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34 maltatoday SUNDAY 25 MARCH 2018 This Week THE RECIPES Boasting 27 years' experience, Chef Clifton Grech has been a prominent figure on the ever so competitive Maltese culinary scene. Following on his late father's footsteps Chef Clifton knew he was destined for a career in cooking and after graduating in 1995 he worked his way up through the ranks of various restaurants before moving to the then newly-opened Westin Dragonara Resort where he spent four years on the job. In 2003 he moved to the Fortina Spa Resort and soon took over as Executive Chef leading his brigade in producing high quality food in all of their six restaurants for 13 years. Chef Clifton is also experienced in high-end banqueting functions, catering for the Heads of the Commonwealth of Nations at CHOGM and for the Heads of State at the recent EU Summit. Most recently Chef Clifton was privileged to have cooked for Prince Charles when he was visiting Malta during the Our Oceans conference last year. Patron Chef Clifton now takes the helm at the recently opened, 'The Village Kitchen', in Naxxar which offers its customers a mix of unique and trendy Mediterranean cuisine using the best local and fresh ingredients. Method 1. To prepare the dry cherry tomato, cut in half and sprinkle with rock salt, sugar, pep- per & thyme, place on a baking tray in a oven at 120 degrees for 1 to 3 hours until they have dried enough. 2. Wash & Peel neatly in to cylinders the Jerusalem artichoke, boil for 5min, to make the puree sautee trimings with some fresh garlic until golden, add some sugar then deglaze with white wine & cook until artichoke is soft, put in blender & puree, gradualy adding olive oil. Trim globe arti- choke into hearts, cook in water solution with bay leaf, peppercorns, rock salt & wine simmering for 10mins, set aside to cool. 3. Season beef with salt & pepper then sear on all sides for 5min, side on roasting tray. 4. Preheat oven to 200 degrees & roast the beef to medium rare for aprox 10-12mins. 5. Rest beef for about 5 mins basting occa- sionally with olive oil before carving cook Spinach & Saute jerusalem discs in some olive oil & Garlic, add lemon juice. 6. To serve carve beef into thin slices, place some artichoke puree & spinach on a slate. Arrange beef slices neatly over & garnish with artichoke hearts, jerusalem, dried to- mato Parmesan shavings & red chard leaves. Tagliata Artichoke Clifton Grech Ingredients Beef Chateaubriand 2pcs 800-1000 grms Artichoke heart 4 pcs Jerusalem artichoke 300 grms Fresh garlic 50 grms White wine 100 ml grms Dried baby tomato 50 grms Fresh spinach 200 g Parmesan shavings 40 grms Thyme 10grms Olive oil 50ml Seasoning Red chard or rocket leaves 50 The Village Kitchen A historic wine produced at Castello Nipozzano, about 35km northeast of Florence, it is a symbol of Tuscany's wine making traditions due to its complexity and strong ties to its terroir. Nose: he nose is complex and intense with prevalent flower and mixed berry scents of raspberry, blackberry and blueberry followed by spiced and toasted notes of tea, nutmeg and coffee Palate: In the mouth the wine is warm, soft and quite fresh. Nipozzano 2014 is elegant and enveloping, with fine tannins that are well balanced in the wine's structure and a long and persistent finish. Food affinities: Barbecued meat and beef stews, aged cheeses Exclusively imported by Charles Grech & Co. Ltd, Valley Road, Birkirkara T: 2144 4400 NIPOZZANO RISERVA – 2014 Chianti Rufina Riserva DOCG - Recent accolades from Mundus Vini Nipozzano 2014 gold medal