Paul Kitching began his career in catering at the age of 20, when he knew instinctively that being a chef was for him.
It was always his dream to set up a restaurant and run it in his own inimitable style, so in 2009, Paul and his Fochabers-born partner, Katie O’Brien, relocated to Edinburgh and opened 21212, an exquisite Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms.
While Paul’s creations yield unexpected combinations, the deep thought given to the balance of each dish ensures flavours that complement rather than compete and meals that are memorably exciting.
So, if you want to impress your next dinner guests, why not have a go at creating these superb dishes designed with P&J readers in mind.
SHELLFISH SHELLS
- SERVES 4
- 50ml artichoke sauce, heated
- 50ml beetroot sauce, heated
- 25ml anchovy mayonnaise
- GARNISH VEGETABLES:
- 1 courgette
- 1 beetroot
- 2 mushrooms
- 1 kohlrabi
- 8 morels
- 1 romanesco
- 8 French beans, prepared in breadcrumbs
- FISH (SIDE DISH):
- 8 tsp white crab meat
- 8 tsp caviar
- 8 prawns, cooked
- 8 tsp egg mayonnaise
- GARNISH:
- Dried chives
- Dried courgettes
- Dried mushrooms
Slice the courgette, beetroot, mushrooms, kohlrabi, morels and romanesco into your desired shapes and cook. Plunge in ice water until needed. Place the crab meat, caviar, and egg mayonnaise into a side dish, season and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Deep fry the breaded green beans until golden and put to one side. Heat the vegetables and prawns until hot.
To serve, spoon a teaspoon of the anchovy mayonnaise in the middle of each plate. Top each plate with two cooked prawns, green beans, artichoke and beetroot sauce and a selection of the cooked vegetables. Finish with a sprinkle of dry garnishes.
A DATE WITH CHICKEN
- SERVES 4
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 gammon steak
- 1 smoked duck breast
- MAYONNAISE GARNISH:
- 4 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise
- 4 tbsp HP Fruity sauce
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- SWEETCORN PUREE:
- 200g sweetcorn
- 1 yellow pepper, deseeded
- Quarter of an onion
- Quarter of a garlic clove
- BREAD SAUCE:
- 4 slices of white bread
- 100ml stock
- A thumbnail of nutmeg, grated
- 300ml cream
- VEGETABLE MIX:
- 100g rice
- Quarter of an onion
- 1 garlic clove
- Half a leek
- 8 mangetout
- 8 French beans
- 5 hazelnuts, crushed
- A pinch of nutmeg
- A pinch of chives
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- GARNISH VEGETABLES:
- 1 carrot
- 1 swede
- Quarter of a cauliflower
- Half an onion
- 4 asparagus
- 8 hazelnuts
- 4 slices of Serrano ham
- 1 slice of bread, quartered
- 4 dates, quartered
- DRY GARNISH:
- 2 tbsp HP Fruity sauce
- 2 tbsp plain yoghurt
- A pinch of nutmeg
- A pinch of garlic
- A pinch of sweetcorn powder
To make the mayonnaise, add the crushed garlic to the mayonnaise and leave to infuse for a couple of hours. Pass through a sieve and add the HP Fruity sauce and mix. Keep to one side until required.
To make the sweetcorn puree, place the sweetcorn and yellow pepper in a pan and cover with hot water, cook until soft and drain. Gently fry the onion and garlic and add to the cooked sweetcorn and yellow pepper. Blitz everything to a smooth consistency. Keep warm until required.
To make the bread sauce, heat the stock, add the cream, season then add the bread and grated nutmeg. Leave to rest then pass through a sieve. Put to one side until needed. Keep warm and just before serving use a blender to make it frothy.
To make the vegetable mix, finely slice the onion, garlic, leek, mangetout and French beans and mix in a bowl. Cook the rice and add to the bowl with the hazelnuts, nutmeg and chives. Mix well with the mayonnaise to coat and bind. Keep warm until required.
To cook the meat, preheat the oven to 70°C and cook the chicken, gammon and duck for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to rest. Slice the gammon steak and duck breast into cubes (four per person), and keep warm until required.
To make the garnish vegetables, peel and wash all of the garnish vegetables into your desired shapes then cook. Warm up the dates in olive oil. Season the bread and deep fry until crisp. Peel the hazelnuts and put everything to one side.
To make the dry garnish, mix the yoghurt with the HP Fruity sauce. Blitz the nutmeg, garlic and sweetcorn powder and add to the yogurt. Spread thinly onto greaseproof paper and place in the oven at 50°C until crisp. Snap into four shards.
To serve, place the chicken breast and the gammon and duck cubes onto each plate. Next, add the vegetable mix and the garnish vegetables. Finish with the dry garnish shards, sweetcorn puree, mayonnaise and frothy bread sauce.
SNICKS AND SNOBS
- SERVES 4
- HOBNOB POWDER:
- 8 Hobnob biscuits
- 50g hazelnuts
- 50g porridge oats
- 20g icing sugar
- BRÛLÉE BASE:
- 100ml yoghurt
- 2 tsp hobnob powder
- 12 chocolate chips
- 6 orange chocolate chips
- 1 Snickers chocolate bar, sliced
- 12 peanuts
- BRÛLÉE MIX:
- Half a pint of cream
- Half a pint of milk
- 8 eggs, yolks only
- 100g sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- PEANUT ANGLAISE:
- Quarter of a pint of cream
- Quarter of a pint of milk
- 6 eggs, yolks only
- 50g sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 4 dried banana chips
- ALTERNATIVE SIDE SHOT GLASS DISHES FOR THE BRÛLÉE:
- Yoghurt
- Blueberry compote
- Hobnob powder
- Coconut toasted marshmallows
To make the hobnob powder, combine the hobnob biscuits, hazelnuts, porridge oats and icing sugar together and blend into a fine powder.
To make the base of the brûlée, mix the yoghurt, hobnob powder, chocolate chips, orange chocolate chips, sliced Snickers bar, and peanuts together in a bowl and split between four ramekins. Put to one side until required.
To make the brûlée mix, heat the cream, milk and vanilla pod on the hob until warm. Whisk the eggs and sugar together and add to the cream mix. Chill until required.
To make the peanut anglaise, heat the cream, milk and vanilla pod on the hob until warm. Whisk the eggs and sugar together and add to the cream mix with the peanut butter. Keep on the hob and cook out the eggs until the mixture starts to thicken. Chill until required.
To cook the brûlée, pour the brûlée mix into each ramekin and place in the oven bain-marie style at 130°C for 30 minutes. Using a blowtorch, caramelise the top.
To serve, heat the peanut anglaise, blend until frothy and serve over the shot glass with the dried banana. Serve alongside the brûlée and toasted coconut marshmallow.