Chrissy Drinks

tried on Christmas day

2009 Debortoli Windy Peak Pinot Noir, 2 for $20, 12.5% alc
From their Victorian operation, I do believe. I picked this wine as I knew I was driving after lunch, so decided on a lower alcohol red that would go with the obligatory ham.  Whilst I am no pinot afficionado, I reckon this was bang on what I wanted from Santa.  A nice, soft, easy drinking red wine, with a bit of red fruits, a whiff of something more complex, all wrapped in a nice little bit of vanillary oak.  It's low alcohol kept me in good shape for the evening's drinking.

4 Pines Pale Ale, sample, unknown alc.

I didn't manage to check the finer details of the ales, but I'd say this is a fair pale ale, without hitting any great heights.  It's reasonably bitter, with a touch of wheat to assist in palate roundness, and even a little sweetness.  Hops are present without overloading the package.  Worth trying for lovers of English style pale ale.

Mountaingoat Hightail Ale, sample, ? alc

An amberish style ale, with a touch of hop for bitterness. More a malt driven style with dryish finish.  Suitable for lovers of the James Squire amber and golden ales

Williams Pale Ale, sample

Have tried this a few times, really dig this beer.  Has a touch of wheat in the grain bill, the organic malt adds a European style to the ale, it appears to be almost like a Belgian wit beer without the cloudiness.  There is lemon on the nose, but palate reminds me of oranges, as if it has been infused with a little orange peel, Hoegaarden style.  Whilst not the same, it takes me back to sipping ales in a pub in Ghent.

4 Pines Stout, sample

I liken this to a roast malt porter, no as much chocolate as a porter, but not as bitter as a true stout.  Roast malt character is definitely present, but to be as good as the best, needs more hop aroma and hop bitterness as it goes down.  Still, not bad.

Invention Test: How to bake a butter cake with no butter!!

Ok, this came from an idea i had to make a basic butter cake, after talking to Saskia in Belgium.  But looking thru the fridge i couldn't see any butter. But i have grape seed oil, so i decided to use that instead.

Normally in a butter cake you would cream the butter and sugar together in the first step. but it's a little hard to do that with oil, so i decided to use egg yolks, 3 in fact.  The remaining egg whites could be used at the end of the recipe to lighten the batter.

The recipe I came up with:

3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup of castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups of sifted soft plain flour + 2 tsp baking powder (or use 2 cups of self raising flour and no b.p.)
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
pinch salt
1 cup of milk
150ml grape seed oil (or neutral vegetable oil such as canola)

method
cream sugar and egg yolks together
add vegetable oil, vanilla and mix
sift in the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarb soda. mix well
Add cup of milk, slowly mixing through until the batter is smooth and no lumps
Fold in softly beaten egg whites using a large metal spoon
Pour into a greased cake tin, about 20cm in diameter
Bake for 50 minutes at 170deg

butter topping

i managed to find a small knob of butter in the back of the fridge, so may as well use it to top the cake
try this
2 tbsp butter
2.5 tbsp castor sugar, or to taste
1/2 tsp coffee powder
1 tbsp hot water

cream butter and sugar, add coffee and hot water, keep mixing for a minute

this is a yummy cake, serve warm straight from the oven with butter topping melting all over it, like a sauce.  base, sides and top golden brown and crispy.  perfect with morning coffee (my 2nd)

now the keyboard is sticky

:)

Beef Stir Fry with a difference

Playing around with ideas is my forte, so I decided to make a beef stir fry using fresh oranges which are everywhere around here at the moment (South Eastern Inland Australia).  Normally the classic stir fry is the domain of the South East asian cuisine, in which I suspect oranges don't play a big part. But the method can be used with other flavours.

I think it worked well, so well that I think I might try it again.

Anyway, the basic recipe is much the same as a beef and oyster sauce stir fry, but using orange juice instead of the oyster sauce!

350g beef fillet, sliced into strips
1 orange, juiced and the zested with a grater
1 small pip of garlic
1 tbsp good quality naturally brewed soy sauce
vegetable oil (I used grape seed oil, but u can use peanut or canola oil)
1 tsp cornflour

marinate the beef in the garlic, soy sauce, orange zest and vegetable oil for 1 hour

heat a wok to high heat, stir fry the beef in oil in batches
take out of wok
stir fry vegetables of choice (carrots, capsicum/pepper, beans) in batches
Put all the meat and vegetables back into the wok
Add orange juice, thickened with a tsp of cornflour
Simmer until the sauce has thickened
Serve on a bed of rice

I think the flavour works, it almost has a middle eastern or moroccan feel to the dish. You can top with almond slivers for a bit of crunch.  Play around with this and see how it goes.

Enjoy!

