Monday 27 January 2014

Le Baobab Ndambe

I love to try new and different foods, so when I was given a jar of the Le Baobab Ndambe for Christmas, I was really excited.  Le Baobab is a small Melbourne producer of West African food products, who originally made dishes to be served at festivals and events. They now have their own range of authentic sauces and ready to eat meals.




I don't really know much about West African cuisine, so set about researching this dish. Ndambe (nam bay) is a hearty stew made of black eyed beans and vegetables with a spicy tomato sauce. It can be served with rice or couscous, or on its own with a fried egg on top.

We opted to have ours with the egg on top, for something a little bit different and a little lighter. It was delicious. The chilli and spice were strong enough to be really tasty, but not too hot. Breaking the runny yolk of the egg into the mixture gave it a creamy richness, which was beautiful.
























The Le Baobab Ndambe, and other products from the same company, can be bought at farmer's markets in Melbourne, or via the websites of Juanitas Kitchen, The Natural Spice Company or Farmhouse Direct

Using a pre made sauce made this a really easy dinner. The longest part was the soaking and cooking of the dry black eyed beans. Once the beans were cooked, the stew itself only took about 20 minutes to cook. Now that I've tried it, I'm going to search for a recipe for Ndambe and try to make it from scratch.




Ndambe

I jar Le Baobab Ndambe
1 1/2 cups dried black eyed beans
A drizzle of olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 potatoes, cut into large chunks
1 cup of button mushrooms, quartered
1/3 cup corn kernals
1/3 frozen peas, defrosted
Couscous, rice or a fried egg, to serve

Soak the beans in cold water for 30 minutes to soften. 
Drain and place in a saucepan covered with clean water. Bring to the boil and simmer approx 20 minutes, or until softened. Drain and rinse.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large saucepan and fry onion until softened and lightly golden. 
Add potato and mushrooms and stir to combine.
Add the jar of Ndambe sauce and a jar of water. Stir to combine, place a lid on the saucepan and simmer until the potato is cooked.
When the potato is ready, stir through the corn kernels, peas and reserved beans to heat through.
Serve with the cooked couscous or rice, or with a fried egg on top.

Enjoy!

Thursday 23 January 2014

Thai Beef Salad

Now that Melbourne's heat wave is over, I can get back to really planning and thinking about food without my brain melting! The weather is still warm, as you'd expect in summer, but not so hot that you don't have the energy to do anything.

I've never been very good at cooking Thai or Asian dishes, as I just don't seem to be able to get the balance of flavours right without using a recipe. For our wedding almost five years ago, we were given the beautiful Neil Perry cookbook, Balance and Harmony. Not only is this the most beautiful looking book you've ever seen, with a padded box and satin ribbons, but it has some delicious recipes in it. Some are rather fancy and need a lot of unusual ingredients, but others are simple and so tasty.




A few years ago I made the prawn toast recipe for Chinese New Year, and they were amazing. Crispy, deep fried goodness! This year they are going to be on the menu again.

With the hot weather we had last week I started to crave some Thai flavours. What could be better in hot weather than to bombard your palate with chilli, lime, ginger and garlic! This Thai beef salad hit the spot. I added some rice noodles, spring onions and shredded snow peas to the salad to add some more texture, but the flavours of the marinade and the dressing are all Neil's. The meat is best marinated over night, so make sure you prepare this part the night before you want to eat it.




Thai Beef Salad

1 piece of porterhouse steak, fat and rind removed
2 Tbs oyster sauce
1 Tbs fish sauce
1 Tbs grated palm sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil

1Tbs lemongrass, finely chopped
1 large red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 Tbs caster sugar
1 Tbs fish sauce
Juice of 1 lime

50g vermicelli noodles
3 spring onions, finely sliced
A handful of fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
A handful of baby cos leaves
A handful of  snow peas, thinly sliced lengthways
A handful of Thai basil, coarsely chopped

To marinate the meat, combine oyster sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar and sesame oil in a bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar. 
Add the meat and turn to coat. Allow to marinate in a covered container in the fridge overnight.

The next day, make the dressing by pounding lemongrass, chilli, garlic and sugar in a mortar and pestle to form a paste.
Add the fish sauce and lime juice. Set aside.

