By Dan Ragitsch, junior sous chef

Terrace Restaurant, St Leonards Vineyard Café, Thousand Pound Wine Bar & Store

Once limited to the pros, sous vide (pronounced sue-veed) devices can now be widely purchased for domestic use. Sous vide, which means ‘under vacuum’ in French, refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food in a bag, then cooking it to a very precise temperature in a water bath. This technique produces restaurant quality results that are impossible to achieve through any other cooking method. Here’s a recipe for 6-8 people that will wow your guests this spring.

Sous Vide Lamb Leg

Ingredients

1 lamb leg (2kg)

6 cloves of garlic

1 bay leaf

small bunch of thyme

salt and pepper

olive oil (enough to coat)

butter

Method

Butterfly lamb leg following sinew lines to remove bones.

Divide butterflied lamb into 150gm portions.

Place seasoning (salt and pepper) with oil in sous vide bags with cloves of garlic, bay leaf and sprig of thyme.

Sous vide for 4 hours at 59ºC.

To serve, remove from bag and seal in a hot pan with knob of butter.

Minted Pea Purée

Ingredients

100g shallots (finely chopped)

half a bunch of mint

250ml cream

seasoning (salt and pepper)

500g peas

Method

Sweat down shallots in oil and butter, add two thirds of peas, cream and mint.

Cook until tender. Add remainder of peas to keep vibrant pea colour.

Purée together. Pass through fine sieve and add seasoning. Add more cream if not at desired consistency.

Seasonal Spring Vegetables and Goats Curd

Ingredients

500g broad beans

500g peas in pods

fresh mint (5-6 leaves)

butter

2 bunches of baby Dutch carrots

2 cloves of garlic

4-5 sprigs of thyme

salt and pepper

300g goats curd

Method

Use in season broad beans and remove peas from pods.

Blanch together and refresh in ice to keep colour.

When ready to serve, warm and toss in butter and fresh mint.

Peel baby Dutch carrots, toss in hot pan with seasoning (garlic, thyme, butter) and once browned off, place in moderate oven to finish off until tender.

Garnish vegetables with goats curd.

To Serve

Slice lamb (against the grain) and place on top of the pea purée and arrange vegetables.

Wine Match: 2016 All Saints Estate Family Cellar Shiraz

"Lamb and Shiraz is a match made in heaven!  It’s richly flavoured and has sweet plum and dark fruit characters with a hint of spice and a smooth balanced finish."

Angela Brown