Mother's Day 2013

Just opened a bottle of Stonefields Vineyards 2009 Arbitrage from the Wrattonbully region to enjoy with roast lamb and the family tonight!

And here is the "Mother" opening the gifts from her children!

Easter 2011

Easter 2011

We had another wonderful Easter at our house with the Friedlaenders and Langenfelds. The "kids" hunted for Easter eggs in the garden and were rewarded with a huge bounty! Then we enjoyed a lunch of German meats and sausages, fruit and cheese platters, hot cross buns and "Paasbrood" all enjoyed with Champagne, beer and wine. And not to forget the "egg fights" where we try to crack each others' brightly coloured hard boiled eggs. Dirk was the champion but Kim vowed to regain her title next year :)This has become a great annual tradition for our three families. Long may it continue!

Tyrrells Winery

We went to Tyrrells Winery in the Hunter Valley and the winemaker showed us around the cellar as they were bringing in the freshly picked fruit. This is one of their old basket presses used for white wine.

http://register.gongride.org.au/MS-Sydney-to-the-Gong-Bike-Ride/dkrynauw/&utm_source=individual&utm_medium=Widget&utm_campaign=2010_gong_Ride

http://register.gongride.org.au/MS-Sydney-to-the-Gong-Bike-Ride/dkrynauw/&utm_source=individual&utm_medium=Widget&utm_campaign=2010_gong_Ride

Andre's Graduation

Andre's Graduation

Lolli Redini

LOLLI REDINI

Last month Lynne and I were in Orange and we had dinner at a one-hat restaurant called Lolli Redini. It was one of the best meals we've ever had and great value for money - $75 pp excluding wine.

For entrees Lynne had a magnificent Gruyere Cheese Souffle with spinach, roasted walnut and pear chiffonade salad. I had the tagliatelle with seared scallops which was equally excellent.

For our mains I had the slowcooked wetlands brisket and Lynne had the braised then roasted duck. Delicious!

And in between we had the tomato, olive and basil salad.

For desert I had the best Panna Cotta while Lynne had the best White chocolate parfait, strawberry chantilly, raspberry sorbet and toasted coconut wafers. Hmm!

Bistro Molines

Bistro Molines.

We spent a weekend in February in the Hunter Valley to celebrate Lynne's birthday and to see Rob Thomes perform live at the Hope Wine Estate. One of the people we met recommended that we have lunch at Bistro Molines, which we did on the Saturday.

The restaurant is owned by Robert Molines who used to run the two hatted Roberts Restaurant in the Hunter Valley. Well this turned out to be one of the best lunches we have ever had.

The restaurant is part of the Tallavera Grove wine estate and has a stunning view of the valley below.

Our meal was sensational. We had a sompler "Bruscetta on a spoon" and then Lynne had rib-eye steak and I had the Spatchcock. All of this with some great Hunter Semillon!

We can highly recommend this place!

Tar & Roses

Last night we had a bottle of Tar & Roses Heathcote Shiraz - 2008 - It was wonderful. This is what one of the write-ups say about the wine: "The larger volume of shiraz comes from the Cambrian soil of Heathcote; while the smaller parcel, although from Heathcote comes from much tougher grantic soils. The first is rounder, fuller, fruit driven wine, while the later is more restrained and elegant. The elegance of the cabernet Sauvignon from the Strathbogie ranges, tempers the intensity of the combined shiraz characters, adding balance and structure.
Deep ruby red in colour with pink hues. A nose of sweet mulberry and warm earth, with vanilla cream sponge cake. A palate of blood plums and beetroot, sweet and savoury with silky smooth tannins. Flavours linger on with great length, structure and texture.

What the critics think
“2006 – From the Heathcote region of Victoria. This seamless and almost restrained wine, that delivers its impressive palate with a degree of subtlety and finesse. The palate has a dusty earthiness woven into the primary savoury plum flavours.”
Ray Jordan – The West Australia – Top Aussie Reds to drink this winter"

Fashion show at Whitehouse

Fashion Show at Whitehouse School of Fashion

We attended the fashion show at Whitehouse where Jessica is doing a Bachelor's degree in Fashion to see the work of some of the students. And we're proud to say that Jessica was one of 2 girls in Year 1 to achieve a distiction for her skirt. The theme she chose was "Rock Chick". Here are some pics we took on the day.

