Melinda's Menu
Melinda Padley's dishes included Beef Wellington and chocolate souffle:
Crab, avocado and celeriac salad
Serves 6
Ingredients
4 dressed crabs
2 ripe avocados
Juice of 2 limes
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
150 ml (¼ pint) olive oil
½ bulb of raw celeriac
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
3 tbsp mayonnaise
Few drops each of lemon juice, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce to taste
Salt and pepper
1 x 7.5 cm (3 inch) round pastry cutter
Begin by separating the white and dark meat from the crabs, and place in separate bowls. Peel and chop the avocado into a bowl. Add the limejuice, the chopped chilli and coriander, season and mix well. Stir in the olive oil, cover tightly with clingfilm and set aside. Coarsely grate the celeriac into another bowl. Stir in the mustard and mayonnaise, and season. If the mixture is too stiff add a little olive oil. This is what is known as remoulade.
Next, season the dark crab meat with a little lemon juice, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, tasting as you do so. Season the white crab meat with a little lemon juice, salt and pepper and add a drop of olive oil to bind together. Place a 7.5 cm (3 inch) round pastry cutter in the centre of a serving plate. Spoon a sixth of the dark crabmeat into the pastry cutter pressing it down with the back of a spoon. On top of this spoon in a sixth of the avocado mixture, followed by a sixth of the celeriac mixture. Top it off with a sixth of the white crab meat. Press each layer down firmly in turn. Carefully lift off the pastry cutter to reveal the layered crab salad. Serve with a lightly dressed salad.
Recipe courtesy of Morston Hall Hotel, The Street, Morston, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7AA, tel 01263 741041.
Fillet of Beef Wellington with fresh asparagus and crushed new potatoes with horse radish cream
Serves 8
Ingredients
1 x 4 pound fillet of prime scotch beef
2 ounces butter
24 big field mushrooms
12 rashers of streaky bacon
1 ½ pounds puff pastry
1 egg
½ cup of milk
Black pepper
Trim the fat and the sinew off the fillet. Sauté the mushrooms in butter till soft beat the egg and milk together to make the egg wash. Pre heat the oven to number 7/450 degrees.
Firstly fold the mignon (pointed end) of the fillet under the tournedos (middle of the fillet) so that the fillet has approximately the same girth throughout. Sprinkle liberally with black pepper.
Roll out the puff pastry to a square sufficient to encase the entire fillet. Position the fillet in the centre of the puff pastry and wrap it on all sides with the bacon and mushrooms. Dampen all four edges of the puff pastry wrap and seal. Brush with egg wash and bake in a hot oven ( number 7 – 450 degrees) For 45 minutes to one hour, depending on how rare you like your beef.
The substitution of liver pate for bacon and mushrooms in beef Wellington is a pleasant change.
Recipe from The Secrets of the Hungry Monk, courtesy of the Hungry Monk restaurant (www.hungrymonk.co.uk).
Italian chocolate souffle with prunes and Armagnac
Ingredients (for the soufflé)
8oz (225g) dark chocolate
75 per cent cocoa solids
4oz (110g unsalted butter
1 tbsp Armagnac
4 large eggs separated
4oz (110g) Caster Sugar
A little sifted icing sugar for dusting
Ingredients (for the Armagnac prunes)
12 oz (350g) Californian pitted ready to eat prunes
5fl oz (150ml) Armagnac
Ingredients (for the prune and crème fraîche sauce)
5fl oz (150ml) Crème Fraîche
You will also need an 8 inch (20 cm) spring form cake tin, greased and lined with silicone paper (baking parchment).
To make the soufflé, preheat the oven to gas mark 3, 325°F (170°C). Meanwhile, break the chocolate into squares and place them, together with the butter, in a bowl fitted over a saucepan containing some barely simmering water (the bowl must not touch the water). Leave it for a few moments to melt, then stir until you have a smooth, glossy mixture. Now remove the bowl from the heat, add the Armagnac and leave to cool.
Next take a large roomy bowl and combine the egg yolks and caster sugar in it. Then whisk them together for about 5 or 6 minutes, using an electric hand whisk – when you lift up the whisk and the mixture drops off making ribbon-like trails, it's ready.
Now count out 18 of the soaked prunes, cut each one in half and combine the halves with the whisked egg mixture along with the melted chocolate.
Next you'll need to wash the whisk thoroughly with hot soapy water to remove all the grease, and dry it well.
In another bowl whisk up the egg whites till they form soft peaks. After that, fold them carefully into the chocolate mixture. Spoon this mixture into the prepared tin and bake the soufflé in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes or until the centre feels springy to the touch.
Allow the soufflé to cool in the tin (it's great fun watching it fall very slowly). When it's quite cold, remove it from the tin, peel off the paper, then cover and chill for several hours (or it can be made 2 or 3 days ahead if more convenient). Serve the soufflé dusted with icing sugar and cut into small slices (it's very rich).
To make the sauce, simply liquidise the remaining prunes together with their liquid, place the purée in the serving bowl and lightly stir in the crème fraîche to give a slightly marbled effect. Hand the sauce round separately.
