At a recent event with IBM at The Griffin, the Incogvino JHB team got to experience some cognitive cooking (and human wine pairings). The recipe below was generated by Watson, IBM’s SuperComputer.
Inputs used to generate this recipe:
- Primary ingredient: Lamb
- Primary style: Traditional
- Combination recipe using flavour profiling (not necessarily unique).
Pairs with: Rust en Vrede Cabernet Sauvignon 2012.
Deboned loin of lamb with pinenut crust, tarragon gnocchi, savoy cabbage & anchovy stuffing. A recipe from IBM’s Watson.
Lamb
1.15kg toasted pine kernels
4kg butter, softened
10 clove garlic
100 g thyme, leaves only
200 g leaves parsley, chopped
1kg freshwhite breadcrumbs
pinches nutmeg
pinches chinese five spice
olive oil, for frying
20 x 200 g portions lamb loin
Preparation Method:
Put the pine nuts, butter, garlic, herbs, breadcrumbs and spices into a food processor and blend to a coarse paste.
Roll out the pine nut paste between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper until large enough to cover the portions of lamb, then cut in half and chill in the fridge.
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, and fry the lamb portions until cooked to your liking. Rest the meat for 10 minutes.
Preheat the grill. Lay a portion of the pine nut crust on top of each lamb portion and cook under the grill until the crust is golden brown.
Tarragon gnocchi
9kg potatoes, peeled
salt and pepper
10 tbsp chopped tarragon
10 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
75g plain flour
glug of olive oil
salt and pepper
Preparation method:
To make the gnocchi, cook the potatoes in a pan of as little water as possible until tender. Drain and mash or rice the potatoes while they are still warm.
Turn out the mash onto a work surface, season with salt and pepper and add the herbs. Slowly add the flour in batches, kneading gently by folding the edges of the dough into the center and pressing down lightly before sprinkling in each further addition of flour, until the dough is soft. Don’t overwork the dough or you will spoil the structure and the gnocchi will be powdery on the outside and pulpy on the inside.
Roll the dough into a Frankfurter-sized sausage. Cut the sausage into 3cm pieces.
Press each piece of dough against the back of a fork so that it curves slightly and the prongs leave indentations (which will help the gnocchi hold the sauce).
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the olive oil and drop in the gnocchi. Cook for a minute, or until the gnocchi rises to the surface. Remove from the pan, plunge into a bowl of ice-cold water and drain.
Caponata
9 medium aubergines, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
2 onion, chopped
4 celery sticks, chopped
800g chopped tomatoes
200g green olives, pitted and sliced
6 tbsp capers, drained and chopped
60ml red wine vinegar
3 tbsp sugar, or to taste
handful flatleaf parsley, chopped
Preparation method:
Sprinkle the aubergines with salt and leave to drain in a colander for 30 minutes.
Heat some of the olive oil in a saucepan and brown the aubergine on a moderate heat for 10 minutes. When cooked, set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
In a separate saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil and sauté the onion along with the celery and tomatoes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the olives and cook for 20 minutes.
Add the cooled aubergine and the capers.
In a separate bowl, mix together the red wine vinegar and sugar. Add this to the pan and cook for 10 minutes. It is ready when the red wine vinegar has been absorbed & add parsley
Mint gel
¼ cup Fresh mint
1/3 cup Simple Syrup
1/3 cup Water
1 t Sugar
½ t Agar
Preparation Method:
Blanch the mint, shock n dry, Blend syrup with water and mint
Place in bowl in ice bath for 20 minutes. Then strain.
Combine sugar and agar.
Place the mint liquid into a blender on low.
Sift in the agar sugar mixture and blend for 1 minute.
Pour into a sauce pan and bring to boil, simmering for 5 minutes.
Pour into dish and cover chill for 10 minutes.
Blend the mixture till smooth, stain and store.