We write about
our experiences in MENU, not only to entertain you, but to encourage you to
visit the places and events that we do. We know you will enjoy them and we try
to make each write up as graphic as we can, so you get a good picture of what
is on offer at each place, restaurant, wine farm, festival we visit. To get the whole story with photographs, please click on “Read on.....” at the end of each paragraph, which will lead you to the
related blog, with pictures and more words. At the end of each blog, click on RETURN TO MENU
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John Collins Trade Tasting at Ottimo
Cibo The week started well with a great tasting
of the brands represented by John Collins. It is a small but perfectly formed
list of some of our top wine farms and brands: Diemersfontein, Jordan,
Kleinood, Newton Johnson, Sutherland, Springfield, Keet Wines and, newly added
to the stable, is Le Lude MCC from Franschhoek. Read On....
Meeting the Survivor for Dinner at
Overhex wines So here is the story of the label. A truck
carrying 33 Nguni cows went past one of their wine farms and, as they are wont
to do, one leapt off the back of the truck into the vineyards. The truck continued
and the cow adapted itself to the new situation. It was adopted by the farmer
and was thereafter known as the Survivor. Overhex has produced a range of wines
to celebrate this cow and we were invited to join them for dinner at the winery
in Worcester and sample the wines over dinner in their newly finished
restaurant tasting room. Read On....
Mexican food at Wild Peacock Wild
Peacock in Stellenbosch stock the things chefs and good cooks want, all the
luxuries like oysters, freshwater crayfish, imported and local cheeses, fresh
fish, game, charcuterie, chocolate and lots, lots more. They have a retail shop
in town and a huge warehouse in the industrial area. This week we were invited
to come and see a demonstration of Mexican food products (made in the USA) they
are importing.
Following the tasting, we went to their Emporium and
Lynne bought two packets of dried smoked chillies, a packet of Ancho and a
packet of Californian Read On....
This week's recipe is a Chilli con Carne
using dried Ancho chillies They are not hot at all and impart a
lovely chocolate and smoke note to the chilli. If you like your chilli con
carne hot, you will want to add some fresh green chilli to your own taste. You
can also use the Ancho chillies to make a chilli cream.
Chilli con Carne with Mexican dried
chillies
2 or 3 Ancho dried chillies – 1 T olive oil – 1 large onion, finely chopped – 30g smoked bacon, finely chopped – 400g beef
mince – 1 T chopped fresh oregano or 1t dried – 1 t
ground cumin – 2 large cloves
of garlic, crushed – fresh
chopped chilli – 400 ml tomato passata or a tin of chopped tomatoes – 1 tin of red kidney beans. drained – salt
and black pepper
Toast the Ancho chillies for a few seconds in a hot
dry pan, but do not burn them - this brings out the flavour. Remove the stem
and the seeds and then soak them in some water for half an hour. They will
soften a little. Fry the onions in the oil with
a good pinch of salt, till soft, then add bacon and fry, then the beef and fry quickly until it is brown.
Add the oregano, cumin, garlic and chilli and stir quickly to blend. Add the
passata and the beans. Remove
the chillies from the water and chop finely. Add to the pot with some of the
soaking water. At this point you may want to add some fresh chilli for heat, then season and simmer until the beef is tender. Add a little
water if it needs more moisture during cooking. Adjust the seasoning and serve
with fluffy rice and a tomato and onion
salsa. Top with guacamole and sour cream. ALWAYS better the next day.
This makes four to five large servings.
Double the recipe if serving more.
Thursday, 13th August at
18h30 Oneiric Wines
and Thomas Maxwell
Dinner and Wine
Pairing in the newly launched private room at Thomas Maxwell. Join Shan Pascall,
owner of Oneiric wines and her side-kick Venetia LePine-Williams for a
delicious a la carte food and wine pairing amongst stories of the family, the
wine estate and taste profiles. The menu has been paired with Oneiric's award
winning wines, including the newly released big daddy First Quantum Grand
Reserve. Thomas Maxwell Wine Library, Shop 8, 140, 11th Street, Parkmore,
Johannesburg. Cost: R465 per person includes 3 course meal and wine pairing.
Bookings through Shan Pascall shan@oneiric.co.za
Thursday, 13th August, 18h00 to 21h00 Nedbank
Cape Winemakers Guild Auction Showcase. Cape Town International
Convention Centre. R190 per person including tasting glass. Tickets can be
purchased via www.webtickets.co.za. To find out more, visit:
www.capewinemakersguild.com, email info@capewinemakersguild.com or
call +27 +21 852 0408
Friday, 14th and Saturday,
16th August Sijnn wines will host a fine
wine weekend, partnered with De Hoop Nature Reserve, to showcase their wines
against some international benchmarks. David Trafford has carefully selected
some special wines to show over the weekend and it promises to be a great
getaway for food & wine lovers. Whale watchers haven, De Hoop is based near
Malgas, a 30 minute drive from the Sijnn winery. This makes it the perfect
venue for a decent break while getting to enjoy some incredible wines. The
weekend includes two nights’ accommodation with breakfasts, two 3 course wine
dinners, lunch and a guided walk for R3000 pp. There are only a few seats left;
to make a booking please email Christine as
soon as possible
Saturday, 15th August 08h00 to
16h00 Paul Cluver and Oak Valley invite
you to join the official launch party of ElginMTB. ElginMTB is
a collaborative project between neighbours Paul Cluver and Oak Valley, who have
joined their trails to create an unique MTB experience. Riders will now have
the option to legitimately cross our borders and cycle a 70km round-trip –
making it one of the longest rides in the country with spectacular single
track. View it in your Browser
In addition to his
Sense
of Taste Culinary Arts School, Chef Peter Ayub runs a
four module course for keen home cooks at his Maitland complex. Details
here
Emma Freddi runs
the Enrica Rocca cooking courses at her
home in Constantia
George Jardine
will be running a series of winter cooking courses and other activities at
Jordan. Details here
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656
4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005
Our Adamastor
& Bacchus© tailor-made Wine, Food and Photo tours take
small groups (up to 6) to specialist wine producers who make the best of South
Africa’s wines. Have fun while you learn more about wine and how it is made!
Tours can be conducted in English, German, Norwegian and standard or Dutch-flavoured
Afrikaans.
If you like the photographs you see in our publications,
please look at our Adamastor
Photo website for our
rate card and samples from our portfolio
Recommendations
of products and outside events are not solicited or
charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure. All photographs, recipes and text used in these
newsletters and our blogs are © John & Lynne Ford,
Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are usually
unsolicited. We prefer to pay for our meals and not be paid in any way by
anyone. Whether we are invited or go independently, we don’t feel bad if we say
we didn’t like it. Honesty is indeed our best policy. While every effort is
made to avoid mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for
which we apologise. Our Avast! ® Anti-Virus software is updated at
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