I’ve always been a Masterchef fan but I think it really took a hold on more people this year than ever before. The three finalists proved worthy adversaries but it really came down to two, Emily & James. James, the barrister who gave up life in chambers for a life behind swinging doors and Emily, well, what can one say about Emily? Show me one Michelin starred chef that was cooking with Emily’s creativity & ingenuity at age 18 and I’ll be very surprised. Such was her talent, tough as nails John Torrode (affectionately referred to as ‘Toad’ on the BBC message-boards) was moved to tears by one of her creations. Now, I confess that I missed most of the final episode as I was visiting a friend in Cork and we were booked in for dinner at 8.30 so just got to see them cooking their first dish, but on the Friday night that followed, it seemed as though most of my friends & family had been hooked early on and some even cried when the final result was announced. Even my own father, whose interests don’t stray much from Six One, Channel 4 News, Prime Time and Panorama was thoroughly gripped.
James was eventually crowned the winner which, I think, was the right decision. He proved versatile, a natural leader, creative, skilful, knowledgeable and an all round nice guy to boot – remember Jonny’s hissy fit when Emily wanted to call her guacamole ‘deconstructed’- what on earth was that about? James’ father advised him at age 18 to make use of his brains first and look to cooking second – sound advise and I reckon that when the graduation bell tolls at Oxford for Emily, Michelin starred chefs from around the globe will be calling on her to have the honour of training the next big thing.
I was thinking about some of Emily’s dishes over the weekend, most I wouldn’t be able to re-create myself but a rhubarb soup from the earlier heats grabbed my attention. Now, I’m not a big fan of fruit soups but I do like fruit jelly and thought of making rhubarb jelly & custard. It came out well but alas, I used powdered gelatine (my first time) and the texture was not as soft as I would have liked, I’d advise using gelatine leaves which are much nicer to work with and yield a more palatable result. Veggies could substitute agar but I’ve never worked with this so not quite sure – drop me a line if you think it would work. So here goes….
Rhubarb Jelly & Custard
Serves 2
What You Need
1lb rhubarb cut into chunks
1 litre water
2 Tbsp caster sugar (or more depending on your taste, I like it sour)
Gelatine per instructions on pack
250ml milk
½ pint cream
3 Tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
What You Do
· Place rhubarb, water & 2 Tbsp of sugar in a pan, bring to the boil & cook for about 10 minutes until the rhubarb is fully cooked & broken down.
· Strain the liquid through a sieve and combine with the gelatine per the instructions on the pack. Pour into serving glasses and transfer to the fridge overnight.
· For the custard, heat the milk, cream, vanilla and 2Tbsp sugar in a pan until almost boiling and take off the heat to sit for a few minutes. Add the remaining sugar to the egg yolks & beat until pale and doubled in volume.
· Add a ladle of the hot milk mix to the egg and mix thoroughly. Beat in the rest of the liquid, return to the pan and replace on a low heat for a few minutes, stirring continuously until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
· Allow the custard to cool fully before adding to the jelly and serve with some biscuits. I used Garam Masala Cookies from Green Saffron but they may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
P.S. Many congratulations go out to Italian Foodies, The Limerick Blogger and Ice Cream Ireland as well as all the other winners who cleaned up at Saturday’s blog awards!
I'm so jealous of all the people that got hooked on Masterchef this year, I really wanted to see it, but alas we don't have the channel (or any channel that isn't covered by our license fee).
Posted by: Maz | March 04, 2008 at 02:52 PM
I couldn't believe how good the final 3 were!! I agree James was the right winner all round, emily is amazing but her food is a bit too creative for me but she will do so well, they all will!! I'm lost every night now with nothing to watch, I'll just have to blog a bit more:)
Posted by: lorraine@italianfoodies | March 04, 2008 at 09:31 PM
Lor, there's a gap there alright. I did some housework and stuck on a Grey's Anatomy DVD last night...
Maz, if there was a DVD of the series, I'd buy it and watch it all over again!!!
Posted by: Sarah | March 05, 2008 at 09:41 AM
the rhubarb dans le market on a Saturday is perfect and tasty at the moment.
Posted by: Anthrax Island Resident | March 05, 2008 at 01:33 PM
AIR, good of you to drop by; however, I am aware that you've been skulking in the background and not making your presence known for quite some time now.
What's in season out your direction at the moment?
Posted by: Sarah | March 05, 2008 at 02:01 PM
We don;t have this show, we have TOP CHEF, which sounds similar.
I LOVE it! It drives my hubby insane, ha,ha,ha!
Posted by: Lisa | March 05, 2008 at 10:22 PM
Hi Lisa, we get Top Chef too. There's a difference though, Top Chef is for budding chefs who want to move on and get their own restaurant while Masterchef is for amateur cooks (you & me) who want to take their skills to the next level and get trained in a top kitchen. I love the bitchiness of top chef; we just got the season where Marcel loses the final (did anyone want him to win?)so I'd say we're a season or two behind the States
Posted by: Sarah | March 06, 2008 at 08:26 AM