From the Kitchen - Beef and Lamb New Zealand

From the
Kitchen
Issue No. One I
February 2014
Welcome
...to the first edition of the Beef + Lamb New Zealand foodservice quarterly newsletter, containing
information for chefs on the latest beef and lamb trends and innovations. Each issue will feature
information on cuts, cooking methods and recipes from contributors within the industry.
In this issue we introduce you to our 2014 Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ambassador Chefs and profile the
special degustation lunch they served to foodwriters in January. We also highlight two cuts; brisket and
lamb short rib.
Enjoy.
2014 Beef and Lamb Excellence Awards
164 restaurants nationwide have been awarded the
2014 Beef and Lamb Excellence Award.
The Excellence Awards are designed to
acknowledge the exceptional combination of
talent and product we have in the New Zealand
restaurant industry.
Each award holder has a listing on the website
which is mobile compatible and provides a great
directory for diners looking for top quality
restaurants in their area.
The Excellence Awards also has a dedicated
Facebook page which we encourage you to like
and follow what is going on amongst our
Excellence Award restaurants on a daily basis.
If you would like to take part in the next Beef and
Lamb Excellence Awards you can register your
interest by emailing [email protected]
2014 Beef and Lamb Ambassador Chefs
Introducing our 2014 Beef and Lamb Ambassador Chefs:
Ben Batterbury from True South Dining Room at the Rees Hotel in Queenstown; Scott Kennedy from Nero
Restaurant in Palmerston North; Darren Wright from Chillingworth Road in Christchurch; Mikey Newlands
from Bracu Restaurant in Auckland and Ryan Tattersall from Cobar Restaurant in Wellington.
Ambassador Launch: Degustation Lunch
The 2014 Ambassador Chefs were revealed at an exclusive degustation lunch with 15 of the country’s
leading foodwriters in January. The lunch was held at the stunning Pah Homestead, a historic home, now
run as an art gallery in Auckland’s Mt Roskill.
In the elegant art-lined dining room each of the five chefs dished up one course of a beef and lamb
degustation menu showcasing their unique cuisine and styles.
On the following pages we profile our five Ambassador Chefs as well
as their dishes from the degustation lunch.
Meet Ben Batterbury
The True South Dining Room at the Rees Hotel in Queenstown
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Click here to watch Ben’s video
Ben has been the Head Chef at True South Dining
Room since 2009. Previous to this he held a
number of roles across UK restaurants. He trained
at Brunel College of Art & Technology between
1994 and 1996.
Ben has had a number of career highlights
including cooking at The James Beard House in
New York representing New Zealand, helping a chef
de partie from Lomonds in Scotland to win Young
Scottish Chef of the Year and involvement with the
Noosa Food Festival. This is Ben’s second year as a
Beef and Lamb Ambassador Chef.
“Being a chef is like a
disease you love to hate.”
Ben’s Degustation Dish
Reuben on Rye – Corned brisket, pickles, Russian dressing and
Swiss cheese
This dish is Ben’s take on a deconstructed Reuben sandwich. It
began from his desire to put corned beef on the menu. As he
searched for options, the Reuben sandwich from America popped
up and he liked the sound of the flavours.
The corned beef is made from beef brisket which is served warm
with coleslaw made with pickled red cabbage, Russian dressing
fluid gel (basically a Marie Rose sauce with horseradish),
homemade gherkins, dried rye bread crisps, Swiss cheese crisp
and a warm Swiss cheese espuma.
Meet Ryan Tattersall
Cobar Restaurant in Wellington I
Click here to watch Ryan’s video
Ryan is currently the Head Chef and Owner of
Cobar Restaurant. He trained at Waikato
Polytechnic in 2002 before moving on to a
variety of chef roles in England between 2004 and
2008, including Chef de Partie at The Swan Hotel,
Southwood, Pastry Chef at Restaurant Alimentum,
Cambridge, and Senior Sous Chef at Hotel Felix,
Cambridge.
In 2012 Ryan’s restaurant won the title of the
Beef and Lamb People’s Choice Award.
This is his first year as an Ambassador Chef.
“My food has come
a long way from
what I thought was cool
ten years ago.”
