In this summer heat like hear in Dubai one really longs for cooler things in life, more refreshing snacks, sour, sweet and fresh.

Pâtes des Fruits

500 g Fruit puree
600g sugar
15g butter
170ml liquid, pectin based, jelling agent (Certo)
For coating (optional)
Coarse, granulated sugar

Selection of Raspberry, Passion fruit, Apricot and Orange

Preparing the fruit: wash, peel, and seed the fruit as necessary. Most fruits are then pureed. Some fruits are used as they are and others are mixed with syrup from canned fruit. Because of their relatively neutral taste, pear, peach or apricot syrups are the best; they can even be mixed together.

Preparing the Mold and Jelling Agent: On a baking sheet or other surface that can stand high temperatures without cracking or warping, place a sheet of nonstick parchment paper and set the metal frame, flan ring, or metal rulers on it; or simply line a small brownie pan with parchment paper.

Cooking the Fruit Jelly: In a large saucepan, place the fruit pulp or fruit pulp-syrup mixture and the sugar. Bring to a rapid boil over high heat, stirring constantly with a spatula. Once a full, rolling boil is reached, start the cooking time; this will be from 4 to 9 minutes, always at a rapid boil and stirring constantly, depending on fruit used. Add the butter halfway through the cooking time. When it is time, remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately add the liquid jelling agent; stir vigorously for a few seconds to be sure that is completely mixed into the jelly mixture.

To Mold, Cut, and Serve the Fruit Jellies: As soon as the jelling agent has been stirred in, pour the boiling hot fruit jelly into the frame or brownie pan. Allow to set and cool completely, which will take at least 2-3 hours. When the jelly is completely cold, run the blade of a knife all around the edge to detach it from the frame or paper; then cut it into squares about 1 inch. Lift off the frame; then roll the squares one at a time in granulated sugar (preferably large grained). This step is not absolutely necessary; it does, however, keep the jellies from sticking to each other if piled on top of each other when served and makes them more attractive.

To Store: The uncut jellies will keep for 2 months wrapped in the non-stick parchment paper it is molded on. Placed in a box, and kept in a cool cellar or the refrigerator. If kept in the refrigerator, the jelly picks up a little moisture but it keeps its shine better. Once cut and rolled in sugar, the jellies will keep for a week in a closed container in the refrigerator; it is preferable to place them in individual paper cases if they are to be stored in this way to keep them from sticking together; these homemade fruit jellies are softer than commercial ones.

The Pisces Kitchen Gang!

Chaine des Rotisseur Dinners are perhaps some more “prestigious” events any kitchen can measure up but really no one is after that group as it means lots of work for a bunch of middle aged “connoisseurs” who breast them self with funny colored medals. Until now I had some respect for this organisation which by the way are in most larger city’s around the world. But since my last e-mail conversation with a so-called and Ahh-so-important Charge des Press of the Chaine UAE I lost all my admiration of even come close to this club. It seems to me there is an all secrecy about their activity; almost like Illuminati of Angels and Demons.Mind you; conversation and style is all in French but perhaps 90% not even understand that language! During the dinner they even had a photographer and we where told we can access the images true their website. When I did this and accesses the gallery I was prompted to sign up to gain access which I did. Surely enough I received an e-mail of the Charge des Press that I was activated. Looking at the images I noticed there where only two or three food shots and rest showed some grim looking old group of people on the pisch wearing some brightly colored medals, like champions of the night! As I was asked if I was a member of the Chaine I replied that I was not a member and seconds later received this: “Sorry - I have deactivated you. All information on the CHAINE website is ©.”  What did you think Mr. Shepley; that I will download any of this group photos and paste it in my Resume?? WOW, that would be cool.

Anyway; this had to be said, this was my five minutes of rant. After all that work which went into this evening. Enjoy my pictures; without the retiree’s!

Willi and his foam, notes from Hilary

Quail Eggs and some Fois Gras

Tuna and Service on a fly

Kitchen action and the Main Course

Dessert preparation and Petite Fours

Jumeirah Group supporting Dubai Autism Center, a Charity Organisation, held yesterday a Cake Auction at Mercato Shopping Mall. All proceeds of this auction where donated to this Charity. Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Emirates Tower and Bab Al Shams combined produced 3000 cakes! over the past few days, piled up in a huge pyramid to be sold for AED 30.00.

Madinat Jumeirah’s three hotels, Mina A’Salam, Al Qasr and Dar Al Masayef produced 1300 cakes in our Convention Center Pastry Kitchen under the leadership of Chef Sebastiaan, the flying Dutch! Due to the huge logistic task we had to produce the cakes well in advance; after all, we still had to pack all those cakes in our specially made cake boxes produced by SystemPackin Adjman.

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It’s really getting hot here in Dubai; hot and humid. One just does not like to get out of the house that hot it is! In such a climate I do not like to eat too heavy, more fruits and fruit based dishes. Luckily there where some great Pineapples from South Africa in the market, fantastic pink Grapefruits and ripe Bananas. I love bananas, ripe to over ripe yellow bananas. I prepared therefore Financiers with Pineapple, Bananas, ground Almond and burned Butter. Taking those out of the oven the entire house smelled wonderfully of fresh baked Financier. Cooking the Pineapple in a broth of white wine, honey, sugar and lime zest underlined the Pineapple junks with a prickly zest of the wine and Lime.

