winosandfoodies

Goodbye Mr Kip

Peter Kippenberger was a former work colleague of mine and this week he died in a house fire.  Such a tragedy as he was one of the nicest chaps you could ever wish to meet.   

Kip had an appreciation of both wine and food. ..and without any of the snobbery often involved in the wine industry.  He was the same guy whether he was dealing with the little old guy in the corner wine store or the sommelier of a top Wellington restaurant. 

Kip introduced me to chocolate martinis and always insisted on the martin being stirred, never shaken.  James Bond drank his martini shaken as it melted the ice and made a weaker martini.

If you don't have a smoke  alarm in your house -  get one.  If you do - check the batteries - today.

IMBB - Orange Food

I am so pleased with how this turned out.  It's all about the syrup. My first attempt at Sugar High Fridays  and I thought I would replace the sugar in this recipe with molasses.  A disaster. The molasses totally overpowered the subtle flavors of the spices.  So SHF was abandoned and I moved on to IMBB and orange food. ..using the syrup without the molasses.  The  syrup is from a recipe for Brazilian babas by Byron Bay chef  Steven  Snow. It is featured in the Autumn issue of Australia Vogue  Entertaining and Travel.  I replaced the Calvados with Grand Marnier and omitted the cassia bark (because I didn't have any).

Persimmons in Syrup
(for 4 people)

2 Persimmons (use firm ones)

Spice syrup
2 sticks cinnamon
6 cardamom pods
2 star anise
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Combine syrup ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to boil until sugar is dissolved and syrupy.

Cut persimmons into quarters and then half each quarter.
Poach persimmons slices in syrup until soft.
Remove persimmons from syrup.
Boil syrup a little more and remove before it reaches the caramel stage.
Remove spices and serve over fruit.

I served them with a blend of yogurt and cream cheese.  Sprinkle a little ground cinnamon over. They would be nice with  Creme Fraiche also.

Thanks to Ladygoat who is our host of this months  IMBB.  Visit her site  Foodgoat  where she will feature all the entries of orange food.

Sugar High Fridays Disaster

Firstly molasses is something my father fed to the cows.   You spread some hay in the feeding trough and drizzle molasses over.  Cows love it.

Opening the jar of molasses was a Proustian moment for me.  Memories of my childhood, my father and our farm were overpowering.    Appropriate though as this weekend is the second anniversary of my father's passing.

I had seen a recipe for Brazilian babas in the latest Australia Vogue Entertaining and Travel.  I figured I would replace the sugar with molasses and it would go well with the babas.  And this is when the disaster began. The molasses totally overpowered the spices and it tasted  awful.  Then I had an idea - I would make bread using the molasses for the liquid and throw in the  raisins which had been soaking in Grand Marnier. 

What I ended up with was  a bowling ball.  It was smaller than a ten pin bowling ball and a little bigger than a lawn bowling ball.   Bowling ball bread.

BUT - it had a nice taste - although you couldn't really eat it.  It was gluggy and a bit like putty for fixing the panes of glass into wooden window frames.   The flavours of the spices (cinnamon, cardamom, anise) complemented the molasses.  So I now have this jar of molasses and I think I might experiment to see if I can make a bread using the molasses with the spices.

In New Zealand and Australia we will be celebrating Anzac Day on 25th April and I made Anzac biscuits which uses Golden Syrup .  You can see them here .

Thanks to our host for this month's SHF Derrick over at Obsession With Food .  He'll be posting the round up of all entries.

Congratulations Tetsuya

I've long been a fan of Tetsuya.  One of my first posts when I started my blog was about Tetsuya (read it in the January archives ).   

A month ago I made a booking  at his restaurant  for an upcoming visit to Sydney in June.   Which was a smart move.  Because  Restaurant Magazine  have listed his restaurant  as one of the world's top restaurants for 2005.   Check out the full list  over at Vinography .

Great Wine and Food Match

When I awoke this morning I wished I could push the hands of the clock forward to midday. I rarely drink wine before midday.  Last night I discovered a really good wine/food match and was  looking forward to experiencing it again. 