To make the salad, soak noodles in warm water for 10-15 minutes, or until softened. Drain well and set aside in a large bowl.
Add spring onions, coriander, coarsely chopped cos lettuce leaves and snow peas.
Pour over half the dressing and toss to combine.

Heat a frypan on high heat.
Remove the meat from the marinade and allow the excess to drip off.
Fry in the pan for approx 3 minutes each side, or until cooked to your liking. You still want the centre of the meat to be pink.
Set the meat aside to rest, covered with foil, for 5 minutes.
Thickly slice the meat.

To serve, place a decent amount of the salad on two plates and then place half the meat on top of each  plate.
Spoon the remaining dressing over the top of the meat and then sprinkle with the Thai basil.

Enjoy!



And To Drink...

We didn't have anything alcoholic to drink with this salad, but there are so many drinks that would match perfectly.

From a wine perspective, you could have a beautiful aromatic Riesling or Gewerztraminer. Even a slightly sweeter Frontignac would match perfectly with the chilli and lime. A nice fruity rose would also be a good combination, especially when it is well chilled on a hot night.

If you didn't want to have wine, then a lighter style beer would also be great. Nothing too hoppy, but a refreshing Corona, or similar beer would be perfect.

Saturday 18 January 2014

Turkey And Salsa

This week has been such a hot week in Melbourne, that I just haven't had the energy to write about what we've been eating. After 4 consecutive days above 40 degrees, and with no air conditioning at home, my brain was just fried!

Just because I didn't have the energy to write about food, doesn't mean that I wasn't thinking about what to eat and making some delicious meals.

When you're going through a heat wave, you tend to want simple food that has lots of flavour and doesn't take long to prepare. You also don't want anything that uses the oven or stove too much. There's plenty of heat around without adding to it unnecessarily! 

Salads are great when it's hot, but the same old thing can get boring if you have it night after night. This week I have tried to keep the meals generally cold, with a hot protein element to keep up our energy.

Last night we had some beautiful turkey steaks with an Asian inspired nectarine salsa for freshness. Turkey is a meat that I don't really tend to eat all that much. At Christmas time it comes out in many a meal, but I seem to forget it during the rest of the year. When I saw the steaks on special this week, I thought I'd give them a go. They took only a few minutes to cook in a frypan and were so moist and juicy, that I was really impressed. Because turkey is so lean, it does tend to dry out and can be unpleasant. These steaks came from the breast, so were pure meat, but not dry at all. I'll definitely look out for them again. I simply seasoned mine with salt, pepper and a sprinkling of lemon myrtle flakes. Delicious!

The salsa was my variation of one I came across in a Coles Supermarket magazine. I added a few extra bits and pieces that were in the fridge to give it a bit more zing. The sweet nectarine matched wonderfully with the lime, chilli, coriander and thai basil. White or yellow peaches would also work well. Combined with the sweetness of the turkey, it was the perfect hot weather meal. The salsa would also match with chicken, pork or a white fleshed fish.




To complete the dish, I made a very simple salad of crispy cos lettuce leaves dressed with a beautiful Rich Glen Estate Blood Orange and Fig Poppyseed Dressing. The dressing was divine and complemented the lime in the salsa perfectly.




Turkey Steaks With Nectarine Salsa

2 turkey breast steaks
A drizzle of olive oil
Salt, pepper and lemon myrtle flakes to taste
1 white nectarine, diced
1 yellow nectarine, diced
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 lime, finely zested and juiced
A handful of coriander and thai basil leaves, chopped
1 small red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
A handful of baby cos leaves, torn
A drizzle of your favourite salad dressing

Season turkey steaks on both sides with salt, pepper and lemon myrtle flakes.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a frypan until hot. Cook steaks for about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden and the meat is cooked all the way through.
Set aside in a warm place to rest.

While the meat is cooking, prepare the salsa and the salad.
In a small bowl, combine white and yellow nectarines, spring onion, chilli, coriander, thai basil and lime zest. Stir to combine. 
Pour over lime juice and gently stir. Set aside for the flavours to develop.

Place cos leaves on a serving platter and drizzle with salad dressing.

To serve, place turkey steaks on plates and spoon a generous amount of the salsa on top. Place some of the lettuce salad to the side.














And To Drink...

There have been lots of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks had this week in an effort to cool down. Plenty of combinations of soda, juice, cordials and spirits, with lots and lots of ice!




