The Awards Long Lunch at the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show is an occasion to celebrate the diversity of new Australian wines, accompanied by some fine regional food.

The 2008 Awards Long Lunch was held at Trentham Estate, a winery located on a superb site overlooking the Murray River.

As usual the wines presented at the lunch included were all Gold medalists from 2007. The food was provided by Trentham Estates restaurant and each course was carefully matched with the bracket of wines presented.

The menu is presented here to stimulate your interest and imagination

The Menu

Appetisers and Canapes

• Blackbilly Pinot Gris 2007
• Brown Brothers Vermentino 2007

First Course
Rabbit and chorizo terrine with chutney

• Robinvale Wines 2002 Kerner
• Matua 2006 Shingle Peak Reserve Pinot Gris

Second Course
Coulibac of Murray cod with sauteed leek and mushroom duxelle served with sauce creme and fish roe

• W Wines 2007 Viognier
• Yalumba 2006 The Virgilus Viognier
• Tahbilk 2005 Marsannne
• Tahbilk 2003 Marsanne

Third Course
Rosemary and Garlic marinated quail on spicy ratatouille with a drizzle of jus

• Cobaw Ridge 2006 Lagrein
• Mount Langi Ghiran 2006 Nut Tree Hill Sangiovese
• Freeman Vineyards 2003 Rondinella Corvina

Fourth Course
Duo of succulent Beef with truffle scented mash, vegetables and herb jus

• Tar and Roses 2006 Nebboilo
• Pizzini Wines 2002 Nebbiolo
• Tscharke 2006 Montepulciano

Fifth Course
Selection of cheese with garnishes and house pastes

• Casella Wines 2006 Yendah Vale Durif
• D’Arenberg 2005 The Sticks and Stones Tempranillo Grenache Souszao

A full list of the results for the 2007 AAWWS can be found here

Chicken in white wine recipe

The classic Coq-au-vin, using red wine, is a classic of French cuisine. It was probably more fashionable in the 1960s and 70s but it is well worth revisiting.

Le Coq I Elizabeth Garrett Buy From Art.com

I like this version with white wine. It is ideally paired with an aromatic medium bodied white, perhaps a Viognier, but preferably a firm Vermentino. The recipe is adapted from the “Myra Breckenridge Cookbook” a rather tongue-in-cheek collection celebrating food, sex and the films of the golden era of Hollywood through the eyes of Gore Vidal’s outrageous character.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 1 chicken, jointed
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 3 rashers bacon, diced
• 12 small pickling onions
• 1 medium carrot
• 2 cups button mushrooms
• 250ml white wine
• Olive oil

Method

Use a heavy based ssaucepan or a casserole dish over medium heat. Saute the bacon and the garlic for a couple of minutes to release some of their flavours into the oil. Remove and set a side.

Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour and brown in the saucepan, adding a little more oil if necessary.

Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to release any bits that may have adhered. Turn heat down to low, and return the bacon and garlic to the pan. Add the mushrooms, sliced carrots and peeled onions.

Cover the saucepan and simmer for 45 minutes. You may need to add a little more wine or water.

Serve with steamed potatoes or a green vegetable in season.

Wine Suggestion

This dish is ideal for a medium bodied white wine. I would suggest a Vermentino - the wine will have enough depth of flavour not to be overwhelmed by those of the bacon and mushrooms.

Asparagus has a distinctive aroma and taste that can be hard to match with wine.

Asparagus

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About Asparagus
Asparagus is the shoot of a perennial plant that looks like a fern, but it is unrelated to fern plants. It grows each spring from a sub-surface crown. Some cuisines use white asparagus which is produced by depriving the shoots of light. If the shoots are allowed to grow in light they turn green, or in some varieties, purple.

The plant has been used throughout recorded history in Europe and the Mediterranean lands. According to Wkipedia it is known in French and Dutch as asperge, in Italian as asparago in Portuguese as espargo hortense, in Spanish as espárrago, in German as Spargel, in Hungarian as spárga and in India as Ashadhi, Majjigegadde or Sipariberuballi.

The edible part of Asparagus is the new shoot with the buds. The stalks are picked before the leaves emerge from the buds.

Asparagus recipes

A food plant as widespread as asparagus has attracted many recipes. The basic method is to remove the tough part of the bottom of the stem, either by snapping or peeling and to plunge into boiling water for about 5 minutes. The aim is to keep the asparagus crisp. Overcooking will give you a limp grey mess.

You serve asparagus in a number of ways.

