But before the lamb, a seafood starter. Every time I eat mussels, I think I should eat them more often, and at Christmas that was exactly how I felt… which prompted some mussels, cooked the classic French way (shallot, butter, garlic, white wine; parsley garnish), with some tagliatelle.

Mussels

French-style mussels with tagliatelle

Lamb Two Ways

Lamb Two Ways: Rack loin, fennel, anchovy-butter sauce; Middle loin, cannellini bean purée, rosemary lamb jus

The rack loin is simply the loin meat from the lamb rack. The middle loin is the eye meat further down the back of the lamb. The middle loin was rather tough and I would not choose to serve it again.

I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that baked fennel is a bad idea – so much better fresh. It was the only problem with the flavours on the plate.

Lamb-Stuffed Aubergine/Eggplant

Lamb-stuffed aubergine/eggplant with Moorish spices and melted Manchego

The lamb dishes were served with four different Passionvale Cabernet Sauvignon wines: an unoaked 2009, an unoaked 2010, an oaked 2011, and a 2011 oaked Cabernet Shiraz blend.
They are wines which, it might be said, are definitively of their Hunter Valley roots, yet show a kind of Italian (or perhaps even French) sensibility, in that they have that Hunter Valley fruit profile that (for me) shows both black and red fruits (think inky blackcurrant, along with cherries of varying shades, and plum), yet aren’t just about fruit because they have a kind of blackcurrant bush or dried grass-like element that is both herbal and herbaceous, and a kind of lift that can run from Parma violets to polish. And on the palate, they are fresh (sometimes too fresh), aren’t afraid to show their tannins (though never in an aggresive way), and are unashamedly of the medium bodied (rather than the full bodied) mould.
The 2009 was actually preferred by the diners, surprisingly being the fuller and somewhat riper of the four. It’s acid-balance was better (even though it was the only wine of the four whose must had been acidified!) and perhaps as a result, it matched the food better, particularly the stuffed eggplant dish.

Cheese

Manchego, Beaufort, Amontillado and vanilla-poached apricot, English crackers

Fruit and sorbet

Mango, lychee, passionfruit, lime sorbet

Fried lamb liver, poached quince, rocket, sage, onion, walnuts, crutons, balsamic

Just a slight divergence from the classic combinations, and they all worked well together.

Braised lamb shoulder with puy lentils and celery

Braised lamb shoulder, puy lentils, celery, reduced braising sauce

Lamb shoulder and classic aromatics (onion, celery, carrot) fried off before a little tomato passata, duck stock, puy lentils, garlic, bay and thyme were added. Oven-braised at about 170°C (340°F) for a few hours. The braising liquid was then strained off and reduced (in which the celery was par-braised to al dente) with rosemary. Classically delicious. A ceramic casserole dish makes an incredible difference!

The lightness (12.5% abv) of Bernard Baudry’s Chinon Franc de Pied 2003 was perfectly balanced with the lamb shoulder dish, even if the acidity was a little high in pairing the dish for me. The wine was fantastic: integrated red fruits verging on plum, touches of woody leather/polish, good balance with slightly resolved (yet still pleasantly astringent) tannins and a slightly rounded palate.

Strawberry-rhubarb-basil sorbet

Strawberry-rhubarb-basil sorbet

A refractometer can be a lot faster to use than a hydrometer for measuring the sugar concentration of liquids.
I welcomed the suggestion to add basil to the strawberry and rhubarb juice. A small-handful (a few sprigs) of sweet basil was juiced with the fruit, and was more than sufficient (for the 600 ml of juice) to provide a green-herbal edge with just a touch of anise, creating an interesting variation on the strawberry-rhubarb flavour. I’d do this again, though with slightly less basil next time.

Toasted Lebanese bread, eggplant/aubergine puree, dukkah

The Tapanappa Pinot Noir 2010 from Parawa, Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, had a nice nose of very dark cherry, some dry brown leaves, a touch spice (cinnamon-like). I’d like to see more texture on the palate (which was also a higher acid style and a little short) but this has pleasant flavours (with enough interest). Good for the price, and without meaning to damn with faint praise, would present well as a “lunch wine”.
These are eight year old Dijon clone vines that are close-planted (1.5 m by 1.5 m) on a north-facing slope of sandy loam and clay overlying a laterite at 350 m above sea level. Even if this “only” received 1283°C days over the growing season, it still smells like “sweet” ripe fruit – so much for “cool climate” Australia. Looking at the final analysis, the slightly disjointed acidity makes sense: a TA of 5.8 g/l (as tartaric) with a pH of 3.65 is just too much (highly buffered) acid IMO – but perhaps my palate just isn’t Aussie enough? .

Lamb, Med and spring veg

Lamb, eggplant purée, zucchini, brocollini, peas, jus

Lamb: BBQed eye of rib.
Eggplant/aubergine: baked with soy sauce and tarragon-flavoured white wine vinegar, puréed with a little yoghurt.
Zucchini: sautéed in butter with marjoram.
Brocollini and peas: blanched.
Jus: mire poix-dominant, lamb rack and herb (thyme, bay) reduction.
Chervil and mint.

The brocollini was a little out of place. The lamb/eggplant/zucchini/marjoram/chervil/jus combinations worked very well.