Christmas Tips and Ideas from the Experts

Maggie Beer, Cook/Food Enterprise Barossa Valley
Christmas Menu

Roasted Turkey and Chicken with Stuffing
Salad (your choice)
Raspberry Jelly made with Sparkling Shiraz Wine (for the adults) and Apple Juice (for the children)
Traditional Christmas Pudding

• Be organised, and relax
• Prepare stuffing for poultry and the jelly the day before
• Use the best possible ingredients you can get your hands on: organic, free range poultry.
• For cooking turkey, cook in an oven bag for the first 2 hours in a moderate oven, 170degC, then split the bag open, collect the juices and put in the fridge. Skim the fat off and you can serve it warmed up.
• For the remaining cooking time (20min-30min depending on size), brush the breast of the turkey with olive oil, and brown in the oven, with the oven turned up to 200deg C.
• Rest poultry - turkey/chicken upside down for 20 minutes.
• The jelly is made up to 2 days before with 3 punnets of raspberries, Sparkling shiraz boiled to give off the alcohol, sugar added and cooled, with gelatine leaves added.  I'm guessing a whole bottle goes in this!  Adjust with sugar to taste  (I would probably use about 1/2 -3/4cup).  Gelatine leaves probably 3?  Anyway cool it all and bung in the fridge for Christmas day.
• If cooking a turkey breast only, use the skin of a ham to cover the breast and stop it drying out.  Alternatively a muslin cloth well brushed with melted butter will do the job.

Leo Schofield Food Critic

Baked Ham

His recipe for glazed ham comes from the late Joan Campbell (another top Australian cook)

• Preheat the oven to 150deg C
• Make a syrup from a small can of pineapple juice, 1/4 cup sherry, 500g brown sugar heated on stove until sugar dissolved
• Skin the ham and massage into the fat a small jar of English mustard (or French if u prefer)
• Dust all over with powdered cloves, completely covering it.
• Pour the glaze around the ham, not over it, and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour
• Baste frequently for another hour until a rich golden brown toffee like glaze is obtained
• Serve with homemade chutneys or pickles.
• I have made this before and put the glaze over the top, it goes too brown and burns easily. next time I will do it this way

Lyndey Milan, Food Writer and Cook

• She cooks her turkey in the bbq-oven, using the skin from a ham as a cover  for the breast, which keeps it moist.  She puts the bird on a rack in an oven tray with water in the bottom.  I do this as well when roasting in a regular oven. Helps keep meat moist.

Ben Shewry, Owner/Chef Attica Restaurant Melbourne

• recommends making a fresh lemonade of fresh lemon juice, sugar syrup and lots of white rum.  Served over ice with mint leaves. Now that is the way to start off the festivities!!!

With reference to an article in The Weekend Australian December 18-19 2010 and heard on ABC radio this morning :0

Chicken in a Bag

Kip in een Zak

4 kippenbouten/ chicken thighs
1 chorizo worst, gesneden/ chorizo sausage, sliced
1/2 rood paprika, gesneden/ red capsicum, sliced
1 handvool olijven, gestenigd/handful of olives, pitted
1 tomaat, gevild, blokjes gesneden/ tomato, seeded and diced
4 paddestoel, gesneden/mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup zongedroogde tomaat/sun dried tomato
1/2 cup artisjokken/ artichokes
1/2 ui, gesneden/onion, sliced
1 theelepel Italiaanse kruid/teaspoon of Italian herbs
zout/peper salt/pepper
verpakken in foile/ wrap in foil
bakken in de oven 170deg C 30 minuten/ bake in oven

serveer met cous cous, salade/ serve with cous cous, salad

Gezondheid!/ good health/ good eating/ bon appetite

New Wines from the World's Second Largest Wine Company

The Wine Group, the world's second largest wine company, based in the US, are releasing a range of budget wines onto the Australian market.  Made at their Griffith winery, the brand is dubbed Fisheye, with catchy labels for the younger drinker.  The brand has been around for some time in the North American market, but has not been seen here before.

All wines are varietal, not blends. The range consists of Riesling, Moscato, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay in the Whites, and Pinot Noir, Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon in the reds.  Prices are $9.90 ex cellar door, and current releases are all 2010 vintage.

Whilst distinctly modest in style, the wines are all well made, easy drinkers, with the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir being the most varietal.  Sweetness appears most prominent in the Merlot with the Cabernet Sauvignon suffering from warm climate/warm vintage material.

It is difficult to know exactly what the Wine Group are up to, as they appear quite secretive, but I suspect it won't be long before these wines start appearing in the discount liquor barns. Quite possibly with the resources of such a giant company, the likes of Dan Murphy and First Choice may well carry this range from Australia, and import co- ranges from America, in a bundled deal.

Watch this space.

Paella

I'm going to make this again, it was off the yum scale!  The secret with paella is not to stir it, you want it to brown a bit on the bottom of the pan.

The are millions of variations, but why not start with a simple chicken/seafood combination and go from there.

Anyway, here goes..

2 chicken thigh fillets, skin off and fat removed
10 green tiger prawns, peeled, heads and vein removed
3 handfuls of Arborio rice, or Spanish short grain rice
1 L warm vegie stock, infused with 3 or 4 prawn heads
1 medium Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, skinned and seeded, chopped
2 cloves of finely chopped or minced garlic
½ cup dry white wine
Good pinch of saffron
Handful of chopped continental parsley
Sea salt
Olive oil

In a large fry pan or paella pan, fry onion in olive oil until clear.
Add garlic, rice
Add wine, and strained stock
Add tomato, saffron and chicken
Cook over medium heat, uncovered for 10 minutes
Add prawns
Don’t stir the paella it should be lightly crusty brown on the bottom. If it looks dry, add a little more stock.
Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes or until chicken and prawns are done. Don’t stir the paella!
Season with sea salt, serve with lemon wedges

Don't take my word for it, try it!!!!!!