Kris: It’s sadly close to the end of blueberry season, so I thought I would do an interesting dinner using one of my favourite seasonal berries. I love to eat them as is, by the handful of course and they are also great in desserts. But how about a blueberry and pepper jus?
(Note George- he’s the photo stylist making sure the blueberries look purrrrfect)
Kris: I grabbed the organic blueberries from the farmers market. I also found some zucchini flowers, sweet potato and Huon Valley honey brown mushrooms. Thanks also to Stu Addison for the goat back strap, which is sourced from Bruny Island. You can taste his amazing slow cooked goat at the Captain Bligh’s Cider stall at MOMA, the markets at MONA, held every Saturday.
Goat, Sweet potato puree, Honey brown mushrooms and Blueberry jus
(serves 4)
4 goat back straps
3 cloves garlic
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
olive oil
1 large sweet potato
80g butter
80ml butter
6-8 honey brown mushrooms
4 zucchini flowers
goats fetta
2 pieces preserved lemon
3 cups beef stock
1/2 tsp gelatine
1/2 punnet blueberries
fresh raspberries (for garnish)
chives (for garnish)
nasturtium flowers (for garnish)
cracked pepper and sea salt
Method
I used the sous-vide (soo-vee) method to slow cook the goat back strap for 4 hours before quickly pan frying, resting and serving. Essentially it is a method of slow cooking for long periods of time. If you don’t have a method of sealing bags (e.g., cryovac) it is not totally necessary. Just marinate and leave for at least 2 hours, cook to medium rare and allow to rest before serving.
Marinate the goat in garlic, olive oil and thyme
Cover and allow to marinade for at least 2 hours
Place the beef stock and gelatine in a saucepan and simmer for about an hour
Add lots of cracked pepper and the blueberries
Continue to simmer until rich and thick
I have discussed making beef stock and jus in the past, this is just a simpler way of making jus if you are short on time
Peel the sweet potato and steam until tender
Drain the sweet potato
Add the butter to the sweet potato
Using a hand blender or food processor blend until smooth
Season with salt and pepper
Pre heat a griddle pan and a frying pan
Fry the mushrooms in some olive oil and season with salt and pepper
Stuff the zucchini flowers with some finely diced preserved lemon and goat fetta
When the griddle pan is at smoking point, start cooking the goat straps (a few minutes each side)
At the end quickly fry the zucchini flowers
Remove the goat, season with salt and pepper and allow to rest for a few minutes
Plating Up
Place some of the sweet potato puree on the plate
Place the mushrooms on top of the puree
Slice the goat pieces long ways and place on the plate
Strain and pour over the jus
Place the zucchini flower on the plate
Garnish with a nasturtium flower, a few raspberries and some chives
Kris: We tried the Ranga Red Ale with the dish. I wasn’t too impressed with this beer, it had really poor head retention and was a bit over carbonated. It was light bodied with sweet maltiness and minimal hop bitterness. It did work well with the dish, mainly the light body and carbonation cut through the richness of the sauce.