To finish the week, we decided to have a crisp and refreshing white wine. This wine by Henschke in South Australia was another one of the wines from The Fabulous Ladies Wine Society wine club. I had bought this one to drink in December, but we had so much going on in the lead up to Christmas and New Year's Eve, that we didn't have time to drink it. There was no better time than to pop it in the fridge when the inside of the house was 35 degrees!

Tilly's Vineyard is a blend of semillon, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, riesling and chardonnay, grown in the Adelaide Hills and Eden Valley. As a blend it had a wonderful balance of citrus and acidity with a touch of peach. These flavours made it a perfect match with the salsa, which also had the stone fruit and lime combination. A crisp, dry white complemented the turkey perfectly and went down a treat on a really hot night. I may have added a couple of ice cubes to my glass in an attempt to cool down!

As a good quality quaffer to have on a hot night or take on a picnic, the Henschke Tilly's Vineyard was perfect. 

Tuesday 14 January 2014

What To Eat When It's Super Hot!

If you happen to live in Melbourne, or anywhere in southern Australia at the moment, you'll know just how hot it is. A week of 40 degree temperatures is awful!

Like a lot of people, I don't tend to have much of an appetite when it's hot, but know that I need to eat. Nice easy foods with plenty of flavour are great. Simple to prepare, refreshing and light, they are the perfect way to fuel your body without leaving you too full or hot.

Despite the heat, this week has been the perfect opportunity to have a play with making salads a little bit more interesting. This version of chicken meatballs was delicious and so easy to make. The coriander with the chicken made the meatballs very light and the simple salad was refreshing. What really made it was the tahini dressing. Mixing the tahini with natural yogurt and orange juice gave it a lightness and freshness that really complemented the chicken.




I'll definitely be making this one again. Not only was it great on a night when the minimum was still in the 20's, but there was very little fuss and I could whip it up quickly without having to spend too much time in the kitchen. Rather than serving up the meal on a plate, I put the salad, meatballs and dressing on the table and let everyone help themselves.

You could equally serve this with some wraps or mountain bread and make DIY chicken and salad wraps for an easy lunch. The few left over meatballs were lovely in a sandwich with some dressing and lettuce the next day.


Chicken Meatball Salad With Tahini Dressing




500g chicken mince
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped coriander
3 Tbs sesame seeds
1 tsp chilli flakes (or more or less to taste)
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
Salt to taste

Cos lettuce, torn
1 tomato, sliced into 8 wedges
A handful each of snow peas and sugar snap peas
50g Danish feta

1/2 cup tahini
Juice of 1 orange
2 Tbs natural yoghurt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
To make the meatballs, combine the mince, spring onions and coriander. 
Season to taste and combine well in a bowl.
Form into golf ball size meatballs and set aside on a tray.

In a small bowl, combine sesame seeds, chilli flakes, orange zest, white pepper and a pinch of salt.
One by one, roll meatballs in the seed mixture and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Cook the meatballs in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.



While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the salad and dressing.
For the dressing combine the tahini and yogurt in a bowl. Stir to combine.
Gradually add the orange juice, stirring well. It will thicken before it loosens. You want the dressing to have a drizzling consistency, so add more or less juice to suit. If it still seems too thick, add a little bit of water or more yoghurt. Season to taste and set aside.

For the salad, blanch the snow peas and sugar snap peas in boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and refresh under cold water. Allow to cool.
In a bowl, combine the torn lettuce leaves, tomato wedges, snow peas and sugar snap peas and chopped feta. Don't add the dressing just yet.



To serve, place some salad and a few meatballs on a plate and drizzle with the dressing. 

Thursday 9 January 2014

Lamb And Sangria

Finally the weather here in Melbourne has decided to warm up. Yay! But what to do with the half empty bottle of red wine that we opened last night when it was still cool? It's too hot to have red wine with the lamb dish I'd planned tonight. The answer is sangria!

We actually drink quite a lot of sangria, well my version of it at least, and it's a great way to make a refreshing drink out of a bottle of red wine. I have also made a couple of versions using white wine too. Rather than adding citrus and strawberries, peaches and apricots tend to work much better with the stone fruit flavours in a lot of white wines.

