Tuesday, February 28, 2017

This Week’s MENU. Breakfast at Baked, Go Get Wine..., Groote Post Country Market, Lynne's Gazpacho, Eikendal Classique 2008 + Morgenhof LBV 1993

The classic view of Table Mountain, across Table Bay from Blaauwberg
The weather forecast says that we have a 50% chance of rain on Sunday. Pray that it happens. Meanwhile, we make the most of the clear skies and warm sunshine, as you can read below
*      Go Get Wine...

Breakfast at Baked on Regent   We write reviews of all sorts of restaurants, but we have to confess that we usually prefer to have breakfast at home. We start the day very simply with fresh fruit and green tea for Lynne and muesli and black coffee for John. He makes the breakfast every day. There is a sudden bloom of restaurants doing breakfast that people keep telling us about, so we have decided to try a few of them. This week was the turn of Baked, which is near the circle at the end of Sea Point, next to President Motors. Virtuously, we walked there and arrived just before 9 am
Go Get Wine...   Where do you buy your wine? Your local supermarket? Direct from the wine farms? On-line or specialist wine shops? We buy from all these sources. Get Wine in Salt River who sell wine in vast quantities, often discounted, is one of the places we include on our places to buy as they often do a two day special with about 28 wines, all of which you can taste. They also hold these tastings in other areas. You need to watch for them on their web site. We won't buy wine unless we have tasted it (and love it), so these tastings suit us down to the ground. We went to one held at their Salt River premises on Saturday morning. And yes, we did come home with three cases
We have friends here from the Netherlands and took them to this lovely country market on Sunday. It is held on the last Sunday of every month and we had a great time. The market is full of things to buy, things to eat and things to admire. There are lots of food trucks and of course you can taste and buy the excellent Groote Post wines to enjoy with your lunch or take home with you
We are huge fans of cold soups in summer, as they are a light, delicious and refreshing start to a dinner. They can be made in advance, are very healthy and people love them. This week, as all the vegetables in the recipe are at their seasonal best, Lynne made this the day before our dinner party to let the flavours meld together beautifully. You can remove the seeds, but we like the thicker texture they add and the lycopenes. She does not use raw onion in her version as we find it a bit indigestible, nor does she use the more common two slices of stale bread to thicken the soup, as this is a low carb version. They are optional and you are welcome to add them if you like. (Soak the bread in water till soft, squeeze out the water and liquidize it with the vegetables) You can substitute the teaspoon of sugar with Xylitol, but be cautious. One ingredient you do need is Spanish Sherry vinegar, but you can substitute herb or red wine vinegar. Serves 6
2 red peppers - 1 ½ kilos of ripe red tomatoes - 1 small cucumber - 2 large cloves of garlic - 2 T Spanish Sherry vinegar - 3 T fruity extra virgin olive oil - salt and freshly ground black pepper - 1 t sugar - garnish with chopped chives and fresh basil leaves
Put the peppers under a grill and char the skin till it is blackening all over. Put into a plastic bag, seal and allow to cool. This separates the skin from the peppers. Then remove all the charred skin using kitchen paper towels. Remove the stalks and the seeds, chop roughly and set aside. Using a small paring knife, cut a cross in the top of each of the tomatoes. Put them in a deep bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 4 to 5 minutes, then remove and put into iced water to cool quickly. When they are cool, remove and peel - the skin will come off easily. Core them, chop roughly and add to your liquidizer or put into a deep bowl and blitz them with your stick blender. Peel the cucumber, roughly chop and add to the tomatoes, with the peppers, and the garlic.  Add the olive oil, and one tablespoon of the sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Continue to liquidise to emulsify the oil with the vegetables. This would be where you add the bread. Taste and adjust the seasoning by adding more vinegar and more seasoning. If the soup is too thick, add a little tomato juice or iced water. Only if necessary and it is too acidic, (depends on the tomatoes) add a spoonful of sugar. Put into the fridge overnight. Serve icy cool, topped with the chopped chives and one or two basil leaves. You can put bowls of finely chopped tomato, red pepper and cucumber on the table for people to add to the Gazpacho if you like more texture.
Reminder 1 T - 1 Tablespoon 1t - 1 teaspoon
MENU Wines of the Week: Eikendal Classique 2008 + Morgenhof LBV 1993    We served the Eikendal Classique '08 with a grilled picanha steak to a Dutch friend who brought it to us a few years ago. It was a very elegant blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% each Merlot and Cabernet Franc, made by Nico Grobler. The latter is a grape that does very well in the shadow of the Helderberg. 
It had sweet, ripe cassis and a touch of black cherry, with a delicious earthy, minerality; bone dry with very gentle, silky tannin. It had an especially good cork, which could have helped the wine to age for several more years, a rare example in a South African wine. Platter gave it 4½ stars in 2012 and the same to the current 2014 vintage in the 2017 edition.
And an honourable mention to Morgenhof LBV Port 1993, legendary winemaker Jean Daneel’s first attempt at Port. We served this with a good selection of cheeses, fresh figs and grapes. Crusted and full of dark berries and chocolate, with spice and elegant age, it was so enjoyable and at its peak

28th February 2017
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Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005
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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. This electronic journal has been sent to you because you have personally subscribed to it or because someone you know has asked us to send it to you or forwarded it to you themselves. Addresses given to us will not be divulged to any person or organisation. We collect them only for our own promotional purposes. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, please click here to send us a message and if you wish to be removed from our mailing list, please click here to send us a message.
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017

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