Shortbread dough recipe:
250g Butter (room temperature)
125g Caster Sugar
375g Plain flour
1 egg yolk 
1 Pinch salt

200g Strawberry jam blended

Method:
1. cream together butter and sugar till light and fluffy
2. sift in the flour and salt slowly mix together till all the flour is incorporated, add the egg yolk and knead lightly do not overwork
3. Divide the dough in 2 and wrap put in the fridge for 1 hour to rest.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 175C
5. Lightly work the dough, roll out, to 3 mm thick use a 5 cm fluted cutter cut out disks, repeat with leftover dough until all is used up.
6. Use either a small 1 cm fluted cutter or any small shaped cutter in the middle of half of the disks, lay all on non-stick mat or greaseproof paper, 
7. Bake for 12 minutes leave rest on the tray for a few minutes, before transferring to a cooling rack.
8. Turn the oven up to 185C, 
9. put a 1/2 tsp of jam in the centre of each full biscuit, then put the top disk with the cut out on top making sure there is some jam between the layers and some mounded over the hole. 
10. When all the biscuits are sandwiched together put back in the oven and bake for 3-5 minutes. leave to cool and ENJOY in moderation.... if you can!!

Hi Everyone first recipe post in a while, on the 11/03/16 I was invited to the Parramasala festival if you haven't heard of it, it is an annual multi cultural celebration. This year they organised several chefs to give live cooking demonstrations. We decided with my formal french training at one of the best restaurants in the world I should do a french inspired dish. So I demonstrated how to cook a restaurant dish: Pan roasted lamb loin with thyme crushed kipfler potatoes, asparagus and sauce paloise. The audience was very engaged and had a great energy about them. As promised here are the recipes, sorry for the lack of photos today I was missing my helper and my darling Jessica.

Thyme crushed potatoes
1kg Kipfler potato
10g Thyme leaves chopped
3 Thyme sprigs
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
1/2 Lemon juice

Method:
1. Boil the potato in salted water with the sprigs of thyme until soft 20-25 minutes
2. Drain and remove the thyme sprigs
3.​ Crush the potatoes with the back of a fork, leaving them fairly chunky, season with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste

Blanched asparagus
2 bunch Asparagus
5% per litre of water Salt
Olive oil
Smoked salt
White pepper

Method:
1. Blanch the asparagus, for 1 min 15 sec, drain and dry
2. Cut into rondelles and leave the top inch as a spear 
3. Season with olive oil, smoked salt and white pepper 

Paloise mint reduction
1/2 Red onion thinly sliced
5 Mint stalks
10 unit Black peppercorns
100 ml White wine
200 ml White wine vinegar

​Method:
1. Put everything together and bring to boil reduce by 1/3
2. ​Jar and store in fridge

Sauce Paloise
1 Whole egg
2 Egg yolk
35 G Hollandaise reduction
300 G beurre noisette
To taste Salt
Small pinch Cayenne
1/4 Lemon juice
To taste Black pepper
5g Chiffonade mint 

Method:
1. Make beurre noissette with all butter till it foams and you have a light golden brown colour, season with salt pepper and 1/2 a lemon juice to stop the cooking process.
2. Put the whole egg, yolk and hollandaise reduction into the bowl whisk to combine.
3. Over the baine marie, whisk the egg mixture till it doubles in size and you can leave a figure 8 on top of the sabayon that lasts for 3 seconds.
3. Remove from the heat, place on tea towel folded into 4 (this will stop it slipping around. Cool the Beurre noisette to about 40 c.
4. In a slow steady stream pour the beurre noisette into the sabayon, (ensure to get all the sediment into the bowl) whilst whisking very fast this will emulsify the sauce and ensures it won't split. (If it does split, then you can save it by whisking one extra egg yolk and slowly pouring the split mixture into this egg yolk, until all the mix is emulsified).
5. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice and cayenne.
6. Taste and adjust and taste again if necessary. To store put a cartouche on top, to stop a skin forming.

Pan Roasted lamb
​500 g Lamb back strap
20 ml Oil
2 sprigs Thyme
1 clove Garlic cut in 1/2 
1 Tbsp Butter
Table Salt
Pepper
Smoked salt (finishing salt)

Method:
​1. Season lamb with table salt, at least 10 minute before cooking 
2. Get thick based frying pan very hot, add oil and lay lamb in away from you presentation side down
3. Cook for 2-3 minutes without disturbing, turn over and cook for another 2 minutes
4. Add the thyme, garlic and butter baste the meat so it is foaming and cooking the meat from all sides whilst keeping the moisture in
5. Cook a further 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the cut and preferred level of doneness
6. Remove from pan and leave to rest you want to rest the meat for about half the cooking time

Please share your pictures of the day if you took any, especially of your creations, on social media use the #tommyprosser and via email as I would love to see your creations. Happy cooking!

