This magnificent peacock was strutting his stuff
at Shannon wine estate in Elgin
Off up the coast We are looking forward to taking a break
and this will be the second last MENU for 2016. It has been a very busy year,
sometimes quite frantically so and we need to take some time off to recuperate
and gird our loins, as it were, for 2017, a year which promises to hold much
excitement for South Africa and, indeed the World, so please read on... or click any of the following links to look at a story
Bringing the mountain to Mohammed? No, wines to the wine
trade Keermont’s Vineyards are beautifully
maintained, produce very good wines and are up, up, up high in Paradyskloof
(Paradise Valley) with vineyards 250m to 400m above sea level. They realised that
it is often difficult for the wine trade to get to them, so they came to town
last week and brought their new releases with them. They held a small open
tasting all day in their Kloof Street offices and we grasped this opportunity
to taste these classy wines
Springfield - the Lost Vintage In 1997, Abrie Bruwer, owner of Springfield
in Robertson, made a vintage of his Mèthode Ancienne Cabernet Sauvignon. When
it came time to release this wine, Abrie said it was not ready. He has been
cellaring it ever since, waiting for it to mature. They even went so far as to
experiment with ageing 600 bottles under the sea, corks sealed with wax, for 3
years, to see if it would speed up the maturation process. Now, after all this
time, nearly twenty years, they are releasing the wine. A limited quantity is
available and we were invited to taste it at a new venue in Wale Street in Cape
Town. We know that South African wines can age for much more than 20 years
Amorim MCC Awards winners tasting at the Taj Hotel Earlier this year we were at the Amorim
Awards ceremony for the top MCC's in South Africa. This was a chance to
formally taste them. It was held last week at the Taj Hotel by the Cape
Classique Association
A Tasting of Woolworths wines at Villiera Woolworths works very closely with
excellent Cape vineyards to make special selections of wine available to
Woolworths' customers. We often buy them; these special selections often win
major wine awards and are top quality. The wines were to be tasted in Riedel
glasses. So we were very keen to taste some of these at a function arranged at
Villiera, who produce many great MCCs for Woolworths. John had a wine tour that
he was booked for months ago, so Lynne took advantage of the transport
Woolworths arranged, and took her camera along
Wine Concepts' "The Finer things of Life" Champagne
Festival This is always a crowd puller. Where else
can you taste so many good French champagnes at once for a reasonable amount of
money, with canapés circulating during the evening. There is a raffle with
superb prizes and oyster, chocolate and sushi to buy. The theme this year was
Cats and there were some amusing renditions. The Champagnes can be bought at a
discount on the night and if you missed it, you can get them all from Wine
Concepts
Apparently,
this is one of the most popular dishes in the USA. The ingredients were what we
had in the fridge, so Lynne Googled chicken and broccoli and this is what
happened next. A quick and reasonably healthy supper dish if you are in a
hurry. You can use cooked chicken if you have it. The secret of wok cooking is
to prepare everything and have it ready to hand before you start stir frying. This
is quick
2
chicken breasts, cut into 3 cm cubes - 1 teaspoon of corn flour and 1
Tablespoon - 3 spring onions, sliced at an angle - 2 cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated - 1 T light soy - 2 T sugar - 1 T Shaoxing rice
wine (or dry sherry) - 1/2 T sesame seed oil - 1/3 cup water - 3 T peanut or
coconut oil - 1 large head of broccoli broken up into bite sized florets - slices
of the broccoli stem (keep separate) - 1 T Hoisin sauce - 1 T white sesame
seeds – optional, 3/4 teaspoon of chilli flakes - salt and freshly ground black
pepper
In
a glass bowl, marinate the chicken with the spring onions, half the ginger and
garlic, soy sauce, sugar, 1 teaspoon corn flour, the rice wine, sesame oil and
1/2 t salt for 15 minutes at room temperature. You can marinade for longer. The
corn flour tenderises the chicken beautifully.
Heat
your wok to a high heat and add 1 T oil. Add the broccoli stems and stir fry
for half a minute. Add the rest of the broccoli, the remaining ginger and
garlic, 2 T water and some pepper. Stir fry until the broccoli is bright green
and still crisp. Remove and set aside. Reheat the wok, add the rest of the oil
then add the chicken and the chilli flakes if you are using them. Stir fry
until the chicken begins to take on some colour, about 3 minutes. Add the Hoisin
sauce and return the broccoli to the pan and toss to heat together. Add the
reserved corn flour in water and bring to a boil to thicken. Then add the rest
of the marinade. Thin with a little more water if very thick. Taste and season
with black pepper and a little salt if necessary. Garnish with sesame seeds and
serve with Jasmine rice. Serves 4
This
wine would be lovely with a festive meal. It comes from France and is made by
Villiera on their estate Domaine Grier in the Roussillon region in the South of
France. You will find it only at Woolworths and it is very reasonably priced
for a French wine with age. It is elegant, intense, perfumed on the nose with
some savoury notes and layers of soft mouth-filling dark red berries and
cherries with some spice and liquorice. It is delicious. R99.95 from Woolworths
In MENU next week: Marigold Indian restaurant, Jordan Summer
Festival, Flagstone, Elgin, Asara, Nederburg and more
4th December 2016
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172
/ 083 656 4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point
8005
If you like the photographs you see in our
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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
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