A fire boat practising in Table Bay – cool water for a hot summer
This week, busy as it has been, sees us looking at a quieter time in the remaining weeks of the year. The heat wave has hit us with temperatures in the Boland hitting the 50s. Not good in drought conditions, but we have a suggestion for cool, refreshing beverages
We will continue to publish MENU for another two weeks, but it will be a shorter edition with very few events. It will have more suggestions for festive foods and wines. MENU will then take a break until about the third week of January. We will spend some quiet time up the West Coast, looking at the cool Atlantic and reading books and then come back, hopefully renewed and girding the proverbial loins for the new year’s activities. We hope you’ll like this week’s stories, photographs and food and drink ideas. Click on these links to see them:
Last week, we were invited to a
seminar at Joostenberg about Exporting Wine to the UK and to hear from two
prominent Australian wine makers who really surprised us as we learnt how
difficult winemaking can be in that country. We were so impressed at how open
they were with all the facts and figures and they gave us a warning about water
wars
Arno Smith the winemaker at Hillcrest Wine
Estate in Durbanville invited us and other media to come and taste his newly
released wines named after his rather cute Jack Russell terrier, Saartjie. Each
of the four wines was paired with some tapas style food and a great evening was
enjoyed by all. The wines are now available for tasting and buying at the
Hillcrest tasting room
Time
for Wine of the Month Club to laud their suppliers. The event was held at Vista
Marine restaurant which is behind the Aquarium in the V&A Waterfront. This
year's event was a chance to taste some of their most popular wines and meet
the winning winemakers
This annual celebration for the wine trade
is held on the farm each year. This year was special as patriarch Gyles Webb
had his 70th Birthday celebrations that week. A family event; everyone may
bring their spouse and children and this year it was lovely to see so many new
babies. The full range of Thelema and Sutherland wines is available for
tasting. There is a generous spread of salads, cheeses and dessert and much
sausage and steak is expertly cooked on the fire. We think these fellows could
enter one of the Braai competitions and win
What's on the MENU this week.
Back to Planning for Christmas, so our next recipe comes under the heading of
pleasure and entertaining. Fiona Burrell Stevenson is an old friend of Lynne's; she runs the award winning Edinburgh New
Town Cookery School. She was
the Principal of the Prue Leith School in London for many years. Yes, you could buy your pastry and the
mincemeat, but it is so much nicer to make your own.
Author: Fiona Burrell Stevenson
Yield 12 - Servings
This mincemeat is so easy to make and can be stored in the refrigerator.
You can play around with the
ingredients and change the dried fruit if you like. Try chopped dried apricots,
dried mangos, dried cherries etc. It stores easily in the fridge so you may
prefer to make double the batch so you have some to hand when the mince pies
run out, which they will - quickly! Once you have made your own mincemeat you
will never want to use shop bought again. The pastry is a simple shortcrust.
If you prefer or are feeding lacto
vegetarians, or cannot find lard, substitute the lard for butter but the
lard does make a very short pastry. You can also add a couple of teaspoons of
sugar to the crumb mixture before adding the water if you would like the pastry
slightly sweetened.
For the pastry
225g plain
flour - pinch salt - 40g lard, chilled and cubed - 80g butter, chilled and
cubed - very cold water
For the mincemeat
1/2 an
eating apple - 45g sultanas - 45g raisins - 25g currants - 45g dried
cranberries or chopped dried apricots - 25g flaked almonds - finely grated zest
of 1/2 lemon - finely grated zest of 1/2 orange - 1 tbsp orange juice - 1 tsp
mixed spice - 2 tbsp whisky - 30g melted butter - 1 small ripe banana or 1/2
large one
First make the pastry:
Sift the flour with the salt
into a large bowl. Add the fats to the flour. Using your finger tips rub the
fat into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. (Add sugar
now if making sweet short crust). You can use a food processor for this but
always add the water by hand. Add 2 tablespoons water into the mixture. Using a
knife mix the water into the crumbs until they start to clump together. Add a
little more water if necessary, remembering that too much water will
make the pastry tough. Bring the dough together with one hand to form a
ball of dough. Wrap in cling film and flatten to a thick disc. Chill for 20
minutes before using.
Now make the mincemeat:
Wash and grate the apple with
its skin on. Put into a bowl and add the sultanas, raisins, cranberries, dried
apricots, almonds, lemon zest, orange zest and juice, mixed spice, whisky and
melted butter. Mash the banana and add to the mincemeat. Put into a plastic
container or into glass jars and seal. It can be used immediately or it can be
stored for a week before using. Keep refrigerated once opened and consume
within 6 months.
To bake the mince pies, preheat
the oven to 200C. Roll out two thirds of your pastry and cut into rounds with a
cutter. Line a patty tin with these circles. Spoon a teaspoon full of filling
into each pastry case. Then roll out the remaining pastry and cut slightly
smaller circles (or stars). Top the pastry cases with these lids. Bake in the
preheated oven for 15 minutes. To serve, eat warm dusted with icing sugar.
Well, in a cold northern country we might say a vintage Port or a warm Negus,
but here in hot South Africa we might suggest a chilled white or pink port. Perfect
for that pre- or after dinner indulgence.
All these wines come from Calitzdorp, South
Africa's Port capital
·
Axe Hill Cape White is made by
the Solera method from several vintages of Chenin blanc, is almost dry but has
cooked apple flavour
·
Peter Bayly White Port is made
from two vintages of Chenin blanc. Peter's description is: "A shy bouquet
of roast almond, crushed oats and hints of orange blossom and lemon rind,
unfolds into an ethereal, complex and lengthy palate. Peach pip, dried apricot, Seville marmalade,
roast almonds and hints of spice taunt the senses, while the Port ends with a
characteristically dry finish"
·
De Krans Cape Pink. The farm's
description says: "a port with a beautiful vibrant blush colour, rich ripe
flavours of fresh red berries and a long, lingering aftertaste"
·
Boplaas Cape Pink Port. Cape
Pink Port, as the style is called locally, is a fresh, fruity Port produced in
a similar method to a rosé or blanc de noir wine, but of course fortified. The
recipes for the Boplaas Karoo Sunset and Pink Lady cocktails are available from
the website
All these wines are delicious straight from the
bottle, but a popular use of all these wines in addition to drinking them
straight, and always chilled, is to add Indian tonic or soda water to make a
refreshing long drink for this hot summer
We are grateful to the producers for
their notes
