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.
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