A Fabulous Dinner

I've recently started following a website called The Fabulous Ladies' Wine Society. They are a wonderful group of women trying to get more females interested in drinking and learning about wine in a fun way. They hold events, give tasting notes on wines and support females in the Australian wine industry. As part of their website, they also have an online wine club. No forced buying of wines each month at all! This fabulous wine club lists two wines per month for you to try and then rate using their tasting cards. The wines are easily available at regular bottle shops and are not expensive.

This month they have a red and a white and tonight I've made a fancy meal to match with the white. It's a Taltarni Fume Blanc, which is actually the Sauvignon Blanc grape variety, but made in a very different style to the New Zealand type. I'm not such a fan of NZ Sauv Blanc, so am really looking forward to trying this one.

After lots of research in to the flavour of the wine, I've decided on a warm beetroot salad with feta and pan-fried scallops. I'm hoping that this will match perfectly.

Beetroot is another of my favourite vegetables and we tend to eat it quite a bit, especially once the plants in the garden have grown and we have beets on hand. They have such a rich, earthy sweetness, which I love. I grew up with tinned sliced beetroot, which I did love with cheese in a sandwich, but fresh is a world apart!

When you are preparing the beetroot, be aware that the colour will stain your hands and your clothes, so it's best to wear an apron and disposable gloves.

Feta brings a nice tartness and creaminess to the salad and the scallops some sweetness too. As is my preference, go for the creamy Danish feta, rather than the Greek style. I tend to find this much too dry and salty.

If you've never cooked scallops before, don't stress too much. The orange roe on the outside can be eaten, but it's a matter of personal preference. I don't like the taste or texture, but others do. It's up to you whether you want to keep it on, or cut it off. I prefer to cut it off, for a sweeter and cleaner taste.

This would also be the perfect party dish. Served in Asian soup spoons, a dollop of beetroot and feta with a scallop on top would be a great appetiser.

And To Drink...

 

The 2010 Taltarni Fume Blanc was like no Sauvignon Blanc I have ever tried before. Being a couple of years old, it may not have been as fresh as it could have been, but it was still amazing. Full of passionfruit and stone fruits, with some gentle oakiness, it was perfect drinking.

This was definitely my sort of wine. There was still plenty of that fruitiness that you want in a wine, but it wasn't overpowering in any way. The oak also didn't overpower, as sometimes it can.  If you like a lightly oaked Chardonnay, then you'd love this one!

The sweetness of the beetroot and the scallops matched wonderfully with the fruit and acid in the wine, with the creamy feta adding some tartness. The handful of rocket added some extra pepperiness.

Thanks to The Fabulous Ladies, I've found another wine that I'll be drinking again and again. Next time I might look for a current vintage to compare with.

Warm Beetroot and Feta Salad with Pan-fried Scallops

2 medium beetroot
1 Tbs butter
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbs water
100g Danish feta, chopped
20 scallops, cleaned and roe removed
Salt and pepper to taste
A drizzle of olive oil
Rocket or parsley to serve

Chop the leafy tops off the beetroot and then peel the main section of the vegetable.
Cut them into halves or quarters so you have manageable pieces.
Coursly grate the beetroot and set aside.
In a saucepan, melt the butter, then add the beetroot, vinegar and water. Pop the lid on and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occassionally.
Take the lid off and cook for another couple of minutes to boil off any remaining liquid. You want the beetroot to be tender, but not swimming in juices.
Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Just before serving, stir through the chopped feta.

To cook the scallops, heat a pan with a drizzle of olive oil until hot.
Season the scallops with salt and pepper and then fry for about 40 seconds on each side, or until browned on the outside, but on the slightly raw side inside. How long you need to cook them will depend on how thick the scallops are.

To serve, place a good spoonful of the beetroot salad on the plate and then dot the scallops around it.
Scatter a couple of sprigs of parsley or a handful of rocket over the top and give it a grinding of cracked black pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy!

S is for Scallops

After a weekend of eating sausage rolls, BBQ's and leftovers, it was high time to try something a bit more fancy. Even though this dish looks and tastes amazing, it's actually very easy to put together and doesn't require too many ingredients.

I love seafood, particularly scallops, but don't tend to eat them very often due to cost. Every so often it's nice to spash out and have something you really enjoy.

This dish was inspired by something similar that I ate years ago at Bottega, a Melbourne Italian restaurant. Here it was served as an entree with only three or four scallops, but I wanted to do it as a main course. I don't remember exactly how it was served, but I know that the sweetness of the scallops, the saltiness of the prosciutto and the creamy cauliflower puree were a match made in heaven! This is my version. I've added the rocket for a bit of greenery, but you could leave that off if you wanted to.

I don't like the roe on my scallops, so I've cut them off, but if you like the texture and flavour, you're more than welcome to leave it on. The cauliflower puree can be made in advance and then reheated just before serving. The scallops you want to cook just before serving so they don't turn rubbery. You want the pan hot enough that the edges are golden and caramelised, but the inside is barely cooked.

This dish is perfect to make when you want to impress someone or for a special occasion. It's also a great dinner party dish that doesn't require too much preparation, or time in the kitchen, when your guests have arrived and you'd prefer to be drinking!

Scallops With Cauliflower Puree and Prosciutto

20 scallops, roe removed and cleaned
1/4 cauliflower, washed and coarsely chopped
1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs milk
Salt and pepper to taste
6 thin slices of prosciutto
Olive oil and butter for frying
Rocket dressed with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil to serve


Prepare the scallops by removing the roe and any of the obvious adductor muscle and cleaning any grit. Pat dry on absorbant paper, season and set aside.
Boil the cauliflower in water until soft. Puree in a food processor with the butter, milk and season to taste. Keep warm.
Dress rocket in a bowl with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
Dry fry prosciutto on both sides in a fry pan until crispy. Alternatively you could bake it in the oven until crispy.
When ready to eat, heat oil and a knob of butter in a frypan on medium heat. When sizzling, add seasoned scallops and cook until golden on one side. Carefully turn and cook for another 30 seconds or so until the other side is golden.

To serve, smear the cauliflower puree on the plate and decoratively place the scallops around and over it. Tear the crispy prosciutto into pieces and place on top of each scallop. Finish with a handful of the dressed rocket on top.

And to drink...

My husband would tell you that I'm not much of a Chardonnay fan, but I'm trying to change this and be a bit more adventurous with my drinking habits. I have bad memories of cheap Chardonnays that are over oaked and taste just like licking a tree trunk! Obviously better quality wine is not like that, but I just can't get over my ingrained memories.

Unwooded Chardonnay tends to be a lot more approachable and much fresher. This is the style I'd much prefer to drink. This 'Virgin Chardonnay' by one of our favourite wineries, Trevor Jones, now taken over by Kellermeister, was perfect. Being a half bottle, it was just enough for a generous glass each. It was still lively and fruity with enough acidity to cut through the richness of the scallops and the creaminess of the cauliflower. It's a shame it was only a half bottle, because it went down way too easily! Probably a good thing though.

Trevor Jones Virgin Chardonnay