linda 30 July 2010 Dessert, Dessert Recipes, Dinner, Events, Recipes 32 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

Weeks of researching, planning, organising and countless sleepless nights later, now it’s all over. The food bloggers dinner hosted by Merivale was held on Wednesday night. What a night it was. For this post, I’ll give you a run down of my experiences working in a commercial kitchen and an overview of the initial planning process down to plating up our courses.

Fouad the mastermind behind a couple of secret dinners and SIFF dinners wanted to do something a little more challenging, so he enlisted the help of Billy, Karen and myself. We were told that the idea of the Food bloggers dinner would be each of us individually coming up with a meal to be served in a 5 course meal at Bistro CBD. With this in mind, we were instructed to have a meal plan ready by our next meeting/taste testing session.

Prepping in the Kitchen

Our first taste testing session was quite a disaster for me. I initially had planned on making a fish dish, however judging by the looks on the other 3 bloggers face as they tasted my dish, I just knew that I should stick to what I really enjoy, desserts. Despite the embarassing experience, it gave me the opportunity to listen to other people besides family and good friends critique my food. We would then have another taste testing session in the following week. We all agreed that the second time we cook would be the meal that we would serve at the Merivale dinner. The pressure was on.

Faroud and Karen hard at work

After rummaging through a couple of my favourite cookbooks, I was able to borrow recipes from some of my favourite pastry chefs to put together a dessert which I was actually quite proud of. At our second taste testing session each person was happy with their dish and so we were confident enough to submit our meal plan to Merivale.

The beginning of July, all four of us had a meeting with Howard, the floor manager of Bistro CBD and Simun Dragicevich, head chef of Bistro CBD. It was at this meeting we received feedback and suggestions from the chef. This was the first time that I had ever come so close to a proper chef so I was actually quite star struck. Simun gave us a quick tour of the kitchen and discussed with us the different plates that was available and allowed us to choose which plate we would like to present our course in. At this stage, it finally hit me, in 4 weeks time I would be baking and plating up for 70 people!

Plating up

Fast forward and it’s Monday, the week of the dinner. As my course included a serving of ice cream I had to go to Bistro CBD to make the custard and churn the ice cream to be stored in the freezer, ready for serving. As I was alone working in the big kitchen that night I was quite depressed, just mechanically weighing out ingredients, boiling cream/milk, beating mixture into egg yolks and after about 3 hours 7L of ice cream was done.

Tuesday - all four of us food bloggers were given The Ivy function room kitchen to run amuck. With the other three bloggers working and preparing besides me it was such an enjoyable night. We got to work with ovens which are capable of baking TEN trays at once! I was told each oven costs $70,000. I also used their mixer which had a 10L capacity! We also had countless baking trays ( I think about 50), chopping board, spatulas, baking paper, and the list goes on, to play with. Don’t get me started on the pantry, from memory I spotted a 10kg box of chocolate sitting in the corner somewhere. The best part was not having to wash up all the utensils after using them.

Wednesday afternoon, we all meet at Bistro CBD kitchen for a quick chat with Simun and the team. We discussed all the finishing touches that had to be done and the micro herbs we would be using. I’m a little obsessed with micro leaves, they are so cute. At 5pm we had a staff meal, it was nice to sit down and relax a little before the storm.

Kingfish Sashimi with Wasabi Avocado Puree

6:30pm – Show time and the kitchen is buzzing. First up was entrée, as Simun served his Kingfish Sashimi with Wasabi Avocado Puree. I just stopped and watched in awe at how quick Simun and his staff were working, a very well oiled machine.

Lamb Dumplings with Goat's Yoghurt

Fouad’s dish was to be served next, Lamb Dumplings with Goat’s Yoghurt. I was in charge of the deep fryer, I found it quite fun frying the dumplings, making sure they stayed warm and crisp before the beautiful yoghurt sauce was poured over it.

Crispy Skin Twice Cooked Pork Belly, Apple Caramel Gel, cubes of Beetroot, Black Pudding and Beetroot syrup

Whilst Fouad was outside explaining his dish, the back of the kitchen was frantically trying to plate up Billy’s dish. Billy’s dish consisted of a piece of Crispy Skin Twice Cooked Pork Belly, Apple Caramel Gel, cubes of Beetroot, Black Pudding and Beetroot syrup. Due to the many components, we needed the help of all the staff, each person delegated a role/component. By the time we had plated 70 plates, I was ready to collapse but alas the show must go on.

Braised Beef Cheek in Pedro Ximenez and Red Wine

Karen’s Braised Beef Cheek in Pedro Ximenez and Red Wine was the next course. As there was only two components, plating up Karen’s dish wasn’t as time-consuming, so we were all quite relaxed. Mid way through Karen’s course, I was instructed by Simun to go to the function room and prepare my dessert.

Plates ready to go out

Imagine this, a line of 70 white plates sitting side by side, each waiting to be garnished. First was a smear of rhubarb jam, then a sprinkling of brown sugar almond crumbs, 4 micro leaves randomly placed on the plates and finished off with a slice of Chocolate brownie/brulee/glaze cake. Prior to serving I was placed at the forefront of the kitchen, scooping the lemon olive ice cream onto the crumble then adding a piece of brandy snap as the waitress took away the plates. I was quite proud and emotional as my plates left the bench, 6 weeks of hard work had come down to this. Witnessing the plates coming back to the kitchen clean was the best response I could have asked for.

This and That

In deciding what to serve for the dessert course, I took a lot of inspiration from a few of my favorite pastry chefs, notably Yi Ching Lee and Katrina Kanetani. I’m not creative or talented enough to create my own recipe so if you are interested, here are the recipes that I used  for my dessert.

