This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

Restaurant Recipes From Three Of The Finest Dining Spots In NSW

Feeling A Bit Fancy? Try Cooking These 3 Amazing Recipes From NSW's Finest Restaurants
Circa 1876

If you fancy yourself a bit of a master chef or a serious food lover keen to expand your skills, it's time to put on your chef hat (a paper hat will do) and make these amazing recipes.

These savoury recipes hail from three fine dining restaurants in NSW: Salaryman and Flying Fish in Sydney and Circa 1876 in the Hunter Valley.

Ranging from easy to challenging, these recipes are perfect for impressing your friends and family.

Popcorn Prawns

From Flying Fish

What's better than fresh prawns? Prawns covered in popcorn. This ultimate finger food is simple to make and packs a flavour punch thanks to the sumac spice and creamy aioli.

Difficulty Level: Easy.

INGREDIENTS

  • 12 40g green prawns, peeled, tails removed
  • 12 bamboo skewers
  • 100g of good quality aioli
  • 100g of popcorn kernels
  • 1 tablespoon of sumac
  • 1 tablespoon of finely chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil

METHOD

  1. Massage prawns until the prawns become long and flat without any curve.
  2. Thread one prawn onto each skewer and set aside.
  3. Heat oil to a moderate temperature in a medium sized pot and add popcorn kernels. Place a lid over the top, turn down heat and allow five minutes for all the popcorn to pop.
  4. Place popcorn in a blender and blend until you have a powder. Combine the popcorn with the parsley and sumac.
  5. Grill the prawns in a flat pan until the prawn turn red all over. Brush them with the aioli while warm. To finish, roll the prawn in the popcorn mixture and serve.

Crayfish Chicken Wings

From Salaryman

If you thought chicken wings were just about chicken, you haven't tried these wings yet. Imagine chicken wings wrapped around crayfish and piped with a butter mixture and chicken and vegetable mousseline, which is then marinated and deep-fried to crispy perfection.

Difficulty Level: Moderate.

INGREDIENTS

  • 10 large chicken wings
  • 500g crayfish
  • 10 large sorrel leaves
  • Sea plant butter:

  • 200g unsalted butter
  • 30g samphire (sea asparagus)
  • 30g karkala (beach banana)
  • 30g sea blite
  • 20g diced eschallot
  • 10g capers
  • 10g Dijon mustard
  • 20g parsley, chopped
  • 20g chives, chopped
  • 5 fresh tarragon leaves chopped
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • Pinch cayenne pepper
  • Juice and zest of half a lemon
  • Juice and zest of half a lime
  • Sea salt
  • White pepper ground

Chicken mousseline:

  • 1 chicken breast
  • 50ml cream
  • 1 egg white
  • 20g finely diced carrot
  • 20g finely diced fennel
  • 20g finely diced onion
  • 20g finely diced celery
  • Pinch of cracked black pepper
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • Marinade:

  • 100ml buttermilk
  • 3g salt
  • 5g ground fennel seed
  • Seasoned flour:

  • 10g sweet paprika
  • 10g smoked paprika
  • 10g celery seed ground
  • 10g fennel seed ground
  • 7g salt
  • 3g ground black pepper
  • 3g ground white pepper

METHOD

  1. Debone the chicken wings, set aside. Cut the crayfish into ten 50 gram pieces. Wrap the crayfish with a large sorrel leaf. Place the crayfish inside the wing.
  2. Blend all the sea plant butter ingredients together and pipe into wings.
  3. For the mousseline, saute all diced vegetables until tender and allow to cool. Blend chicken, cream and egg white in a chilled food processor until smooth, and fold in vegetables. Pipe chicken mousseline mix into wings to seal the butter and crayfish.
  4. Combine marinade ingredients and place the chicken wings in the marinade.
  5. After two hours toss the wings in the flour mix and deep-fry for seven minutes at 160 degrees Celsius. Drain and serve.

Three Parts Duck

From Circa 1876

If you love duck, this dish is for you. Containing three duck elements, this recipe is not for the faint-hearted. The hard work will be worth it, in fact you'll practically be a Michelin starred chef once you complete this dish.

Difficulty Level: Difficult.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 duck breast, scored
  • 3 duck tongues
  • 30ml beef jus
  • 2 litres beef stock
  • 1 bouquet garni
  • 6 asparagus tips
  • 30g butter
  • 1 thinly sliced piece of jamon
  • 1 duck egg
  • 500ml duck fat
  • 2g fresh black truffle
  • 6 leaves of saltbush (lightly deep-fried)
  • 2 sourdough croutons

Truffle Foam:

  • 500g desiree potatoes
  • 4 tablespoons truffle paste
  • 125ml double cream
  • 25ml truffle oil
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 30ml starch water

METHOD

Truffle Foam:

  1. Peel and boil the potatoes until soft, strain and reserve 30ml of the starch water from the potatoes.
  2. Place the potatoes in a food processor and lightly blend with the starch water until smooth. Add the truffle paste, xanthan gum and then blend in the truffle oil and cream until smooth (the mix should be quite runny). Season to taste.
  3. Place the cream and potato mix into an ISI whipper or cream gun, add two charges and shake thoroughly. Warm the gun in hot water to 60 degrees Celsius before serving.

Duck:

  1. Braise the duck tongues in beef stock and bouquet garni at 90 degrees Celsius for three hours. Strain and set aside.
  2. Score the duck breast and set aside. Prepare the asparagus tips into even size pieces. Separate the yolk of the duck egg ready for cooking and warm the duck fat to 65 degrees.
  3. Lightly deep-fry the leaves of saltbush until transparent, remove and lightly season with sea salt.
  4. Shave the sourdough razor thin on a slicer, lightly toss in olive oil and place in oven on parchment paper at 170 degrees for seven minutes or until crisp and golden.
  5. Place the duck yolk into the warmed duck fat and slow cook for 8-10 mins.
  6. Pan sear the duck breast until a golden crispy skin forms, flip and seal the bottom of the breast for two minutes and place in the oven at 180 degrees for a further 4-5 minutes, depending on your desired temperature. Rest well before slicing.
  7. Reheat the duck tongues in a small amount of beef stock and beef jus if available. Cook asparagus on a low to medium heat in the butter until just soft.
  8. Once the duck is rested and the egg is ready, place the slice of jamon down on the plate and, in the centre, top with the truffle foam (enough to support the duck yolk and for the foam to resemble the white of a fried egg around the yolk) and two dots of foam on either side of the jamon.
  9. Strain the yolk from the duck fat and place in the centre of the truffle foam. Slice the duck breast into the desired size and amount (we slice 10 even slices), one on each dot of foam and then four slices layered evenly on each side of the duck egg. Place asparagus as desired. Shave the fresh truffle on top of the duck yolk and a little over the duck breast also. Place croutons as desired and evenly layer the saltbush in between the slices of duck and garnish with the duck tongues.
Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.