For a bit of fun and especially while we are all having to spend so much time at home, we asked our hoteliers to share a chefs signature dish along with the recipe. So to all you budding chefs out there, why not give them a go!
Calabash share a signature dish: Banana Crumble
Filling Ingredients 1 large banana – peel and slice 1 tbsp butter 2 tbsp dark rum 2 tbsp caramelised condensed milk 2 tbsp double cream
Recipe The Crumble: Mix all ingredients together until the mix resembles breadcrumbs, place on a greased tray and bake at 360 F until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Break up and use as required.
Crumble Ingredients 100g butter 100g flour 100g oats 80g dark sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1⁄4 tsp gr. Nutmeg
The Filling: Heat butter in a pan, add banana slices and cook for 30-40 seconds. While hot, add rum and light to burn off the alcohol. Add the condensed milk and cream, bring to a boil and keep stirring so milk and cream come together. Pour into a ramekin and top with the crumble mix, pop into the oven for a few minutes. Remove, dust with icing sugar and serve with ice cream of your choice.
Cap Maison shares Ceviche Conch & Yellow Fin Tuna
Ingredients:
1oz or 28g yellowfin Tuna sliced very thinly
8oz or 230g thinly sliced Conch
2 juice limes 1 tablespoon
Minced Garlic
1 tablespoon minced Ginger
1⁄2 each Red peppers, Julienne strips
1⁄2 each yellow pepper, Julienne strips
1⁄4 each Habanera, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon chopped Shadow Bennie (use cilantro if not available)
1 tablespoon chopped spring onions
Salt & pepper to taste
A couple of drops of Caribbean Hot sauce or Tabasco
Balsamic Dressing 1⁄2 cup or 180ml Balsamic vinegar 2 cloves of garlic 1⁄2 cup or 180ml Sweet Mango Chutney 1 cup or 240ml extra virgin Olive oil
Recipe: For the dressing:
Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve, adjust the seasoning.
For the ceviche: Mix the Conch, sliced peppers, and herbs & chopped onions together and let stand in the fridge for 30 minutes. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Serve between two very thinly sliced sheets of Yellowfin Tuna. Top with Cucumber spaghetti and micro Arugula shoots. Finish with a drag of Mango Balsamic dressing.
Curtain Bluff, Antigua Chef Roderick's Seafood Fusion Bowl
Fresh Cassava Bowl:
2 x cassava
4 x 8-ounce cereal bowls
Film wrap Nonstick spray Procedure:
1. Coat cereal bowl with nonstick spray. Using film wrap, line bowl with the film.
2. In a medium bowl, grate cassava. Separate cassava into four portions.
3. Press grated cassava in bowls lined with the film. Repeat process for the other three bowls.
4. Freeze for 2 hours before frying.
5. In a heavy bottom pot or deep fryer, heat oil to 300 degrees F.
6. Submerge the bowls in the oil and fry approximately 3 1/2 minutes. They should not be too brown. Remove and drain. Set aside for later.
Pineapple Ketchup:
Yield: Makes about 2 cups
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Special equipment: Blender
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (about 1 small onion)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 medium cloves)
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups Antigua Black Pineapple (diced)
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons rum
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
Water, as needed
Procedure: 1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, and allspice and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 2. Stir in Pineapple, vinegar, honey, rum, soy sauce, and salt; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. 3. Transfer ketchup to a blender and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Thin with water as needed to reach a ketchup- like consistency. Season with additional salt to taste. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. Can be stored for up to two weeks.
Seafood Fusion Ingredients:
6 Cups Water
1⁄2 lbs. conch (cooked) 1⁄2 lbs. lobster
1⁄2 lbs. cockle(clams)
1 each octopus (cooked in 4 cups red wine/ 2 cups water/ 2 tsp juniper berry/3 each bay leaf)
2lbs. lobster shell (roasted)
1 Bay Leaf
2ea. Green banana (cooked and diced) 2tbsp. Tomato Paste
1tsp. Black Peppercorns
3 tbsp. Olive Oil
1⁄2 tsp. Kosher Salt
2 stalk celery, chopped
2 cups. Onion, diced (reserve 1tbsp)
6-8 sprigs thyme
dash red pepper flakes
1 Leek, white part only, thinly sliced
4 Cloves Garlic, minced (reserve 1tbsp)
1 Cup Cavalier Rum
Procedure:
1. Dice lobster meat into cubes. Set aside.
2. In an extra-large skillet with 3-4-inch side, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook until vegetables are tender and fragrant -- do not brown the vegetables and remove from heat if they do start to take on colour.
