Passport & Plate - Budino Rachella
Philippines | Monday, February 17, 2014 | 2 photos
Ingredients
POLENTA:
90g polenta powder
250ml chicken stock
250ml milk
Mix herbs (rosemary.thyme.oregano)
1pc bayleaf
3pcs pepper corn
1 teaspoon (tsp) mince oniob
1 tsp mince garlic
BUDINO(italian for pudding)
360g cooked polenta
125g dried prunes dice
125g apricot dice
100g red apple dice
100g green apple dice
2 tablespoon(tbsp) candied orange peel dice
Zest and juice of 1/2 of lemon
2 tbsp rum
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon powder
2 cups water
1 c milk
100g parmesan cheese
50g butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
4pcs egg yolk
2 whole.eggs
VANILLA LEMON GRASS SAUCE
3 stalks of lemon grass
2 c whipping cream
1/2 pod vanilla
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 eggyolk
Peppermint leaves for garnish
How to prepare this recipePolenta:
Sauté onion,garlic,bayleaf,peppercorns and mix herbs
Add stock and milk.Let it boil
Strain the liquid to remove the solid residue
Put it in a sauce let it boil, add polenta lower the fire let it cooked till polenta is soft enough (30 min).set aside till set and cooled
Budino:
Preheat oven at 175 C
Line small round baking pans 3" round
In a pan mix all the fruits(prunes,apples,candied orange peel, and lemon)
Add brown sugar and cinnamon
Add rum then cook in a low fire for 5 min.
Separate 4tbsp of the fruit mixture. Set aside
In a separate pan boil the cooked polenta(360g) with water till almost dry but not to dry.
Turn off the fire add the parmesan.butter and salt
Fold till smooth
Add flour ,baking soda and eggs one at a time
Add milk
Put the mixture in the pan 3/4 full
Bake for 5 min
Then add the fruits on top bring it back to the oven for another 15 min
Check the pudding if cook by inserting toothpick must comes out clean
Vanilla lemon grass sauce:
Pound the lemon grass lightly
Simmer cream and lemon grass for 10min
Strain.
In a double broiler whisk egg and sugar
Add gradually the cream mixture
Continue whisking till smooth and lightly thick covering the back of spoon. Set it aside in the chiller
Assembly
In a deep plate put the budino in the center
Surrounded by the sauce
Top some.mint leaves
NOTE
Best serve the Budino warm and sauce is cold
The story behind this recipeI am a cook in a italian inspired restaurant here in the Manila(My Kitchen by Chef Chris) for almost a year. And in our restaurant we have this dining supervisor which is so beautiful her name is Rachelle. And by the first day i step in our restaurant my heart captivate by her. Every day after a long and tiring shift all of my weight that day are all gone just to look at her smiling. She dont smile a lot and she looks intimidating if she is not smiling. But when she smile all your stress will be gone. Am not being cheesy here that is what i feel everytime i look at her. Evryday this simple crush grew by the minute.
Did she know about it? No ofcourse because i got frozen and tongue tied everytime i speak to her, yes i am that kind of guy. Untill one day one of our sous chef which happens to be her bestfriend tease on me to her but my blush broke my secret to her then. Since then its always hard to talk to her. Then one day (Nov 2013) we are putting new item in our menu my sous chef ask me to create some.dessert so i decided to create this BUDINO RACHELLA. She dont like sweet a lot the way i love sweet so i try to make something savory yet sweet at the same time. It gets in the menu thats how i ask her if i could name after her. She just said ok. After that things get a little off to us thats when she ask me to stop courting her. It breaks me to tell u honestly thats when it also remove in the menu because it is slow selling item.
Budino Rachella is my seal of love to her just like a insignia of a school or Hogwarts. It is my signature for the girl i adore and will adore. Im hoping to know her more and she knows me too. She is the inspiration behind that dish. It is special to me because it is the first time i created something that made out of love to someone like her. Idont care if our guest dosent like it. For me it is my masterpiece. But it is gone it will be just a memory.
