Tag Archives: Tasty

Cuba Libré With a Twist


CUBA LIBRÉ MOLECULAR SHOT

This was so much fun to make and not hard at all, the longest part was waiting for the rum too cool to room temperature. These are also great to impress you guests. I will attach two links to websites that I use quite regularly one being The Red Spoon Company (This is a great site for the food additives, cooking equipment and ingredients). The other site is Molēcule-R (These guys do great little kits for people who want to have a go at molecular gastronomy).

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INGREDIENTS

– 300ml White Rum

– 300ml of Water

– 500ml of Distilled Water

– 400ml Of Your Favorite Cola

– 2Tbsp Caster sugar

– 1g Xanthan Gum

– 2.5g Calcium Chloride

– 2g Sodium Alginate

– 1 Pipette or Caviar Maker

– 1 Spherification or Slotted Spoon

– 1 Shot Glass (Preferably Clear)

METHOD

You are going to need three bowls or containers to start. In the first bowl place the xanthan gum and the caster sugar and mix to combine. Next add the water and the rum. Blitz with a hand blender, cover and refrigerate for 60 minutes. In the second bowl pour the cola into another bowl and add the sodium alginate. Blitz with a hand blender and set aside for three minutes. In the last bowl you want to make a calcium chloride bath and to do this is quite simple, add the distilled water and calcium chloride and stir to combine.

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Now comes the fun part, grab the two bowls with the cola in it and the calcium bath. Grab your pipette or caviar maker and extract the cola mixture. Next you want to drip the cola mixture into the calcium bath. Keep dripping the more you make the better your shot will look. Once you think you have enough, stir the pearls with a spoon to loosen them up.

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Presentation. Get a big scoop of the pearls with your spherification spoon or slotted spoon and tip carefully into a shot glass. Take the Rum mixture out of the fridge and into a measuring jug (it just makes it easier to pour). Pour the mixture into the shot glass and boom! You have yourself a molecular Cuba Libré shot. Enjoy 🙂

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Full credit to the guys and gals over at MOLECULE-R Flavors on youtube. Below is a link to a video on how to make the shot also.

Experiment Day 1


LAMB BRAINS, SWEET BREADS AND CALF LIVER

What can I say other than this was fun! I am all for trying new things so when my cooking buddy suggested that we try a recipe from “The Complete Nose to Tail” by Fergus Henderson and Justin Piers Gellatly I knew what we were in for.  So when Matt said we should try lambs brains I thought why the hell not. Then off we went to Torre Butcher in Northbridge, Perth. These guys are awesome, we were expecting the offal to be frozen but it all came out fresh which made it even better.

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INGREDIENTS

– 2 Onions, Peeled

– 2 Carrots, Peeled

– 2 Leeks, Peeled

– 2 Sticks of Celery

– 1 Whole Head of Garlic

– Black Peppercorns

– Bay Leaf

– A Bundle of Fresh Herbs

– 6 Lamb Brains, Rinsed in Cold Water

– Plain Flour, Season with Salt and Pepper

– 4 Eggs

– Fine Dry Bread Crumbs

– Vegetable Oil for Deep Frying

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METHOD

Place all stock, vegetables and herbs into a pot of water and bring to a simmer for fifteen minutes. Gently lower the lamb brains into the pot, let them gently cook for six minutes. Remove the brains with a slotted spoon and leave to cool on a tray. When they have cooled enough and have gone firm you are then to separate the lobes.

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Meanwhile prepare 3 bowls. The first with the seasoned flour, the second with the egg whisked and the third with the bread crumbs. Then you want to heat the oil in a pot – you don’t want to let the brains get to soggy.

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Next you want to dip the brains into the flour, then the egg, into the breadcrumbs and then onto a plate lined with paper towel ready for frying. Once you have completed crumbing the brains and the oil is hot, pop them in until crisp. This will take a matter of minutes. Drain on a paper towel and serve hot with your desired sauce. We had them with some Home Cooked Heston spicy ketchup and lemon wedges.

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New to the Home Cooked Heston Blog is beer matching. My good friends at Mane Liquor here in Perth are going to start matching the beer and my cooking buddy Matt Power will be matching the wine. I will make a new category for the different types of beer and wine to match different foods. This week for the brains they have matched La Sirène Wild Saison and the Cullen Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2008

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Lastly because it was an experiment day, we also tried sweet breads, which we crumbed and deep fried some calf liver which we sautéed in a hot pan with some lemon juice and some of Torre’s nice big Italian pork sausages which were tasty.

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Full credit for the brains recipe to Fergus Henderson and Justin Piers Gellatly. Credit to Australian Wine Journal Blog for the Cullen photo I forgot to take one.

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PS. This book will be the death of me!