Tonights version is really just a combination of what's in the cupboard and fridge. You can almost add anything you like, as long as the flavours are complimentary. Mint work really well too, but I didn't have any in the garden. As well as strawberries, you could also use orange slices or pieces, cherries or grapes. I marinated my strawberries in some brandy for a bit of extra oomph, but if you want the sangria to be less alcoholic, then just leave it out.




Obviously, if you were making this recipe for a party, you'd probably need to double everything and use a whole bottle of vino. Add more or less fruit and soft drink depending on your tastes and how sweet you prefer your sangria. Instead of lemonade, you could use soda or even dry ginger.


Simple Sangria


1/2 a bottle of red wine, chilled
30ml brandy
6 strawberries sliced
100ml sparkling cranberry juice
1 1/2 cups lemonade
Ice 

Place the strawberries and brandy in a small bowl and allow to marinate for a few hours in the fridge.
When ready to serve, combine wine, soaked strawberries with the brandy, juice, lemonade and ice to taste.
Give a gentle mix and serve.



Lamb, Feta and Watermelon Salad

I love the combination of watermelon and feta as a summer salad, so why not make it into a meal by adding some lamb. Perfect on a hot summer's day when you want something light and easy to prepare. To add a bit of extra texture to this salad, I've also used some Israeli couscous. These little balls of goodness taste great and soak up the lemony dressing to become flavour bombs. Combined with the sweetness of the watermelon, the saltiness of the feta and the beautiful lamb, this dinner will become a regular on our table.

I coated my lamb in a Rich Glen Pistachio and wasabi pea dukkah that I received for Christmas. It has a little bit of heat from the wasabi peas, but wasn't overpowering. It was amazing! Next I want to just have it with oil and fresh bread for dipping.

Combined with a sweet, chilled sangria, could life get any better!!




1 or 2 pieces of lamb backstrap, depending on size and your hunger
A drizzle of olive oil
3/4 cup Isreali couscous
3 slices of watermelon, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup dukkah
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbs pomegranate molasses
100g marinated feta, oil reserved
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 cup rocket leaves

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add couscous. Stir gently, then boil until cooked. This will take about 10 minutes. You want the balls to be soft, but to still have a bit of bite.
Drain, rinse and cool.
Sprinkle dukkah on a plate and press the lamb into it so that it is covered on all sides. You may need a little more or a little less, depending on the size of your lamb.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a frypan and fry the lamb on both sides until cooked to your liking. It is best served when it's still a little pink on the inside. Don't have the heat too high or the dukkah will burn.
Leave the meat to rest while you prepare the salad.
In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, pomegranate molasses and about a tablespoon of the reserved feta oil. Whisk until combined and season to taste. Add more oil if you think it is needed.
Place couscous in a larger bowl and add the dressing. Stir to coat the balls well.
Gently stir through watermelon, feta and rocket.
Pile the salads on to plates and top with thickly sliced pieces of the lamb.



Tuesday 7 January 2014

Green Pizza

Pizza is a fairly common dinner in our house because it is just so quick, easy and tasty. It's one meal that I can guarantee the kids will eat and it doesn't take long to whip up. I'll often make a double recipe of the base, so that there is one prepared and in the freezer, ready to use when I don't have the time or energy to make one from scratch.

The kids love ham and pineapple, but I like to be a bit more adventurous with my toppings. Sometimes it is just salami, olives, cheese and tomato, other times smoked salmon, ricotta and rocket with garlic oil. Pizza is a great way to use up all those forlorn looking bits and pieces in the fridge too.

The topping for this pizza was inspired by a recipe I found in a Donna Hay magazine. What better way to add some greens into your diet than atop a pizza! Mixed with some panfried mushrooms, chilli, lemon and ricotta, it was delicious. The topping was simple to make too and very healthy. I had some of the mixture left over, which was great for lunch the next day. Cooked on the pizza, the kale went all crispy. You can have your (kale) chips with your pizza and not feel guilty!




If you're not sure about the kale topping on a pizza, make it to serve as a vegetable with chicken, lamb or steak. I think I'll definitely be making this one again. Even the meat-loving husband gave it the thumbs up!

I'm still trying to find the perfect pizza base, but this one wasn't bad. Next time I'd roll it a little thinner, to make the base more crispy. If you like a thicker, more doughy base, then this one would be great for you. It was also really easy and quick to make. No need to wait for the yeast to rise and simple enough to leave to mix away in the mixer while you prepare the topping.



Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water
1x8g sachet instant dried yeast
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp caster sugar
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cups plain flour

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook.
Mix on slow speed to combine, then increase the speed to medium and knead for about 10 minutes, or until elastic. You might need to add a little more water if it looks too dry.
If you don't have a mixer, you can do this by hand, but will just need a bit more elbow grease!
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to the size of your pizza tray. 
If you like it thick, it will make one base, if you prefer a thinner base, it will make two.


Kale Pizza Topping




A good drizzle of olive oil
250g swiss brown mushrooms, thickly sliced
4 stalks of kale
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup fresh ricotta
Grated parmesan to serve
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a frypan on medium heat.
Add the mushroom slices and fry until soft and beginning to brown. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
While the mushrooms are cooking, cut the kale leaves away from the stalks and tear into pieces.
Place the kale in a large bowl with the chilli flakes and lemon rind.
Add the hot mushrooms and mix to combine and slightly soften the kale.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Place rolled out pizza dough on your desired tray.
Spread thickly with the ricotta cheese, right to the edges of the dough.
Top with the mushroom and kale mixture. You might have some left over, depending how thick you like it.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until the base is golden and crispy.
Remove from the oven, sprinkle with grated parmesan to taste and serve.

Enjoy!



Thursday 2 January 2014

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2014!

Here's to a wonderful year ahead, full of good food, good wine and plenty of fun, laughter and adventures.

New Year's Eve has been a bit of a non-event in our house since having the kids, but just because we're not going out and partying, doesn't mean we can't still eat and drink well.

For the past few years I have cooked a special meal and we've had a nice bottle of champagne to go with it. This year was no exception.

We were going to have lobster and champagne, but with working during the day on New Year's Eve, I wasn't going to be able to get to the market to pick up fresh seafood. Instead we decided to do a number of small dishes which could be spread over a couple of hours and which would all go nicely with the champagne.

Hunting through our champagne collection, we chose a bottle of 2002 Bollinger La Grande Annee. After researching food matches, the final menu was a goat's cheese soufflé, ocean trout cakes wrapped in prosciutto with a lime aoili and roasted heirloom beetroot, onion and hazelnut salad.

There was definitely no shortage of good food and wine to finish 2013 and I'm hoping that the year ahead will involve plenty of happy dining moments. I hope you can join me on my adventures again this year!



The Bollinger was dry and yeasty, with beautiful acidity and fine bubbles, which just made you want to get into the party spirit. It was a smooth wine with plenty of fruity flavours still present, even though it was 11 years old.  The acidity in the Champagne matched perfectly with the creamy, cheesy goodness of the soufflé. Being a sparkling wine, rather than a table wine, made it much lighter and a better match for a light as air soufflé.

The saltiness of the prosciutto around the fish cakes also went well with the champagne. Charcuterie and champagne are always a wonderful match, so the fact that there was also some ocean trout in the mix, just complemented it further. The lime aioli brought some extra acidity to the richness of the fish but it didn't overpower the acidity of the wine.

Serving the fish cakes with the beetroot salad combined salty with sweet, earthy beetroot and roasted onion. The crunch of the roasted hazelnuts complemented the nuttiness in the champagne.

Overall, the three dishes went well with the Bollinger and I think they matched it's flavour profile perfectly. If only there was another bottle to enjoy!

Goat's Cheese Souffle




80g butter
60g plain flour
350ml warm milk
80g soft goats cheese
1 Tbs finely chopped parsley
3 egg yolks
2 Tbs parmesan cheese, finely grated
4 egg whites
Salt and pepper to taste

Grease 4 soufflé dishes or ramekins with butter.
Melt remaining butter in a saucepan.
Stir in the flour and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Slowly add the warm milk, a little at a time, to incorporate into the mixture without lumps.
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir through goats cheese, parmesan and parsley. Stir until the cheese melts and combines smoothly in the mixture.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then stir through the egg yolks until combined. Season to taste.
Beat egg whites in a clean bowl until thick and soft peaks form.
Fold quickly, but carefully, through the cheese mixture to keep the air in the egg white.
Divide the mixture evenly between the moulds, place on a baking tray and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden and risen.


