Doing what I do best is lying in my sun-kissed bed on a Saturday…with a gorgeous chef…
This past Saturday I was in bed with Marcus Wareing … paging through some of his recipe books. He is an adventurous and genius chef. I decided to cook for Marcus and do my best to impress him with something cheffy and spectacular, you know, something out of this world …almost cosmic.
{This recipe was inspired by an ingredient list I received from Pick n Pay for their freshlyblogged challenge #7 competition}
So I set about recreating a culinary universe. The deep red tomato passata casts a nebula cloud, the rice and Gruyere ball is the moon whilst the bacon soil reflects the milky way of stars. The braised leeks are shooting stars falling from a distant galaxy and the butternut terrine is representing my layered personality all tightly packed into a cube of energy, shaped by the forces swirling around it. The tomato passata, bacon and thyme tie everything together into an alluring stream of cosmic energy and intrigue. Marcus, I made your butternut terrine but made it my own with burnt butter, cooked bacon fat and thyme.
I am always amazed what you can do with the simplest of ingredients. With just rice, butternut, leeks, tomatoes, thyme and bread – I created the universe. Who would have thought it Marcus?
Tips for making bread crumbs without a food processor
Put slices of bread (fresh or stale) on a rack and put it in the sun for an hour or two.
Then great it with a grater or just rub it between your hands – it will crumble easily.
Keep in an airtight container.
Breadcrumbs freeze very well.
- 250g bacon, finely sliced into small cubes
- 1 Tbsp butter
- Fry the bacon on high heat until crispy.
- Put on a paper towel to drain and set aside.
- Keep the cooked bacon fat. We are using it in the butternut terrine.
- 350 g butternut top, thinly sliced with mandoline slicer
- 2 Tbsp cooked bacon fat
- 80g butter
- 3 big twigs of thyme
- Salt
- Preheat the oven 180 °C.
- Place the butter, thyme and bacon fat in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes. Allow the butter to turn a slightly brown colour and the thyme to infuse. Pass through a sieve.
- Layer the butternut in a silicone baking dish approximately 6cm x 15 cm, brushing each layer with melted butter and a sprinkle of salt.
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, pressing down 4 times throughout the baking process, then remove and chill in the fridge. When completely cool, cut into small cubes.
- ½ cup Spekko rice
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 20g Gruyere cheese, finely grated
- 1 egg, beaten
- Bread crumbs – add some seasoning in the crumbs
- Oil for deep frying
- Cook the rice as per packet instruction but stir regularly when cooking. You want mushy/ sticky consistency (you don’t want fluffy rice). If need be add more water. Set aside to cool down.
- Roll the parmesan cheese into 12 small grape size balls.
- Take the rice and form a ball. Add a Parmesan ball in the middle.
- Roll in egg and then in bread crumbs.
- Deep fry until golden brown.
- 1 can PnP chopped tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 big sprig of thyme
- ¾ tsp salt
- Add all ingredients in small pot and simmer 15 - 20 minutes until thick consistency.
- Taste for seasoning.
- Pass through a sieve and set aside.
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 large leek, peeled and cut in two and then halved length ways
- 1 sprig thyme
- 2 tsp wine vinegar
- 50 ml chicken stock (I used NoMU)
- Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the leeks and thyme and braise for about 5 minutes.
- Add the vinegar and stock cook for another 10 minutes.