CHEF and blogger Paul James writes for our paper.
These simple but very tasty dishes were part of a masterclass my two fellow competitors and I created along with our guests at the final of the Mutti 2022 cook of the year. A competition Bullivant Media journalist Tristan Harris told me about.
What a great day it was too.
The final was held at the magnificent Langham Hotel in Westminster, London.
Unfortunately I fell just a little short in the final, eventually coming third behind two excellent chefs.
I was extremely disappointed not to win – not being in a kitchen environment since I had to retire five years ago due to a life threatening illness maybe showed, along with my age maybe.
I can take comfort in knowing I reached the last three of a national competition and even topped the public votes to get to the final with my three dishes. Thank you to everyone who voted for me.
It was also lovely to have my son and his girlfriend there on the presentation night to cheer me on.
Most importantly I managed to highlight the stigma associated with mental health and addiction problems, not only in the hospitality industry but also in society itself.
I’ve been championing organisations such as the mental health foundation, Hospitality Action, the British Liver Trust, where I run two support groups, Alcohol Change UK, where I’m a community champion and recently FoodCycle Birmingham and FoodCycle UK which do such an amazing job feeding families, individuals and groups around the country with surplus food that would otherwise thrown away.
It was also a privilege to meet such an array of notable industry figures who were genuinely interested in the passion I showed to help these charitable organisations.
I’m sure there will be meetings and discussions in the near future.
Anyway, back to the dishes in hand.
Please have a go at these two dishes.
Tomato goujons with kiwi and mozzarella
Ingredients
Plum tinned tomatoes sliced lengthwise (Mutti Parma if you can get hold of it)
1 beaten egg in a bowl
Seasoned flour in a bowl
Breadcrumbs (use panko, if you wish) in a bowl
1 mozzarella diced
1 kiwi fruit peeled and diced
Vegetable oil for cooking
Method
1. Drain the tomatoes, don’t throw away the juice, you can add it to sauces etc
2. Cut lengthways, you will probably get about three strips out of each tomato.
3. Then place them on some absorbent kitchen paper and gently press down with another piece of paper to get rid of the excess moisture.
4. Heat up enough oil in a fryer, then dip each goujon in the flour, egg and breadcrumbs and gently fry in batches but do not overcrowd them.
5. Drain on some kitchen paper and serve with the kiwi and mozzarella salad.
Smoked salmon and cream cheese omelette roll
Ingredients
6 eggs
Thinly sliced smoked salmon, cut into small pieces
200g of cream cheese (Philadelphia or similiar)
200g passata (Mutti if possible)
Handful of fresh basil for decoration
1tbsp of oil
Good knob of butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
1. Take your eggs and beat them gently in a bowl – six will make two omelettes. Don’t add any seasoning to the eggs.
2. Add a couple of tablespoons of the passata into your egg mixture.
3. Heat a frying pan and add the oil and butter, then when it is frothing, gently pour in the egg mixture.
4. Tilt the pan from side to side so that the omelette mixture covers the surface.
5. After about 30 seconds, gently loosen around the edges with a spatula and tap the centre of the omelette so the egg cooks right through.
6. When the omelette has cooked, gently slide onto a plate to cool right down completely. At this stage the omelette should still be round.
7. In a dish mix the cream cheese and smoked salmon together, now you can season to taste.
8. Now spread the mixture evenly across the cold omelette.
9. Then fold in from the left side, roughly about an inch, repeat on the right side, then roll upwards so you form a perfect omelette roll.
10. Spread the passata on a plate.
11. Cut the omelette roll in half and serve on top of the tomato sauce.
12. Garnish with some fresh basil.