Recipe courtesy of Delia Smith. Other Delia recipes can be found at www.deliaonline.com
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third party sites.
Serves 6
Ingredients
4 dressed crabs
2 ripe avocados
Juice of 2 limes
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
150 ml (¼ pint) olive oil
½ bulb of raw celeriac
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
3 tbsp mayonnaise
Few drops each of lemon juice, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce to taste
Salt and pepper
1 x 7.5 cm (3 inch) round pastry cutter
Begin by separating the white and dark meat from the crabs, and place in separate bowls. Peel and chop the avocado into a bowl. Add the limejuice, the chopped chilli and coriander, season and mix well. Stir in the olive oil, cover tightly with clingfilm and set aside. Coarsely grate the celeriac into another bowl. Stir in the mustard and mayonnaise, and season. If the mixture is too stiff add a little olive oil. This is what is known as remoulade.
Next, season the dark crab meat with a little lemon juice, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, tasting as you do so. Season the white crab meat with a little lemon juice, salt and pepper and add a drop of olive oil to bind together. Place a 7.5 cm (3 inch) round pastry cutter in the centre of a serving plate. Spoon a sixth of the dark crabmeat into the pastry cutter pressing it down with the back of a spoon. On top of this spoon in a sixth of the avocado mixture, followed by a sixth of the celeriac mixture. Top it off with a sixth of the white crab meat. Press each layer down firmly in turn. Carefully lift off the pastry cutter to reveal the layered crab salad. Serve with a lightly dressed salad.
Recipe courtesy of Morston Hall Hotel, The Street, Morston, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7AA, tel 01263 741041.
Fillet of Beef Wellington with fresh asparagus and crushed new potatoes with horse radish cream
Serves 8
Ingredients
1 x 4 pound fillet of prime scotch beef
2 ounces butter
24 big field mushrooms
12 rashers of streaky bacon
1 ½ pounds puff pastry
1 egg
½ cup of milk
Black pepper
Trim the fat and the sinew off the fillet. Sauté the mushrooms in butter till soft beat the egg and milk together to make the egg wash. Pre heat the oven to number 7/450 degrees.
Firstly fold the mignon (pointed end) of the fillet under the tournedos (middle of the fillet) so that the fillet has approximately the same girth throughout. Sprinkle liberally with black pepper.
Roll out the puff pastry to a square sufficient to encase the entire fillet. Position the fillet in the centre of the puff pastry and wrap it on all sides with the bacon and mushrooms. Dampen all four edges of the puff pastry wrap and seal. Brush with egg wash and bake in a hot oven ( number 7 – 450 degrees) For 45 minutes to one hour, depending on how rare you like your beef.
The substitution of liver pate for bacon and mushrooms in beef Wellington is a pleasant change.
Recipe from The Secrets of the Hungry Monk, courtesy of the Hungry Monk restaurant (www.hungrymonk.co.uk).
Italian chocolate souffle with prunes and Armagnac
Ingredients (for the soufflé)
8oz (225g) dark chocolate
75 per cent cocoa solids
4oz (110g unsalted butter
1 tbsp Armagnac
4 large eggs separated
4oz (110g) Caster Sugar
A little sifted icing sugar for dusting
Ingredients (for the Armagnac prunes)
12 oz (350g) Californian pitted ready to eat prunes
5fl oz (150ml) Armagnac
Ingredients (for the prune and crème fraîche sauce)
5fl oz (150ml) Crème Fraîche
You will also need an 8 inch (20 cm) spring form cake tin, greased and lined with silicone paper (baking parchment).
To make the soufflé, preheat the oven to gas mark 3, 325°F (170°C). Meanwhile, break the chocolate into squares and place them, together with the butter, in a bowl fitted over a saucepan containing some barely simmering water (the bowl must not touch the water). Leave it for a few moments to melt, then stir until you have a smooth, glossy mixture. Now remove the bowl from the heat, add the Armagnac and leave to cool.
Next take a large roomy bowl and combine the egg yolks and caster sugar in it. Then whisk them together for about 5 or 6 minutes, using an electric hand whisk – when you lift up the whisk and the mixture drops off making ribbon-like trails, it's ready.
Now count out 18 of the soaked prunes, cut each one in half and combine the halves with the whisked egg mixture along with the melted chocolate.
Next you'll need to wash the whisk thoroughly with hot soapy water to remove all the grease, and dry it well.
In another bowl whisk up the egg whites till they form soft peaks. After that, fold them carefully into the chocolate mixture. Spoon this mixture into the prepared tin and bake the soufflé in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes or until the centre feels springy to the touch.
Allow the soufflé to cool in the tin (it's great fun watching it fall very slowly). When it's quite cold, remove it from the tin, peel off the paper, then cover and chill for several hours (or it can be made 2 or 3 days ahead if more convenient). Serve the soufflé dusted with icing sugar and cut into small slices (it's very rich).
To make the sauce, simply liquidise the remaining prunes together with their liquid, place the purée in the serving bowl and lightly stir in the crème fraîche to give a slightly marbled effect. Hand the sauce round separately.
Recipe courtesy of Delia Smith. Other Delia recipes can be found at www.deliaonline.com
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third party sites.