Chocolate Brownie Brulee with Rhubarb jam, Almond crumble, Lemon olive oil ice cream and Brandy snap.

Chocolate brownie brûlée cake

(Adapted from Lemonpi)

Chocolate brownie layer

• 2 eggs
• 175g caster sugar
• 240g bitter chocolate (64%)
• 150g melted unsalted butter
• seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• 20g cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 60g plain flour
• 100g hazelnut, toaste skinned and finely chopped
• 100g finely chopped bitter chocolate (71%)

1. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until thick and pale.
2. Put the 64% chocolate in a large bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla, then fold in the egg mixture.
3. Sift together the cocoa powder, baking powder and flour and fold them in too. Add the nuts and chopped chocolate, then transfer the mixture to a greased and lined 12 x 36 x 4cm baking tray and place in an oven preheated to 180′C.
4. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until just cooked but still a little soft in the middle. Remove from the oven and leave to cool while you make the chocolate cream.

Chocolate cream layer

• 400ml double cream
• 400ml milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 100g caster sugar
• 500g bitter chocolate (71% cocoa)

1. Bring the cream and milk to the boil in a heavy-based saucepan, then remove from the heat. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together, then pour on the cream, whisking to combine. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently for 2 minutes.
2. Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour on the cream mixture, whisking until the chocolate has dissolved. Pass through a fine sieve. Press the edge of the brownie against the sides of the tin to make sure there aren’t any gaps, then immediately pour on the warm chocolate cream, leaving a 2mm gap at the top of the tin for the glaze.
3. Place the tin in an oven preheated to 150′C and cook for 20 – 25 minutes, keeping your eye on it. The cream should be just set and wobble very slightly in the middle.
4. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 3 – 4 minutes and then stretch a piece of cling film over the tin; this will allow the cream to finish cooking in its residual heat. When it is completely cold, place in the fridge for 1 hour.

Chocolate glaze layer

• 150ml water
• 175g caster sugar
• 55g cocoa powder
• 125ml double cream
• 2 1/3 gelatine leaves
• 40g bitter chocolate, chopped (64%)

1. Put the water and caster sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Whisk in the cocoa powder and cream, bring back to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 5 minutes, until soft and pliable, then squeeze out all the water. Remove the pan from the heat and add the gelatine, stirring until dissolved. Leave to cool for 3 – 4 minutes, then pour on to the chopped chocolate, whisking until it has melted. Pass through a fine sieve and leave to cool.
3. Remove the brownie from the fridge and spread a layer of the cooled glaze on top, smoothing the surface so it is level with the top of the tin. Return to the fridge to set.

Lemon olive oil ice cream

(Adapted from Pier cookbook)

• 7 egg yolks
• 230g caster sugar
• 750ml milk
• 250ml thickened cream
• 125ml lemon infused olive oil
• 62ml extra virgin olive oil

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl of an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
2. Warm milk and cream together in a large saucepan.
3. While still whisking the egg yolk, slowly pour in the lemon olive oil and extra virgin olive oil, then slowly add the warm milk/cream mixture. Beat until thoroughly combined.
4. Strain mixture through a fine sieve and refrigerate for 2 hours before placing it into an ice cream machine.

Brown sugar almond crumble

(Adapted from Pier cook book)

• 145g plain flour
• 125g unsalted butter, cubed and softened
• 75gm brown sugar
• 75gm ground almond
• Pinch of salt

1. Sift flour in to a bowl. Using your fingertips, completely rub all the butter in to the flour, making sure you do not overwork the mixture.
2. Mix in sugar, ground almond and salt. Place dough in refrigerator to chill for half an hour. Crumble dough in to a baking tray.
3. Bake at 170 degrees celsius for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Rhubarb jam

(Adapted from The Independent)

• 200g Rhubarb
• 200g caster sugar
• The rind of half a lemon

1. Wash the rhubarb, removing any stringy bits. Pat dry and weigh the remainder as it is important to have equal amount of sugar and rhubard.
2. Slice the rhubarb into 2cm pieces, then place in to a saucepan, and cover with sugar. Place over gentle heat and stir gently until sugar has melted, stir in the rind and turn up the heat.
3. Boil the jam for 10 minutes. Once thickened, remove from pan and pass through a fine sieve.

Brandy snap

(Adapted from Taste)

• 50g butter
• 70g brown sugar
• 60ml golden syrup
• 50g plain flour

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line a tray with baking paper.
2. Combine butter, brown sugar and golden syrup in a heavy based pan, over medium heat. Stir for 2-3 minutes until butter had melted and all the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
3. Add sifted flour to mixture and whisk to combine. Drop four teaspoonfuls of the mixture on to the baking paper, spacing them well apart. Bake for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To assemble, smear a teaspoon of rhubarb jam on to a nice plate. Add a teaspoon of almond crumble on to the jam. Using a hot knife, slice the cake into rectangles, and place onto the rhubarb jam. Add a dollop of ice cream, finishing off with a shard of brandy snap. Garnish with baby mint leaves and a sprinkling of salt flakes.

Here’s one that I prepared earlier! (I’ve always wanted to say that) . This is actually a picture of the concept dish I presented to the other three bloggers at our second taste testing session.

Photo courtesy of Billy

Overall, this would have to be one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had. Contributing to all aspects of the event has given me great insight in to the lives of all the chefs out there, I now know what a difficult job they all have, I have nothing but deep respect for each one of them. For me the best part of the night and the whole event was working together side by side with my 3 good friends, the amount of support and motivation that they have given me throughout the night made everything all the better.

Finally just a thank you to Simun and his entire crew for mentoring and assisting us, we couldn’t have done it without you, and to all the diners who came out to support us on such a miserable night. Despite the gloomy weather, I hope the food more than made up for it.