Crab salad, cucumber jelly

Chicken liver paté, raspberries, caramelised onion, toast

Barramundi, asparagus, lemon butter, candied lemon and lime zest

Grilled chicken, glutinous rice, kale, Indonesian-style jus

Lamb fillet, pumpkin mash, candied eggplant/aubergine, grilled pepper/capsicum, griddled spring onion, Kalamata olives, balsamic jus

Perfect with Pierre Gaillard Saint Joseph 2011.

Crottin de Chavignol, Comté, croutons, cinnamon sugared almonds, Christmas relish

Lavender and orange blossom honey icecream, pomegranate seeds, toffee pistachios, pomegranate molasses

Salad of greens, fresh beetroot, green beans, walnuts, goat cheese

The dressing here was a light extra virgin olive oil and raspberry vinegar with a little salt. Diners never seem to be able to pick out the fruit in fruit vinegars; they add an elusive quality to a salad, and often a touch of welcome sweetness.

The salad was served with Christian Moreau‘s Vaudesir Chablis from 2009. The floral-vanilla oak increasingly overpowered the wine’s minerality, fruit (lemon, pineapple and nectarine/white peach), and attrative edge of vegetation, but it remained delicious, with its suitably austere yet balanced palate and long finish. It complimented the salad quite well. Interesting to note too, that a mouthful of greens+walnut+cheese prior to a sip of that Chablis was a far superior experience than if it followed a mouthful of salad that didn’t include walnut+cheese.

Braised pork belly, cauliflower cream, PX prunes, orange zest

Braised pork belly, cauliflower cream, PX prunes, orange zest

BBQed lamb loin with beans

BBQed lamb loin with beans

Chocolate semifreddo

White and dark chocolate semifreddo, PX raisins, hazelnut vanilla fudge

Visual recipes for the adept?

Oyster risotto

I was trying to think of a starter that was reasonably filling and could accompany Chablis… Arborio rice (naturally) stirred endlessly while vegetable and shellfish stocks and white wine are continually added and reduced. Then, for the last few tens of seconds, along with the traditional addition of butter, oysters are also added and semi-poached. The resulting texture was better than hoped for: creamy risotto rice with a central bite and appropriately rounded stock-base flavours, with occassion hits of creamy rock-pool oyster flavour.

The Chablis in question was the Seguinot-Bordet Vaudesir 2009. A rather ripe nosed (nectarine and next to no minerality) wine, though the palate combined a delicious tingling acidity on entry with a round (yet in no way fat) texture and a long river pebble-mineral finish. It worked well with the oyster risotto. Interestingly, the particular Arborio used here was quite aromatically “grainy” (smelling like raw wheat grain), which worked surprisingly well with the Chablis as a flavour contrast.

Salad of greens, young goat cheese, crutons and walnuts

Greens, goat cheese, crutons, walnuts

A simple, light and delicious salad with a very light dressing of about 20/80 grapeseed oil/sushi vinegar.

Mushrooms en papillote

Mushrooms en papillote

Surprises are a nice experience for the diner and are perhaps too often reserved for desserts. Here, the diner is presented with a warm paper package where, upon opening, they are greeted with a waft of earthy baked mushroom, herb and vinous aromas. A very simple yet immensely satisfying dish showcasing a variety of mushrooms, baked en papillote with butter, white wine, parsley, thyme, marjoram, and a touch of pepper.

Pierre Amiot‘s Morey St Denis is particularly good for village-level red Burgundy. The 2009 was showing wild raspberry and cherry aromas along with a floral aspect (like pink dog rose) without being volatile in any way. It was like the summer’s bounty of fruit in Northern Europe, with a touch of tree fungus/meat/and ultra-subtle wood. The palate was beautifully textured (damusc-velvet was mentioned), with a sweet-sour cherry flavour that sweetened a little in the finish. With the mushrooms en papillote, this was a complimentary match that was more about textural companionship than elevation or contrast of flavour. The wine also worked reasonably well with the following dish.

Roast quail and figs, jus

Roast quail and figs, jus

Figs and quail roasted en papillote to retain moisture, with a little red wine and dry Sherry. Red wine and quail stock jus.

Quail stock

And a quality (unusually meat-heavy flavoured) stock makes all the difference.

Strawberry and white chocolate mousse

Strawberry and white chocolate mousse

A layered mousse, with the white chocolate component being whipped cream folded into a (low temperature) pâte à bombe that has had white chocolate melted into it. The strawberry component is whipped cream folded into a mixture of whipped egg white and sugar, and gelatin-set fresh strawberry juice. The twist is that the cream used for the strawberry component has been infused with both rose water and (to add complexity) actual rose petals – but subtley so, such that the diner cannot quite detect the addition element and it adds a degree of intrigue. I was quite pleased with the concept.

The candles burned late into the night…

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.

A chocolate semifreddo (though it looks like just a mass of chocolate mousse): semi-frozen dark (70%) chocolate custard with whipped cream (and, here, meringue) . Inside hide* raisins plumped-up with Pedro Ximénez, and underneath sits a layer of hazelnuts (for me, the No. 1 nut with chocolate) set in a vanilla-(cream-)fudge.

Chocolate semifreddo, PX raisins, hazelnuts, vanilla fudge

*The best desserts have an element of surprise.

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.

Lamb backstrap - marinaded and BBQed

Lamb backstrap is an amazingly tender (and yet flavoursome) cut of lamb in Australia. It’s delicious Morrocan-style: BBQed after marination in olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, coriander leaf/cilantro, cumin, garlic and sweet paprika.

Dukka/duqqa is a great compliment.

Dukka/Duqqa

Pretty good with a Fairbank Syrah 2004, which had an intense dark core of savoury fruit (blackcurrant), a touch of mint/eucalypt and an exceptionally structured palate.
Now bring on the Fadel Shaker!

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.