#5 Celebrating at Mister D - home of Moonshine Biff (Marshmallow)

Napier hosts one of the star chefs from "The Great New Zealand Cookbook". You can find David Griffiths behind the kitchen bar in full swing at Mister D. There was a double occasion to celebrate, Jamie's birthday and Father's Day on the 3rd September and Mister D was well suited to dine at. The restaurant was humming and luckily we had booked in advance.
Before the place completed filled up I took my chance to meet THE Mr Griffiths. He was very accommodating to spend a couple of minutes with me, meeting the family and posing for a photo. He was apologetic for his croaky voice, attributing to band practice - I could see a couple of guitars on the wall as a testament to his music affiliation. I explained I had made one of his recipes out of "The great NZ Cookbook"  - the moonshine biff. This is a wonderful marshmallow treat which can found on the restaurant menu. Mr Griffiths explained that this recipe had actually come from his father ( not noted in the cookbook). It is easy to make with a skill level of 1 perfect! You need:
450 g sugar
450 g water
4 tbsp powered gelatine
240g icing sugar
3 capfuls rum
2 tsp vanilla paste
50 g desiccated coconut

Method: Bring sugar, water and gelatine to the boil in a pot and let simmer for 8 minutes. Place in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk on high for 3 minutes. Add icing sugar, rum, and vanilla and whisk on high for another 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Place in a lightly greased tray to the required thickness and allow to set for 2-4 hours in the fridge.

Place coconut on a roasting tray under a medium hot oven grill for 30 seconds at a time, stirring repeatedly until golden. Watch it like a hawk - coconut will burn quickly if unattended. Allow to cool, then cut biff into cubes or rectangles and coat with coconut.

Between the four of us, we got to sample the lamb croquettes, scallop ceviche, risotto duck, beef, Moroccan soup and fried bread. Of course, we couldn't go past each having an injectable donut with Jamie going for the R18 Hennessy syringe. And probably a step too far, we shared the hot chocolate souffle (strongly recommended by our waiter who managed to arrange a candle in it and get the restaurant singing in chorus Happy Birthday).
 Mister D - totally recommend this restaurant... a great chef and supported by great front of house staff.


With the Mister D's David Griffiths

Celebrating with the family


Kitchen in full swing

Inject with your heart's desire!


Home made "Moonshine Biff"





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