Not a bad combo with a Henschke Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 from Eden Valley, South Australia. It’s 70% Cab Sauv, 15% Merlot and 15% Cab Franc and smells of very pure ripe, sweet blackcurrant, polish, a touch of tar and wild spearmint. It is well integrated, even if the acid is verging on the high side, and feels more elegantly structured than many of it’s SA cousins (as the rep goes) even if it does lack length. Easy drinking but not particularly interesting and I still have trouble with the value for money (even at new-release prices).

Cheese

Poached kiwifruit, Tasmanian Heritage Red Square, roasted cashews, kamut croutons

The kiwifruit was poached in white wine, sugar and lemon juice from immediately after the syrup had been taken off the heat. This resulted in the fruit’s flavour being completely altered to something akin to plum or greengauge – not something I’d do again, but interesting.

Citrus sorbet
Orange, mandarin, grapefruit. The madarin adds a background even if its unique flavour is drowned out.

Sulawesi coffee

Sulawesi Toraja roasted into second crack

The 2009 Sulawesi Toraja again (a wet processed bean with screen size 17/18 and grade GR 1), but here roasted a little further into second crack.

I used to like the idea of a heterogeneous roast yielding flavour complexity (because of the broadened flavour spectrum) but now I’m thinking the pro roasters might have more reason than consistency in aiming for a homogeneous roast: the slight burn here bothers me.
Nevertheless, this was very robust in the cup (and therefore great as an after dinner coffee), with masses of dark chocolatey cocoa flavour, almost golden syrup-like dark sugar, and some rainforest floor with a slightly animally note.

When making a fruit juice sorbet, a hydrometer is an extremely helpful tool for obtaining the right sugar concentration. With a little algebra, it’s possible to account for the sugar already in the fruit juice, and thus add exactly the right amount of additional sugar to obtain 37% sugar weight/volume. (Assuming 1.4 kg sugar raises the volume by 1 litre works well.)

My approach is:

Measuring the specific gravity of pink grapefruit juice

The second round of TGRWT was held in June 2007 and featured banana and parsley.

Mojitos are one of my favourite cocktails and I decided to work around that concept. I made banana sorbet with a parsley rum syrup. The jus contains bicarbonate of soda to mirror the effect of the tonic water normally found in a mojito.

The (TGRWT#2 Round-Up was hosted by Tara of Should You Eat That?)

Banana sorbet, parsley rum jus

Banana sorbet, parsley rum syrup

This dessert is designed to be eaten “left to right” and combines a few things I’d worked on from scratch.

I thought, why not a pure nut sorbet? Hazelnut is a classic dessert nut for me, so I went with that. This is made with roasted hazelnuts that are simply blended, strained (through muslin), and then made the usual way (with sugar added to the magic 37%).
I was exploring icecream flavours and thought about using herbs and what might work with vanilla. The lavender and vanilla combo is something I’m very pleased with (almost proud of). The funny thing is no-one has yet been able to guess what the flavour is (even seasoned herb lovers). I loved poached fruits (these are poached in a wine and lemon syrup), and the butterscotch brittle (dusted with hazelnut pieces) adds some texture.
The chocolate “snail” is a white chocolate truffle sitting on top of a dark chocolate truffle, with a sweet espresso coffee reduction.

I was very pleased with this creation.

Haggis balls with whisky broth and neep powder

Sweet potato and coriander soup with rouille
It’s a great flavour combo. I did a garlic and herb rouille IIRC.

Green salad with honey-mustard vinaigrette

Salad prep

Green salad with honey-mustard vinaigrette

Prawn and salmon wontons in prawn bisque

Back in the days when Keiko reported more cooking than photography on her Nordljus blog, I was inspired by a Salmon and prawn tortellini in ginger prawn bisque dish she created. I made slight tweeks, but it’s essentially the same concept: salmon, prawn and basil filled wontons; the bisque is made with roasted prawn shells (very important) and the usual suspects (including a decent hit of ginger).

Wonton prep

Prawn and salmon wontons in prawn bisque

Smoked tofu and Guinness pie, crispy rice squares and spiced red lentils

This menu required an ovo-lacto vege main option (which I often think of anyway). This is my vege take on the classic beef and beerstyle pie, with a kind of spicy red lentil sauce instead of ketchup.

OR

Rack of venison, poached pears, wilted greens, celeriac purée and chocolate oil

This is a John Campbell (The Vineyard, Stockcross, UK) dish. I thought the dish an interesting composition (particularly with the inclusion of the pear) but taste-wise I wasn’t sure I was entirely convinced.

Wilted greens

Rack of venison

Selles-sur-Cher cheese with warm beetroot salad

I love goats cheese and I think it works well with beetroot. I was very pleased with my presentation development on this dish. The cheese is accompanied with roast beetroot batons, beetroot powder, lolla rossa (one of my fav lettuces) and a balsamic glaze.

Selles-sur-Cher cheese with warm beetroot salad

Pink grapefruit sorbet with gin and vanilla jus

Rob Feenie’s concept, and an absolutely fantastic combination! I like to throw in some candied peel for extra zest. This is made without pith (of course); simmered for 30 secs, chilled – repeated about 3 times; then finally simmered with sugar until reduced to desired coating.

Pink grapefruit sorbet with gin and vanilla jus

The French Laundry’s Île Flottante

This is a superb reinterpretation of the classic. The meringue is slow baked (in steam) so it’s extremely light. It’s then filled with chocolate mousse. The accompaniments are the classic crème anglaise, a chocolate tuile, bitter sweet chocolate shavings with salt, and mint oil.

The French Laundry’s Île Flottante