Ingredients for Financier:

400 gram Almond Powder
150 gram Icing Sugar
100 gram Banana Puree
120 gram Pineapple cubes
140 gram Egg white
050 gram Flour
035 gram Baking Powder
110 gram Butter, burned brown

Method:

Combine the Almond powder with Icing sugar, flour and baking powder. Add the purees and egg white and mix smooth. Fill into small muffin moulds and bake at 180 Celsius until golden brown. Immediately when taking out of the oven pour the browned butter over the Financier until all is absorbed. Set aside to cool completely. Dust with some icing sugar.

Ingredients for Salad:

1 ripe Pineapple
2 Pink Grapefruits
1 Lime
300 gram White Wine
200 gram Water
125 gram Sugar
100 gram Honey
Vanilla

Method:

Bring the wine and water to the boil, add sugar, honey and lime zest with vanilla and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the Pineapple junks and simmer for 20 minutes until tender. Add the Grapefruit segments when cold.

Serve with Ice Cream

Ever since living all these years abroad, away from my country where I grew up; I start to remember the variety of food I had in my youth. As a child one of the treats where those “Mohrenchopf” in colored aluminum foils I vividly remember. I have not eaten those delicious sweets in all those years and when my good friend P made a trip back to Switzerland I asked him to get me some “Mohrenchopf”, exactly the ones I used to get as a child. To my delight the family owned company still existed and P brought me a four pack.

Basically the sweets are made of sugar, glucose, fruit sugar and egg white. The molten sugar is mixed with the fruit sugar and glucose and boiled to syrup. Then it will be mixed with eggsnow and as a meringue piped onto wafers. The whole is then covered with a thin layer of chocolate and set aside to rest before being covered in a protective alu foil.

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The company was founded by Theodor Ammann in 1949 during a difficult time since the Second World War finished four years before. With some borrowed money he started in a cellar in Konolfingen, Switzerland to produce with home made machines the sweets known to so many Swiss. Until the year 1959 all was made purely by hand; piping and covering with chocolate. As the business grew, machines had to replace time consuming hand work to cater the demand. In 1965 a new production facility was opened in Heimberg, the current production origin.
Today Chocolat Ammann AG is producing close to 300’000 “Mohrenkoenig” every day! 60 years in business and in hearts of many Swiss; quality prevails. I can’t wait to visit the production facility on my next trip to Switzerland.

CHOCOLAT AMMANN AG
Schulgässli 23
3627 Heimberg
Tel: +41 (0)33 439 0 440
Fax: +41(0)33 439 0 441
info@ammannag.ch

Pot au chocolat

There must be a variety of chocolate desserts; myself have a folder with hundreds of recipes. However one of my favorite desserts has to be “Pot au Chocolat”, a classic French dessert with very few ingredients. Since I used rather delicate glassware and not ceramic dishes, I decided to cook the “Pot au Chocolat” in a cold oven over a period of 4 hours. At 52 Celsius Eggs do set, therefore I cooked the glasses at 60 Celsius in a water bath.  I used Valrhona’s Guanaja 70% cocoa, a strong but fruity chocolate with a long taste.

Ingredients:

250 gram Valrhona Guanaja Chocolate 70%
500 gram Single Cream 35%
130 gram Milk, full
060 gram Espresso coffee
100 gram Eggs, whole
Pinch salt, pepper

Preparation:

Bring the milk and cream to the boil, add the chocolate and stir until melted. Pour into creamed eggs and season with little salt and pepper. Pour into glasses and poach in water bath at 60 Celsius for 4 hours. Remove from the oven and set in chiller to set.

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Juliana & Crepe Suzette

The other day I was invited to Rostang’s at the Atlantis on the Palm for dinner with friends. The food was brilliant and I promised myself to return for a lunch to sample the food even more. Luckily the same set menu was on offering for lunch as for dinner which represents good value and selection from the a la carte menu.

The tomato tart was excellent; crispy from the puff pastry and sweet from the ripe tomatoes with some real good flavor of the cheese and pesto. 

The Rostang Burger is maybe not what you expect; consisting of beef and veal on potato roesti, Fois Gras and Duck terrine with shallots but equally great in flavors and taste!

Perhaps the cheese, even though good in selection the portions where tiny and nothing to compare with the rest of the desserts like the Crepe Suzette prepared on the table. For sure I will choose another course instead of the cheese.

Rostang, The French Brasserie: Michel Rostang brings his inimitable style to this opulent setting. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in a traditional French brasserie with a modern twist. A traditional French patisserie serves fresh home-baked pastries and breads with coffee in the morning and warm baguettes and other speciality sandwiches throughout the day. A wine display and raw bar adjacent to the kitchen offers a lavish presentation of oysters, prawns, mussels, crab claws and scallops, all of which complement modern French cooking. The bar offers classic French drinks such as Pastis, Menthe à L’eau, Ricard, Chartreuse, Cognac and Armagnac, amongst others. French national beers are served on tap, complemented by a selection of strong, Belgian bottled beers.

Atlantis, Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai
Tel: 04 426 2626

Cuisine: French
Times: 12 noon–3pm, 6.30pm–10.30pm daily

The other day I had a small class at work on how to shoot food with a point and shoot camera. Most thought It cannot be possible to take great shots with such a camera like Cybershot or a Lumix. If the setting is right, natural light and manual settings of aperture and exposure timing all can be done. I was shooting those pictures with of course my Panasonic Lumix DMC LX3, manual, natural light. My advise; never use flash in food photography when using such cameras and always set the ISO low. Use natural light so that the shadow is in front of the image.

Kumquat

Kumquat

Fennel