Hi guys so recently we were at a bacon festival and I gave a talk and demonstration on real bacon, the time it takes and the importance of doing it properely. I actually gave a demonstration on making real “Australian Lamb bacon” I also highlighted the importance of experimenting in the kitchen to keep life fun and open yourself up to new experiences.
So as promised here is my Wiltshire cure recipe it is important to use fresh meat from a reputable supplier, clean equipment and to keep the temperature cold. You will need,

​50g Smoked Salt*
40g Smoked Sugar*
1tsp Pepper
1 tsp Instacure 1**
2 litres water
non reactive container big enough to hold brine and meat
time
1 kg good quality meat lamb beef or pork
 
So to start your journey into making your own bacon, I have developed this easy to follow recipe. It involves procuring some ingredients you may not have used before. You can easily find Instacure no 1, from different online stores I have used Melbournefooddepot.com.au and smokedandcured.com.au before, both have been a great product and professional service.
You can do up to 2 kg of meat with this amount of brine.

​Day 1

1. Chill water in fridge for 3-4 hours beforehand or alternately use 200g of ice instead of 200ml of water.
2. Whisk all ingredients together in non reactive container,
3. Place meat in container, cover with brine and leave in fridge

 
Day2-5

1. Each day turn meat over in brine and stir the liquid to mix it again and all the salt doesn’t concentrate in the lower half.

Day 6

1. Remove meat from brine and discard the liquid
2. Dry the meat with a paper towel and leave either hanging or on a wire rack on the fridge to optimize airflow around and give the meat time to dry out a little.

Day 7

1. Flip the meat over so that the other side is exposed leave overnight

 
Day 8

1. Your bacon is now ready to slice, fry and serve on soft white bread with butter and a little bit of tomato relish
2. This is known in England as green bacon as it is unsmoked.
3. This is also the time where you could smoke your bacon!

So there you have it a little how to guide of making your own bacon please email me with pictures and descriptions on how your bacon has come out!

If you love soft chewy chocolate chip cookies you have to try out this delicious recipe. I have made it in a few of the restaurants and cafes that I have worked in, it is always a crowd favourite. They are called cheat day cookies for obvious reasons but maybe make them smaller and take them to the next dinner party you're invited to and have them with coffee, tea or of course milk.
In one of the many variations I have stuffed them with house made peanut butter (pictured below) for a super decadent cookie, your imagination is your limit, even filled with Nutella they would be amazing, but they can also be enjoyed with a warm glass of milk.

I gave Jess the recipe so she could make it to camera in a video tutorial and she forgot the eggs apparently they were still a winner, they just called them eggless cookies watch the video here.

This was another dish from the live cooking demonstrations I have recently completed. It was such a great success the butcher sold out of these beautiful lamb roasts the day this was demonstrated...
We went down to see friends in the southern highlands, and offered to cook dinner this made its way onto the menu it was a big success and I haves since heard they have been enjoying the feast the following days meals. click below to see the recipe.

creamed leek
2 heads leek
20 ml olive oil
1 tbsp butter
salt
pepper
100ml fresh cream
30 g grated parmesan
 

1. Wash and cut the leek in half thinly slice in a hot pan add the oil and butter, then the leek mix fast so that the leek wilts down with no colour
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Add fresh cream and reduce to thicken the sauce
   
4. Finish with some grated parmesan 
   
5. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary​

This is a beautiful dish that I actually made for our christmas lunch after Jess had tried it at the demo it was specially requested to share with the family! Ideally you would use the freshest prawns, but if you are unable to source these then allowing the frozen ones to defrost overnight in the fridge will also work, just make sure you get the green (raw) prawns. The inspiration for this dish came after a few days into the demonstrations and I went to the fishmonger to find out what they had on offer and I saw these beautiful fresh prawns starring back at me & I knew they had to be featured! There was a beautiful savoury, element from the salted celery and then the pickled grapes highlighted the sweetness of the prawns with that beautiful acidic note to cut through it all, then the yoghurt dressing married it all together.

Pickled grapes
½ bunch of red grapes cut in half (you can use any grapes but red offer a great contrast)
150ml Water
150ml Apple cider vinegar
8g Salt
30g Sugar

Method:

1. Put the grapes on a tray in 180d oven for 5 minutes 
2. Mix the other ingredients together and bring to the boil then remove from heat leave to cool for 2-3 minutes
3. Put grapes into non- reactive container that you wish to pickle in
4. Pour over the pickling liquid and leave to cool
5. These can be made a couple of days in advance or if you use sterile jars and correct storage  you could make them well in advance

Celery, cucumber and walnut slaw
5 stick celery cut into 5 cm lengths, thinly sliced
2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut in 1/2 seeds removed, thinly sliced
2 tbsp Salt
Minted yoghurt dressing (enough to bind)
50 g walnut halves toasted in a 180d oven for 10 minutes and cooled

​Method:

1. In a non reactive bowl (plastic or ceramic) put the celery and cucumber in and the salt and mix through all of the vegetables so they get a good coating (this will start to break down the veg, and draw out a lot of their water content and intensify their flavour)
2. Cover and leave for 1-2 hours, (prepare the other components of the salad in this time)
3. Drain the veg from the brine and gently squeeze out the excess
4. Put in a bowl large enough to mix in
5. Add 1/2 of the dressing and mix you want it to resemble a coleslaw, taste, season adjust and taste again.

