James Nathan!Yes my prediction was correct but Emily Ludolf and Johnny Stevenson are both, amazing cooks and the final show was outstanding. James, the ex barrister, stunned John and Greg with his dishes of a mozzarella ravioli with tomato sauce and basil cream, a main course of picked red cabbage and venison infused with lapsang souchong tea and served with roast potatoes, followed by a chocolate and orange pudding. Want the recipes? Read on.
Smoked mozzarella ravioli with cherry tomato sauce and basil cream
Serves 4
Preparation time 1-2 hours
Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour
Ingredients
For the pasta
100g/3½oz '00' flour, plus extra for dusting (available in most supermarkets and in Italian speciality stores)
4 free-range egg yolks
25g/1oz fine semolina, plus extra for dusting
1 tbsp olive oilpinch salt
about 2-3 tsp ice cold water
1 whole free-range egg, lightly beaten
For the ravioli filling
knob of unsalted butter
2 baby leeks, finely chopped
pinch salt
125g/4½oz smoked mozzarella cheese
1 free-range egg white, lightly beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the tomato sauce
dash olive oil1 finger-sized red chilli, seeds removed
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
450g/1lb sweet cherry tomatoes
2 tsp sugar
500ml/18fl oz chicken stock or vegetable stock
½ tsp salt
For the basil cream
500ml/18fl oz chicken stock
300ml/10½fl oz double cream
2 large bunches basil
Method
1. For the pasta, place the flour, eggs, semolina, olive oil and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Turn the motor on full and trickle in just enough cold water to bring the dough together to form a ball. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour.
2. For the ravioli filling, melt the butter in a pan and add the leeks and a pinch of salt. Fry over a low heat until softened but not coloured. Allow to cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile grate the mozzarella and add the mozzarella, along with the beaten egg white, to the cooled leeks. Stir well. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag with a plain nozzle about 1cm/½in wide. Set aside.
4. To prepare the ravioli, lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and work the rested dough into a rough rectangle shape with your fingers. Flour the pasta machine. Starting at the lowest (thickest) setting, feed the dough through the machine, turning the handle with one hand and holding the dough as it comes through the machine with the other. Change the setting on the pasta machine to the next-thickest setting, flour it again and feed the pasta sheet through the machine again, as before.
5. Repeat this process 3-4 more times, flouring the machine and changing the setting down each time.
6. The pasta should be quite thin, but still easy to handle without tearing. Don't be tempted to skip settings or the dough may tear. Once the pasta sheets have reached the ideal thickness, trim the edges slightly. Lay the sheet flat on the work surface.
7. Brush half of the pasta with beaten egg. Pipe mounds of filling onto the wet half of the pasta. Make the mounds the size of about a teaspoon full of mixture and try to get them to stand as tall as possible.
8. Fold the remaining half of the pasta sheet over so that they cover the mounds of leek and mozzarella filling. Gently cut around these mounds with a pastry cutter (6-7cm/3in diameter).
9. Take each individual raviolo and press the air out of it with your fingers ensuring the edges are well sealed. Dust a container with fine semolina and lay the ravioli on this. Keep covered. Repeat the process until all the ravioli is used up. Set aside, covered in the fridge while you prepare the tomato sauce and basil cream.
10. For the tomato sauce, heat a large pan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil, chilli and garlic and fry for a few minutes.
11. Add the tomatoes, sugar and salt and stir over a high heat. As the tomatoes start to split, mash them with a potato masher and turn the heat down.
12. When the tomatoes have cooked down so that they have lost most of their moisture, add the chicken stock. Cook until the sauce has reduced by half. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
13. Leave the mixture to cool slightly before blending it in a blender or food processor until smooth. Transfer the sauce back into the saucepan and cook until thickened slightly more. Season again with more salt and freshly ground black pepper as necessary and keep warm.
14. For the basil cream, boil the chicken stock and double cream together until reduced by half. Meanwhile roughly chop the basil. Add half of the basil to the boiling cream and stock mixture.
15. Transfer the cream mixture to a blender and add the remaining basil. Blend for about one minute, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Cook the sauce to reduce to a thick green cream. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and keep warm.
16. To serve, boil a large pan of salted water, add the ravioli and cook for about three minutes until the ravioli rise to the surface.
17. Drain the cooked pasta well and gently stir it into the tomato sauce. Spoon into serving bowls, taking care not to break the pasta and drizzle basil cream around the edge of the plate. Serve at once.
