Delta! 985 Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 A dessert tasting that I sent out last night for a couple who couldn't decide which dessert they wanted to order. Salted caramel on the bottom of the plate, chocolate and coffee crumble, Chocolate parfait rolled in raw cocoa nibs, rooibos and coconut ice cream sandwich, blueberrie marshmallow, dark chocolate mousse, honeycomb ice cream, fudge, fresh blueberries & toasted coconut, white chocolate and peanutbutter mousse Delta! Link to comment
gogoblender 3,068 Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 I'm glad you're a chef that doesn't get annoyed at a customers' orders not on menu. I used to know people that would throw up their arms in air and just say flat out no. What are those delicious-looking purple flowers... nasturtium? gogo Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 (edited) I'm glad you're a chef that doesn't get annoyed at a customers' orders not on menu. I used to know people that would throw up their arms in air and just say flat out no. What are those delicious-looking purple flowers... nasturtium? gogo Only when it comes to dessert orders and I am allowed to do a tasting plate for them. Otherwise if they are finished with mains and then only tell me they don't like chocolate and they are allergic to nuts/citrus/gluten/lactose and they still would like to order a dessert, "what can we have?" Then I want to tell them that they should have let us know sooner and we could've catered around their dietary requirements, unfortunately I am not allowed to do that, so then I have to magically make something for them other than sorbet... No the flower is not nasturtium, we also have plenty of them in the garden, I can't remember the correct name, but we have soooo many, in lots of colours in the garden. Delta! Edited September 7, 2014 by Delta! Link to comment
gogoblender 3,068 Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Do all the chefs help out with garden care, or is it maintained by separate staff? gogo Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted September 8, 2014 Author Share Posted September 8, 2014 Seperate staff, but the Head chef will say what he wants/would like them to plant. Some of the landscaping was done way before he started working there, like the plum trees, olive trees, quince, lemon, fig, kumquats, and the huge lavender bushes. We expanded quite a bit recently with our gardens and planted more vegetables and culinary herbs to have a garden that we can use... Delta! Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted September 8, 2014 Author Share Posted September 8, 2014 I found out that those flowers are called pansies. Delta! Link to comment
chattius 2,522 Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Pansies, in german Gartenstiefmütterchen (translated as garden stepmother, after a fairytale) have eatable blossoms. The green of the wild ones was for medicine for centuries. I remember that as a child I got a tea made from them when I had a cold and was coughing. 4 leaves up and one down it is a pansy. 3up and 2 down it is a violet. Learned and remembered this from my grandma when she taught us which herbs are eatable. I guess you have a law too that blossoms for decoration have to be eatable? The taste of them is debatable. I know people breed flowers nowadays specially for flower salades which have less of the bitter but healthy taste. Personally I would prefer them as healthy and counter the taste with something sweet like honey. 1 Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted September 8, 2014 Author Share Posted September 8, 2014 We use the flowers more for garnishing Chattius. I'm not always to fond of using them because they might just give a little colour to the plate, but it has nothing to do with the dish, and I am not plating a rainbow! If however the flowers/plant gets used in the dish and you can use the flowers, then I like using it. example a dish that was served at Delaire Graff, had nasturtium puree and nasturtium jelly as some of the components, and for garnish, they used the flowers... Delta! 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,068 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Why is Nasturtium so often used? gogo Link to comment
