A blue dragonfly on a dead leaf in our koi pond
Breakfast at Bonjour
Sea Point veterans will remember New
York Bagels, who were in Regent Road for many years until they disappeared a
couple of years ago. Their bagels, croissants, salads etc were legendary and we
often bought lunch there when we had our shop down the road. We hear that they
are still running a small outlet in Harrington Street in the city centre
Some of the ex-Sea Point staff have opened a small
café in the Total Garage shop in Sea Point and word is getting round about how
good it is. They sell bagels and good bread and croissants and they also do
breakfast and lunch. We decided to go and see what it is like
Survivor launches the new vintage at Spek & Bone,
Stellenbosch Survivor is one of the brands
of the Overhex winery near Worcester and we were invited to taste the new
vintage of their wines at Bertus Basson's new wine bar and small plate
restaurant, Spek & Bone (it's pronounced boorna - the Afrikaans name of his
dog; means “beans”) Spek is his pet pig (translates as “bacon”). It is exciting
when good wine is paired with a top chef's food, so we were delighted to
accept, especially when they sent a minibus to take us there and back. It has
now become de rigeur for transport to be provided when we attend events where
we will need to taste the wines, thank heavens
The restaurant is right next to the iconic Oom
Samie se Winkel (Uncle Sammy’s shop) in the historic town of Stellenbosch
maker, who was the first winemaker at L'Avenir and has consulted with some of
the best farms in the Cape, produces his ultimate Pinotage every year with the
help of several of the respected Pinotage farms and winemakers. He selects from
their best barrels and sells his blend on auction at the launch to trade,
collectors and aficionados'. We were invited to attend on Saturday and write
about it
It was a magical mystery tour. We were collected
from home at 11.30 by sponsors Jaguar /Land Rover looked after most of the
transport. Our first venue was La Paris function venue opposite the Victor
Verster prison in Franschhoek. And then we moved at 3.30 to the second venue
where the auction and dinner were held. It turned into rather a long day as we
were delivered home at 11 pm. .
Recipe of the week Lynne has, over the years, adapted this
recipe to our own taste, it comes from The Curry Club Indian Restaurant book and
is unusual for home cookery in that it is made in two parts as it would be in a
restaurant, which are then combined. We use a slow cooker for our curries; it
does improve the flavours so much. You do need to start this curry well in
advance, as it needs to marinate. You can adjust the heat if you like it
hotter, this is quite mild. We often use lamb shanks, as we love the richness
cooking on the bone brings; you will need about a kilo on the bone. Remove them
and any fat before serving
700 g lean lamb, cubed - 115 ml plain
yoghurt - 1 large onion roughly chopped - 5 cm fresh ginger, grated - 2 large
cloves garlic - 1 tin chopped tomatoes
or 400 ml tomato passata - 8 t coconut oil - 1 T fresh coriander
Spices
1: 2 green cardamom - 3 cloves - 5cm piece of
cinnamon or cassia bark - 1/2 t turmeric - 1/2 t chilli powder or flakes (add
more to taste if you like it hotter, Lynne adds a fresh chilli) 1 t ground
coriander - 1 t ground cumin
Spices
2: 1 dessert spoon garam masala - 2 t paprika –
salt
Mix the lamb with the yoghurt, Spices 1 and a
teaspoon of salt. Mix well and leave to marinate for 6 hours or overnight. Put
the onion, ginger, garlic and tomato into a blender and purée.
Put the oil into a pan and add the onion purée. Put the
lamb into another pan without any oil. Cook both for about 20 to 30 minutes. Be
careful of the tomato mix, it can bubble like lava. Add salt to taste and stir
the meat occasionally to prevent it sticking. Combine the two mixtures and cook
until tender. (we do this in our slow cooker on low for a few hours or you can
put it into a casserole in the oven at 180⁰C for an
hour or till tender). Add more tomato passata or water if the sauce looks a
little dry. When ready, add Spices 2 and the fresh chopped coriander . Mix well
and a cook for a further 15 minutes. Adjust taste. Serve with basmati rice and
sambals and chutneys.
MENU's Wine of the Week - Flagstone Writer's Block
Pinotage 2004 in a magnum
We were reminded at a tasting of Flagstone wines near the
end of last year that we
had a magnum of this wine lurking at the bottom of a rack in our cellar. The
only thing left to do was to choose the appropriate occasion at which to do it
justice
We were reminded at a tasting of Flagstone wines near the
Lynne made a Rogan josh curry for a dinner party
so, as Pinotage is a brilliant wine to accompany spicy food, this seemed the
perfect choice
It was. Ripe red berry fruit and still fresh
acidity, initially touched with a little vanilla from the American oak, which
then comes through quite strongly on the finish. It was a great partner for the
spicy, but not very hot, Indian dish. Another good example of how Pinotage can
reward when it is kept for a few years. The cork was just holding together in
the bottle and came out in three pieces, despite very careful handling
Platter gives the current 2014 vintage 4½ stars
7th March 2017
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 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. 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