Printhie wines

I have recently had 2 wines which I thought was worth mentioning here.
The first was a Helm Cabernet 2005. It was recommended to us by the manager at Cloud Wines in Melbourne. My mate Alec and I went for dinner and I asked the guy at Cloud Wines whether he knew of any Cabs worth drinking. He immediately picked this one. Its from Canberra and is a big rich wines worth trying. In the words of Drew Lambert "Canberra's leading Riesling maker finally has an equal to Clonakilla's flagship Shiraz Viognier. And the best part, it is not a direct competitor as it's a Cabernet Sauvignon. This is one of the best standout Cabernets I've tasted this year in Australia and marks the first time the company has released a premium Cabernet Sauvignon. Not only is it supremely structured, it shows world class elegance and balance as well as fine grained tannins. The blackberry/cassis flavours are rich and opulent while the oak flavours are reminiscent of cigar box."
The funny thing is that we bought it for $36 at Cloud Wines and when I looked at the Helm website a few days later, I saw that they were selling it for $52. I checked with the winemaker who assured me the price in Melbourne was wrong. So Alec and I quickly bought a few more bottles!

The second wines I loved was the Printhie Chardonnay from the Orange district. My mate Dirk and I went to a wine tasting at North Sydney Cellars where the winemaker Drew Tuckwell introduced his wines to us. They are all great and god value for money. We had the Chardonnay last night and it was really good. In the words of the winemaker (I'm not a good describer of wine!) the colour is pale yellow with a green hue, with peach and nutty bouquet with buttery undertones and a refined palate displaying tropical fruit characters with a creamy mid-palate and finishes long with a twist of lemony acidity and subtle toasty French oak. Well worth trying especially at $16.65 per bottle.

Christmas Eve 2008

Christmas Eve 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration last night with our family and Sophie. Here are a few pics:

For starters we had salmon sashimi, smoked salmon and cream cheese on fresh sourdough rye bread, and fresh Sydney Rock Oysters with Johan's concoction of soy sauce, tobasco, chillies and whatever else he found!

We had a few great wines too, including this French red.

Our main meal was roast turkey with Lynne's stuffing, as well as cauliflower/broccoli with white sauce and roast potatoes. Delicious!

This was followed by Lynne's Christmas pudding and vanilla custard, as well as Jessica's strawberries dipped in white and dark chocolate - Yum!

Santa also arrived and we were thoroughly spoiled! Even Udade got a present!

Lynne's Christmas dinner

Lynne's Christmas dinner for the buddies!

Last Friday we had 10 friends around for a pre-Christmas dinner. Lynne did it all and it was wonderful as expected! I have taken a few pics of the starters, which consisted of anti-pasto and Scallop & prawn kebabs with a beautiful tomato & herb dressing.

Ravioli Caprese

Ravioli Caprese

Jessica and I made a Ravioli Caprese last night. I saw the recipe on a Food Network TV show hosted by Giada de Laurentiis. Her recipe is as follows:
Ingredients
Dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup very hot water
Filling:
3/4 cup whole milk ricotta
1 egg
1/2 cup finely shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tins Roma tomatoes
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

For the dough:

In a large bowl combine the flour and the water. Using a wooden spoon, stir to combine into a large ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes.

For the filling:

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.

To form the ravioli, cut the dough into 4 evenly sized pieces. The dough should be slightly sticky. Add extra flour as necessary for rolling, but use only a little as necessary. Form each piece into a 2 by 6-inch rectangle. Recover the dough with the plastic wrap. Lightly dust the work surface and a rolling pin. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll the dough into a 4 by 19-inch rectangle. Place 9 rounded teaspoons of filling about 1-inch apart down the center of the dough. Fold the dough over the filling. Use a boiled eggholder and press out one round ravioli per filling. Place the finished ravioli on a baking tray and continue forming the remaining ravioli.

Heat tomatoes in a pan. Add the basil, lemon zest, salt and pepper and reduce by 30%.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add half the ravioli and cook until the ravioli float stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain into a large bowl and cook the remaining ravioli.

Pour the olive oil over the cooked ravioli. Add the tomato sauce. Gently toss to coat and serve immediately.

Lynne's birthday lunch

Yesterday we were invited to join our mate Ernst to celebrate his birthday with his wife Sue and friends Dirk and Val. We had a wonderful lunch at Echo Point restaurant on the water under the Roseville Bridge. This shot was taken of Ernst and Lynne having a good laugh over a glass or two of wine to celebrate the "old" man's birthday!

