Electrolux masterclass: Peter Gilmore's festive Christmas menu

At a month away, it's certainly not too early to be talking Christmas. But who has thought about Christmas dinner or lunch menus as yet?

Fear not, Peter Gilmore,  Electrolux cooking ambassador and executive chef of three-hatted Quay Restaurant, is happy to share some tips for stress-free (or at least stress-reduced) Christmas cooking.

Peter Gilmore for the Electrolux Masterclass, Quay Restaurant, Circular Quay

To me, Christmas food is synonymous with sunshine, children's laughter, water fights, the ripping of wrapping paper and a little bit of indulgence. So whether it's the full roast, a seafood feast or outdoor barbeque, the quintessential Australian Christmas lunch is less about the food than the company and surroundings.

Peter Gilmore preparing live marron

Nonetheless, Gilmore's festive season menu is relatively simple and all about letting our gorgeous local produce feature. Gilmore thinks roast turkey is boring, but he reasons that our summer Christmas is prime for devouring our excellent seafood choices.

With marron - best bought live, placed in iced water to induce a "coma" and killed swiftly with a knife down the middle of the head - it's such a beautiful and uniquely Australian crustacean that little needs to be done to it.

Fresh water marron with herb butter, aioli, young leaf and flower salad

Gilmore grilled the halved marron in a non-stick pan and served them with an exquisite herb butter comprising parsley, chervil and chives and Gilmore's favoured Girgar Danish-style Australian cultured butter.

Lobster and scampi are also ideal in this fashion, although the latter is difficult to source live, says Gilmore.

Alongside was a simply dressed micro herb, French breakfast radish and flower salad, in a naturalistic style that has become Quay's signature.

The result was a swoon-worthy dish: sweet with the freshness of the marron, boosted into uber-luxe territory with the herb butter, and brought back to earth with the refreshing salad.

Roasted rib of Angus beef

For the main meal, Gilmore had a huge roasted rib of Rangers Valley grain-fed Angus beef, sourced from Vic's Meats, ready and resting.

In the Electrolux convection oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celcius, and then two hours at 150 degrees Celcius, the meat is cooked to a medium-rare when the internal temperature reaches 60 degrees Celcius.

Gilmore highly recommends a meat thermometer when it comes to roasting meats, as well as appropriate resting time for the meat - in this case, about 30 minutes under loosely-wrapped foil before 10 minutes' reheating ahead of serving.

Gilmore whisking a Bèarnaise sauce

Meanwhile, an array of young baby vegetables - orange and purple carrots, turnips, spring onions, asparagus, radishes, cauliflower, leeks -were steamed, and Bèarnaise sauce made from scratch.

Gilmore says that whisking Bèarnaise is an ideal job for two people: a whisker and a pourer of butter at precisely 60 degrees Celcius. Egg yolks, white wine vinegar, white wine and eschallots are whisked over simmering water, while melted butter and lemon juice are added slowly while whisking to an ideal texture.

Described as a "labour of love" by Gilmore, he says whisking too hard or too fast can split the sauce, which is definitely not what you want half an hour before Christmas lunch.

Potato and truffle gratin (back, left) and roasted rib of Angus beef

Prepared earlier was the most heavenly potato bake - already one of my favourite side dishes but pimped up via the addition of truffle, and probably a lot more cream and butter than I'd use at home.

But it's Christmas after all, and there's no better date in the year for a spot of indulgence.

Roasted rib of prime Angus beef with young steamed vegetables,potato and truffle gratin
and classic Bèarnaise sauce

Also served with a beef jus, it was traditional Christmas on a plate with a few improvements and some of the best meat money can buy. I'm dreaming, not of a white Christmas, but that potato and truffle gratin still.

Christmas pudding ice cream (left) and caramelised figs

The festive dessert that Gilmore had prepared is probably the recipe I'll most likely attempt, although I'd be using store-bought ice cream, not the vanilla bean and amaretto enriched ice cream that we had here.

With crumbled dark Christmas pudding frozen into a terrine of ice cream, this was only the beginning of the decadence.

Gilmore ran through the basics and dangers of caramel, producing a deeply tanned version in minutes, then adding halved fresh figs to the fold. Basted in caramel, the figs were allowed to set and harden a little before becoming the star on the tree that was Christmas pudding ice cream.

Christmas pudding ice cream with caramelised fresh figs

But there was more: fresh raspberries, crunchy caramelised almonds and a light 'snow' covering of icing sugar. Not being the hugest fan of Christmas cake, this was the most amazing version of it that I could possibly imagine.