chattius 2,522 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Because Napoleon kidnapped a german gardener when his armies were in germany Even its use was known by military docs before as a cure for scurvy, they only collected the wild forms. It was cultivated in germany already at the time of Napoleon. The german name is Brunnenkresse, which is for its sharp taste and its growing at water places. But I think the main reason is that last 2-3 decades there was a renaissance of old forgotten vegs. But I have to say that Brunnenkresse is not yet in our garden: http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?/topic/18884-strange-vegetables-in-our-garden/ 1 Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 It is a very nourishing edible plant, with a slight peppery taste, often described as being similar to watercress or rocket, and they make for great bright garnishes, especially on salads. They are very easy to grow, and once established, needs very little care to flourish. Delta! 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,068 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I'm always touched by the amount of caring both you put into your posts Both, phenomenal and satisfying reads Thank yoU! gogo 1 Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 I'm always touched by the amount of caring both you put into your posts Both, phenomenal and satisfying reads Thank yoU! gogo aaaaaw, thank you gogo. I enjoy posting on here, so I try to make it as worthwhile as possible. Delta! Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) We do a dinner menu at Cuvee every Friday, and we do the same menu 2 Fridays in a row, before chaning it. It is different from our lunch menu. We play a little bit more with flavours and try new things. Guests start of with amuse bouche, then choice between 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 desserts, and end off with petit fours Most of the time the head chef and sous chef will tell me one dessert that I must make, and I can decide on the other one. Rooibos tea and cocnut ice cream sandwich, coconut and white chocolate mousse, spiced crumble, rooibos jel, blueberries, honeycomb Raspberry cremeaux, fermented raspberries, vanilla shortbread, fennel ice cream, liquorice meringue, white chocolate and yoghurt ganache Pineapple carpaccio, pineapple gel, pineapple and ginger sorbet, passion fruit corral sponge cake, passion fruit gel, passion fruit glass, ginger biscuits Baked dark chocolate tart, dark chocolate air, pistachio butter, pistachio macaroon, nougat, honeycomb ice cream Chocolate and peanut butter ice cream sandwich(dark chocolate ice cream, peanut butter ice cream, peanut hutter biscuit) raspberry jelly, dark chocolate air, cocoa leather, peanut and cocoa nib brittle, Edited January 6, 2015 by Delta! 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,068 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I'm liking your plating style Theuns, I'm SO picky with that. In fact, some days, I just spend time going through then net looking for plating pictures, and still, after all that searching, still only a handful that still thrill me. I adore your pic, third one down, it's captivating, and engages me You're on your way! gogo Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted November 23, 2016 Author Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) a few new plates of desserts... orange white wine and olive oil cake, mascerated peaches, almond crumble, spiced syrup, raspberry ice cream, lemon mousse. This is the main component for the dessert we served for Diners club winemaker of the year awards. Starting at the base. Bitter chocolate crust, dark chocolate tart, chocolate cremeaux, white chocolate and peanut butter whipped ganache, ultra shiny chocolate glaze. The rest of the dessert, salted peanut butter caramel, almond crumble, sugar crystalline, and beetroot honeycomb ice cream Some of the components for high tea... Dark chocolate, macadamia nut and white chocolate brownies, with salted caramel and mulberries. Raspberry macaroons. Chocolate florentines Delta! Edited November 23, 2016 by Delta! 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,068 Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 a few new plates of desserts... IMG_7128.JPG orange white wine and olive oil cake, mascerated peaches, almond crumble, spiced syrup, raspberry ice cream, lemon mousse. IMG_7174.JPG This is the main component for the dessert we served for Diners club winemaker of the year awards. Starting at the base. Bitter chocolate crust, dark chocolate tart, chocolate cremeaux, white chocolate and peanut butter whipped ganache, ultra shiny chocolate glaze. IMG_7201.JPG The rest of the dessert, salted peanut butter caramel, almond crumble, sugar crystalline, and beetroot honeycomb ice cream Some of the components for high tea... IMG_7055.JPG Dark chocolate, macadamia nut and white chocolate brownies, with salted caramel and mulberries. IMG_7054.JPG Raspberry macaroons. IMG_7053.JPG Chocolate florentines Delta! this is awesome Theuns... just as soon as the pic power is fixed yer here tempting us with delights... Im sunk by the olive oil sweets and the macaroons... my mom got me into those, and those completely opposing textures in a bite, crunchy outside, and chewy inside are insanely wild gogo Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 The dessert that went for the Diners club Junior wine maker of the year awards was shared all over social media. I am kinda psyched about it, even though I am not mentioned as the creator, I do still feel a certain pride in preparing the whole dessert for 130 guests all by myself (only getting helped with plating), and helping out with the canapes, starters and main course preparation and plating. this is one of the pictures that was shared on Twitter... Link to comment
