April 2010
"Click Here to see What's On in 2010" or "Click Here to purchase Tickets for Tastings"
This year every month I will be celebrating foods from different parts of the world and then matching them to wines with a broad appeal.
This month I will be matching both my food and wine from Jamaica.
This month my food comes from the jewel of the Caribbean, Jamaica. Jamaican food is colourful, fresh and fiesty very much like the country itself. The cuisine from the third largest island in the Caribbean is very diverse; this has a lot to do with the diversity of its population. The foods of Jamaica have taken its influences as far away as India, Lebanon, China and counties from all over Europe. This, teamed with the fact that the land is very fertile helps bring together great cooking knowledge and an abundance of fresh raw ingredients, which marry together to produce some very exciting dishes.
I have chosen to cook fish as the good weather is on its way (the weather report this morning talked of snow in Scotland!?!?!? it’s the first of April tomorrow) and this dish can as easily be cooked on a bbq wrapped in tin foil or in your oven at home.
I’ve matched the dish to a Gruener Veltliner Meinklang (the wine producer) has one of a very few certified bio-dynamic and organic wine estates in Burgenland, Austria.
Gruener Veltliner is Austria’s most famous grapes and this example helps to keep it that way. This is a beautiful white wine with delicate spice undertones, and a zesty, mineral finish.
Recently I matched this wine to tiger prawns marinated in lime, garlic and chilli and it was a match made in heaven. It also would work just as well with a veggie Thai curry. This is why I’m coming back to this wine once again as the dish from Jamaica contains the hot, hot, hot Scotch bonnet.
The dish asks for the vegetable callaloo, if you don’t live near an specialist food stockist simply change for fresh baby spinach.
My recipe is for each fish and I’d work on the fact that a ¾ of the fish will serve one hungry person accompanied with saffron short grain rice or paprika roasted new potatoes.
Roasted Red Snapper
You will need;
1 whole red snapper descaled
1 lime
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 sprig of lemon thyme
1 sml bunch of fresh oregano
1 bay leay
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 bunch of chopped callaloo
1 clove of garlic, pureed
1 Scotch bonnet or jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
Sprig of fresh chopped parsley
Method;
1. Zest the lime and keep to one side, roll the lime on a chopping board using the palm of your hand (this will ensure you get all the juice out of the lime when you come to extracting the juice). Cut in half and juice. Use the juice to baste the fish, retain any of the run off juice.
2. Into a baking dish pour some of the oil and layer half of the onion making a bed for the snapper to sit on. Sprinkle the thyme, oregano and bay leaf over the onion and season. Pour any excess lime juice over the bed of onion and finally lay the fish on top.
3. Sauté the remaining ingredients and place them around the fish.
4. Bake uncovered in a preheated oven 180°c for aprrox 30mins or until the fish starts to flake easily with a fork.
5. Serve with ethier saffron short grain rice of roasted new potatoes in paprika.
Enjoy, James.
February 2010
This year every month I will be celebrating foods from different parts of the world and then matching them to wines with a broad appeal.
This months dish hails from Sweden. The great nation that gave us Sven-Goran Eriksson, Volvo, ABBA, Ulrika Jonsson, The Ice Hotel, Absolut Vodka and the wonderful dish that is Gravadlax.
Sweden has perfected the art of salting fish and after tasting this you’ll understand why.
As with all of my dishes I select for my wine blog, I have taken the basic and traditional recipe and given it my own individual twist. My take on Gravadlax involves the introduction of vodka and fresh lime to give the salmon bite and kick.
My recipe for Gravadlax is based on one used when I worked in a busy Cheshire restaurant, as a result you my need to adjust the amounts used when preparing at home depending on how many you're cooking for. If you were to half the below ingredients this would happily serve 8 people.
You will need:-
2 x 900g salmon fillets skin left on
75g sea salt
125g sugar
2tsp crushed white pepper
Juice and zest of two limes
100ml Vodka
1 large bunch of coarsely chopped dill
Making Gravadlax uses a very simple method of curing the fish by the means of salting.
Lay one half of the salmon skin side down in a dish with a 1 inch lip.
Mix together the salt, sugar & pepper, dill, lime zest and juice and finally the vodka. Pour the mixture over the salmon making sure the fish is evenly covered.
Next lay the uncoated fillet skin-side up over the other. Place a tin foil-covered piece of cardboard over the fillets and weigh it down.
Refrigerate for 3 days, turning every 12 hours until the seasonings have penetrated the flesh.
Serve alongside homemade guacamole or a good quality wholegrain mustard and fresh bread.
I have chosen to accompany the Gravadlax a white wine made from Domaine Raymond Dupont – Fahn in Meursault.
The Dupont – Fahn family have been producing Meursault premier cru from the les perrieres vineyard for generations but due to them changing the top soil of the vineyard are no longer able to call this wine Meursault. As is the way the AOC works in France.
In short you're getting a declassified 1er Cru Meursault for a very good price, once tasted you will come back for more.
Enjoy, James.
James.nixon@corksout.com
January 2010
This month to help keep my spirits up during this cold spell I have opted for an Aussie red. I have chosen the Clonakilla Hilltop Shiraz.The spicy raspberry characteristics of this red wine make it a great accompaniment for a cosy sofa and some good old fashioned comfort food. Be it sausage and mash with a home made caramelised onion gravy or a large bowl of spag boll. Better still grab yourself a bottle to enjoy with my Boeuf Bourgignon.
James' Boeuf Bourgignon
You will need :-
• 2lb (900g) braising steak, cut into 2 inch (5 cm) squares
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
• 15 fl oz (425ml) red Burgundy ( for this I suggest the Bourgogne rouge Hautes – Cotes de Beaune from Dom. Billard Pere et Fils )
• 3 cloves of garlic, mashed
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 12 shallots pealed and sliced
• 260g pancetta or 220g thick cut smoked bacon cubed
• 150g button mushrooms quartered
• 1tsp tomato puree
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Large ovenproof casserole or lidded pan
Method:
* Sprinkle the flour over the cubed beef and mix with your hands until it sticks to all sides.
* Bring 1¼ tablespoons of the oil to sizzling point in the casserole or pan and sear the beef, a few pieces at a time, to a rich, dark brown on all sides.
* Transfer the meat to a plate as it browns using a slotted spoon then continue with the next batch of beef – add a little more olive oil if necessary.
* When all the meat has been browned, add the sliced onion to the casserole and brown.
* Return the meat to the pan & gradually pour in the wine, stirring all the time.
* Add the chopped garlic, herbs and seasoning, put the lid on and cook in medium oven for about 2 hours.
* Fry the shallots and bacon in a small frying pan with a little oil to colour them lightly.
* Add the mushrooms to colour also. Test seasoning. Add this to the casserole with the tomato puree, cover and cook for about another hour (the meat should be very tender).
Great served with pommes boulangères.
Enjoy, James.
Last updated: April 23, 2010