Tag Archives: food

Have Yourself a Merry Little (Midwinter) Christmas

Posted on by Genevieve
6

Let your heart be light: Everyone has their traditions – something they eagerly anticipate each year. Today, I would like to share with you mine.

For the past five years, my friends and I have come together once a year to make merry Midwinter Christmas. For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, Midwinter is a little somethin’ a few of us down below partake in to observe Christmas in all its wintry, frosted glory… with pinecones roasting atop the fire, mulled cider, festively decorated interiors – as so many Christmas songs, stories and traditions are lost on us in our December summer. So, the exact date is not hugely important - what is, however, is spending an overtly festive day together, accompanied by merriment and turkey.

Christmas decorations come up, Judy and Chris Martin blare ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (one after the other, of course)… there is cocktail attire, fairy lights, cranberry-laiden wreaths… there has even been “Pin the Tail on Rudolph”.

This year’s menu included: an organic free-range Turkey (Boris Junior – brined to ensure maximum tenderness and flavour… this is a must) roasted with a pork + cranberry + pinenut stuffing and orange + sage butter, maple-syrup roasted golden kumara + giant yams, potatoes + parsnips par-bolied + then roasted with garlic in duck-fat, blanched brussel sprouts sauteed lightly with lardons and celery heart leaves, and finally little sausages wrapped in bacon.

Dessert consisted of vanilla panna cottas served with citrus-poached tamarillos and sugar-toasted pistachios.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sous chef: This Guy (a Durvillea-aproned Michael).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a special champagne toast to our Durvillea Girl Libby to celebrate her engagement to her fiance (I love calling him that!) Peter. My speech was one for the books…

 

I look forward to Midwinter Christmas every year, probably more so than anything else. Sitting down to dinner with my favourite people, it really is magical… oh no, I don’t want to get all Love Actually on you. So, I hope you all enjoy the photos – because, we really did have ourselves a Merry Little Midwinter Christmas.

Hmmm, maybe I will get all Love Actually … so, to finish:

Particularly enjoy the incredible crassness of this moment when I try to squeeze three extra syllables into the fourth line…

… now if you really love Midwinter Christmas, come on and let it snow.

*Dishes inspired by Chirstmas recipes from (of course) Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsey, Nigella Lawson etc. etc.

 

My attempt at pork dumplings!

Posted on by Meg
2

Hello all, Meg here.

It has been a very long time since I wrote on this blog, but, in my defence, I have been quite busy finishing my MA, having a wedding and starting Teachers’ College so at least I have been doing something somewhat useful with my time!

A few weeks ago it was my partner Henry’s birthday and his sister Jessica was kind enough to bring down some Chinese dumplings from Auckland to serve at his party. We had been to the restaurant that she had got them from and really enjoyed them so she bought some frozen ones and carried them down to us in her hand luggage.

I love dumplings and enjoyed having them at home so much that I thought I would try making some. I used frozen dumpling wrappers that I found in the freezers at Yan’s supermarket here in Wellington. I would guess that you could find them in your local Asian supply store too. If you can’t find them and you are not as lazy as me you can google “dumpling wrapper recipe” and find plenty of options. Please excuse my dodgy food photography!

I mixed the following ingredients to make my dumplings:

  • 500g pork mince
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage
  • 3 finely sliced spring onions
  • 1 tbsp minced ginger
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice (although I did have some constructive criticism that less spice might have been good).

Just mix everything well. This part of the recipe is easy!

Next, take a dumpling wrapper and place about a teaspoon sized ball of mixture in the middle. You may need to lay a damp tea towel over the wrappers so they don’t dry out. They defrost pretty quickly and they can’t be refrozen. The next step is to wet your fingertip and rub it around the rim of the wrapper to make it stick. You then fold the two sides together, making sure to get any air out.

I then attempted to pleat the edges of the dumplings to make them neater. I don’t think it has much effect on taste or cooking time but it does make it a bit tidier when it come to eating and steaming.

We then cooked them in bamboo steamers although there are lots of instructions on the internet for pan frying and then steaming in the fry pan. If you use bamboo baskets don’t forget to put down wax paper or cabbage leaves as they are very sticky!

I served them with some noodles and bok choy stirfried with lots of garlic and with some oyster sauce on top (please ignore the dish brush that has snuck into shot!).

Next time I’d like to try a vegetarian recipe so if any one has a good one please do leave a link!

Last week I was lucky enough to have dinner at Martin Bosley’s restaurant. As you may know, Sophie is leaving Astrolabe (this Friday!) so it was nice to have a chance to catch up. Of course she is my cousin so it isn’t like we won’t see each other again but it was still great to catch up with our Durvillea hats on. Also joining us was Genevieve (the “new Sophie” so to speak). We had a great time – here’s a little picture of Gen, Sophie and I outside.

-  Meg

Update from Sophie and a delicious Duck recipe

Posted on by Durvillea
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We are only a couple of weeks into the duck shooting season and yesterday we were lucky enough to be given four ducks, so it was therefore a given that we would be having duck for dinner.

