The best tip we can tell when cooking is to make sure that you start with incredible ingredients. If the ingredients aren't exceptional, then you can only make your food this good.
As a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, LeFevre spent nine years in Charlie Trotter's Chicago restaurant as sous chef. So impressed was Trotter that he choose LeFevre to be the travelling liaison of the restaurant. This gave LeFevre the opportunity to ventur to many parts of Europe and Asia, as well as work with distinguished chefs. Realising his desire to share his experiences on multi-cultural American cuisine, LeFevre ventured on a world tour. And at Fullerton Hotel Town restaurant, LeFevre showed just that. This cuisine that I love to cook is ingredient-driven, without holding to specific ingredients or a specific cuisine. If the flavours work well and look beautiful, then I have nothing to worry about.
With an earnest passion and desire to spread his culinary philosophy, LeFevre states that driving people to achieve their best potential is what he hopes to accomplish when he's on tour. As a chef, I hope to be a good cook; surround myself with people of integrity and respect; to create a team that can evolve and grow together. I want people that I work with to be proud of the food they create and have pride in what they do.
As for his dish of warmed marlin salad with blood orange vinaigrette, he emphasises, once again, the importance of ingredients. This dish is very light, crisp, and once you have done the preparation, it's very simple to assemble. The marlin should just be warmed through, undercooked slightly in fact so that it warms the greens. The citrus and onions work well together to add acid to the dish. And it is just a stunning presentation with the red, green and yellow, he adds smilingly.
Warmed Marlin salad with blood orange vinaigrette
Ingredients
Blood Orange Marinade(to make 8 tsp)
- 1/2 litre orange juice
- 1/2 litre blood orange juice
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 tbsp lemongrass, minced
- 1 garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, minced
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 5 cups olive oil
- Pinch salt and pepper
Marlin Rolls
- 16 slices marlin,
- 5cm X 5cm
- 4 chives, quartered
- 8 shizo leaves, halved
- Zest of 1 orange
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup red oak leaves
- 1 cup mizuna greens
- 12 blood orange segments
- 1/4 cup pickled onions
Garnishes
- 1 cup shizo sprouts
- 4 tsp chive oil
Chef's Tip:
Replace spatchcocks with two spring chickens.
How to
1. Make the blood orange vinaigrette: combine orange juice, blood orange juice, shallot, lemongrass, garlic and ginger, boil in a pot and reduce to two-thirds. Add rice vinegar and blend on high in a blender. Slowly add olive oil during blending. Season with salt and pepper. Strain and refrigerate.
2. Prepare marlin rolls: lay out each marlin slice, place on each a quarter chive, half shizo leaf, pinch of zest, season with salt and pepper, and roll to form a cigarette-like shape. On oiled baking sheet, warm rolls in oven until rolls turn slightly white. Keep warm until ready to plate.
3. Mix red oak leaves and mizuna greens with 2 tsp of blood orange vinaigrette.
4. On four plates, layer two-thirds of the greens, orange segments and pickled onions in the middle of each plate.
5. Place three warmed marlin rolls on top of the salad mix in each plate. Then place the remaining salad mix on top of the marlin rolls. Top each plate with one marlin roll.
6. Garnish with shizo sprouts, chive oil and remaining blood orange vinaigrette.
SERVES: 4
TAKES ABOUT: 40 minutes