Spinach Pie

The perfect pie for a sunny summer dinner or picnic in the park.

Wash thoroughly a bunch of spinach, mint and parsley and spring onions and cut up roughly into bowl, steam in the microwave and then drain a let it cool slightly.

Then add 6 eggs, 250gms ricotta, 250gms feta, 1 tspn nutmeg and pepper and mix together.

Take a pack of Filo pastry and use half the packet for the base, oiling a couple at a time between laying sheets of pastry.  Add spinach filling then lay the rest of the sheets, oiling every 2-3 sheets. 

Once all layered make sure the top is oiled well, then before placing in oven, cut on the diagonal criss-cross. 

Cook in the oven at 180c for about 30-40 mins, until set.

To serve with this I did Italian beans. Add 1/3 cup Olive oil in a saucepan and fry 6 cloves of chopped garlic and a 1/4 cup of fresh roughly chopped Rosemary over a low heat. Once softened add a can of diced tomatoes. Keep stirring over gentle heat until the oil and tomato are combined. Then add 2 can of Cannellini beans and stir until warm and combined. This is a great addition with pork dishes as well.

Whole Snapper with Creamy Sauce

On Good Friday we enjoyed a whole snapper. This was caught by one of our friends, who kindly gave it to us.

On Good Friday we enjoyed a whole snapper. This was caught by one of our friends, who kindly gave it to us.

I would give it a good wash, and insert lemon slices into cavity of fish, sprinkle fresh parsley on top and then season with salt and pepper. Place in a baking tray, with 3/4 of a bottle of our Andrew Peace Chardonnay. sealing it with foil or a lid and let it poach for a about 30-40 minutes. You could add a couple of dollops of butter, if you like it to be a bit richer.

Meanwhile you can make the sauce by combining the following:

1 clove garlic
20 gram Butter
50 gram white wine(Andrew Peace Chardonnay)
80 gram cream
20 gram lemon, freshly squeezed
5 gram cornflour

Serve with garlic and onion herbed potatoes, French bean salad and crusty bread...

Delicious Aubergine Scallopini!

We had some guests over on Thursday night and this particular dish was one they really liked so I thought I would share it with you.

We had some guests over on Thursday night and this particular dish was one they really liked so I thought I would share it with you.

 

We sampled a variety of wines with this dish and our favourite was our 2008 Clare Valley Riesling and our new 2014 Premium Barrel Reserve Langhorne Creek Cabernet Wrattonbully shiraz.

 

Aubergine(EGGPLANT) Scallopini

Ingredients
•2 Large (about 550g each) Aubergines
•2 - 3 Cups of breadcrumbs
•Bunch of fresh herbs (Parsley and Oregano)
•Half a cup of Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
•2 Eggs
•1 Tin of Passata Sauce
•Mozzarella cheese
•Basil leaves for decoration
•Salt and pepper

Method
•Cut the aubergines lengthways into 7mm thick slices, place into a colander and sprinkle lightly with salt. Leave for 20 minutes, then wash and drain.
•Mix the breadcrumbs with the herbs (you can use dried herbs if you like), black pepper and the half cup of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
•Then beat the two eggs together, place the aubergine slices into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumb mixture ensuring a full covering.
•Fry in olive oil until golden brown, then place the slices into a lasagne baking dish and pour over the passata sauce.
•Scatter over a few basil leaves, place a couple of slices of mozzarella cheese and a light sprinkling of Reggiano cheese over the top.
•Cover the dish in foil and bake in the oven at medium temperature for 20 minutes. Take the foil off and let it brown for a further 10 minutes.

This dish goes perfectly with Roast lamb or simply as a vegetarian dish with a green salad.

 

 

 

Asparagus with Prosciutto and blue cheese

This is one of our favourite appetisers.....Asparagus with prosciutto and blue cheese.

This is one of our favourite appetisers.....

Asparagus with prosciutto and blue cheese.
First place the prosciutto on your worktop or plate, put a dollop(teaspoon) of blue cheese on each piece and wrap it round the middle of the asparagus'.

Preheat a barbecue grill or chargrill pan on high and spray the asparagus lightly with olive oil. Cook on the grill, turning occasionally for 3-4 minutes or until the prosciutto is golden and the asparagus is tender and crisp. Transfer to a serving platter to serve.

Our Red Signature Chardonnay will go perfectly with this and so will the Red Signature Shiraz, because of the blue cheese, if you only drink Red.
Or otherwise drink our Shiraz with any main meal of your choice; a good steak, roast beef, ribs, spicy sausages, any smoked foods in particular. Big beefy stews such as ox cheek especially cooked in the wine or with a touch of smoky paprika is lovely.

You can find our Chardonnay and Shiraz at Co-op.

Lamb Cutlets with Salsa Verde

Andrew came home with a bottle of Parallel Vines Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc last Friday night, and said "We have got to try this tonight".

