Walnut caramel tart

Chef Kyle Norris

Ingredients (serves 8)

Pastry

300g (2 cups) plain flour
110g (1/2 cup) white sugar
180g chilled butter, cubed
2 egg yolks
1 tbs chilled water

Plain flour, to dust
Double cream, to serve

Walnut caramel filling
900g (4 cups) white sugar
250ml (1 cup) cold water
160g butter
160ml (2/3 cup) thickened cream
460g (4 cups) walnut pieces

Method

To make the pastry, place flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and briefly process until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add egg yolks and water, and briefly process until mixture just comes together (don't over process). Turn onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Use a rolling pin lightly dusted with flour to roll out pastry to a 35cm disc. Line a shallow 28cm (base measurement) fluted tart tin, with removable base, with pastry and trim any excess. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
Line pastry case with non-stick baking paper and fill with dried beans, rice or metal pastry weights. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove paper and beans, rice or weights, and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside for 15 minutes to cool.
Meanwhile, to make the walnut caramel filling, combine the sugar and water in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Gently boil, occasionally brushing down the side of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water, for 15 minutes or until the sugar caramelises. Remove from heat. Add butter and cream, and stir until combined. Add walnuts and stir until they are evenly coated in caramel.
Pour walnut mixture into pastry case and smooth surface. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

Cut tart into wedges and serve with double cream, if desired.

Perfect Four Course Meal by Chef Kyle Norris

Take the colours and flavours of autumn as inspiration, and create an elegant afternoon of food and wine for friends.......Drink Warm spiced wine-- Appetiser-- Figs with almonds & feta-- Starter-- Roasted garlic & tomato soup with parmesan crisps-- Main-- Lamb with pistachio crust- Baby rocket, bean & bacon salad- Parsnip & ginger puree with basil oil-- Dessert Walnut caramel tart - Cheese Blue cheese panna cotta with pear. Chef Kyle Norris, The Beverly Hills Hotel, Durban. 

Salad starter - Figs with almonds and feta

Ingredients (serves 8)

60g whole blanched almonds
16 figs, halved
160g feta
Freshly ground black pepper
dressing
1 garlic bulb
6 anchovies, drained on paper towel
1 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. To make the dressing, place the garlic on a baking tray and roast in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until soft. Remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly. Peel the garlic and place in a small bowl. Add the anchovies and mash with a fork until almost smooth. Add the vinegar and stir to combine. Add the oil in a thin steady stream, whisking constantly with a fork, until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, spread the almonds over a baking tray and cook in oven for 5 minutes or until toasted. Remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes to cool.
Arrange figs, cut-side up, on a platter. Crumble feta over the figs and sprinkle with almonds. Drizzle with dressing and season with pepper. Serve immediately.

Baby Rocket, Bean & Bacon Salad

Ingredients (serves 8)

250g bacon rashers, rind removed
500g green beans, topped
60ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
100g baby rocket leaves
1 witlof, halved lengthways, each half thinly sliced lengthways

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with foil. Place bacon on tray and cook in oven for 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove from oven. Transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towel.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil over high heat. Add the beans and cook for 6 minutes. Drain. Refresh under cold running water.
Combine oil and lemon juice in a bowl.
Place the rocket, witlof and beans in a bowl. Break bacon into pieces and add to salad. Drizzle with dressing and toss.

Mains - Lamb with pistachio crust

Ingredients (serves 8)

2 (about 1.5kg each) shoulders of lamb
2 large garlic cloves, peeled, each clove cut lengthways into 10 thin slices
175g (21/2 cups) fresh breadcrumbs (made from day-old bread)
140g (1 cup) pistachio kernels, chopped
2 tbs wholegrain mustard
2 tbs olive oil
1 egg, lightly whisked
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Use a sharp knife to trim excess fat from lamb. Make 10 evenly spaced slits, about 2cm deep and 1cm long, in the top of each lamb shoulder. Insert a slice of garlic into each slit. Place lamb in a large roasting pan.
Combine breadcrumbs, pistachio, mustard, half the oil and egg in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Press breadcrumb mixture over both lamb shoulders to form a crust. Drizzle with remaining oil and roast in oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover loosely with foil. Reduce oven temperature to 150°C. Cook for a further 75 minutes for medium or until cooked to your liking. Remove from oven. Set aside for 10 minutes to rest.

