[Shanghai] Stiller’s Cooking School – Dark Chocolate Cake

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Here’s the recipe for Dark Chocolate Cake with Walnut-Krokant-Parfait, the dessert and final dish we made at Stiller’s “Autumn Set Menu” cooking class. This delicious recipe is simple enough to be replicated at home – perfect for your next dinner party. For details on the cooking class itself, click here.

Dark Chocolate Cake with Walnut-Krokant-Parfait

Walnut-Krokant-Parfait

  • 250g walnuts
  • 300g sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 150g dark chocolate
  • 1l cream, strongly whipped

Let 150g sugar caramelize until golden brown and crystal clear. Add walnuts and mix with caramel. Pour on a tray with baking paper and chill. When caramelized walnuts are cold, put them into a plastic bag and crush them to small dice.

Melt the chocolate in a warm water bath. Mix in a bowl the egg yolk, egg, and sugar and whip with a whisk on a hot water bath until mixture is very creamy, bright in color and has about 60 degrees.

Add melted chocolate and walnuts to egg mix. Fold carefully whipped cream under the mix and fill into a terrine mold and freeze for at least 3 hours or overnight.

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[Shanghai] Stiller’s Cooking School – Venison

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Here’s the recipe for Venison Fillet with Juniper-Berry Sauce, Fig-Red Cabbage, and Brioche & Apple Souffle, the third dish we made at Stiller’s “Autumn Set Menu” cooking class. Juicy! Lovely with the accompanying fig-red cabbage. For details on the cooking class itself, click here.

Venison Fillet with Juniper-Berry Sauce, Fig-Red Cabbage, and Brioche & Apple Souffle

For the fig-red cabbage

  • 1kg red cabbage, finely sliced
  • 500ml red wine
  • 50ml red wine vinegar
  • 200g onions, finely sliced
  • 50g butter
  • 0.5l chicken stock
  • juniper berries, cloves, bay leaves, black pepper
  • 100g dry figs
  • 200ml port wine

Soften sliced onions in butter. Add red cabbage with wine and fill up with chicken stock until almost covered.

Put spices in a “tea egg” and add to the cabbage. Cook for about one hour until the cabbage softens and liquid reduces. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring port wine to a boil and add dry figs. Let figs soak up the liquid and soften. When fits are soft, add to a blender and mix for a smooth puree. Add figs puree to red cabbage for seasoning.

For brioche & apple souffle:

  • 300g brioche, diced
  • 100g apple, peeled and finely diced
  • 40g shallots, finely diced
  • 80g bacon, finely diced
  • 40g butter
  • 150ml milk
  • 3 eggs
  • 4 egg whites, very stiff whipped
  • parsley, salt, pepper

Sweat the bacon in a pan until crispy. Add butter and shallots and sweat until soft. Add to brioche and apple dice in a large bowl. Boil the milk and pour over bread. Add eggs and mix everything well. Cover with cling film and let rest for about 15~20 minutes.

Chop the parsley and add to the mix. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in stiff whipped egg white.

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[Shanghai] Stiller’s Cooking School – Salmon Turbot Roulade

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Here’s the recipe for Salmon Turbot Roulade with Beet Root and Horseradish Sauce, the second dish we made at Stiller’s “Autumn Set Menu” cooking class. Beautiful in presentation and in flavor, this was my favorite dish for the day. For details on the cooking class itself, click here.

Salmon Turbot Roulade with Beet Root and Horseradish Sauce

  • 200g fresh salmon fillet
  • 400g turbot fillet, cut in 50g pieces
  • 150ml cream
  • 1 egg
  • 200g spinach
  • 300g beet root, cooked soft with skin
  • 4cl sherry
  • 1pc lime
  • salt and pepper

Turbot

Chef Stiller filleting the turbot

Nice, clean fillets

Blanch spinach and layer on a sheet of cling film. Dry spinach leaves and press with a cloth.

Cut salmon in small dice; add egg and season with salt and pepper. Keep in the freezer for at least 20 minutes together with the cream in order to chill it down to almost zero degrees.

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[Shanghai] Stiller’s Cooking School – Foie Gras

Here’s the recipe for Foie Gras Mousse & Seared Foie Gras with Apple Chutney, the first dish we made at Stiller’s “Autumn Set Menu” cooking class. For details on the cooking class itself, click here.

Foie Gras Mousse & Seared Foie Gras with Apple Chutney

For the mousse:

  • 150g foie gras
  • 0.2l cream
  • 4cl Cognac
  • 4cl Port wine
  • 2 pc gelatin
  • 100g whipped cream
  • salt, pepper

Take the slices of foie gras and pan sear in a dry non-stick pan until golden brown from both sides.

Boil the cream. Add the liver with the excess fat to the cream and keep in the cream for about 5 to 10 minutes. Keep the temperature of the cream just below the boiling point but don’t let it cook.

Put the liver cream mix in a kitchen blender and mix until you have a smooth texture. Strain through a fine sieve. Season with alcohol, salt, and pepper.

Soak the gelatin in cold water and after the leaves are soft, press out the excess water.

Add the gelatin to the still hot liquid and stir well until it’s fully melted. Chill down and once it starts to set, add carefully the whipped cream.

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[Shanghai] Stiller’s Cooking School

Stiller’s Restaurant & Cooking School

Add: Bldg 13, 6-7/F, The Cool Docks, 505 Zhongshan Nan Lu 老码头, 中山南路505号6-7楼
Tel: 6152 6501
Hours: email cookingschool@stillers-restaurant.cn for course schedule and time
Price: 420~650 RMB/class
Website: www.stillers-restaurant.cn
Visited: Nov 2011

I have known about Stiller’s Cooking School since the first time I dined at his restaurant, but it wasn’t until two weeks ago that I eventually signed up for a class. So how does haute cuisine actually work? Let’s find out.

Stiller’s cooking class is held on the 6th floor in an open kitchen gorgeous enough to make any housewife jealous. I arrived at 10:50am, greeted the chef, put on my apron (ours to keep), and carefully perused the recipes while waiting for my fellow classmates to trickle in. What’s on the menu? The theme of the class was “Stiller’s Autumn Set Menu” (650 RMB), and the recipes read foie gras, turbot, venison, and chocolate cake…looking good, looking very good.


The cookware and utensils, all glistening.

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