3. Add the bay leaves, thyme, red pepper flakes and roast lobster shells -- stir to combine and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Deglaze with cavalier rum.
4. Stir in the tomato paste and turn up the heat to medium-high. Bring the liquids to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, then stir in the water, heat the mixture almost to a boil, cover tightly with a lid, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Place a standard mesh strainer over a large bowl. In batches, transfer the shells, vegetables and broth to the strainer, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon to get all of the liquids and juices out of them. Discard the solids.
6. In a large wide saucepan set over medium heat. Add 1tbsp onion and garlic. Stir frequently until onion starts to soften, about 3 minutes.
7. Stir in lobster, conch and clams. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook until most clams are open and lobster pieces are bright pink, about 4- 5 minutes. Discard any clams that haven’t opened. Stir in green banana.
Assemble Dish: 1. Spoon/ladle portion of seafood water into cassava bowls. 2. Top with octopus’s tentacle. 3. Drizzle with pineapple ketchup. 4. Garnish with sprig cilantro!"
Eden Roc Cap Cana, Dominican Republic Spaghetti Vongole
Ingredients for 4 people 360 g of spaghetti 1 kg of clams 1 sprig of parsley 1 clove of garlic 4/5 spoons of extra virgin olive oil Fresh chilli pepper Salt to taste.
Method Soak the clams in a bowl of slightly salted cold water for a couple of hours, to allow the sand other impurities to settle on the bottom. Then drain and rinse them under running water.
Put them in a large pan with high sides, with the oil, garlic and chopped parsley. Cover with a lid and cook over high heat, checking and turning them from time to time, until they are open. At this point put out the fire. Take half of the molluscs and shell them, then put them back in the pan, leaving half of them w the valves for a more spectacular effect. Cook the spaghetti in salted water. Drain them al dente to continue cooking in the pan for one-two minutes, taking advantage of the liquid released by the clams when they opened.
Stir-fry a couple of minutes, stirring well to make the flavours bind. Serve with a few leaves of fresh parsley and a pinch of chilli pepper.
Sandy Lane, Barbados
L’Acajou’s Sicilian Chef de Cuisine, Carlo Rubino, challenges you to recreate one of our most popular dishes at Sandy Lane, the crab & avocado cannelloni... We would love for you to send us your attempts from home, and cannot wait to welcome you back to sample some of our new and exciting dishes we’ve created this year! Sharing one of Sandy Lane's Signature dish recipes - Crab and Avocado Cannelloni
Ingredients: Thinly sliced avocado Canned crab and king crab 100gm Sour cream 35gm Dried grapefruit 4 segments Avocado mousse 25gm Caviar Yuzu jelly purée 25gm
Mayonnaise 15gm
Herbs 5gm (mint, basil, coriander, pink ginger)
Lemon juice 5 ml
Tabasco 1gm
Yuzu Purée
Yuzu jelly 300gm
Fresh yuzu 100gm
Xantana
Warm water
Break the jelly then put all the ingredients on the thermomixer full speed for 7 minutes.
Pass into sieve then store inside the fridge.
Avocado Mousse 3 avocados Lemon juice Salt Green dye Blend all the ingredients together in a thermomixer with a cube of ice and splash of water, pass through chinois then put into a squeeze bottle.
Crab mix To season:
Lemon juice, tabasco, mayonnaise, chopped basil, chopped mint, chopped coriander, finely chopped pink ginger. Mix all the ingredients until a creamy (but not liquid) texture is obtained.
Citrus Salt
Orange Peel
Maldon salt flakes
Dry orange skin in the dehydrator for 2 hours. When dry, blend the skins and maldon salt together and sieve.