Use a large sharp knife to carve lamb across grain into thin slices and serve.

Dessert..
 

 Cheese - Blue cheese pannacotta with pear

Ingredients (serves 8)

Olive oil, to grease
375ml (1 1/2 cups) milk
375ml (1 1/2 cups) thin cream
70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split
80g blue-vein cheese (King Island Roaring Forties brand), finely chopped
2 tbs boiling water
3 tsp powdered gelatine
2 ripe packham pears, halved, cored, thinly sliced lengthways, to serve

Method
Brush eight 125ml (1/2 cup) capacity metal or plastic dariole moulds with oil to lightly grease. Place on a tray. Combine milk, cream, sugar and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
Add blue cheese and stir until cheese melts. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a large heatproof glass bowl.
Place water in a small heatproof bowl. Sprinkle with gelatine and whisk with a fork to remove any lumps. Set aside for 3 minutes or until gelatine dissolves and mixture is clear.
Gradually whisk the gelatine into the cream mixture until well combined. Ladle mixture equally among prepared moulds. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 6 hours to set.
Dip moulds, 1 at a time, into hot water for 1-2 seconds, then turn onto serving plates. Serve with pear slices.

Succulent Roast Chicken Pie

Chef Kyle Norris, one of the most inspirational Chefs in South Africa shares this juicy roast chicken pie which will leave you begging for another slice. You should soon find his cookbook on the shelf.

Ingredients:
2 rotisserie chickens
1/3 cup canola oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
6 whole black peppercorns
4 whole cloves
2 litres water
300 g brown shimeiji mushrooms
100 g butter
1/3 cup white wine
3 T cornflour
Sea salt salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
500 g puff pastry, thawed
3 T milk
1 free-range egg, beaten
Cooking instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the meat and skin from the chickens (reserve the bones for the stock). Flake the meat and chop the skin, then mix together.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and fry the bones over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, peppercorns, cloves and water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1–1½ hours. Strain.

In another saucepan, pan-fry the mushrooms in the butter until golden. Add the wine and reduce for 5 minutes over a low to medium heat. Add the strained stock and simmer briefly.

Mix the cornflour with 1⁄3 cup cold water. Add the cornflour to the stock mixture and stir until it thickens. Remove from the heat, then add the chicken meat and skin and check the seasoning.

Spoon into a pie or casserole dish and set aside to cool.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and place on top of the pie filling. Brush the pastry with the milk and beaten egg and bake for 50 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Lamb Shank Curry & Saffron Basmati Rice

You will find the most amazing Chef Kyle Norris at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban. This incredibly satisfying curry dish exudes phenomenal flavour. As you might know Durban is the right place to find a good curry, you can't go wrong with this one. 

4 Lamb Shanks
Ghee
Black mustard seeds
Jeera seeeds
6 cardamom 
Kulunji (onion seeds)
6 cloves
3 star anise
tin chopped tomatoes
chopped red chilli
fresh or dried curry leaves about 8
2 or 3 bay leaves
3 crushed garlic cloves 
finely chopped turmeric
greated ginger
2 or 3 chopped red chillies
2T marsala 
200ml cold water
2T brown sugar

Lamb shank curry with saffron basmati The lamb curry:-- use 1 shank per person, with one extra shank so as not to be stingy, all sliced into pieces by your butcher. Melt ghee and gently braise your spices – a spinkling each of black mustard seeds and jeera seeds, 6 cardamom, a sprinkling of kulunji (onion seeds), 6 cloves and 3 star anise, just until the small seeds start to crackle, then add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a chopped red chilli, a small handful of fresh or dried curry leaves, 2 or 3 bay leaves, 3 crushed garlic cloves, an inch each of finely chopped fresh turmeric (or 2t dried) and ginger, 2 or 3 chopped red chillies and 2T (heaped) of a good marsala mix. Add 200ml cold water, stir, bring to a gentle simmer, add all the meat, stir to coat, bring back to a simmer, cover and let it gently cook for three to four hours.add sugar in last 30 min ....but check along the way that it is still moist as this is a good, wet curry.


