Happy friday!

RECIPE

500gm blanched asparagus
100gm crispy parma ham or prosciutto (pan fry and cool a little before adding)
100gm fresh shaved parmesan
50mls olive oil
15mls cider vinegar
5gm whole grain mustard
Salt & pepper
Toss together all ingredients, season and serve.

Recipe courtesy of Syrup chef, James Broad.

Recipe

3 eggs
500ml milk
1 cup plain yoghurt
3 cups self-raising flour
1/4 cup caster sugar

Mix the eggs, milk and yoghurt together in a bowl. Whisk till smooth. Add the flour and sugar and whisk again till smooth. The batter should be quite thick.

Heat a large frypan to a medium heat and lightly gease with spray or butter.
Drop large tablespoonfuls of batter on to pan. When bubbles appear at the edges, flip.

When cooked, layer in a stack with fresh fruit or compote – even bacon if you wish. Top with syrup or honey and a good dollop of mascarpone.

RECIPE
500gms seashell pasta, cooked and refreshed
200gm sliced fried chorizo sausage
Dozen fresh scallops quickly pan fried
100gm baby spinach
50gm capers
50mls lemon juice
50mls olive oil
Salt & pepper

Combine the cooked pasta, scallops and chorizo. Blend the olive oil and lemon juice in a shaker and pour over scallops mix. Add the baby spinach, capers, salt and pepper. Mix together and serve. Can be served warm or cold.
Recipe courtesy of James Broad.

RECIPE

350gm pearl barley
500ml chicken stock
500ml water
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 onion finely diced
30ml cooking oil
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
100gm sliced sundried tomatoes
4 skinless chicken breasts
Handful of chopped parsley
30ml olive oil
Baking paper made into cartouche
Salt & Pepper

Sweat pearl barley, onions and garlic in cooking oil until the onions are soft and the pearl barley is slightly golden. Add the chicken stock, water and lemon zest. Bring to the boil and turn down to a simmer. Place the chicken breasts on top of the pearl barley, cover with the cartouche (this is a circle of baking paper) and lid. Simmer until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken and allow to cool. Recover with the lid and cook till the barley is soft and the liquid is reduced. When the pearl barley is cooked remove from heat and add to a bowl to cool. Then add sundried tomatoes, chopped parsley, sliced chicken, oilve oil and lemon juice. Give it a good mix, season and serve. Can be served warm or cold. Note that the volume of raw pearl barley is increased by approximately 3 times when cooked.

For the base:
1 packet of Malt biscuits (250g)
120g melted butter
3 tbsp caster sugar

Combine the above and mix well. Tip the mix into a 20cm springform cake tin, spread it evenly over the bottom and up the sides as far as you can. With the back of a spoon or your hands press the mix firmly against the tin to form a solid crust. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the filling:
3 eggs – separated
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
100g very soft butter
175 ml thickened cream
700g Quark or Ricotta
1 1/2 tbsp cornflour
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp of lemon juice

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla sugar until pale and foamy. Add the softened butter and beat well, then add the cream, lemon juice and beat again. Add the quark and stir until the mixture is smooth and well combined.

Whisk the egg whites with the salt until very stiff, then very fold in the quark mixture adding the sifted cornflour a little at a time. Pour the filling into the crust. Often I had some strained, tinned boysenberries or cherries at this point, if you wish to do this then pour in 1/3 of the filling and spoon in a few spoonfuls of fruit then add the rest of the filling.

Bake for 1 – 1 1/4 hours at 150°C or until the filling is set. If the top browns too quickly then cover with foil to finish. Once cooked allow to cool and serve!