Festive table setting for Electrolux Masterclass at Quay

Peter Gilmore's tips for taking the stress out of festive cooking while still impressing guests with a restaurant quality menu:

1. Plan ahead for the festive season menu. Try to do as much as possible the day before so it is not too stressful on the day.
2. Include dishes on your menu that can be made a few days ahead of time.
3. Using high quality seasonal ingredients means you can do less preparation and yet achieve spectacular results.
4. Incorporating a little tradition in a modern way has the effect of maintaining the essence of Christmas but making it new and exciting.
5. Using the right kitchen appliances, such as the Electrolux Compact Combination Steam Oven or the Electrolux Induction Cooktop, will help you save time, create less of a mess and take the heat out of the kitchen.
6. The resting of a large piece of meat is just as important as the correct cooking. Carving a piece of meat too soon may result in losing all of the precious juices.
7. Using a small amount of a luxury ingredient like fresh truffles really gives your festive menu a sense of occasion.

White sourdough bread and butter

Following Gilmore's demonstration of his festive season menu, we were treated to a five-course degustation dinner in the upstairs private dining room of Quay. Christmas had indeed come early.

Salad of preserved wild cherries, albino and chioggia beetroots,
treviso, crème fraiche, black truffle, violets

Starting on red with the 2010 Margan White Label Barbera matched wine, the exotic salad to start had a spring forest feel to it and was all about texture.

Soft yellow beetroot contrasted with insanely crisp bread dyed beet crimson, while crème fraiche softened the almost harsh tartness of the preserved cherries.

Congee of northern Australian mud crab, fresh palm heart, egg yolk emulsion

I was pretty excited to be served the mud crab congee next, with the 2010 Red Claw Chardonnay matched to the abundant crab flesh. It was watery for a congee, but with exceptional depth in sea flavours and made rich with the bright yellow egg yolk emulsion.

Smoked and confit pig cheek, shiitake, scallop, jerusalem artichoke leaves, juniper, bay

The internal excitement continued with the smoked and confit pork jowl dish, garnished with deep fried jerusalem artichoke skins I remember from last time.

Also layered atop the meltingly soft pork were two of my favourite things: barely-cooked scallop and mushrooms of the shiitake variety - both thinly sliced.

Served with my favourite wine of the night, the 2010 Sticks Pinot Noir, the delicate textures of the mushroom and scallop were the perfect accompaniment to the boldly smoky pork.

Poached fillet of pasture raised veal fillet, parsnip cream, roasted grains, mushrooms

And the food and wine kept coming; namely the big 2010 Two Hands Gnarly Dude Shiraz matched with a poched veal fillet.

The ridiculously tender meat was served on ridiculously creamy parsnip cream, with mushrooms and crisply puffed, roasted assorted grains on top, and just sneaking in to be my favourite dish of the night.

Jersey cream, salted caramel, prunes, walnuts, ethereal sheets

I was honestly thankful for what looked like a small, light dessert, but like everyone else, completely smitten with the 'ethereal sheets' that topped the jersey cream and blobs of salted caramel and prunes.

Crisp but impossibly thin, the sheets of milk, white and dark chocolate, and toffee / praline / brittle (I think) were a delight to look at and consume with a bit of everything beneath too. The golden brown Campbells Classic Topaque was a weighty sticky to end the meal.

First Christmas present - thanks Open Haus!

With tutelage from one of the nation's best chefs and that stunning degustation in mind, I'm more than ready for Christmas now.

See full recipes here and more photos from the Electrolux Masterclass on my Facebook page.

Food, booze and shoes attended the Electrolux Masterclass at Quay as a guest, with thanks to Open Haus.

Young chefs and waiters Whet Your Appetite

In an industry that’s already doing it tough, spare a thought for the younger generation of hospitality that hasn’t necessarily worked through the good times and yet are still giving up their social lives to be part of the industry that feeds us.

Young chefs and front-of-house staff, essentially the next generation of restaurateurs, are celebrated in the Electrolux Appetite for Excellence national awards program, which is focused on the younger hospitality-working generation.

Jay Lee (Mosaic Restaurant) and Sarah Knights (Uccello) at work for the
Electrolux Appetite for Excellence ‘Whet Your Appetite’ pop-up dinner,
Electrolux showroom, Mascot

With a judging line-up of esteemed Australian chefs and restaurateurs, Appetite for Excellence is a globally-recognised program that culminates in an industry awards night and winners participating in further educational and competitive arenas.