Ryan’s Degustation Dish
Spiced cannon of lamb and sweetbread, roasted kumara,
cauliflower and coconut puree, blueberry gel, spinach,
coriander and lamb jus
Ryan took inspiration from India for his dish, while keeping true to
his style of food. The lamb was lightly spiced with a mix
including fennel, fenugreek and mustard. He used two different
cuts of lamb; the loin and the sweetbread.
The lamb cannon had been sous vide, cooked at 51°C for 12 hours.
This gives the lamb the benefit of long slow cooking to make the
meat really tender while keeping it nice and pink. The loin along
with the sweetbreads, which have been blanched and peeled, got
a coating of the spice mix just before cooking.
Meet Darren Wright
Chillingworth Road in Christchurch
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Click here to watch Darren’s video
Darren is a four time Beef and Lamb Ambassador
Chef (2009, 2010, 2013, 2014). He began his
cooking career as a kitchenhand in Akaroa, after
completing his training at Christchurch Polytechnic.
For several years Darren and his wife Leanne
owned an award-winning restaurant, Harbour 71 in
Akaroa. The Christchurch earthquake temporarily
derailed their plans to open a restaurant in
central Christchurch, however in late 2012 they
finally opened Chillingworth Road, which is a
combination of a bar, elegant dining room, cook
school and kitchen store.
“My ambition is simple:
to continue to learn, grow
and develop my product.”
Darren’s Degustation Dish
Beef tartar, truffled brown butter mayonnaise, braised beef
cheek, radish and pickled mushroom
Darren had designed this dish specifically for the lunch, aiming to
complement the other dishes being presented.
He wanted to utilise both a prime and secondary cut. This dish
shows the best of both; the prime cut presents an incredibly
tender piece of meat which doesn’t need much done to it.
On the other extreme the secondary cut is more flavoursome and
work intensive, having been slow cooked for 48 hours.
Meet Scott Kennedy
Nero Restaurant in Palmerston North I Click here to watch Scott’s video
Scott’s culinary career has centred around the
Manawatu, where he began his training at
Periwinkles Restaurant in Palmerston North in the
late 1980s. He opened his own restaurant,
Vavasseur in Palmerston North, at the tender age of
21 and 10 years later opened his second and
current restaurant, Nero.
In the subsequent years, Nero has been
awarded the Manawatu Restaurant of the Year on
three occasions and has won the Manawatu Beef
Dish of the Year four times. This is Scott’s second
year as a Beef and Lamb Ambassador Chef.
“My cuisine is all about offering
the best of both worlds.”
Scott’s Degustation Dish
Braised short rib with a tamarind and orange glaze, lamb fillet
with a twice baked feta and wild thyme soufflé resting on a
caponata of Mediterranean vegetables.
Scott wanted to profile a slightly different secondary cut and
lamb short rib is one which is not seen often. He works closely
with his butcher around the products he uses and when Scott
suggested lamb short rib, his butcher thought it was great.
The cut has a lovely flavour, it’s a sweet meat on the bone and
when cooked correctly, tastes absolutely superb. Coupled with
the beautiful lamb fillet, it was an unbeatable combination. Scott
believes his dish illustrates how versatile and exquisite
New Zealand lamb really is.
Meet Mikey Newlands
Bracu Restaurant in Auckland
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Click here to watch Mikey’s video
Mikey has been the Head Chef at Bracu since 2011.
Prior to this he was the Sous Chef at The Grove in
Auckland and held a number of roles internationally
including London and Melbourne. Mikey trained at
Massey University between 2001 and 2002.
This is Mikey’s first time as a Beef and Lamb
Ambassador Chef.
“I would never see myself as
an artist but more an artisan.”
Mikey’s Degustation Dish
A bordelaise of Hawke’s Bay Wagyu striploin with a
grilled oyster
This was another visual feast featuring a beef striploin. Also
known as the sirloin, the striploin sits between the rib cage and
the rump. Coming from an area of the animal where the muscles
do less work, the sirloin is tender and flavourful.
Mikey says this is a showcase dish for a showcase product and all
he wanted to do was make the beef more like itself. He is a fan
of classic combinations and just wanted to lighten a classic up a
little. He added the oyster to bring salinity to the dish.