Feeling like a glass of wine after dinner I poured an Elderton  Eden Valley Riesling 2002  and while the fridge door was open grabbed a little smoked marlin our friends, Wayne and Sue  had given us.

What a perfect match. The wine is fresh and crisp with lemon/lime aromas   and goes so well with the smokey saltiness of the marlin. 

Over lunch today we decided to see if it went as well with a Browns of Padthaway  Riesling 2001. ....it does.

The colour of the Riesling is a golden green  and this was enhanced as I served the wine in green crystal glasses we inherited from Bryan's  parents. 

 

Lest We Forget

      They shall  grow not old, as we that are left grow old:      Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.         At the going down of the sun and in the morning      We will remember them.

This dedication  from Laurence Binyon's   "For the Fallen"  is said at Anzac Day  Dawn Ceremonies throughout New Zealand and Australia on 25th April every year.   Anzac Day is the day we commemorate  the New Zealanders and Australians killed in war and also  honour the servicemen and women who have returned from war, or nowdays  from peacekeeping duties in war torn countries. It was on the 25th April 1915 the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp landed at Gallipoli and suffered heavy losses.

Concern over the nutritional value of the food their men  were receiving  during World War 1, resulted in  the mothers, wives and girlfriends  baking the Anzac biscuit, packing them in airtight  Billy Tea tins and shipping them overseas to the soldiers. They were originally called Soldiers biscuits but after the landing at Gallipoli they became known as Anzac biscuits.   Anzac being the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp.

Many poultry farmers  had joined the services  and there was a lack of eggs which is why golden syrup is used as the binding agent.

ANZAC BISCUITS
125g (4 ozs) Flour
150g (6ozs) Sugar
1 cup Coconut
1 cup Rolled Oats
75g (30zs) Butter
2 tablespoon Golden Syrup
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 tablespoons Boiling water

Mix together flour, sugar, oats and coconut.
Melt butter and Golden Syrup.
Dissolve Bicarbonate of soda in boiling water and add to butter mixture.
Mix liquid ingredients with the dry ingredients.
Place in spoonfuls onto a cold greased (or lined with baking paper) tray.
Bake 15 - 20 minutes at 180C( 350F).

The mixture may seem a little dry but it will bind together while it cooks.  I used a dessertspoonful size  and the biscuits were cooked perfectly at 15 minutes baking time. This recipe has been adapted from the Edmonds Cookbook.

Kurlansky, Food Writers and the Great Debate

Coming to Auckland next month - The New Zealand Writers Festival   19 -22 May...and with the title Nourish: Feasting the Mind/Feeding the Soul we can expect some emphasis on food.   

Beginning on Friday morning with The First Meal of the Day: Breakfast hosted by Peta Mathias and featuring Australian foodie  Maggie Beer.  On Saturday we have Star Food Writers and the line up includes Mark Kurlansky and Maggie Beer along with Auckland chefs Simon Gault and Ray McVinnie.   

On Sunday evening Mark Kurlansky will again speak at the closing dinner being held at the Hilton Hotel.   

Mark, a former professional chef  and pastry maker from New York is the author of Salt: A History of the World and Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World.  He also writes a column on food history for  Food and Wine Magazine.

 

And especially for bloggers, hosted by  New Zealands most popular blogger, Russell Brown   -   The Great Blend: Public Address Live -  a discussion on how blog culture has energised the written word.

Pre dinner nibbles

These little canapes are quick and easy and ideal to serve with a pre dinner glass of  champagne or white wine .  All you need is a packet of Carr's plain water crackers, a tub of sour cream and a packet of smoked salmon .

Place a teaspoon of sour cream on the cracker and top with a piece of smoked salmon.  I would normally place a sprig of dill or a caper on top but I was on holiday in the  Bay of Islands and no herb garden at the resort. 

Lighting the way - Food Blog School

Sam at Becks and Posh has started a school for bloggers  here.   What a great idea. It is just what I need.    I only discovered blogs in December of 2004.    I knew about blogs but thought they were just people ranting and raving about politics.  Discovering the huge community of food and wine blogs  was almost an awakening.