Plating dishes for the Whet Your Appetite dinner

Ahead of the 2012 awards night, Appetite for Excellence finalists staged a pop-up restaurant at the Electrolux showroom in Mascot; an aptly-named precursor called ‘Whet Your Appetite’ showcasing the skills of a number of program finalists.

Small Acres ‘Cyder’

Attendees were started on Young Henrys’ Newtown-made natural lager or Small Acres dry sparkling ‘Cyder’ from Orange in the airy Electrolux space, with the open kitchen revealing some very in-control chefs. Finalists in the Young Waiters category trawled the floor, topping up and chatting with guests.

We had the pleasure of conversation with Alexander Tuckett from Pilu at Freshwater, whose easy-going and personable nature seemed made for a restaurant floor and less so for a rugby field.

Shortcrust tart of veal, apple and watercress

Canapés doing the rounds included an audible veal tart with apple and presumably pop rocks-amid a vivid green watercress puree.

There was also a completely scoff-worthy Scotch egg of smoked eel and quail that didn’t last long enough for a picture.

Pulled rabbit, pear chutney, brioche

The brioche sandwich of pulled rabbit and pear chutney might well have been my first taste of rabbit, but it was an utterly divine and well-balanced couple of mouthfuls.

Fish and chips, tartare sauce

Sitting down to the two long tables set up in the showroom, we had fish and chips like never before: in a long, cracker shape served with a spot-on tartare sauce.

There were deep-fried crumbs, a familiar fishiness and powdered mash potato in the mix somewhere that completely turned fish and chips on its appetiser head.

Beetroot cured ocean trout, horseradish mayonnaise, fennel salad and dill kipfler potatoes

Two white wines accompanied our striking entrée: a 2011 Helm Riesling and an all-natural Dandy in the Clos ‘no boundaries’ which had to have been a blend of Hunter Valley whites. The latter was impressively fruity on the nose and acidic at first taste but I gradually warmed to it over the dry Riesling.

The shared platter salad featured a bed of sliced fennel, with beet crimson-dyed ocean trout pieces scattered about, all dressed with a zingy horseradish mayonnaise. There were also quenelles of dill-heavy crushed potato, bulking out the salad in style.

Pot roast pork neck with lotus root, sweet potato and wilted greens

There was some disbelief partnered with excitement when the main platters arrived to the table, accompanied with either the 2007 Even Keel Merlot or 2010 Eden Road “The Long Road” Shiraz. The size of the pork neck pieces was incredible and would have sated any carnivorous appetite.

Pot roast pork neck with wilted greens and jus

I landed myself a mega-sized portion, with ginger stir-fried Chinese greens trying to offset the meat ratio.

Thin chips of sweet potato and lotus root, the latter gorgeously decorative, added colour and texture to the well-caramelised, tender pork neck – although there was some variation in doneness between pieces, in addition to the variable sizes.

Chatter up and down the long tables was at a highly friendly level, as six varieties of booze might hint at, while project director Phee Gardner stopped by for a chat about the program and the finalists that she’s obviously very proud of.

Roasted grain ice cream with pancetta powder, parmesan and sweet persimmon

The room’s noise level seemed to come down noticeably for desserts, with all and sundry intrigued with the ice cream that arrived beneath a shower of grated parmesan cheese – although my serving was more like a storm than a light sprinkle of cheese.

Appropriately served with a none-too-sweet (for a sticky, anyway) 2010 Lark Hill Auslese Riesling, the soft roasted grain ice cream hid a mild persimmon compote and was garnished with dried persimmon bits and a savoury crumb featuring pancetta, in addition to the cheese.

I felt that the cheese overwhelmed the dessert, which could have used a lot more sweetness to combat the unusual and various savoury components.

At the night’s end, it was lovely to acknowledge all the young faces in the kitchen and on the floor and wish them well for the program – they’d certainly whet my appetite for watching their promising futures ahead.

Food, booze and shoes attended the Whet Your Appetite event as a guest, with thanks to Sarah Mason PR.

Electrolux winter produce masterclass at Quay with Peter Gilmore

As the nights get decidedly cooler and dark so early with daylight savings gone, the realisation that winter is on its way doesn't warm me like it does those who get excited about boots, coats and mittens.

Hopefully, though, it means more time in the kitchen: taking out warm baked goodies from the oven or hovering above simmering pots on the stove.