• Simply dressed with extra virgin olive oil and a splash of vinegar
• With a Hollandaise sauce
• Jamie Oliver suggests serving steamed asparagus with a lemon and anchovy butter
• Under a dressing of soy sauce with few drops of sesame oil
• In a Spanish omelet, substituting asparagusf or the potatoes
• In asparagus rolls wrapped in sliced bread with the crusts removed
• As part of an antipasta platter with smoked salmon
• Malaysian restaurants sometimes serve it with belachan sauce
• Stephanie Alexander suggests putting blanched asparagus on to the barbecue grill

Asparagus and wine

Now the tricky part. Asparagus has a strongish flavour that can overwhelm some wines. You need to take into consideration the sause as well. If you want to serve it with white, perhaps a robust Vermentino or a Viognier could be the go. Gewurztraminer wines are strongly flavoured and can be an ideal foil for asparagus. Among the red wines I would suggest a Barbera for its tartness, or perhaps a Petit Verdot

Salad Nicoise

A good salad Nicoise can bring the aromas and taste of the Mediterranean to your table… and a good discussion.

This recipe for a Nice-style salad is controversial. Once you open the discussion with chefs you will find you are bombarded with definitive statements and strongly held opinions.

You should never have cooked vegetables,

or

don’t use potatoes.

In my view there is no correct answer, and salads are the ideal dishes to use your imagination and ring in some variations. I don’t think I ever make the same Nicoise salad twice.

Boiled eggs, anchovies and olives are the essential elements, but I feel cheated if there is no tuna as well.

Salad Nicoise Nancy Overton Buy From Art.com

Ingredients for 4 people

• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 1 200g tin tuna in oil
• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 8 parboiled snap beans
• handful of lettuce leaves
• 1/2 cup black olives
• 1 green capsicum
• 6 anchovy fillets in oil
• 50ml of vinagrette or a good french dressing
• black pepper

Method

Shell and quarter the eggs lengthwise. Core and cut the tomatoes into wedges. Seed and de-rib the capsicums and cut into strips. Drain the tuna and flake it with a fork. Rinse and drain or spin the lettuce.

Use a large flat bowl for presentation, or you can make individual salads. Put the tuna in the bottom of the bowl then progressively add the lettuce, capsicum, green beans, tomato and egg wedges, olives and anchovies. Pour over the dressing, add some ground black pepper and serve accompanied by a crusty baguette.

Wine suggestion

This dish conjures up images of Provence, so what could be better than a cool rose wine made from grenache.

Variations
Although many cooks and authors disapprove I enjoy adding cooked vegetables. Boiled cooled and an diced potatoes can be added with the tuna. You can also consider using broad beans (blanched if mature, raw if young and tender), diced cucumber, sliced spring onions or a few basil leaves. Remember with a salad exact proportions are not important, but there need to be a balance.

French Onion Soup: a classic recipe

This is a hearty comfort food. It is an ideal dish for a winters evening with red wine.

Red Onions

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Ingredients for 6 people

• 1 kg (2lbs) onions
• 75 g (30 oz) butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1.8 litres (8 cups) boiling water
• Salt and pepper
• French bread stick

Method

• Slice onions finely, I use a mandolin.
• Melt butter in a heavy based saucepan and brown the onions slowly over low heat. Stir often to prevent from burning. This will take 30-40 minutes.
• Add the flour and stir in well.
• Pour the boiling water over the onions, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Cut the French stick and bake in oven until they are crisp.

To Serve
Put a slice of the crisped bread into each bowl and pour the soup over.
Some people suggest serving with grilled cheese but I think the onions provide enough flavour.
Wine Suggestion
You could serve this soup with a white wine, but I think it goes better with a red, especially in winter. I would suggest a Petit Verdot. These wines have enough body and depth of flavour to match it with the onion.

Clafoutis - a Traditional French Cherry Recipe.

Fresh cherries come into the shops in late spring and you can use them for this dish. However I like to make this dish all year round so I often use jars of pitted black cherries.

Cherry Bowl

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Clafoutis recipe

Ingredients

Use fresh unpitted cherries if in season, other wise use well drained bottled or canned cherries.

• 500 grams cherries
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon of butter
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 cup Self Raising flour
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 tablespoon of Kirsch or cherry brandy
• Extra cream for serving

Method

• Preheat your oven to 190 degrees.
• Butter a shallow heat proof serving dish, and spread the cherries evenly over the base
• Beat the eggs lightly. Add the caster sugar and the flour and stir gently. Gradually stir in the the milk, cream and brandy to make a smooth batter.
• Pour batter over the cherries.
• Bake for 25 minutes until batter has risen and the top is just starting to brown.
• Serve warm with the extra cream.

