into other mixture but be careful not to over mix. Put souffle mixture into greased moulds and cook in a bain marie tray of water in a 180C oven for 15-20min. Leave to cool completely before removing from moulds. Makes 3-4 souffles.

Foods of 2015

2014 left us with health conscious foods such as kale, freekeh, and chia seeds in our diets. This year, according to the Sydney Morning Herald foods such as quark (a german dairy product), black rice, buckwheat and matcha (a type of green tea) will replace these foods.

Food trends are set by availability of product, health benefits, new foods, media and local chefs. What do I think will be popular foods for 2015? I think that we will start seeing more street food such as ramen noodles and ethnic dishes on menus. Freshly ground spices will make a comeback in home cooking and lastly gluten free products and alternatives will be in high demand as more of us try and cut out the amount of gluten in our diets.

What are your predictions?

New York bagels

This time last year I was in New York experiencing the culinary delights that the city has to offer. Strangely enough, the food that I find myself missing the most are bagels. Bagels are pretty much a staple food in New York and were introduced to the city by the Jewish population a few decades ago. Bagels are a cheap and easy breakfast for the average New Yorker and can be purchased for a mere $1.50 with cream cheese inside!

Bagels I’ve eaten in NZ just don’t taste the same. I think this is to do both with the texture of the bagel and the toppings. To satisfy my craving of the New York bagel, I decided to try and replicate it. My favourite bagel flavour is the ‘everything bagel’, this was also a popular flavour in New York bagel shops. The everything bagel consists of a mixture on top of the bagel of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic flakes, onion flakes and rock salt. New York bagels are usually boiled and then baked in the oven. This provides them with their chewy interior and crisp exterior.

A simple bagel dough consists of high gluten flour, water, yeast and salt, just like many other bread recipes. The difference between bagels and regular bread is their shape, and the boiling process with the dough. After trialling my bagel recipe several times I discovered a few tips that I will share for creating the perfect bagel.

Firstly, It is best that the bagels are left to prove overnight in the fridge. The long slow fermentation process seems to give the bagel a better texture and even rise. Secondly, the addition of egg seems to make the bagel less chewy, so if you are like me and enjoy chewy bagels, omit any egg from your bagel recipe. And finally, eat your bagels fresh from the oven. They taste the best up to about 2 hours after baking, however if you have bagels older than this, they also taste great toasted or made into bagel chips to be eaten with your favourite dip!

Recipe of the week: Raspberry Soufflés

Now most of us have tried savoury soufflés before, but has anyone had a dessert soufflé? This recipe is for raspberry soufflés but you can also substitute the raspberries for any other berry that you prefer. These dessert soufflés are best served with a berry compote, selection of fresh berries, or a generous serving of vanilla bean ice cream.

Ingredients:
Softened unsalted butter
Caster sugar
120 ml raspberry pulp (or softened raspberries that have been sieved)
8g corn flour
40g caster sugar
100ml egg whites
Pinch of cream of tartar
35g caster sugar

Method:
1. Grease 3 dry, cold soufflé dishes (about 250ml capacity) with the butter then dust with sugar.

2. Mix a quarter of the raspberry with the corn flour and make a slurry. In a small saucepan combine the remaining pulp with the 40g of sugar and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir through the slurry mix. Cook gently over a low heat for about 10 minutes until it thickens. Pass through a sieve and cool to room temperature.

3. Beat the egg whites until frothy, add the cream of tartar and beat to firm peaks. Scatter the 35g sugar over the whites and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat a quarter of the egg whites through the raspberry mix. Pour the remaining mix over the whites and fold through.

4. Fill the dishes to the top, wipe the edges and refrigerate until needed.You should get 3-4 soufflés from this mix.

5. To cook, preheat oven to 170c and cook soufflés for 14 minutes or until well risen. Serve immediately.

The wild world of the interview

Having been an employer for some time I thought I would share some tips for those embarking on a job interview.

This advice is born from recent experiences.
1- Be on time. It’s not my fault the bus is late. I don’t care. Catch the earlier one.

2- Bother to look online at my business. Know my name and menu. When I ask you what you know about my business the appropriate answer is not – “Nothing”. In this day and age there is no excuse for not doing your research

3- Understand that essentially an interview is a game. You should know that there are some questions you should be prepared for. I recently asked a potential chef what his favourite restaurants where. His answer – “I don’t really eat out. Mainly just takeaways”. You should be able to at least name one place. Helpful hint – Don’t name my place. Obvious sucking up doesn’t work.

4- If you have a job you left under questionable circumstances try and put a positive spin on it. A recent candidate seemed to have recurring issues with employers. When I questioned her about a recent job (one not listed under referees) she said it hadn’t ended well. When I asked her what that meant she told me she had punched her boss in the face. Upon seeing the look on my face she said – “but he deserved it!!”

5- Did you last 7 minutes? Over the years I have decided 7 minutes is the minimum time to interview someone who will not be successful without being rude. My team knows this and as I returned to the kitchen recently after 45 minutes they were buoyed with much hope. Unfortunately I explained that the interviewee had been so inappropriate I just couldn’t pull myself away. Like driving past a crash – you don’t want to look you just can’t help it.

Remember that I am a glass half full kind of guy. When I sit down I am hoping that you are the one. Finding staff is time consuming and expensive. Give me a reason to hire you.

Recipe of the week: Ricotta hotcakes

What better than to start the day with a breakfast of hotcakes! This recipe uses ricotta which makes the hotcakes lighter, creamier and also gives a more balanced flavour to the dish. Let us know how they turn out!

Ingredients:
250g ricotta cheese
125ml milk
2 large eggs (separated)
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
20g butter
1 tbsp oil

Method:
1. Put the ricotta, milk and egg yolks into a bowl and mix well to combine. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt and gently whisk to make a smooth batter.
2. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks then fold into the ricotta mixture.
3. Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Place heaped dessertspoons of batter in the pan. Do not overcrowd the pan.
4. Cook the hotcakes until golden (approx. 2 minutes) and then flip them over and cook for another minute. Please note that the cooking time will vary depending on the size of the hotcakes.

Serving suggestion: Serve with mixed berry compote, vanilla mascapone and a generous dusting of icing sugar. As featured in the photo above.

Recipe of the week: Duck fat roasted potatoes with homemade aioli!

This is a really simple recipe yet so tasty, and it will impress your friends and family.These duck fat potatoes can be used as an addition to any meal or just made as a snack!

Duck fat potatoes
Ingredients:
100g Duck fat
500g Potatoes

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC
2. Peel and cut the potatoes into even sized pieces and put into a large pot filled with salted water. You can leave the skins on the potatoes if you prefer. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer until tender. Do not overcook.
3. Drain the potatoes, removing as much water as possible. Meanwhile preheat a large baking dish in the oven with the duck fat inside.
4. Place the potatoes into the hot pan with the melted duck fat, in a single layer and season with salt and pepper.
5. Roast in the oven for approximately 25 minutes or until golden and crunchy.

Aioli
Ingredients:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
500ml canola oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove of finely chopped garlic
Salt and pepper

Method:
Place the eggs, dijon, garlic and lemon juice in a food processor. Start the food processor and once everything is mixed start adding oil SLOWLY in a steady stream. Once oil is emulsified, add seasoning and taste. You may need to add more lemon juice or salt. If your aioli is too thick you can add a tbspn of boiling water while the food processor is on to thin it down. If you do not have a food processor at home you can also use a whisk and do it by hand. Please note that the garlic taste will get a little stronger over time.