Grilled prawns
600 g prawns, peeled and deveined (keep the shells in the freezer to make a prawn bisque)
Salt
Pepper
Lemon juice
1/2 bunch dill finely chopped

Method:

1. Season prawns with salt and pepper fry on a hot BBQ or griddle pan for 3-4 minutes turning once half way through
2. Remove from the heat and leave to cool
3. Cut the prawns in half or leave as is depending on how you wish to present
4. Mix with the dill and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste and season again if necessary

 
Yoghurt dressing
250g Yoghurt plain unsweetened
35g Lemon juice
20g Mint julienne
Salt
Pepper
15g Olive oil

Method:

1. Whisk every thing together 
2. Season and taste adjust if necessary
3. Keep cool in the fridge until ready to use

This was my first attempt at making some Ukrainian Borsch, I put it on as a special after it was requested by one of my customers, Natalie Troy. it was a great little exercise and it rounds out nicely with the pickled cabbage, fresh green peppers and Creme fraiche. Enjoy 

Method:
1.  Dice and fry the bacon in the olive oil till crisp, remove from the pan and add the onion, cook for 5-10 minutes.
2.  Then add the garlic and carrots cook for a further 5-10 minutes lightly season with salt and pepper. 
3.   Add the dried chilli, tomato paste and potatoes cook for a further 3-5 minutes, put the crispy bacon back in the pot.
4.   Add the Italian crushed tomatoes and bring to the boil, then add the chicken stock and horseradish bring to the boil and simmer until everything is just cooked but still holds its shape. 
5.   Taste season and adjust if necessary. 
  

         Hollandaise is a very classical sauce it is one of the first you learn in culinary school, it is basically an emulsion of egg yolks, clarified butter and an acidic element, a versatile mother sauce, add chopped tarragon it becomes bearnaise, tomato it becomes sauce choron, or lightly whipped cream it becomes sauce mousseline, click here to see the many other variations. 
         It pairs well with pretty much anything, one of my favourites is with poached eggs, spinach and bacon on an english muffin, instead of using ghee I like to use a beurre noisette so there's a beautiful nutty flavour added to it!
         Here's my recipe, I like to use the best ingredients I can sauce, here I am using eggs from our friends farm, Pepe Saya's Ghee, from his butter making master class at celebration cooking with Jessica Pedemont.

My tip: make the reduction before time and leave in the fridge in a kilner jar, you'll get enough for a few batches of sauce!!

Method:
1. Put the whole egg, yolk and hollandaise reduction into the bowl whisk to combine.
2. Over the baine marie, whisk the egg mixture till it doubles in size and you can leave a figure 8 on top of the sabayon that lasts for 3 seconds.
3. Remove from the heat, place on tea towel folded into 4(this will stop it slipping around. Warm the Ghee to about 40 c.
4. In a slow steady stream pour the ghee into the sabayon whilst whisking very fast this will emulsify the sauce and ensures it won't split. (If it does split, then you can save it by whisking one extra egg yolk and slowly pouring the split mixture into this egg yolk, until all the mix is emulsified).
5. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice and cayenne.
6. Taste and adjust and taste again if necessary. To store put a cartouche on top, to stop a skin forming.

Method:

1.     Finely dice all of the vegetables and apple.
2.     In a hot pan sweat down the onion and garlic (lightly season with salt to help breakdown and layer the flavour) until translucent and just starting to caramelise. We want this sweetness.
3.     Then add the carrot and cook for a further 3-5 minutes until starting to soften.
4.     Then we add the mushroom and apple (lightly season again) and cook down until soft remove from the pan into a bowl.
5.     Lightly season the chicken livers and sauté quickly in a very hot pan we want them to caramelise on the outside and still be pink in the middle, quickly add the calvados and flambé, (set alight to, mind your eyebrows, hair, loose clothing and any decorations that might be hanging around the stove)
6.     Remove from the pan and set aside and leave the livers to rest for a couple of minutes.
7.     In a blender add the livers, vegetables and start to blend use some of the 300 G of butter to get it going we want to make this as smooth as possible (Parfait translates to Perfect: called for its beautifully smooth texture) then slowly add the rest.
8.     Now we taste and adjust the seasoning to our preference and pour into our sanitised containers.
9.     Remelt the other 50 G of butter and stir to get all the caramelised pieces in and pour a thin layer over each parfait to protect it from oxidisation.
10.  Leave to chill in the fridge and remove 30 minutes before serving enjoy with crusty bread, pickles and chutneys. I made a balsamic apple and onion chutney for ours!