Dried Grapefruit
1 grapefruit
Icing sugar
Cut grapefruit into segments without skin. Sprinkle icing sugar and dry in dehydrator for 3 hours.
Arrange the avocado slices overlapping on cling film and fill with the dressed crab meat. Lightly season with citrus salt. Roll up the avocado and crab into a roulade shape. Garnish with caviar and dried grapefruit. Garnish plate with avocado mousse and Yuzu purée.
Secret Bay, Dominica
New Executive Chef Fábio Fernandes is quickly establishing his presence on the island through decadent dishes at Zing Zing restaurant, drawing from a breadth of global flavours and decades of culinary passion to enhance and exemplify locally sourced ingredients. Among these new Zing Zing dishes is Chef Fábio’s signature ‘Zero Miles’ Tuna, which focuses solely on sustainable and seasonal local ingredients. Invite a little island flair into your kitchen by learning how to craft it yourself at home through the recipe below.
Executive Chef Fábio’s Signature ‘Zero Miles’ Tuna
Coconut Milk & Shado Beni Emulsion
Ingredients:
10 ml of neutral oil
20 g shado beni or coriander/cilantro 30 ml of coconut milk
Directions: Blend oil and shado beni and strain. Gently mix the shadow beni oil into the coconut milk. Spoon onto centre of the plate
Mango Gel
Directions:
Preheat oven to 180oC/350oF.
Wrap all ingredients (except butter) in foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Add melted butter and blend until creamy. Plate in dollops around the plate and atop the coconut milk & shado beni emulsion.
Tuna Tataki Ingredients: 120 g fresh, sushi-grade tuna 200 ml of water 6 g salt Olive oil, for searing
Directions:
Blend water with salt.
Brine the fish by placing in saltwater for 20 minutes.
Remove and dry.
Sear in a hot frying pan for 12 seconds on each side.
Place in the centre of the plate, atop the coconut milk & shado beni emulsion.
Green Crust Ingredients: 20 g shado beni or coriander/cilantro 20 g dried coconut (peeled & grated, dried for 24 hours) 20 g chopped West Indian almonds (or other nuts of choice) 20 g dried ginger A drizzle of olive oil
Directions:
Chiffonade or thinly slice the shado beni/coriander
Mix all ingredients together.
Place the crust on the seared tuna once plated.
Tuille Ingredients: 32 g melted unsalted butter Ingredients: 100 g mango, peeled 1 g agar-agar
Directions:
Blend the peeled mango.
In a medium pot, bring the blended mango to a boil.
Add agar-agar and whisk quickly until dissolved.
Set in the fridge until gel sets.
Blend until smooth.
Plate in small dollops around the perimeter of the plate.
Local Sorrel & Ginger Gel
Ingredients
100 ml of water
30 g of sorrel, deseeded (if unavailable, may substitute rhubarb)
5 g of ginger, peeled
1 g agar-agar
Directions
In a medium pot, bring the sorrel and ginger to a boil, then cover and let it cool to room temperature.
Strain and follow steps 3-6 for Mango Gel above.
Pumpkin Purée Ingredients: 10 g onion 100 g chopped pumpkin 1 garlic clove, smashed Salt & pepper to taste A drizzle of olive oil 15 g melted unsalted butter 32 g icing sugar 1 egg white 22 g all-purpose flour
Directions: Preheat oven to 180oC/350oF. Mix all ingredients together. Set on a Silpat baking mat. Bake for 7 minutes. Place atop the crusted tuna.
Zornitza Family Estate, Bulgaria
Zornitza Family Estate would like to introduce their new head chef, Vesselin Kalev. He will
be showcasing his new menus in the hotel's two restaurants.