And rather than pulling out the same old winter puddings and stews, Electrolux Cooking Ambassador and executive chef at Quay Restaurant, Peter Gilmore is encouraging home cooks to experiment with new winter ingredients and bring some his renowned innovation into the home kitchen.

Chef Peter Gilmore with a truffle at the Electrolux winter produce masterclass,
Quay Restaurant, Circular Quay

I was feeling a bit special having been invited to an Electrolux winter produce masterclass at Quay; one of the country's best restaurants (and currently ranked 29th on the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list just recently, down from 26th last year), where we started on Bollinger champagne overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Electrolux has an impressive lineup of spokepeople; essentially the crème de la crème of their respective industries. Alongside chef Tetsuya Wakuda, Gilmore is an ambassador for the Electrolux cooking range whereas designer Alex Perry is an ambassador for their laundry range.

In this intimate masterclass, a captive audience watched on as Gilmore prepped various winter ingredients for two dishes in the demonstration kitchen kitted out with Electrolux appliances, upstairs from the restaurant.

Gilmore removing skins from steamed Jerusalem artichokes

Some of Gilmore's personal favourite winter ingredients include mushrooms, artichokes, hazelnuts and cauliflower, and we were going to be tasting all these in two recipes.

The first featured shitake and chestnut mushrooms sauteed in cumin-infused butter. The large shitake mushrooms were sliced horizontally and thinly, which Gilmore believes changes the fungus' texture to something almost like abalone. Only the caps of the chestnut mushrooms are used as Gilmore says the the stalks can be inedible.

The incredible use of Jerusalem artichoke skins and not the flesh utilised the Electrolux Compact Combination Steam Oven to soften the tuber, before scooping out the flesh and then drying and deep frying the skins to a crisp.

Savoury Gouda custard with autumn mushrooms, Jerusalem artichokes and hazelnuts

Other than a hiccup involving over-toasted hazelnuts on the Electrolux Induction Cooktop, a picturesque vegetarian entree was served with a subtle aged Gouda custard that Gilmore described as "a posh quiche without pastry" topped with a forest floor of gorgeous winter produce.

Every mouthful was a taste of the cooler seasons, even the thin shavings of summer truffle. The artichoke skins had the most sensational nuttiness that I'll remember for ages, playing along with the varied textures of the buttery mushrooms and the perfectly toasted whole hazelnuts.

The balance of flavours and textures was really unlike anything I've tried before - I could start to see why Quay receives the accolades that it does.

Gilmore demonstrates a cartouche

The next demonstration featured Sydney's favourite dish of pork belly, which had been poached in stock for eight hours and then pressed in the fridge to form the most uniformly perfect blocks of pork you're ever likely to see.

To serve with the pork, which was about to become crisp skinned, was a combination of cauliflower puree and prunes cooked in Pedro Ximénez sherry. Cauliflowers are best in autumn and winter and Gilmore showed us a way to prepare a puree, which could also be applied to other vegetables.

Eschallots and garlic join a good whack of butter in a pan, to which chopped up cauliflower is added. It's then simmered till the vegies are soft and blitzed with cream and another whack of butter. "You only have a little bit of the puree, so you may as well go for it," says Gilmore of the butter content.

Pork belly

As for the pork belly, the poached and now dry portions go skin down in a non-stick pan without oil, as there's plenty enough natural fat in the belly. Gilmore puts a small flat metal tray on top of the portions and weights them down with another fry pan on top.

This actually went into the oven, and not on the induction top as the recipe instructs, so I guess either form of heat works. The end result was the impressive gold topped bricks of belly seen above - showing that even in small sizes, pork crackling isn't that hard to achieve.

Slow braised crisp skinned pork belly with prunes, sherry and cauliflower cream

The end dish, served on some divinely beautiful crockery, featured a small dollop of the cauliflower puree, a prune and the pork belly brick. The puree tasted like butter with a bit of cauliflower, though it was well offset by the sweet pitted prune.

A bit of everything with the pork was definitely the way to go, with the succulent flesh almost outshining the pork crackling which is texturally a little different to straight roasted crackling.

Table setting

After our two winter produce dishes, we were treated to a special five-course degustation dinner at a sumptious table setting, overlooking the Opera House on one side and the Harbour Bridge on the other. It's about the most Sydney of all Sydney function spaces up here.

The knowledgable, swift and friendly service was impeccable throughout the night, announcing wines and dishes for the benefit of the entire table. We started with crunchy-crusted organic white Sonoma sourdough and attacked those stunning quenelles of butter set on the table.