Wine Suggestion

This dessert will go well with a rich full flavoured sweet or semi sweet wine. Use a late picked Pinot gris, or perhaps a Gewurztraminer.

Variation
In late summer after the cherries are all gone you could use blackberries or raspberries.

Pinot grigio and Pinot gris are two wine styles made from the same grape variety. Grigio, the Italian version is typically more acid and has a lighter body. Gris, the French style is fuller and has riper flavours.

How does this happen? It starts in the vineyard. To make the gris style the grapes are allowed to ripen just a little more. A different group of flavour compounds develop, the acid levels drop, the tannins in the skins and seeds of the grape ripen, and there are is a little more sugar.

Then the winemaker takes over, controlling such things as the time the juice is allowed to remain in contact with the lees, the type of yeast used, the temperature of fermentation and dozens of other details. Hence every wine is different.

Pinot Grigio

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Pinot gris/grigio is a very popular wine in Australia, but until the early 1990s there was virtually none grown in the country. Vinodiversity lists nearly 300 Australian wineries with this variety.

Pinot Gris/Grigio and Food

This can be a bit tricky. Grigio styles match well with seafood, Italian foods and antipasto. Pinot gris styles may be best paired with seafood with richer sauces, chicken dishes or perhaps creamy pasta sauces. You may also find late picked Pinot gris which could accompany desserts or soft cheese.

This is a variation on the traditional steak and kidney pie recipe. I first found it in an old Margaret Fulton cookbook. The basic sauce is the same, but instead of the traditional crusty pie topping there is a lighter sponge on top.

Basic Steak and Kidney Recipe

1 kg of stewing beef, round, blade or rump steak are suitable cuts
1 Ox kidney or 4 lamb kidneys
1 Tablespoon of plain flour
Salt
ground black pepper
Pinch of dried herbs, thyme, sage or oregano
100 ml red wine

Trim fat and gristle from the beef. Cut into 2 cm dice.
Remove core and membrane from the kidneys an cut into smaller pieces.
Coat the meat and kidneys in the seasoned flour. I find the easiest way to do this is to put the ingredients into a plastic bag and give it a good shake.
Put the meat into a casserole and simmer very gently for 2-3 hours.

For the sponge

1 cup of Self raising Flour
Good pinch salt
2 eggs separated
1 cup milk
50 g melted butter

Sift flour and salt into a basin. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Beat the egg yolks into the milk and pour into the well. Add the butter and stir the mixture until it is smooth.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and then fold into the mixture.

To assemble
Put the steak and kidney mixture into a basin that will fit inside a large saucepan or boiler. Do this while the sauce is still hot.
Pour the sponge mixture over the back of a large spoon onto the steak and kidney mixture so that it spreads out evenly.
Put the basin into a saucepan with boiling water half way up the sides. Cover the saucepan and bring to a fast boil for a half hour.

Some Wine suggestions
The strong flavours of this dish demand a hearty red wine. I would suggest a Durif or a full bodied Zinfandel

I’ve been working on a little eCookbook “10 Dishes with Sangiovese” It contains some recipes for food pairing with that wonderful Italian red wine variety Sangiovese.

It will be released shortly to subscribers to Vinodiversity News.

Find out how you can get your copy of this Sangiovese Cookbook.

Veal Scallopine Recipe
This is a simple dish to make, but you need to be careful about a few points.
1. The veal should be fairly thin, if it isn’t give it a bash or two with a meat mallet.
2. Use a pan that will just hold the meat slices neatly, so that they don’t stew, or the fat doesn’t burn.
3. It needs to be served quickly.

Ingredients

• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• Plain (all purpose) flour
• Thin slices of veal
• Butter
• Olive oil
• One lemon, sliced
• A handful of fresh sage leaves

Method
Season the veal slices and toss in the flour to coat well.
Melt a knob of butter with an equal amount of olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the lemon slices for a minute or two, then remove.

Cook the veal in the frying pan, sealing quickly on each side. It should only take about 2 minutes.
Remove the veal to a warmed plate.

Add some more butter to the pan if necessary and fry the sage leaves until crisp.

Serve the veal with the sage leaves on top, garnished with a green salad or vegetable.

Variation

Instead of sage, use a cup of thinly sliced mushrooms. After you have cooked them for a couple of minutes scrape any browned bits of veal off the pan and pour in about 100ml of white wine. When the wine has reduced by about half pour the sauce over the scallopini.

Food pairing suggestion

This Italian style dish would go well with a crisp Arneis white wine

You can find information about Arneis in Australia by here.