Vesselin Kalev is Our New Head Chef For Chef Vesselin Kalev, the restaurants of Zornitza Family Estate are a prestigious stage on which to develop further his creative talent. Chef Andre Tokev introduced him to the art of haute cuisine when he was 20 years old and was working at Hilton Hotel. Then, with Chef Emil Minev and Talisman Restaurant, they received the “Restaurant of the Year” award. His professional career took him to Germany, where he kept improving his skills, pursuing his dream – to work in a Michelin-starred restaurant. The dream came true in the most fabulous way – in Burg Wernberg estate, located in an XIII century castle and part of Relais & Châteaux. Vesselin was the only foreigner in the team of Thomas Kellerman, a two Michelin-star chef. His next job was in a one-star restaurant in Bonn, and from 2017 to November 2020 he was Head Chef at Rila Hotel in Borovets. In early 2020, he coached the team winning the Bulgarian edition of the prestigious Bocuse d’Or chefs’ competition. In the restaurants of Zornitza Family Estate Relais & Châteaux, Chef Kalev is unfolding his philosophy that modern cuisine is built on the best of traditions and organic terroir products.
Duck Consomme
1st step Chicken stock
1kg chicken bones 1⁄2 celery 1⁄2 leek 2 heads of onion 1⁄4 celeriac 2 carrots white pepper black pepper 3l ice cold water
Process: Everything is combined, then cooked for 1 hour on the lowest setting. 2nd step 2kg duck bones 200g mushrooms 400g white cabbage 200g white onion 50g garlic 2 bay leaves 2 L chicken stock 4 duck legs
Process:
The bones and the duck legs need to get a nice sear in a pot, then take them out and dd the vegetables and the spices and everything needs to get covered with chicken stock. Everything needs to cook until the duck legs are totally cooked. The duck meat from the legs can be used to make crockets
3rd step
The whole liquid needs to be clarified with 150g egg white.
4th step
Pasta dough
150g semolina flour
100g egg yolk
25g room temperature butter\
Process:
Everything gets mixed well and vacuumed for atleast 1 hour.
5th step
Celeriac cream
500g peeled and cubed celeriac 100g heavy cream
150g butter
5g truffle paste
salt, white pepper and nutmeg to taste
Process:
The celeriac needs to be fully cooked in boiling water, then cooked in a pan with the butter until all the water is evaporated. Then everyting is combined in a thermomix and blended at full speed until its nice and fluid. The cream is used as a filling for the ravioli.
6th step
The duck leg meat gets pulled from the bone, then blanched shallot is added, along with fresh marjoram sweet mustard, butter, salt and white pepper. The whole mixture get shaped into a sphere.
They get fried in a flour, egg, bread crumbs batter.
7th step
Cured duck breast
The duck breast gets covered in a 2/1 salt/sugar mixture for 12 hours. Then its taken out, washed covered in a typical blend of spices and hanged in cool and dry place for 30 days.
8th step
Bacon and shallot focaccia First bulk fermentation 75g AP flour
16g sugar
30g baker’s yeast
150g water
Process:
Everything gets mixed well and needs to proof until its nice and bubbly.
Second fermentation
375g water 30g salt 200g shallot 130g bacon
Process: The bacon and shallot need to get a nice colour on low heat, then drained from the fat. Then everything needs to get mixed with the first bulk fermentation and left to proof in a warm place. When its proofed it needs to get baked at 150 until its nice and golden and a wooden stick comes out clean.
Avaton Luxury Villas Resort, Halkidiki
Shrimp Saganaki
Ingredients: 12 shrimps 200 gr tomato sauce 50 ml ouzo 150 gr feta cheese olive oil finely chopped parsley fresh herb tops (basil, dill, chives) salt, pepper
Method In a hot pan, you sauté the shrimps with a bit of olive oil for about 2-3’ minutes or until they take nice colour. Then you pour over the ouzo and you add the tomato sauce. Once the shrimps are cooked you add the chopped parsley and the half amount of the feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper and then serve it preferably in the same pan. Top the other half amount of feta cheese and the fresh herbs. Drizzle a bit of olive oil.
Van Isacker Exclusive, a luxury hotel and resort sales and representation company, proudly represents Sandy Lane Barbados, Cap Maison Saint Lucia, Curtain Bluff Antigua, Eden Roc Cap Cana Dominican Republic, Calabash Grenada, Zornitza Bulgaria, Avaton Greece and Secret Bay Dominica.