One of the best mobile websites I have been using recently is the New York Times Recipe Search site (http://mobile.nytimes.com/recipes) simply click on the link and you can search for recipes with up to three ingredients. This was exactly what I did yesterday, searching for recipe in which all the ingredients needed I had at home already! Eventually I decided on the Duck marinated in Red Wine and Orange which was so delicious, tender and juicy that I had to share it with you http://nyti.ms/jg4FY0.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 tablespoon chili oil
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 orange, juiced, rind cut into strips
  • 4 whole duck breasts, skin and fat removed
  • Olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons sliced chives, for garnish

Preparation

1.

In a large freezer bag, combine wine, chili oil, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, orange juice and orange rind. Mix well and add duck breasts. Seal bag and mix again. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
2.
Remove duck from marinade and shake off excess liquid. Heat and lightly oil a grill, ridged skillet or heavy flat skillet. Cook duck breasts to taste, turning frequently, 10 to 15 minutes. If desired, cooked breasts may be wrapped in foil and held for 10 minutes until serving.
3.
To serve, thinly slice breasts diagonally and arrange on a serving plate. Pour any juices in pan or foil on top. Garnish with chives, and serve.

I also then reduced the marinating sauce and put it as a side when serving. While I didn’t have a bottle at home, I think our Durvillea Pinot Noir would have been a great match with this dish.

Aside from eating and drinking it has been a busy few months for the Durvillea girls, when I blogged last time, Jane was in Canada and as I blog now, she is in Brisbane visiting our Queensland distributors.  I had four emails last week from Queenslanders asking where they can get our Durvillea Pinot Grigio, so for the rest of you QLD Grigio fans who also want to know where to buy it from, check out these retailers, or email Paul: paul@smashingbottles.com.au

  • Chalk and Cheese
  • Spiro’s
  • Thirsty Camel Balmoral

Durvillea was also released in Canada last month (30 April) the Sauvignon Blanc is now available at Vintages in Ontario and has already had a great review from Beppi Crosariol. Read his review here.

Bob and Jo tasting fruit with Simon in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough

We have also had a few visitors, with Bob Campbell and Jo Burzynska coming down last month for a look around our vineyards, a tasting and lunch with us, it was a great day and we were extremely lucky with the weather also, a fabulous day to show Marlborough in its best light!

We did an Astrolabe vertical tasting as well, managing to find Sauvignon Blancs all the way back to 2002, one of the most interesting and exciting things was how good these SB’s were drinking, with the 2003 and 2006 being favourites.

Simon and the Astrolabe Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc vertical tasting

On a different note,one of the other things that is going on is that I am sadly leaving Astrolabe and Durvillea Wines (not till the end of June though). I am going travelling through Europe with some of my best school friends and am then planning to get a job in the wine industry in either the UK or Australia. So, while it is going to be hard to leave, at least there are some exciting things in store for me and we do have a fabulous new replacement for me coming on board who we will introduce to you soon.

One of the big questions we have been pondering in the office is whether I can still be a Durvillea Girl…… I sure hope so!

Update from Sophie

Posted on by Durvillea
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It really has been a busy start to the year, so a belated Happy New Year to you all and a hello. It has been a while. However as Jane mentioned us Durvillea girls have approached 2011 with vigour and with the wedding only just behind us, Jane has already hosted several tastings at Astrolabe Farm. She is now in Canada with Jason and our British Columbia distributors, Christopher Stewart Wines and Spirits, getting ready for theVancouver Playhouse which starts this week.

Making Salsa Verde

One of the tastings we held at Astrolabe Farm was for our Chinese distributors, Jonty and William from New Zealand Wine International Ltd and two of their Chinese contacts. A tasting of our Astrolabe Wines was held before a fantastic lunch prepared by Jane, Jason, Simon and myself. My contribution being a salad and salsa verde. I couldn’t find the recipe for the salsa verde so ended up having to search on our website for it- this blog has been very useful for this. Incidentally we get a lot of visitors to our site because of this recipe!

Vintage is also happening! It has been an earlier start to vintage this year, with the first of our Pinot Gris being taken on the 18th March. Since then we have taken some more Pinot Gris,

Jane Picking Pinot Noir at Astrolabe farm

Pinot Noir and Gewurztraminer, making our first Sauvignon Blanc pick this evening. Being an earlier start, it has also been a slower start, with Simon being able to pick exactly when the fruit has the desired ripeness and flavour profiles.

The weather has been perfect, and as I type this I am looking out to a clear blue sky with no clouds in sight. The mornings are getting cooler though- precisely one of the reasons Marlborough is such a unique growing region. The fine days (surprisingly, tomorrow is supposed to get to 27°C!) are great for ripening, and the cool nights are perfect for picking in, allowing us to keep the phenolics down, protecting the wines aromatic potential. Vintage will ramp-up this week, though, as the 12 hour shifts in the wineries come into play, and the bulk of the fruit will be picked in the next 10 days or so, I believe. It is a fantastic time of year that I personally love – the town has a buzz to it, harvesters, gondolas and grape trucks are a common sight on the main roads, and everyone is following the weather!