gogoblender 3,068 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 The dessert that went for the Diners club Junior wine maker of the year awards was shared all over social media. I am kinda psyched about it, even though I am not mentioned as the creator, I do still feel a certain pride in preparing the whole dessert for 130 guests all by myself (only getting helped with plating), and helping out with the canapes, starters and main course preparation and plating. diners club dessert.jpg this is one of the pictures that was shared on Twitter... Theuns, so proud of you! I remember you first coming to these boards and chronicling your nascent culinary journey...look where you are now, the plating looks fantastic! Can you describe please what's on the plate? gogo Link to comment
chattius 2,522 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Sadly south africa is so far away. I would have hired you. So I have to be creative for all the guests at our triple birthday (twins and me) short of x-mas. And to make all a bit more thrilling my oldest said that she will appear with a boy friend from university and his family. Luckily they are not vegans. Deer with chocolade sauce (to soften the taste of wild game a bit) for the adults and a field kitchen full of spaghetti for the kids. And since I know my relatives: probably 20 cakes because everyone will arrive with one Will free the barn of all tractors and machines and make room for 120 people. 1 Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 (edited) The dessert that went for the Diners club Junior wine maker of the year awards was shared all over social media. I am kinda psyched about it, even though I am not mentioned as the creator, I do still feel a certain pride in preparing the whole dessert for 130 guests all by myself (only getting helped with plating), and helping out with the canapes, starters and main course preparation and plating. diners club dessert.jpg this is one of the pictures that was shared on Twitter... Theuns, so proud of you! I remember you first coming to these boards and chronicling your nascent culinary journey...look where you are now, the plating looks fantastic! Can you describe please what's on the plate? gogo Thanx gogo. the torte has 5 layers. base is a salted chocolate crumble, then a baked chocolate ganache, a dark chocolate cremaux, a white chocolate and peanut butter whipped ganache, and an"ultra shiny glaze" on top. the rest of the plate is a salted peanut caramel, beetroot and honeycomb ice cream, almond crumble, salted caramel, and a sugar crystaline with dried flower petals. I started making the torte on a Tuesday, baked the base first, and let it cool, on the Wednesday I did the second and third layer, on the Thursday I did the last two and let it set in the freezer, it makes it easier to portion if the layers are hard, otherwise if you slice through it, it tends to squish out and becomes uneven. on the Friday I portioned the 4 trays. ended up getting way more portions out than I expected and froze one tray again. I also pre scooped the Ice cream on the Friday evening, and put them on egg trays/cartons covered in plastic wrap. and keep it in the freezer. I did the salted peanut caramel on the friday, and the ice cream and crumble was done sometime previously in the week. The sugar crystaline was also done on the friday and stored in airtight containers. Delta! Sadly south africa is so far away. I would have hired you. So I have to be creative for all the guests at our triple birthday (twins and me) short of x-mas. And to make all a bit more thrilling my oldest said that she will appear with a boy friend from university and his family. Luckily they are not vegans. Deer with chocolade sauce (to soften the taste of wild game a bit) for the adults and a field kitchen full of spaghetti for the kids. And since I know my relatives: probably 20 cakes because everyone will arrive with one Will free the barn of all tractors and machines and make room for 120 people. wow, thanx Chattius. so it will be an easy menu, it is just the amount of food that has to be prepared that is the challenge. I have never had venison with chocolate/chocolate sauce... sounds interesting. I might give it a try, but I will have to use springbok, it is the only venison the head chef likes. Delta! Edited December 23, 2016 by Delta! Link to comment
