Asian pork rack roast, beef and red wine jus, aromatic kipfler mash, wasabi mayonnaise

A beef and red wine Jus sets off and complements the pork centerpiece. But the aromatic Kipfler mash really raises this offering to the gourmet level. And if that's not enough, a stunning Asian Ratatouille takes us to international levels. But it's the Wasabi mayonnaise that allows the humble pork rack to soar with the eagles. Our modest chef has unleashed an awesome masterpiece on these pages at last!

Swerdna's Asian Pork Rack

Satisfies: Recipe for five.

Pork Rack: Take a 1.5 Kg rack of pork (5 cutlets) and score the rind into 2 cm squares. Oil thoroughly (olive oil) and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake in a preheated oven, fan forced temp 200C, for 70-80 minutes. Remove and stand for 10 minutes. Carve as discrete cutlets.

Asian Ratatouille

Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup mirin
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup water
1 can pureed tomatoes
1 leek, sliced to 1/2 cm
1/2 tbsp grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, diced finely
2 thin zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced to 3/4 cm
2 miniature (long &thin) eggplant ≤ 2 cm diameter, sliced to 3/4 cm
(or sliver 1/4 of a standard eggplant, halve that lengthwise, and slice to 3/4 cm)
150 gm mixed oriental mushrooms, cups halved or quartered depending on size

Fry leeks in olive and sesame oil, medium heat for 5 minutes. Add in ginger and garlic and turn for 1 minute. Add remaining vegetables and braise for 10 minutes, adding mirin for the last minute. Add tomatoes, rice vinegar, sugar and water. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer for 15 minutes.

You can make this to serve or prepare it beforehand and gently reheat to serve.

Aromatic Kipfler Mash: Inspired by Philip Johnson's Ecco II

Ingredients
600 gm Kipfler potatoes
30 gm butter
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bunch spring onions, diced to 1/3 cm.
1 head of garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
2 handsfull chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat fan forced oven to 200C. Cut 1/2 cm off top of the head of garlic. Place root side down on a piece of alfoil. Pour on the olive oil. Wrap and seal in alfoil. Place in oven for one hour.

Peel and boil potatoes to tender, approx 10+ minutes, in salted boiling water. Combine butter, cream and milk in a saucepan and heat gently to melt butter. Drain potatoes. Squeeze the garlic from the baked cloves. into the potatoes. Mash while slowly adding the butter/cream/milk mixture until the consistency is to your liking. Fold the diced spring onions and mitsuba through the mash. Serve immediately and decorate with a cross of Jus.

Red Wine Jus

Ingredients
1 liter beef stock (it can be store-bought)
1 cup/250 ml red wine
2 tbsp balsamic reduction

Bring the liquids together to a low boil boil in a saucepan. Boil slowly until the volume reduces to one fifth (1 cup/240 ml). To thicken, only if necessary: put 1 tbsp cornflour in a dry cup. Add water by the tablespoonfull and stir until you have a lump-free, white slurry. Add by the half-tablespoon to the slowly boiling Jus. Stir through with a wooden spoon. Cook for 3 minutes and then consider whether to add another half tablespoon of the slurry, and so on until desired consistency is reached. It is better to achieve the desired consistency without resorting to adding cornflour slurry at all.

Decorate each plate with a circumferential line of Jus. Make a cross across each serving of aromatic potato mash -- whatever takes your fancy -- but serve sparingly.

Excess Jus can be stored in an ice cube tray, covered and stored in a freezer.

Wasabi Mayonnaise

Ingredients
3 level teaspoons full of Wasabi paste
2 teaspoon white miso 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce 1 garlic clove finely diced (or 1 clove of baked garlic from the Kipfler mash)
1/2 cup Japanese mayonnaise (e.g. Kewpie brand)

Method: whisk all ingredients together very well.

Serve: Plate on warmed plates, Peripheral serves of Ratatouille and Kipfler mash. Prop the tail of a portion of Pork on the serving of Ratatouille. Surround the perimeter with a drizzle of Jus. Put a cross of Jus on the Kipfler mash. Put a large dollop of Wasabi mayonnaise across the bottom of each Pork portion.

Devised as a family competition entry; 14 July 2008.
Cheers from Swerdna