Luke Mangan

Luke Mangan's Perfect Dish for Easter Lunch

Rescu Team — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 17:17:00 GMT

Easter presents a perfect time for enjoying beautiful food with family and friends. When I’m not travelling, I love to entertain. Easter is the ideal occasion to indulge in a sumptuous feast. I like to serve the dishes family style, in the centre of the table and let guests just help themselves. Al fresco, easy and laid-back always works well.

Traditionally, we abstain from meat on Good Friday and many of us like to eat fish. Blue-eye Travella is a very versatile and popular white fish – it’s firm, moist and delicately flavoured.

In the spirit of Easter, enjoy the 4-day weekend and indulge in plenty of hot cross buns and chocolate. Hope the Easter bunny comes!

Luke Mangan's Perfect Valentine's Day Dish

Rescu Team — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:22:05 GMT

It’s hard to believe we are already into February and another season is nearly upon us. Autumn is the prime season for grapes, figs, walnuts, borlotti beans and some great fish and seafood, with an abundance of warm colours and flavours. But first of all we need to get over the big ‘V’ Day! Chocolate hearts and flowers are terribly clichéd at this time of year, but we still can’t help ourselves and it’s quite possibly the busiest night of the year for restaurants.

If you’re staying in, woo your loved one with a special dinner – Frank Sinatra, candles and Champagne are my recipe for romance. Keep the dishes simple and prepare them beforehand. Serve chocolate for dessert, it’s a must.

Happy Valentine’s Day – good luck and enjoy!

Luke Mangan's Family Christmas Pudding

Rescu Team — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:11:29 GMT

About this time every year I get the standard call from my mother asking what I’d like for Christmas. My answer is always the same….one of her puddings, which are fantastic. This recipe is a very old and has been passed down through the generations. It’s best made around July or August, or even earlier if you can. Christmas pudding, or plum pudding, as it’s often referred to, has English origin and is quite heavy with a lot of dried fruit and nuts. For me - it’s the true taste of the festive season. It’s delicious with brandy sauce and a dollop of fresh cream or ice-cream. If you haven't had time to make one this year, try one from my providores range. Merry Christmas!

Luke Mangan's Liquorice Parfait

Super User — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:13:00 GMT

By Luke Mangan

Liquorice Parfait is one of my most recognised dishes and my signature dessert. It’s served throughout all my restaurants in Australia and overseas.

I have been making this dish since 1995 – it was created in the kitchen of CBD after months of trial and error. I was always trying to do something different with a dish or two and add a bit of a surprise factor.
I tried it first with cinnamon, but that didn’t work so, because I love liquorice so much, we said we would give that a go.
It’s a balanced dessert – rich and creamy, but we served it with lime which cuts through that.
It looks impressively complicated but looks can be deceiving - it's dead simple. It tastes a bit like a velvety ice cream and it’s truly amazing.
Even people who don’t like liquorice actually seem to like this dessert. Some might say it’s a bit old fashioned but when the balances of flavours work, why change it! It is best served with a glass of sauternes. Enjoy!

Ingredients
Lime Syrup
250g sugar
250ml water
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Lime segments, to garnish

Liquorice Parfait
300ml cream
50g liquorice
2 free range eggs
1 egg yolk
2 tsp glucose
60g sugar
2 tbsp Pernod

For the lime syrup
Bring the sugar and water to the boil, stirring to ensure the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; add the lime juice and the rind to taste. Stir well and refrigerate.

For the liquorice parfait
In a small saucepan combine the cream and liquorice, heating gently without boiling, until the liquorice is very soft.

Blend the mixture in a food processor until it is well combined. Pour through a fine sieve to strain out any tiny pieces of liquorice remaining. Set aside to cool.

In a stainless steel bowl, over a large saucepan of gently simmering water, make a sabayon. This is done by whisking together the full eggs, yolk, glucose, sugar and Pernod, until the mixture turns pale and fluffy. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until it cools a little.

Fold half of the sabayon into the liquorice mixture. Once it’s combined, fold in the remaining sabayon and mix through.

Pour into individual moulds, or a log shaped tin, and freeze.

To serve
Lower the moulds into hot water for a few seconds before turning out the parfait. You can either pour over the lime syrup, or serve it on the table in a jug. Garnish with lime segments.

For more from Luke, visit www.lukemangan.com

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