Quay Restaurant Executive chef, Chef Peter Gilmore shares his top cooking secrets. RESCU’s Food and Wine Expert Rebecca Varidel speaks to Executive Chef Peter Gilmore about his food philosophy, and the food available at Sydney’s top restaurant, Quay, plus check out his scrumptious recipe for smoked pig jowl!
Smoked and confit pig jowl, shiitake, shaved scallop,
Jerusalem artichoke, juniper, bay
Ingredients
Serves 8
2 whole Berkshire pig jowls
500mls lightly salted chicken stock
800 mls clarified butter
3 fresh bay leaves
10 juniper berries
10 slices jamon
250 gms fresh shiitake mushrooms
8 large sea scallops
16 Jerusalem artichokes
300 mls grapeseed oil
1 bunch garlic chive flowers
Method
Blanch the two pig jowls in boiling salted water for 1 minute then remove and allow to cool. Place the pig jowls in a large cryovac bag and add the salted chicken stock. Seal the bag with a gentle amount of vacuum. Steam the jowls at 90 o Celsius for 8 hours. Alternatively you could simmer the jowls in a greater amount of chicken stock in a casserole dish in the oven at 90 o Celsius for 8 hours but you will need to top up the stock so the jowls are submerged in liquid. Remove the cryovac bags from the steamer and submerge in a bath of iced water to rapidly cool the jowls. Once completely cold cut away all the skin and fat around the central piece of meat leaving just 5 mm of fat on top of the meat. Cut the meat into 8 pieces, 3 cm wide by 5 cm long. Now set up a cold smoker and smoke the jowl pieces for 5 minutes, they should be lightly perfumed with smoke. Cover and refrigerate the jowl until required.
To make the infused butter place 500 mls of clarified butter in a small saucepan and heat to 70 o Celsius. Add the sliced jamon, bruise the bay leave and juniper berries and add them to the butter. Reduce the heat to 40 o Celsius and infuse for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the butter to cool at room temperature. Strain the butter and discard the solids and reserve until required. The butter will last in the fridge for several days.
Wash the Jerusalem artichokes in plenty of cold water removing any dirt from the skins. Steam the Jerusalem artichokes until well cooked. While the Jerusalem artichokes are still warm cut them in half lengthwise. Remove the skin with a small paring knife keeping the skin as intact as possible. Scrape the inside of the skin gently to remove any flesh that is still attached to the skin. Allow the skins to dry at room temperature for an hour or so and then pat dry with a clean cloth. Heat 300 mls of grapeseed oil and 300 mls of clarified butter together in a medium saucepan to 150 o to 160 o Celsius. Fry the artichoke skins gently until crisp and golden. Drain on paper and reserve.
Slice the scallops into 8 thin horizontal slices. Peel the shiitake mushrooms by hand removing the brown skin. Slice the mushrooms across into thin 2 mm thick slices, reserve.
To finish and serve
Warm 350 mls of the infused butter in a saucepan to 70 o Celsius. Place the jowl pieces in the butter making sure they are submerged. Heat for 6 or 7 minutes at 70 o Celsius. Meanwhile gently sauté the shiitake mushrooms in a frypan with 100 mls of the infused butter until a light golden brown. Remove the mushrooms from the pan, season and keep warm. Allow the fry pan to cool down slightly. One minute before you are ready to serve, warm the scallops in the fry pan with the residual butter from the mushrooms. Season with a little salt. Remove the jowl from the butter and place a piece in the centre of each serving plate. Top each jowl with the mushrooms and scallops. Brush the fried Jerusalem artichokes with the remaining infused butter. Place 4 crisp artichoke chips on top of each jowl and garnish with garlic chive flowers and serve.