Roasted Heirloom Beetroot, Onion and Hazelnut Salad





1 red onion, cut into quarters
4 sprigs of thyme
4 cloves of garlic
10 baby heirloom beetroot 
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup hazelnuts
2 Tbs pickled radishes
A handful each of parsley and snow pea tendrils

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbs verjuice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Place onion on a large piece of foil with half the thyme and garlic. Drizzle with oil and a couple of grinds of salt and pepper.
Wrap the foil around the onion and place the package on a baking tray.
Peel and trim the beetroot and place on a second large piece of foil with the remaining thyme and garlic. Drizzle with oil and season to taste.
Wrap the foil around the beetroot and place the package on the same baking tray as the onion.
Roast the vegetables for 30 mins, or until the beetroot is tender. You might need to take the onion out of the oven a little bit earlier.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

While the vegetables are roasting, place the hazelnuts on a small ovenproof tray and roast for about 7 minutes or until the skins split and darken.
Remove from the oven and tip on to a clean tea towel. Rub the nuts in the tea towel to remove the skins. Set aside to cool.

For the vinaigrette, shake mustard, verjuice and oil in a small jar until thick and combined. Season with salt to taste.



To serve, sprinkle the parsley over a serving platter, then arrange the beetroot, onion and garlic over the top. Top with the roasted hazelnuts, pickled radish slices and snow pea tendrils. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and a grinding of black pepper.


Ocean Trout Cakes Wrapped With Proscuitto





500g ocean trout, skinned and pin boned
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
10 slices of prosciutto
Olive oil for frying
Rocket to serve

Combine trout, soy and fish sauce in a food processor and whiz until it is a coarse mince.
Refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm and then roll into small balls.
Cut prosciutto into halves, depending on the size of the slices, and wrap a strip around each ball.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Heat a good drizzle of oil in a frypan and fry fish cakes for a minute on each side, until browned.
Transfer to a baking tray and then finish in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.

Serve the fish cakes on a platter topped with rocket leaves and a dish of lime aioli for dipping.


Lime Aioli

4 egg yolks
1 Tbs white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic, chopped
75ml olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Place egg yolks, mustard, vinegar and garlic in a food processor and whiz until combined.
With the motor still running, add oil in a thin stream until combined.
Stir in lime juice and zest and season to taste.



Vanilla Panna Cotta With Honey Spice Apricots


To finish our special dinner, a vanilla panna cotta with honey and spice apricots went perfectly with a Vinden Estate 2007 Late Harvest Semillon. The wine wasn't overly sweet and sticky, being a late harvest, rather than a botrytis. There was still plenty of freshness in the fruit flavours and enough acidity that it cut through the creaminess of the panna cotta. A touch of apple and stone fruits complemented the apricots perfectly.

We bought this wine in the Hunter Valley 4 1/2 years ago when we stopped there on our way to Sydney. Vinden Estate is a boutique winery in Pokolbin, which produces a couple of red wines, but predominantly whites of the Hunter's signature Semillon and Chardonnay. We had been recommended it by a friend and were pleasantly surprised by how lovely their wines were. They are not readily available in bottle shops, so you might need to plan a weekend away to go and try them.





1 cup thickened cream
1/2 a vanilla pod, split in half
30g caster sugar
1 leaf gelatine

20g butter
1 stick cinnamon
2 star anise
4 cloves
6 apricots, halved and stones removed
15ml of brandy
1/4 cup honey

Combine cream, half the vanilla bean and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Remove from the heat to infuse.
Soak the gelatine leaf in cold water until softened. Squeeze to remove excess water then stir through the hot cream mixture until dissolved.
Strain through a fine sieve into a jug.
Lightly oil 4 small moulds or tea cups using your finger.
Divide the cream mixture between the four cups and leave to set in the fridge overnight.

To make the apricots, heat butter, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and the other half of the vanilla bean in a frypan until the butter starts to melt.
Add the apricots cut side down and cook on low heat for 5 minutes, or until golden.
Carefully turn over and cook for another 5 minutes, or until soft.
Drizzle with the honey and brandy, cook for another minute or two, then remove from the heat to cool.

When ready to serve, gently scrape around the edge of the panna cotta to loosen it from the mould.
Turn upside down on to a plate and jiggle to allow it to drop.
Place 3 or 4 apricots on the side of the plate and drizzle with some of the honey brandy sauce.