Rivington’s crispy goose leg, sweet pickle and pear salad
Serves 4
Rivington Grill in Dubai serves up delicious British dishes. You’ll need to let the goose marinate overnight, so it’s worth planning ahead for this one.
Ingredients
For the confit goose leg:
3 goose legs, picked and shredded
5 toasted star anise
2 oranges (zest only)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2g thyme leaves, picked
5g coriander seeds, toasted
1 cinnamon stick, toasted
10 juniper berries, toasted
100g Maldon salt
1,000ml duck fat
For the caramelised red grape dressing:
100g caster sugar
200ml non-alcoholic red grape beverage
100ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
For the pickled pear, carrot and salsify:
80g carrot, peeled and salted
80g pear, peeled and quartered
300g caster sugar
300ml white wine vinegar
20g ginger
1 star anise
2 cloves
5g cinnamon, whole
300ml filtered water
80g salsify, washed, peeled, and blanched
30g roasted hazelnuts
120g watercress
For the mimosa dressing:
10g tarragon washed and sanitised
7g garlic, peeled
500ml extra virgin olive oil
300ml sunflower oil
200ml white grape vinegar
30ml lemon juice
15g corn flour (for dusting)
Maldon salt and black pepper to taste
Preparation
1 Lightly toast all the spices in a heavy bottomed saucepan.
2 Mix the salt, orange zest, crushed garlic, thyme and spices in a bowl, and then rub onto the goose legs using your fingers. Refrigerate the goose overnight and wash off the spice mixture in the morning.
3 Cook the goose legs in the duck fat for around four hours, covered, in a 135 degree oven.
4 Caramelise the sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan; be careful not to burn the sugar.
5 De-glaze with the non alcoholic red grape and reduce until at a syrupy consistency. Remove from the heat and cool. Pour the olive oil in slowly and season to taste.
6 For the pickled pear and carrot, place the sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan along with the vinegar, ginger, spices and water. Bring to the boil (while whisking) then simmer.
7 Poach the pears until just cooked, then remove from the heat. Slice the carrots into thin strips and lightly salt to remove some moisture. Wash off the salt and place into the warm pickling liquid.
8 Wash, peel and cut the salsify. Blanch and then cool in ice cold water. Add to the pickling liquid.
9 Leave all the ingredients to infuse in a sealed container for 24 hours.
10 To make the mimosa dressing whisk all the ingredients together and leave to infuse for 48 hours in an airtight container.
11 Dust the goose legs in corn flour, fry until crispy and set aside.
12 Place pear onto the plate and drizzle a little red grape dressing around it.
13 Mix the watercress with the mimosa dressing, and separately mix the crispy goose with red wine dressing.
14 Start to put some duck leg onto the plate, then watercress and build into a salad. Remove carrot and salsify from the pickling liquor and arrange on plate as desired.
15 To finish, garnish with some roasted hazelnuts.
ChoCo’a’s Christmas Cake
Serves 10
One of the country’s best providers of chocolates and designer cakes lends us this recipe and, to get the family involved, let your kids decorate it.
Ingredients
For the cake:
500g butter
500g granulated sugar
500g flour
10 eggs
100g dried apricots
100g figs
100g dates
100g chocolate chips
1tsp cinnamon powder
2tsps baking powder
125g sour cream
For the syrup:
150ml water
90g granulated sugar
1 scraped vanilla pod
1tsp cinnamon
2 star anise
½ ginger root, peeled and sliced
½ tsp of crushed black pepper
For the icing:
300g icing sugar
3 egg whites
Juice of half a lemon
Dash of salt
Fun and edible decorations for the kids to go crazy with
Preparation
1 Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2 Flour and butter a cake mould.
3 Soften the butter and cream it with the sugar until it’s all light and fluffy.
4 Add the eggs one by one and mix well.
5 Fold in the flour and baking powder and add the sour cream. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
6 Dice the dried fruits and add to the mixture along with the chocolate chips and cinnamon powder. Mix well and pour the mixture into the cake mould.
7 Bake the cake in the oven for 35 minutes.
8 When out of the oven, de-mould the cake, cover it and let it cool at room temperature.
9 To make the syrup, combine all ingredients in a pot, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow for the flavors to infuse for about one hour.
10 When the cake is cool, brush the cake generously with the syrup until well moist on the outside.
11 To prepare the icing, sift the icing sugar in a bowl and add 3 egg whites and a pinch of salt. Beat the mixture until white peaks form. Add the lemon juice. Stir well.
12 Pipe the icing on the cake the way you wish and then let the kids go crazy with the edible decorations!
13 The cake can be kept at room temperature for up to five days.
Traditional Roast Turkey
Serves 8
A tried-and-tested favourite, you can’t go wrong with this easy (and quick) roast turkey recipe.
Ingredients
4kg turkey
500g turkey leg boned & rolled
250g butter
10g salt
10g white peppercorn
50g thyme leaves
Method
1 Remove the turkey legs cutting through ball and socket joints.
2 With a sharp knife, bone both legs and season with salt, pepper and thyme.
3 Wrap tightly in tin foil and then chill.
4 Prepare the crown: cut off wing tips and take out the wishbone.
5 Lift up the breast skin with your fingers and separate it from the flesh.
6 Spread butter between the two breast flaps and pull the skin back over.
7 Season, place in a roasting tin and cover loosely with buttered paper or foil.
8 Cook the foil-wrapped legs in a roasting pan with a little water at 180°C for 20 minutes.
9 Cook the crown for 60 to 90 minutes at the same temperature until juices run clear.
10 Leave to rest for 30 minutes before carving, and strain off any juices for the gravy.
11 Serve with all the trimmings.
