Hormuz Grand Hotel Experts – Executive Chef Luke Borg and Sous Chef Ashleena Pillay – present scrumptious fine recipes with Lamb and Seafood. Let these experts show you how to cook up the moat delectable dishes.
Lamb Loin & Fillet ‘En Crepinette’
Almond and Sweetbread Tart – Raspberry Vinegar Reduction (From Luke Borg)
Ingredients (for 2)
- 1 Whole lamb rack (butchered)
- 120g lamb sweetbreads
- 100g puff pastry
- 2 local asparagus
- 150g parsnips
- 100g crepinette
- 1 red pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 6 slices of white bread, without crust
- 25g toasted almonds
- 2 leeks
- 2 tomatoes
- 400ml raspberry vinegar
Method:
For the parsnip mash – Peel the parsnips, and in a pan sweat the finely cut leeks and parsnips, without colour. Fill the pan with chicken stock until you immerse the parsnips, and cook all the way trough. When ready blend in a liquidiser
For the Lamb – Ask your butcher to clean a whole rack of lamb and clean any excess fat from the loin. Tie the loin with a butcher’s string, and seal both the loin and fillet quickly, until it has a nice golden brown colour. Cook the loin for 15 min on 185 C and the fillet for 6 minutes. Take out of the oven and rest for 10 minutes.
For the puff pastry – Roll out the puff pastry and dock with a fork from both sides. Cook whole with some weight on top of the puff to rise evenly. Cook for 24 minutes on 165 C. When golden brown take out of the oven and cut into slices of 8 cm in length and 1.5 cm in width.
For the sweetbreads – Leave the sweetbreads in cold water for 6 hours beforehand and change the water frequently. Poach the sweetbreads from cold water until it almost boils, and leave under cold running water to cool off. Remove the membrane on top of the sweetbreads carefully without puncturing the meat, and dry out on a kitchen towel. Warm a pot with butter and seal the sweetbreads with the butter frothing for a nice golden colour. Do this quickly or it will over cook.
For the rest – Peel the asparagus and boil quickly in salted water. Cut the peppers, leeks and tomatoes into a fine brunoise, and sweat nicely without giving colour. Mix the ingredients with fresh breadcrumbs and cover the fillet with it. Reduce the vinegar until you get a glaze consistency.
Assembling the plate – Put some mash in the bottom of the plate horizontally. Cut the loin in a thick slice and place it on the left hand side. Fill the tart with almonds, sweetbreads and cress, place in the middle. Trim the edges of the fillet and top with the peppers and place on the right of the plate. Place the asparagus and other vegetables accordingly and dress with the raspberry glaze.
Seafood Ciopinno
(From Ashleena Pillay)
Ingredients (for 2)
- 80g onion finely diced
- 2g thyme finely chopped
- 2g basil finely chopped
- 2g coriander finely chopped
- 20g butter
- 1g cumin seed
- 1 chili finely chopped
- 2x 200g tin tomato (blended)
- 100ml water (as required)
- 1 lobster tail cut in large chunks (crayfish can also be used)
- 12 mussels (with shell)
- 8 clams (with shell)
- 200g hammour fillet cubed
- 400g prawns deveined and shell removed except from tail
- 20g chopped garlic
- 20ml fresh cream
- 5ml lemon juice
- Sliced sour dough toasted as garnish
- 1 star anise
Method
- In a large deep saucepan, melt your butter and add your onions, cumin, chopped chili, star anise, garlic and thyme and allow to simmer without letting it turn to brown. This allows all the flavors to pull out.
- Now add in the hommour fillet, prawns, and lobster tail with lemon juice until it starts to firm up.
- Once firm, add in your pureed tomato and allow to simmer. Use water as needed if the stew becomes to dry. Add in the cream as well as fresh cream to taste.
- Five minutes before switching off for sering, throw in the clams, mussels, basil and coriander and give a quick stir, seal lid to ensure the clams and mussels open, discard what doesn’t.
- To plate, use a deep stew bowl, and ladle in fish at the bottom to make a pyramid at the center.
- Place about 3 toasted slices of sour dough around or any bread available.
- Rice can be used and served with a side salad if it’s a preferred choice.
(You could play around with the spices to suit your own pallet, say the experts.)