Posted by Darby on September 8, 2010 under Appetisers, Fiano, Greco | 
This recipe idea is based on one from Brian St Pierre’s excellent book The Wine Lover Cooks Italian.
It uses the affinity of basil with the creaminess of the goats cheese. It makes an excellent appetiser or component of an antipasto platter.
Ingredients for 4 people
- 4 large Mushrooms
- half Cup Pesto (see recipe)
- half cup of pine nuts
- 250 g fresh goats cheese
- Olive oil
- Parsley or a few lettuce leaves to serve
Method
- Toast the pine nuts by heating them in a dry skillet for a few minutes. Don’t overcook them. You want them to be just turning brown.
- Remove the stems of the mushrooms and brush the tops with olive oil
- Grill the top of the mushrooms for 5-10 minutes until they are just beginning to brown.
- Remove the mushrooms to a workbench and place them gill side up.
- Spoon in some pesto to each and top with a slice of the goats cheese.
- Return to grill and cook until the cheese starts to brown.
- Scatter the pine nuts over the cooked mushrooms and garnish with the greens.
Wine Suggestion
Brian St Pierre suggests using either Fiona or Greco to accompany this dish. Both are crisp white wines from the South of Italy, but they are starting to appear in Australia.
Posted by Darby on April 6, 2009 under Fiano, Main |
This recipe for Thai Fish Cakes has been suggested by Zonda Elliot of Karanto Wines in the Langhorne Creek Wine Region.
Ingredients
- 300 g flathead fillets
- 4 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- ½ bunch coriander, shredded
- 6 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
- 3 tablespoons snake beans, sliced finely
- Oil for deep frying
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- ½ bunch coriander, chopped
- 1 small knob ginger, julienned
- 1 small chilli, sliced
Method
Place the flathead, curry paste and egg in a food processor and blend until it is a fine paste. Season with the fish sauce and the sugar and place the mixture in a large stainless steel bowl. Slap the mixture against the bowl to toughen the protein in the fish, which will make the fish cakes puff up when you fry them.
Add the coriander, lime leaves and snake beans and mix well.
Form into rounds and deep fry over medium to high heat until golden brown. Drain on Kitchen paper and keep warm while you prepare the garnish.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together and slice pockets into the fish cakes. Sandwich the garnish into the pockets and serve straight away.
Wine suggestion
Dishes like these spicy fish cakes require a little thought for food pairing. A refreshing dry white is called for, but the wine needs to be flavourful enough so that it is not overwhelmed by the food flavours. Zonda recommends that you enjoy this recipe for Thai fish cakes with a cold glass of Karanto Fiano 2008.
Fiano is an exciting white wine variety from the south of Italy. It has been introduced into Australia over the past few years and is now proving its credentials. You can see more about Fiano at Vinodiversity.
Karanto Vineyards
Karanto Vineyards have been growing grapes at Langhorne Creek in South Australia for a century, but over recent years Zonda and Dennis Elliot have successfully introduced Italian varieties Aglianico, Fiano and Pinot Grigio. They regularly win medals for these innovative wines at varous wine shows throughout Australia.