Pinot Gris being loaded to be whole bunch pressed

If any of you have any questions for us on the 2011 vintage do post them below and I will put it to Simon so he can answer your questions for you!

Tis the season – Yule log recipe from Jane & competition

Posted on by Jane
10

The raspberries are ripening and on Saturday we bought our first cherries of the season. Christmas is upon us, so what I have I done? Well, I have done quite a few good and interesting things in the last few weeks but very few to do with Christmas preparations. I keep saying it is just one dinner, a few presents, and family to stay. However after three weeks away on a northern hemisphere tour we are home and I have a small sense of panic. Just a sniff.

Foremost for me at Christmas is family. This year we will have all the girls home, my sister Nicki and her family, which of course includes our Sophie, and my father. We are fairly traditional at Christmas. Breakfast, presents, champagne, lunch, lounging about, fun activities (planning croquet this year) and left-overs for tea. As you may have read we like to decorate the house for Christmas. Arabella takes the role of Christmas decorating fairy. I also enjoy setting the table with my Christmas napkins and wearing my Christmas apron.All accompanied by various drinks. Christmas lunch will be a roast turkey, but my favourite part is making desert. It is decadent and fun. Actually I really love the whole thing of the people I love best in the world gathering around the table.

Last year we (Libby the baker daughter) and I made a yule log for Christmas lunch. The combination of chocolate and fresh summer berries is excellent. This recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Christmas.
Yule Log
For the cake:
6 eggs, separated (luckily my new chickens have come into lay)
150g caster sugar
50g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-5 tsps icing sugar to decorate

For the icing:

175g dark chocolate, chopped
250gg icing sugar
225g soft butter
1 x 15ml tablespoon vanilla extract

• Preheat the oven to 180 C
• In a large , clean bowl whisk the egg whites until thick and peaking, then, still whisking, sprinkle in 50g of the caster sugar sugar and continue whisking until the whites are holding their peaks but not dry.
• In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining caster sugar until the mixture is mousy, pale and thick. Add the vanilla extract, sieve the cocoa powder over, then fold both in.
• Lighten the yolk mixture with a couple of dollops of the egg whites, folding them in robustly. Then add the remaining whites in thirds, folding them in carefully to avoid losing the air.
• Line a Swiss roll tin with baking parchment, leaving a generous overhang at the ends and sides, and folding the parchment into the corners to help the paper stay anchored.
• Pour in the cake mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the cake cool a little before turning it out onto another piece of baking parchment.

- Jane

Here is how to enter the competition. We already have one entry on last week’s blog from Sharon for a Midori & Bailey’s trifle!

Competition details:

Post up your favourite Christmas recipe, meal, or serving suggestion on this blog and we will do the second draw this coming Friday 10th December for the next two bottles of Durvillea wine (your choice)

Terms and Condition to Enter:
* Must be over 18
* Comments must be posted on this blog, not our facebook or twitter accounts
* Only those in New Zealand and Australia are eligible for this competition
* One person’s recipe a week will be drawn from a hat each Friday until the 17th December and that lucky person will win 2 bottles of their choice of Durvillea wines
*Everyone who posted a recipe will go in the draw for the Durvillea Sauvignon Blanc magnum to be drawn 17th December

South Australia and a lovely review

Posted on by Jane
2

One of the obvious side effects of your parents being in the wine industry is that you always live in a wine region! We have lived in Marlborough since 1995 but all we three girls were born in different regions. Before Blenheim we lived in Gisborne where Arabella was born in 1990, Libby was born in Huntly in 1986 when Simon was working at a winery in Te Kauwhata and I was born in Adelaide in 1985. Dad did his wine making training in South Australia. So, yes, that means I am technically Australian by birth!

When we last visited South Australia as a family we spent time in both the Barossa and Clare Valley wine tasting. Unfortunately, at that time Libby, Bella and I couldn’t care less about tasting and stayed in the car listening to cds at half of the places! Adelaide is famous for its food and wine culture and although we didn’t take advantage of the wine at the time we did have some great food experiences. The most memorable was probably visiting the Jerusalem Sheshkabab House – an Adelaide icon that Mum & Dad frequented as young people! Lebanese food is very popular in our household – hummus and tabouleh were some of the very first things I learnt to make. Dad taught me his own variations on recipes that I think came originally from the Moosewood Cookbook. Just quietly, I make the best hummus ever (as long as you like heaps of lemon and garlic)!

Anyway, I would love to go back to Adelaide as an adult to really take advantage of the great wine and food. My partner’s parents were just over there last week and really enjoyed it. His mother spotted a great review for the Durvillea 2008 Sauvignon Blanc in the Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine and kindly brought the magazine back for me. The reviewer was Bob Campbell.

 Thanks Bob! We are glad you enjoyed it! If you are keen to see if you agree with this review we still have a little ’08 Sav available. Just visit the Astrolabe site here: http://www.astrolabewines.co.nz/wines/durvillea.

Also, if you are interested in reading more reviews please check out our “Nice things people are saying about us” tab up at the top of the page.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Meg