I would like to wish everyone a great Christmas and New Year. 

Rockpool Group employees, thanks heaps for an amazing year, particularly the last few weeks. You slaved away and made the restaurants better.

To all our wonderful customers out there, thanks so much for all your support, I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow.

To all those tuning into the blog have the best time, I know I will be relaxing, so hopefully you will be doing the same.

 Lots of love to everyone this holiday season!!!

~ Neil

Rockpool News – December 2009 – Christmas Edition

Serves 8

This is an absolute cracker. Easy to make and it looks fabulous all white. There is something really alluring about fresh cake and cream — it takes me back to my childhood, when the local cake shop made all their cakes that way. Those days have long passed, sadly. Don’t look at this recipe and say ‘this is too long for me’. It involves just making a cake, stewing some fruit and whipping cream. It started out life as a quick version of Black Forest Cake, but once you have perfection, why add more cherries and lots of chocolate? Good cooking is all about knowing when to stop. You’ll love where we have stopped.

Cherries in brandy
750 g fresh cherries, pitted
250 ml brandy
2 tablespoons caster sugar

Cake
225 g unsalted butter, softened
225 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon natural almond extract
9 eggs, separated
250 g dark chocolate, coarsely grated
125 g plain flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
100 g ground almonds

Filling
180 ml kirsch
375ml single cream, whipped to stiff peaks

Icing
750 ml single cream
125 g icing sugar, sifted

To make the cherries in brandy, put the brandy and sugar in a pan over low heat and stir continuously, until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to the boil. Add the cherries, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes, or until the cherries are quite tender, but still holding their shape. Remove the cherries from the liquid using a slotted spoon, and set them aside. Increase the heat to medium and simmer the liquid for 5–10 minutes, or until almost all the liquid has evaporated and you have a syrup (be sure to watch the syrup towards the end of the cooking time so it doesn’t burn). Toss the syrup with the cherries and set aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, to make the cake, preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease three 23 cm round cake tins, and line the bases and sides with baking paper. Put the butter, 170 g of the sugar and the vanilla and almond extracts into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the egg yolks, beating until incorporated. Fold in the combined chocolate, flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds. Beat the egg whites in a bowl with an electric mixer until frothy. Add the remaining sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the cake mixture in three or four batches. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake tins, and smooth out the surfaces with a spatula.

Bake the cakes for 20 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow the cakes to cool briefly, then turn out onto wire racks lined with baking paper. Cool completely.

To assemble, place one cake upside down on a cake plate. Drizzle with one-third of the kirsch, then spread with half the cream and sprinkle with half the cherries. Place another cake on top and repeat the process. Place the last cake on top, and drizzle with the remaining kirsch. For the icing, whip the cream and sugar together until soft peaks form, then frost the top and sides of the cake. You now have a big beautiful white cake. Yum!

Rockpool News – December 2009 – Christmas Edition

Serves 4 

This is a yummy, simple dish that relies on the quality of the prosciutto. The salsa also goes well with other meats like salami or ham, and you can make a mixed plate as well, which is nice, or serve on a  plate with a couple of other salads to make a lovely antipasto. To prepare the breadcrumbs, use a piece of stale sourdough with the crust on and chop it coarsely in a food processor – the texture of the crumbs is integral to the final dish.

16 thin slices prosciutto
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper

Salsa
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
70g sourdough breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
3 tablespoons tomato juice
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Sea slat and freshly ground pepper

To make the tomato and bread salsa, mix the tomato with the breadcrumbs, parsley and tomato juice. Add a little oil and red wine vinegar, then season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Place four thin slices of prosciutto on each serving plate, overlapping them so most of the plate is covered. Spoon some salsa in the centre, drizzle with a little oil and give a good grind of fresh pepper. This is great served with crusty sourdough bread.

Rockpool News – December 2009 – Christmas Edition

Serves 4

4kg live mud crabs
Extra virgin olive oil
Lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
½ cup chopped Italian parsley

Place your mud crabs in the freezer. This puts them to sleep and is the most humane way to kill them (it will take about 2 hours). Remove the string, turn the crab upside down in the sink, pull the ‘v’ shaped flap at the back up and remove the whole shell. Remove the lungs by scraping them off with a spoon and clean the crab under running water. Snap off the flap. Chop the crab in half and clean out any remaining internal organs. Cut the crab in half again, between the claw and legs. Using the back of a knife or a meat mallet, crack the claws a couple of times from the nippers down to the elbow and what we like to call the forearm. Remove any excess cartilage from around the head.

Put each crab and top shell in a bamboo steamer basket and layer them up (it is a good idea to have a plate sitting under the baskets to catch all the liquid). Place the stacked baskets over a pot of boiling water and steam for 6 to 8 minutes, rotating the baskets so they all cook evenly. When done, the flesh will be white (check the thick part of the claw).

Add all the crab pieces to a large bowl and toss with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Serve with freshly made aioli (or the Neil Perry fresh version available at Woolworths), a finger bowl, a strong napkin and a good glass of Riesling or Champagne.

You think Santa and his elves have been busy this festive season???

Well…so far in December my amazing team at Rockpool Bar & Grill in Melbourne have been kept on their toes, bolting around like the proverbial headless chooks.  They have sold…no joke…3940 steaks!  501 Wagyu burgers!  333 pavlovas!  Happy Customers!  Merry Christmas!  Our general manager Vanessa’s shoes fell apart last night!

Apart from Christmas Day, the doors of Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne will be open for lunch and dinner on Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Australia Day – as well as all those days and nights in between (closed Saturday lunches).  Pop in and keep the staff running.