Guest Chef: Comestibles’ Duncan Jones gives his tips for a tasting plate inspired by the opera
To accompany West Australian Opera’s production of Dido and Aeneas, Comestibles’ Duncan Jones has curated a decadent operatic-inspired tasting plate that’s worth singing about.
Biancomangiare tart, topped with ‘Renaissance stardust’
Ingredients
100g chicken breast
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READ NOW100ml full cream milk
2 heaped tbsp ground almond
50g melted butter.
4 premade puff pastry tart cases, 41mm
For the Renaissance stardust
½ cinnamon stick
1 tsp rock salt
2 tbsp raw sugar
Method
Step 1 For the dust, break the cinnamon stick into small pieces and toast in a dry pan on medium heat. Then place into a mortar and pestle with the salt and sugar and grind until smooth. Alternatively, you can use cinnamon powder and a coffee grinder.
Step 2 Preheat oven to 170C.
Step 3 Cut the chicken breast into 4 pieces and place in a heatproof pan or dish. Add the milk, cover with aluminium foil, and cook for 15 minutes.
Step 4 In a small frying pan lightly toast the ground almond until golden brown. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter until completely combined.
Step 5 Combine the cooked chicken and milk with the butter and almond mixture in a small food processor or hand blender and blend. At this stage, it will be quite liquid in texture. Pour the mixture into a small frying pan and simmer on low heat, continually stirring until thickened to the constancy of porridge. Leave to cool or until required.
Step 6 Fill each premade tart shell with a spoonful of the chicken almond mix and sprinkle over a pinch of the dust.
Asparagus tips tossed with mustard dressing & cured pork
Ingredients
60g (8 thin slices) of pancetta (ask your butcher for very thin slices)
12 spears (2 bunches) of asparagus
4 cubes of Persian feta
For the dressing
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
30ml olive oil
30ml grapeseed oil
Method
Step 1 Add the vinegar, brown sugar and mustard to a small mixing bowl and whisk together. Combine the oils in a pouring vessel and slowly drizzle into the mix while continually whisking to emulsify. If you are making more than one batch, you can use a stick blender, food processor or mixer to emulsify the dressing. Ideally, store the dressing in a squeezy bottle for ease of use.
Step 2 Cut the tips from 3 pieces of asparagus per person, cutting on the angle. Chargrill the tips quickly on a BBQ or indoor chargrill plate, 30 secs to 1.5 mins depending on the thickness of the asparagus.
Step 3 Put the asparagus on the plate first, then lay the pancetta across the top and drizzle with the dressing.
Serves 4
Tickets to Dido and Aeneas are available via West Australian Opera’s website.
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