BORN and bred in Ireland chef Richard O'Connell moved to England in 1992 to pursue his culinary career.
Now, as an accomplished cook at some of Britain's top restaurants, he's still inspired by his Irish childhood.
As Group Executive Chef with Tom's Kitchen, he's shared one of his favourite desserts - summer berry pudding with vanilla crème fraiche.
"The dish brings back memories of stealing raspberries from a farm and filling our wellies with them," he said. "Turning the puddings out of the moulds reminds me of when I used to make tin soldiers as a kid.
"As a child I ate sherry trifle which is similar, I absolutely loved it, the fruit, custard and jelly was the ultimate combination and my mum made one of the best."
The dish is also vailable at Tom's Kitchen this summer.
"It's a great dessert for summer as many British gardens will have lots of berries growing right now, and there are also plenty of pick your own, meaning you can go out and get the fruits yourselves," Richard added.
To make the summer fruit filling:
Ingredients: (for 5 portions)
½ kg defrosted and drained mixed berries
90g caster sugar
1 fresh vanilla pod split and scraped
3 lemons
Peel from ½ lemon
½ stick cinnamon
Peel from ½ orange
40ml Vanilla essence
2g Cornflour mixed with a little water to thicken
Method:
1. Place the berries into a pan with the cinnamon stick, caster sugar, vanilla pod, water, lemon juice and cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 10-15 minutes until the berries are becoming slightly soft and the juices are coming out.
2. Then add the corn flour. Cook out for a minute then remove from the heat to cool.
To make the vanilla crème fraiche:
Ingredients:
50g crème fraiche
50mls double cream
1 tsp caster sugar
¼ vanilla bean split and scraped
½ tablespoon of vanilla essence
Method:
1. Mix the cream with the vanilla, sugar, essence and whisk lightly. Then add the crème fraiche and mix till thick.
To make the strawberry coulis:
Ingredients:
5 strawberries
14g sugar
A couple of drops of lemon juice
Method:
1. Wash the strawberries first, remove the stems and cut into quarters. Mix with the sugar and lemon juice and leave to marinade for 1 hour.
2. Place in the blender and when you puree the fruit do not puree too long as you want to remove the seeds when you pass it off, if you puree the seeds for too long they will get pureed into the fruit and the colour will not be as red, 30 seconds is ample.
To make the setting jelly:
Ingredients:
¼ Strawberry coulis from above
50ml crème de cassis
2 sheets bronze leaf gelatine soaked in cold water
Method:
1. Bring 100ml of the coulis to a simmer. Add the crème de cassis and gelatine sheets and pass through a fine sieve.
To make the puddings:
Ingredients:
½ brioche cut into thin slices
4 pudding moulds
Method:
1. Get the brioche loaves with the crust removed, cut in half width ways, then sliced length-ways about 1/2cm thick.
2. Cut 2 circle’s out for the base and top, these are the same size, put the base into the bottom of the moulds.
3. Cut each brioche slice into two pieces length-ways, then cut each piece into 3 narrow rectangular pieces of brioche to go all round the sides of the pudding mould (you will need four of these a portion), then fill in the gaps with smaller pieces of brioche.
4. Press these really well against the sides so they are compacted and firmly in place. Place 1/2 the setting jelly onto the sponge to make it moist.
5. Place the summer fruits inside the mould carefully, and do not compact the fruit too much as all the juice will come out, then add the rest of the setting jelly, making sure that you stir this in with a spoon into the fruit. Put the other disc of brioche on top and put a little weight on the top to press the fruit slightly, then chill for 3-4 hours before use. Assemble.
6. Tip the pudding out of the mould on to a plate / bowl.
7. Drizzle over the strawberry coulis on top of the pudding in the centre of the plate so the whole pudding is nicely covered, arrange the berries on top and around the pudding, finish with a quenelle of the crème fraiche on top of the summer pudding.
See More: Featured, Recipe, Richard O'Connell, Summer