Andrew came home with a bottle of Parallel Vines Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc last Friday night, and said "We have got to try this tonight" . We were not disappointed! We started drinking it  on its own and enjoyed the citrus/apple notes we picked up with grassy undertones. We then drank this with our meal and thought it was a great balance of flavours. I had used a lot of herbs and I think with this combination it went really well.

Lamb cultlets with salsa verde, quinoa tabouli and roasted potatoes.

I marinated the lamb cutlets with soya sauce and fresh rosemary for an hour. Whilst that is marinating you can move on to the side dishes.

For the roast potatoes use red desiree potatoes and dice them into small cubes leaving the skin on. Cover them in plenty of mixed herbs, chili, salt, pepper and plenty of olive oil.  Place them on a baking tray and cook in the oven until crispy.

For the Quinoa Tabouli put the following ingredients in a bowl and mix.

1 Cup of cooked quinoa

1 Small red oinion diced

2 Tomatoes diced

1 Cucumber diced

Lots of mint and parsley

The juice of 1 lemon and a dope of olive oil and black pepper

Salsa verde

1 Cup of parsley 

1 Cup of basil leaves 

1 Garlic clove

2 Teaspoons of capers 

1 Boiled egg, 

2 Slices of bread.  

Process all the above ingredients together until the consistency you like then add lemon juice, salt and pepper to your liking.

 Now your side dishes are ready, you can take out your marinated lamb cutlets and pan fry them. Let them rest for a minute before serving with the potatoes, salsa verde and quinoa tabouli.

Home made Ricotta Cheese

Last week I made my own Ricotta Cheese. My family love Ricotta Cheese, and living on the farm/vineyard, I don't always get to the city to buy the best Ricotta, so I thought I would make it myself.

Last week I made my own Ricotta Cheese. My family love Ricotta Cheese, and living on the farm/vineyard, I don't always get to the city to buy the best Ricotta, so I thought I would make it myself.


You need to make sure all your utensils are well cleaned and rinsed in boiling water before commencing.

Recipe
4 cups of full cream milk.
1 cup of buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon of salt.


Method
Place all the ingredients into a stainless steel saucepan and bring gradually to just boiling point before lowering the temperature to just simmering. You don't need to stir it, you will see the curds and whey separating and forming solids on top. Let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes until you see this separation, give the saucepan a little jiggle to see how the solids are forming. Take off the heat and let it sit for about 10-20mins.

In the meantime, place muslin or a fine linen tea towel over a fine sieve and hold this over a large bowl. Scoop the solids out of the saucepan and place them on the lined sieve, allowing the whey to drain through. Pour the rest of what's in the saucepan over the curds and then let sit for about half an hour until fully drained. The ricotta is now ready to eat warm or you can keep it in the fridge for about a week. You can then use it in cooking or just have fresh with tomato, basil and onion on bruschetta. Lots of ways of using this great cheese!

Serve this creamy cheese on bruschetta with our Rose or our Chardonnay Viognier.

Tip - Don't discard the whey, this can keep for a week and can be used in making bread(use instead of water. It makes the bread lovely and creamy! I also use the whey sometimes to soak my chickpeas, it made the best Hummus I had ever made.

Moroccan Chicken

I hear you are having some lovely weather over there so try this flavoursome light dish for those summer nights. Moroccan chicken with savoury Freekeh, served with our Chardonnay Viogner delicious!

I hear you are having some lovely weather over there so try this flavoursome light dish for those summer nights. Moroccan chicken with savoury Freekeh, served with our Chardonnay Viogner delicious!

Ingredients
8 chicken thighs fat removed, and cut into halves.
Half a cup of crushed pistachio nuts
350g of wholegrain freekeh
2 cups of chicken stock
1 diced red onion
1 diced carrot
1 red capsicum
2 cloves of garlic
½ a cup of feta cheese
Parsley and coriander

Spice Paste
1 brown onion chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh coriander
Lemon juice from 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Method
To start with you need to make the spice paste, so put all the ingredients listed above into a food processor and process until finely chopped. If you would like to add a little kick to the spice paste you can add as much or as little fresh chilli as you like.

Place the chicken in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Then add the spice paste and rub over the chicken to evenly coat. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour to develop the flavours.

Once the chicken has marinated place into an oiled grease proof dish and cook in the oven on 180c until cooked. Half way through, toss half a cup of slightly crushed pistachio nuts, this will crisp up and coat the chicken.

Serve with the following;
350g of wholegrain Freekeh cooked in 2 cups of chicken stock, until puffed and tender. Separately fry up 1 diced red onion, 1 diced carrot, 1 red capsicum, and 2 cloves of garlic.

When the freekeh is cooked add the vegetables plus 1/2 a cup of chopped Parsley and 1 cup of diced coriander. Squeeze some lemon juice over and toss through 1/2 cup of feta cheese. Serve the freekeh up on the plates with the chicken on top and make sure you pour any of the chicken juices over it. Garnish with more coriander and chilli if required.