Salad of rhubarb, endive, beetroot, purple carrot, rosa radish, kohlrabi,
goat's curd, pomegranate molasses, violet

I was in awe all over again with the first dish of our degustation - the presentation of the salad simply breathtaking in its nature-based perfectionism, even though I'm not a fan of eating flowers.

This salad of vegetable shavings was served on a deep red bed of pomegranate molasses crumbs, with varying textures of the vegetables being a highlight.

With some of the vegetables pickled and dabs of goat's curd hidden beneath, the organic and biodynamic 2010 Pennyweight Gamay was an appropriate pairing with some difficult flavours.

Gently poached Southern rock lobster, hand caught Tasmanian squid,
golden tapioca, lobster velvet

The next dish was about the most glorious thing I've eaten - definitely this year, and possibly ever. As the dish landed on the table, we were advised that it was ready for eating immediately and without delay, as the lobster velvet was at the perfect temperature.

The golden tapioca, so much resembling salmon roe, added plenty to the look of luxe, but also in terms of taste having taken on a bisque-y shellfish flavour in addition to its luminosity. The organic 2010 Krinklewood Chardonnay was matched to bring out more of the crustacean flavours.

Opaque, paper-thin slices of both the Southern rock lobster and giant squid alternated to cover a pale, airy, steamed ball that was the lobster velvet. It was delicate against the more flavoursome squid and lobster sheets, which were differentiated by texture, shape and flavour and both simply divine.

Roasted partridge breast, steamed truffle brioche, confit egg yolk,
new season white walnuts, fumet of vin jaune

There were no pear trees with this partridge - my first time eating this game bird. The roasted breast was probably on the rarer side of cooked; the texture nothing like any cooked bird I've previously tried and a little gamey in taste.

The new season white walnuts - apparently only available two weeks a year - were the perfect accompaniment with their crunch and rather delicate nuttiness. A few more truffle shavings completed this very autumnal picture.

The steamed truffle brioche looked the part on the plate but was not one of my favourite components; its texture a bit too wet and eggy for my liking. The partridge dish was paired with 2010 Thick As Thieves Nebbiolo, which was one of my favourite drops of the night.

Poached wagyu beef, oxtail, morel, black pudding, farro, buckwheat, hazelnut,
Ezekiel crumbs

There was a bit of a pause between the partridge and the next dish, and given we'd had a few extra dishes to start, I could have been fooled that we were up to dessert - though the 2009 Caillard Mataro pairing should have given it away.

While there was chocolate involved, this was our final savoury dish of poached wagyu beef with a 9+ marble score. It was coated with crumbs of Ezekiel bread - bread of a number of sprouted grains which comes from a mention in the bible (Ezekiel 4:9) - and topped with toasted farro, buckwheat and hazelnuts.

The sauce of black pudding and chocolate was a surprise, as too the beef which wasn't nearly as buttery with fat as I would have expected, but it was a harmonious combination of beef, grains and black pudding.

Nitrogen frozen vanilla mousse, fresh mangosteen, custard apple,
feijoa ice cream, cocnut cream

For dessert proper, we were in for a treat which I think was yet to make the Quay menu. It was a dessert with plenty going on, but all of it good. Featuring both mangosteen and custard apple - gorgeous tropical fruits - the crumbled, nitrogen frozen, vanilla bean-speckled mousse was a new and slightly bizarre texture.

Frozen shards of pomelo were added for tartness while I was apprehensive about the feijoa ice cream. My prior experiences with feijoa have been of the alcoholic variety and I just haven't enjoyed what I think is an artificial almond flavour of the fruit popular New Zealand.

This ice cream, however, had a faint feijoa flavour masked by sweetness and was surprisingly enjoyable with the creamy vanilla flavours. Served with the floral perfumed 2011 Brangayne Late Harvest Reisling, this dessert was the ultimate ending to a wonderful evening of exquisite food and wine.

Petit fours from Quay

And as if the evening of Bollinger, Peter Gilmore masterclasses, and five courses at Quay with matching wine wasn't enough, we got a ride home while clutching Gilmore's stunning book Quay: Food Inspired by Nature and chocolate petit fours. Without doubt a night of indulgence and luxury that I'll remember for many winters to come.

See the winter produce demonstration recipes by Peter Gilmore at the Electrolux website.

Food, booze and shoes attended the Electrolux winter produce masterclass at Quay with Peter Gilmore as a guest, with thanks to Open Haus.