I've had plenty of time over the past few months to read many of the food and wine blogs on the web.  Some interesting observations - it seems  most of them are written by people under 30.  I think I might be the oldest food/wine blogger out there.  Many bloggers are in the IT industry - which is why they have such clever sites. They know all about HTML. I know about it but have absolutely no idea about how to use it.   Many food bloggers are Asian or have an Asian background or have lived in Asia at some time and  most food bloggers are women.  Men dominate in the wine blogging area.   

I'm impressed with the quality of much of the writing  and envy the  creativity of  some bloggers.  What really impresses me though  is the supportive nature of   bloggers.   It is like one big happy family.   

I look forward to Food Blog School  and learning more.

A Sicilian Message - WBW

"It's a Sicilian Message . It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."
Clemenza to Sonny. The Godfather I.

Wow, what a weekend for TV watching.  Friday the Popes funeral, Saturday back to back  screenings of The Godfather I, II and III....and then Sunday morning replays of Charlie and Cam's wedding.

How fitting then to use this weekend to taste this months  Wine Blogging Wednesday  choice of a Sicilian red,  hosted by Ronald at  Love Sicily .   It seemed right to be drinking a Sicilian wine while watching The Godfather I and  II - I fell asleep in III(It was 2AM!).

Do you know how many Sicilain wines are available in NZ?  Not many.  There probably aren't many New Zealand wines available in Sicily either.

My local, First Glass,  has one of the better selections of wine in the Auckland region.  They even had a Sicilian red , and even better had presented it at a tasting the previous night.  You can read their official tasting notes here .   

Inspired by the Paper Chef entry from A Banana in Australia,  I had planned to serve ravioli  with the chosen wine, Nero d'Avola from Feudo Principi di Butera.     This wine is also known as  calabrese.  If you are interested to learn more,  read about this varietal over at Wine Lovers  page.

The ravioli was a disaster and didn't stick, so quickly became lasagne with layers of ricotta and spinach, topped with a tomato pomodoro and covered with cheese (mozzarella, feta, parmesan).    It turned out pretty good actually.   

The wine was very nice, but after paying $37.95  for a bottle I would like to have been a little more impressed.  It was smooth and easy drinking and if I'd paid around $20 for the bottle I'd have been impresssed.   If  good fortune smiles upon me and I get to visit Sicily someday, I would purchase further bottles of Nero d'Avola by this producer or others. 

Forbes article on Oz Wine

"The trouble with this industrial-scale process is that it tends to turn out drinkable, very affordable--though somewhat characterless and generic--wines. This wouldn't be a problem if it was confined to $10 wines, but it also seems to apply to a lot of wines priced at $20, $30 or even $50. That's a lot of money to pay for good, if personal ity-free, plonk."

The above is from an interesting article on Australian wine in the US.  You can read what Nick Passmore has to say at  Forbes.com .    

Another Saturday lunch

Although Valentina Harris  trained  in Classical French Cuisine she is best known as an authority on Italian food and culture.  From Pasta Perfect in 1984 she has written a further 19 cookery books.

I love her 1990 book -  Valentina's Italian Family Feast.  Based on 17 themes it gives us a glimpse of family life in Italy.  It covers everything from birthdays and religious holidays to weddings and picnics. Inviting pictures of  Valentina enjoying time with family and friends along with  the food and  feasts of the Italian cities and countryside  make it the perfect book to curl up with on a lazy Saturday morning and dream of  being somewhere (anywhere) in Italy.

So the next best thing ....choose a recipe from the book for lunch and pretend you're in Italy.  I decided on the Lasagnette con Spinach e Funghi with a few changes. Spaghetti  replaced the lasagnette and I used fresh field mushrooms (chopped) in place of dried porcini and also added the juice of a lemon to the sauce.

And how good was it?
Very good!

 Valentina    runs cookery classes from her  home, which was once the childhood home of President Mitterand - the Le Manoir de Touvent in Charente , South West France.