Tea-infused venison with roast potatoes, pickled red cabbage and rich port sauce
Serves 4
Preparation time 1-2 hours
cooking time 1-2 hours
Ingredients
For the tea-infused venison
1 tbsp lapsang souchong tea leaves
1 Navel orange, zest only
4 tbsp olive oil
400-600g/14oz-1lb 5oz venison fillet
For the pickled cabbage
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red cabbage, finely chopped
3-4tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
For the port sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
4 banana shallots, peeled, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
55g/2oz smoked streaky bacon, chopped
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
½ bottle ruby port
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
½ bottle red Bordeaux wine
500ml/18fl oz veal jus or fresh beef stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few drops of fresh lemon juice
2 tsp plain flour (optional)
dash olive oil (optional)
For the roast potatoes
6 King Edward potatoes, peeled, halved or quartered if large
3-4 tbsp goose fat
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. For the tea-infused venison, place the lapsang souchong tea leaves into a pestle and mortar and pound to a dust. Add the orange zest and olive oil and stir. Rub this mix into the venison fillet, wrap in cling film and leave to marinate for 1-2 hours.
3. For the pickled cabbage, heat some oil in an ovenproof dish with a tight-fitting lid, add the finely chopped red cabbage and redcurrant jelly and fry until the sugars from the jelly start to catch on the bottom of the pan. Pour in the red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan, stir well and cover the pan with a lid. Place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
4. For the port sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the chopped banana shallots, carrots and smoked bacon and fry over a gentle heat until golden-brown. Add the redcurrant jelly, then deglaze the pan with the ruby port. Add the chopped thyme and reduce down until most of the liquid has evaporated. Skim any residue from the sauce throughout the reducing process.
5. Next add the red wine and reduce to the same point again. Add the veal jus or beef stock and reduce by half, skimming any froth from the surface throughout cooking. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve and return to a pan. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add a few drops of fresh lemon juice. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If the sauce is not thick, enough, mix the plain flour with some olive oil into a thin paste, then stir this into the sauce with a whisk and boil again to thicken. Keep warm until required.
6. For the roast potatoes, turn up the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Place the potatoes into a pan of boiling salted water and boil for ten minutes or until just tender. Drain and roughen the edges of the potatoes by shaking in a dry pan. Heat a roasting tin in the oven for five minutes and add the goose fat. Place the tray on the hob over a high heat until the fat smokes. Add the potatoes and carefully spoon the hot fat over the potatoes. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes or until golden-brown and crisp.
7. To cook the meat, remove the cling film and wipe as much of the tea leaves off the meat as possible. Heat an ovenproof pan on a high heat. Add the venison to the hot pan and sear the meat all over. Transfer the pan to the hot oven and cook for 3-5 minutes or until springy to touch. You may wish to cook the venison for longer if you prefer your meat more well-done. Remove from the oven and rest for ten minutes before slicing.
8. To serve, place the sliced venison on a bed of red cabbage with roast potatoes and rich port sauce.
Chocolate and orange sponge pudding
Serves 4
Preparation time 30 mins to 1 hour
Cooking time 10 to 30 mins
Ingredients
For the sponge
knob of butter, for greasing
5 medium free-range eggs, separated
125g/4½oz caster sugar
200g/7oz plain chocolate, melted (slightly cooled)
For the orange sauce
2 oranges, juice and zest cut in long strips only
2-3 tbsp caster sugar
100ml/3½fl oz orange liqueur
2 oranges, segmented
For the chocolate ganache
100ml/3½floz double cream
100g/3½oz plain chocolate, finely chopped
For the chocolate sauce
150g/5½oz plain chocolate, melted
150ml/&frac4; pint double cream
To serve
300ml/½pt double cream, whipped
cocoa powder, to dust
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. For the sponge, lightly grease a swiss-roll tin and line with baking parchment.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate to the egg yolk mixture and fold together. In a separate bowl, whisk the whites until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Carefully fold into the egg yolk and chocolate being careful not to over mix. Spoon into the prepared tin and cook in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
4. Cut two discs (approx 6-7cm/2½-3in diameter) per person from the chocolate sponge and set aside.
5. For the orange sauce, pour the orange juice into a saucepan, stir in the sugar and reduce over a low heat to a syrupy consistency. Turn the heat off and add the long strands of orange zest and the orange liqueur to the pan. Carefully set light to the alcohol in the pan. Leave until the flames have died down, then place back on a low heat and reduce again until syrupy. Remove the pan from the heat, set aside and keep warm. When ready to serve, add the orange segments to the sauce.
6. For the chocolate ganache, place the cream into a small pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few seconds. Add the chopped chocolate and stir together until smooth. Leave to cool, then refrigerate until needed. Spoon into quenelles (rugby ball like-shapes) using two dessert spoons.
7. For the chocolate sauce, melt the dark chocolate with the double cream in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water until smooth. Do not stir until melted.8. To serve, spoon two tablespoons of chocolate sauce onto each plate and place a disc of chocolate sponge on top. Spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top, then sit the other sponge disc on top. Place a quenelle of chocolate ganache on top and dust with cocoa powder. Take a strand of orange zest from the orange sauce and decorate the top of the sponge stack with the zest. Place a spoonful of the orange sauce on each plate and serve.
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