chattius 2,522 Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I was just posting a boar recipe in the inglenook thread: http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?/topic/8203-inglenook-for-discussion/ And I had a problem with a word: Sossenlebkuchen. It is a gingerbread with a lot of spices and less sweet specially done to spice roasted wild game and make the sauce thicker, darker and more spicy. Has it a special name in english? Would such a cake belong to your responsibilty or to the one of the head chef? Link to comment
Delta! 985 Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 I was just posting a boar recipe in the inglenook thread: http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?/topic/8203-inglenook-for-discussion/ And I had a problem with a word: Sossenlebkuchen. It is a gingerbread with a lot of spices and less sweet specially done to spice roasted wild game and make the sauce thicker, darker and more spicy. Has it a special name in english? Would such a cake belong to your responsibilty or to the one of the head chef? The ginger bread will most probably be made by pastry kitchen and then handed over to who ever makes the meat and sauce... Delta! Link to comment
gogoblender 3,068 Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 The dessert that went for the Diners club Junior wine maker of the year awards was shared all over social media. I am kinda psyched about it, even though I am not mentioned as the creator, I do still feel a certain pride in preparing the whole dessert for 130 guests all by myself (only getting helped with plating), and helping out with the canapes, starters and main course preparation and plating. diners club dessert.jpg this is one of the pictures that was shared on Twitter... Theuns, so proud of you! I remember you first coming to these boards and chronicling your nascent culinary journey...look where you are now, the plating looks fantastic! Can you describe please what's on the plate? gogo Thanx gogo. the torte has 5 layers. base is a salted chocolate crumble, then a baked chocolate ganache, a dark chocolate cremaux, a white chocolate and peanut butter whipped ganache, and an"ultra shiny glaze" on top. the rest of the plate is a salted peanut caramel, beetroot and honeycomb ice cream, almond crumble, salted caramel, and a sugar crystaline with dried flower petals. I started making the torte on a Tuesday, baked the base first, and let it cool, on the Wednesday I did the second and third layer, on the Thursday I did the last two and let it set in the freezer, it makes it easier to portion if the layers are hard, otherwise if you slice through it, it tends to squish out and becomes uneven. on the Friday I portioned the 4 trays. ended up getting way more portions out than I expected and froze one tray again. I also pre scooped the Ice cream on the Friday evening, and put them on egg trays/cartons covered in plastic wrap. and keep it in the freezer. I did the salted peanut caramel on the friday, and the ice cream and crumble was done sometime previously in the week. The sugar crystaline was also done on the friday and stored in airtight containers. Delta! >Sadly south africa is so far away. I would have hired you. So I have to be creative for all the guests at our triple birthday (twins and me) short of x-mas. And to make all a bit more thrilling my oldest said that she will appear with a boy friend from university and his family. Luckily they are not vegans. Deer with chocolade sauce (to soften the taste of wild game a bit) for the adults and a field kitchen full of spaghetti for the kids. And since I know my relatives: probably 20 cakes because everyone will arrive with one Will free the barn of all tractors and machines and make room for 120 people. wow, thanx Chattius. so it will be an easy menu, it is just the amount of food that has to be prepared that is the challenge. I have never had venison with chocolate/chocolate sauce... sounds interesting. I might give it a try, but I will have to use springbok, it is the only venison the head chef likes. Delta! Thank you for taking so much time out to write and explain Theuns.. I appreciate all this care and detail... what a wonderful process to envision... all that time into preparing food.. it makes us appreciate how the best things still take so much time gogo 1 Link to comment
Popular Post Delta! 985 Posted December 27, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 27, 2017 (edited) The Dessert Buffet at La Residence for Christmas Day Lunch. Fresh fruit (figs, plums, grapes, berries, golden pineapples), Creme anglais, Creme Patisserie, Fruit cake, Steamed Christmas pudding, Cassata, Chocolate & Coffee profiteroles, Barquettes, Cherry clafoutis, Apricot & Amaretto Panna cotta, Panatone (chocolate and Lemon) Cassata Apricot & Amaretto panna cotta Red Berry Barquettes Cherry Clafouti Chocolate & coffee profiteroles Edited December 27, 2017 by Delta! 2 Link to comment
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