Author Archives: Home Cooked Heston

Vasse Felix 2018


VASSE FELIX 2018

On June 14th I took the wife down south for a little birthday get away, since our birthdays are one day apart.  tThe main highlight for us both was having lunch at Vasse Felix. This year has seen Vasse take on a new head Chef Brendan Pratt who might I add was a chef at the famous restaurant The Ledbury and also at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck! Vasse also has this year been awarded with two chef hats with the only other restaurant in WA being Cullen. Below is the menu and what we ordered and.

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Vasse Felix 2018 Winter Menu

Entrée

My first course was the Scampi, Tomato, Chorizo, Radish

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Ems First was the Corn, Mushroom XO, Daikon, Wakame

Main Course

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For main I had the Pork, Eel, Eggplant, Miso. The standout dish for me this was freaking delicious.

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Ems second main was Beef, Davidson Plum, Beetroot, Hay

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Of course we had to have a side, this was Pumpkin, Miso, Laver. burnt crispy and nutty a wonderful side dish

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One of the best things I found out was that they do a wine of the month. the wine on offer was the 1991 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Last but not least was Dessert

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Rhubarb, Chocolate, Potato

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Mandarin, Honeycomb, Milk

We both highly recommend Vasse Felix to anyone. We enjoyed it that much that we will be back in August for another lunch!

Canelé


CANELÉ

I stumbled across these little bundles of goodness whilest on honeymoon in Bordeaux back last year in April and have not been able to find them since. It was a few months later that I found out that they originated in Bordeaux. When finally I found a place that makes them but to my misfortune, they were made at Tivoli Road Bakery all the way over in Melbourne. I then contacted them on where I could possible get the little copper mounds as it was becoming apparent that I was going to have to make them. They then told me about a little French antique place called Lily Pond. Since getting these little copper moulds there has been no coming back! This recipe is for sweet Canelé’s.

INGREDIENTS

– 370g Milk

– 37g Butter, Plus More For Greasing

– 188g Sugar

– 115g Bread Flour

– 50g Egg Yolk

– 40g Dark Rum

– 2g Salt

This will make about 24 small pastries

METHOD

1. Heat the milk and butter together in a small saucepan on medium-low heat until the butter is completely melted.

2. Place sugar, flour, egg yolk, rum, and salt into an electric mixer. Mix on the slowest speed, and slowly incorporate the warm milk and butter mixture. Mix for about a minute, or until smooth. You will have a very thin batter.

3. Melt the extra butter and brush it into cold moulds. Don’t be shy with the melted butter or you will be in a world of hurt later. Canelés can stick and are very hard to clean up after trust me. I freeze my moulds so when you brush the butter in you get a nice thick coating.

4. Fill the small canelé moulds with batter until you are about 1cm from the top of the mould, about four-fifths full.

5. Bake the small canelés at 200°C for 34 minutes in a convection oven. If they are not dark in colour after 34 minutes keep an eye on them and check every 3 minutes. You want them to be a real dark brown almost burnt in colour.

6. While the canelé moulds are still hot, grab each one with a towel or oven glove and bang it upside down on aboard as soon as possible this will release the pastry.

Removing the canelés quickly their moulds is crucial for two reasons. First off, if you allow the pastry to cool down inside the mould, they will quickly crystallize and stick to the mould. This means lots of cleaning or a small container which takes forever. Secondly, they cool down quickly and this will make them develop a much thicker and crunchier crust.

7. Allow them to cool completely and enjoy 😀

Recipe adapted from the guys at ChefSteps