Spotlight on... Brisket
Ambassador Chef Recipe
Corned Beef
5kg brisket, fat removed
10 litres water
1kg salt
100g nitrate salt
750g brown sugar
20g star anise
30g peppercorns
15g cloves
10g fennel seeds
10g five spice
15 bay leaves
10g coriander seeds
10g mustard seeds
10g ginger powder
With a little bit of time and the correct cooking
method, even the least tender piece of meat can be
made palatable. Beef brisket is one of these cuts,
but can be made meltingly tender and flavoursome.
Fresh brisket is an inexpensive boneless cut that
requires long, slow cooking to break down the
collagen in the connective muscle tissues to achieve
tenderness. The brisket is located on the underside
of the animal below the chuck primal and is also
known as the breast meat.
Toast the spices and add to the brine. Leave to cool.
Submerge the beef into the brine and leave in the
fridge for 10 days.
After 10 days remove from brine and rinse meat
under cold water. Then, if available, vac-pac the
meat on maximum seal. Place bagged meat in a
water bath and cook at 80oC for 10 hrs. Place bag
of meat onto a tray and place another tray on top
with a weight on top.
Leave to press in fridge overnight. When chilled, cut
into 65g portions and re vac-pac with a little of the
cooking juice. Reheat at 56oC. (you can use an oven
set at 80oC with a deep tray of water in it and cook
your meat in this).
Recipe courtesy of Ben Batterbury. For the full ‘Reuben on Rye’ recipe click here.
Spotlight on... Lamb Short Rib
Pour the wine into a large saucepan set over
medium heat. When the wine is heated, carefully
set it aflame. Let the flames die out, then increase
the heat so that the wine boils; allow it to boil until
it cooks down by half. Remove from the heat.
Place a rack in the centre of a preheated oven
(180oC).
The lamb short rib comes from the forequarter,
after the breast flap is removed. Short ribs are rich
in flavour and when prepared correctly, are very
tender.
Ambassador Chef Recipe
Lamb Short Rib
6 Quality Mark lamb short ribs, trimmed
1 bottle Cabernet Sauvignon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
10 cloves garlic, peeled
8 large shallots, peeled, trimmed, rinsed, split, dried
2 carrots, peeled, trimmed, cut into 2.5 cm lengths
2 stalks celery, peeled, trimmed, cut into 2.5cm
lengths
1 medium leek, white and light green parts only,
coarsely chopped
6 sprigs Italian parsley
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 litres unsalted beef stock or chicken stock
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large casserole dish,
large enough to hold 6 ribs, over medium-high
heat. Season the ribs all over with salt and crushed
pepper. Sear the ribs in hot oil for 4 to 5 minutes on
each side, until well browned.
Transfer the browned ribs to a plate. Remove all
but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pot; lower the heat
to medium and toss in the vegetables and herbs.
Brown the vegetables lightly, 5 to 7 minutes, then
stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to
blend.
Add the reduced wine, browned ribs, and stock to
the pot. Bring to a boil, cover the pot tightly, and
slide it into the oven to braise for about
2.5 to 3 hours, or until the ribs are tender enough
to be easily pierced with a fork. Carefully transfer
the meat to a heated serving platter with a lip and
keep warm. Boil the pan liquid until it thickens and
reduces to approximately 1 litre. Season and pass
the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer. Discard
the contents of the strainer and retain the sauce, to
be used as a jus when
plating up.
Recipe courtesy of Scott Kennedy. For Scott’s special glaze recipe click here.
Snippets
This week saw the launch of our major advertising campaign for 2014. This is about why customers should
buy Quality Mark beef and lamb. The commercial is filmed in a butchery, fronted by our own CEO, Rod
Slater, a butcher by trade.
As a reminder, the Quality Mark (pictured below), which was established in 1997, is your assurance you are
getting lean beef and lamb that is New Zealand grown, free range, tender and processed under the
highest animal welfare standards.
To find out which wholesalers supply Quality Mark beef and lamb please click here.
Certified Quality
We hope you enjoyed the first issue of ‘From the Kitchen’. If you have any feedback for future issues or
any further questions on the content in this issue, please contact me at [email protected] or call
09 489 7119.
‘Til next time,
Lisa Moloney
Foodservice Manager
www.nzexcellenceawards.co.nz
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