Lamb shank curry with saffron basmati
I served it with saffron basmati rice (make rice in your usual way but add a few strands of saffron), cucumber raita (diced with seeds removed, chopped dhania leaves, plain yoghurt, a squeeze of lemon juice, white pepper and a little salt),

Kingklip with Chorizo

Chef Kyle Norris from the Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban shares this gorgeous recipe of one of my favorite fishes, Kingklip. Its firm, hearty texture resembling steak is absolutely scrumptious and combined with chorizo makes for a perfect combination. 

 
500g King Klip fillet
110g chorizo
2 tablespoons of olive oil
15g unsalted butter
For the sauce
100g chorizo roughly chopped
5 tablespoons olive oil

Remove the scales and bones from the fillet of King Klip and wash it under cold running water, dry it well with kitchen paper.
Using a very sharp flexible knife, remove the flesh from the skin leaving about 1cm attached running along the length of the fillet.

Thinly slice the Chorizo into rounds and lay them on the skin next to the flesh and season with salt.
Roll the flesh on top of the Chorizo and continue to roll it up tightly until you have a perfect round fillet. Secure the stuffed cod with string and set to one side.

Preheat the oven to 180°c.

Cut the fish into portions and, in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, place the olive oil and unsalted butter. When the butter has stopped fizzing carefully place the fish into the pan and brown it all over for about 1 minute.

Place the browned fish portions onto a baking tray and cook them in the oven for 6 minutes. When they are cooked, remove them from the oven and set them to one side to rest while you make the sauce.

In a frying pan place the olive oil and chopped chorizo and gently fry it over a medium heat for 2 minutes, season with salt.

Serve, we served it with wilted baby leaf spinach seasoned with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Enjoy with a great bottle of chilled Chardonnay..

Naughty Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

What could be better than chocolate chip cookies combined with ice cream? Chef Kyle Norris gets it right every time and never fails to please ... these cookies are excellent for the kids parties or just when you are in the mood to indulge.. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 2lt vanilla ice cream, softened

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C, with rack in center. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add sour cream, egg, and vanilla; beat until smooth. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; mix in 1 cup chocolate chips.
Using 1 rounded tablespoon per cookie, drop mounds of dough, about 4cm apart, onto two baking sheets. (You'll have 25 to 30 cookies.) Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes; transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Scatter remaining chocolate chips on a plate. Place about 2 tablespoons ice cream between 2 cookies, bottoms facing in; press gently. Roll the sides of each sandwich in chips. (If ice cream is melting, place sandwiches in freezer until firm enough to roll in chips.) Transfer sandwiches onto baking sheets. Freeze until firm, at least 2 hours; then wrap individually in plastic. Freeze up to 2 weeks.

Fragrant Orange & Red Onion Salad with Cumin

Chef Kyle Norris from the Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga in Durban understands combining beautiful fresh flavours in visionary perfection.. enjoy this simple and elegant salad..

 
6  fresh lusciously fragrant oranges

2 red onions thinly sliced

15ml cumin seeds

5ml coarsely ground black pepper

15ml chopped fresh mint

90ml olive oil

Salt to taste

Fresh mint sprigs and black olives to garnish

Slice the oranges thinly, working over a bowl to catch any juice. Then, holding each orange slice in turn over the bowl, cut round with scissors to remove the peel and pit, reserve the juice.

Slice the onions thinly and separate into rings. Arrange the orange and onion slices in layers in a shallow dish, sprinkling each layer with cumin seeds, black pepper, chopped mint, olive oil and salt to taste. Pour over the reserved orange juice.

Leave the salad to marinate in a cool place for at least 3 hours. Scatter over the mint sprigs and olives and serve