Grimauld Fish Bake

Grimauld Fish Bake
Earlier this year we were in France and spent a night at a small hotel in Grimauld, which was owned by one of the top chefs in Provence. He made a fish dish which I thought was one of the best dishes I have ever tasted.
I have no idea what it was called or what the recipe for it was, so I tried to re-create it last night for guests of ours. It turned out really good even though I must admit that my sauce wasn’t as good as the one we had in Grimauld. Here’s how I made it:
· Prepare mash potatoes without making it too runny. I boiled the potatoes and then baked them for a short while to dry them a bit. Then I mashed it with butter only.
· Steam a soft fish like John Dory for a few minutes till nearly cooked.
· Form a mound of mashed potatoes around the fish (do in round dish with plastic wrap and invert on baking pan).
· Grate parmesan cheese liberally over each mound.
· Bake in oven till mound is nice and brown.
· Prepare the broth:
o In a saucepan over medium heat brown half an onion and two cloves of crushed garlic in olive oil till soft
o Add mussels and a cup of white wine and cook till shells open
o Strain, reserve liquid and mussels.
o Heat chopped fennel bulb, mushrooms, onion and garlic in olive oil till its soft.
o Add prawn shells and heads and cook till soft
o Add saffron soaked in hot water for 5 minutes, 100ml vermouth and a cup of white wine and simmer till reduced by a third.
o Add two cups of chicken stock plus reserved mussel liquid and reduce by a third
o Strain and add 300ml cream – At this point you could mince the prawns, mussels and vegetables used in making the broth and add it to the sauce to thicken it.
o Season with salt and pepper and simmer gently for a while
· Once mash and fish is baked, place in middle of large plate, and spoon broth around it.
· Sprinkle some chopped dill and serve hot.

Chocolate Honeycomb Pot

Sunday evening we were treated to another one of Andre and Sophie's "low calorie" deserts. This time a Chocolate Honeycomb Pot, a recipe they found in the Sydney Morning Herald. The recipe is:

• 100ml bitter chocolate


• 100ml whipping cream


• 50g honeycomb


• 3 eggs


• 50g castor sugar


• 1 tbsp whiskey or rum

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof dish over a pan of boiling water till its melted. Lightly whip the cream and crush the honeycomb, leaving a few bigger bits for serving. Beat the eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes until thick, pale and creamy. Gently fold in the cream, chocolate and whiskey/rum. Then fold in the crushed honeycomb. Fill 4 ramekins or pots and chill for 1 hour or so. Put in the extra shard of honeycomb and serve. Enjoy!

Barker Sports Awards

We went to the Barker sports awards evening last night where Jessica got an award and made a speech as she was the Swimming team captain. Here's a pic I took of her despite being warned that I'm not to take any photos of here while she's speaking!

Grimauld amazing meal

Restaurant in Grimauld.

We spent a night in a small hotel in Grimauld, just up the hill from St Tropez on the French Riviera where we had what we rate as the best meal in our life. Here are some of the pictures. They are unfortunately not in order as I don't know how to rearrange them on this page.

We started with some canapes which we light, fresha and delicious. Then Lynne had the cold tomato starter which consisted of blanched and peeled cherry tomatoes filled with cheese and placed on a slice of toast with a beautiful sauce on the plate. I had the cold tomato soup with a hot langoustine in it. This was served with fresh vread and rolls which were magnificent in the way only the French can bake breads.

Next Lynne had the most wonderful kind of bread/meat loaf which tasted like an onion bread filled with sausage and Provencal vegetables and then sliced thinly and topped with a light salad. Really great. I had the best dish of the trip next. It was a fish and potato/cheese bake with the most delicious creamy dill sauce. The taste of this was incredible and I wish I knew how to make this!

For the main meal Lynne had the rabbit (which, if you know her is a very unusual choice for her to have!). She loved it. The grave added so much to the flavour as it was a salty reduction of the pan sauces. I had a seafood soup which was the best fish I have tasted. Not sure what it was but the was a combination of a white fish, langoustine, calamari and another red fish in a wonderful consomme with fresh vegetables.

Next came the cheeses. Lynne had the cheese board and I had the goats cheese with green and black olive pastes. And finally Lynne ordered the cauflauti which was good but not as good as the one she makes at home. All of this was completed with a coffee and biscuits/chocolates. And I mustn't forget the wines. We had the chef's recommendation as an aperatif which was a mixture of some wine he makes mixed with Champage. Delicious. Lynne then had Rose from the region whereas I had the wines as part of the degustation menu. My wines were a Chablis and a white Bordeaux followed by a red Bordeaux. The whole meal cost just under Euro 170.

Afterwards we walked into the main village where we saw the second half of the European Cup Final which Spain won over Germany. So it was a very special evening for both of us!