Rhonda Bracey: At Random

I just discovered Rouxbe.com (pron. ‘ruby’)! Wow!

To just say that Rouxbe has online videos of food preparation would be doing this very professional and beautiful site a disservice. At the moment, all the recipe and ‘drill-down’ videos are free, but soon a subscription model will apply – some $50 US per year or $99  for a lifetime membership.

As of today, there are already some 80+ videos available that take you through each step of the cooking process for a recipe, from preparation to final presentation. In addition, there are as some 100+ free ‘drill-downs’ which describe ingredients you may have heard of but don’t know what they are, or that demonstrate various cooking tips and techniques.

You will need headphones/speakers to get the most out of these *gorgeous* videos.

Yummo!

Our local butcher, Greg (Bridgetown Meat Supply, near IGA), makes these delicious minced lamb patties with cheese and mustard. I flatten them out into burgers and cook them up with a slew of onions and fresh chilli if I have it – I cook them so it’s like they’re BBQ’ed – then slap them inside a really crusty bread roll with a good smear of a yellow mustard seed and chilli spread, a slice of cheese, thinly sliced tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce. Yummy!

The weather fined up yesterday so we decided to go find a winery! We’d seen an unusual sight at the Blackwood River Tavern in Balingup a few weeks ago – a bottle of Zinfandel! The reason it was unusual is that zin is not well known in Australia, which is surprising as we have a VERY healthy wine industry and make some terrific reds.

Having travelled extensively in the US, and having friends in the wine industry in the Paso Robles region of mid-state California, we’re very familiar with zins. But only a few wineries in Australia make it. A few years back our Californian wine friends asked us to find some Australian zins and bring them over with us on the next visit so they could do a comparison. At the time I found that only about seven wineries in the entire continent produced zins! Three were in Western Australia (Cape Mentelle, Peel Estate, and Lilac Hill) so we hunted them out. Our friends loved the Cape Mentelle – no surprises there!

Anyhow, this was a local wine from Mandalay Estate near Donnybrook. So off we went, taking the back road through Boyup Brook to Mumbellup and then on to Mandalay Rd. (“Where’s Mumbellup? Between Yabberup and Noggerup!” So says a bumper sticker we saw.)

They had ONE bottle of 2004 vintage zin left! So we tasted it and bought it. There’s a new release in a few weeks and we’ll be back to get some more. The zin was lovely – nice and rich and quite peppery (to my palate, anyway). We also purchased some nice shiraz from Mandalay.

On the way back we stopped in at Thomson Brook winery close to Donnybrook, but weren’t as impressed with their wines.

And our last stop was the bottle shop at the Blackwood River Tavern in Balingup where they still had two bottles of the zin left! (well, three actually as we stayed on for a lovely meal and had their absolute last bottle with dinner).

The Blackwood Valley area of Western Australia has been a late bloomer as far as wineries goes, but they are rapidy on the move. I’ve heard that there are now some 20 wineries in the region, and we’ve made it our mission to visit them all and find out as much about the wines and the winemakers as we can! (For any West Aussies out there, this is reminsicent of the early days of the Margaret River region.)

To that end, we took some time out yesterday afternoon and drove out past Boyup Brook to a winery that appears to be in the middle of the wheat and sheep belt! We first had a Scotts Brook wine (2004 cabernet sauvignon) at the Bridgetown Hotel with a meal a week ago, and now were on the hunt for more. Unfortunately, they’ve sold out at the winery, and all the local outlets are also out of it (including Manjimup -yes, we went far afield looking for this superb wine!)

However, all was not lost as we got to meet one of the owners of the winery (Kerry) and spent an hour or so with her tasting their other wines (Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, cleanskin [an unwooded chardonnay], and Shiraz), talking about lifestyle changes (she and her husband are ex-teachers), and life in general. They have a lovely tasting area at their house, and with this winery being only a 30 minute drive from Bridgetown (going on the back roads) we can see us going there quite often!

We went through Boyup Brook on the way back to Bridgetown and called in to see Jenny Duncan at Chudacud winery (pron chew-da-cud). She only had a Cab Sav and a Shiraz for tasting, so we bought one of each and listened to her plans to add an eating area. We also checked out the local talent – some young emus and some gorgeous alpacas with eyes to die for! From there it was a quick 10 minute drive back to Bridgetown to open a bottle of the Scotts Brook shiraz and enjoy it with a roast pork dinner.

While we were at The Good Store on Saturday, we noticed that they also stock the eminently sensible (and useful) Reidel Riedel wine glasses, but wine glasses without the stems! According to the Riedel website they call them “O Tumblers“.

We have Riedel stemware and LOVE drinking wine out of it, but, like most people, we only bring it out for special occasions as it’s a bugger to wash and a bugger to have on the table. My husband does the washing up and he’s always frightened he’ll break a glass in the stainless steel sink when he’s washing it. They are really delicate, and the stems and the glass is so fine. Brilliant for drinking out of; hell to wash up! And guests freak out when leaning over the table to grab the vege platter or whatever when those huge wine glasses are in the way.

So these ‘tumbler’ wine glasses are just the ticket. There’s no stem, and they’re dishwasher safe. Which means you can drink out of Riedel glasses at any time without fear of knocking them over, or breaking the stems when washing them. Perfect for those meals in front of the TV that no-one admits they eat!

Yes, we bought some – $45 for a pair of the Cabernet/Merlot glasses.

A few months ago I read about a new store opening in Victoria Park (a suburb of Perth, not far from where we currently live). The owner’s philosophy is to only sell well-designed and useful items – all products stocked have to meet both criteria. Price is not a prime consideration, but usability and good design are. “Ah!” I thought. “Here’s a man after my own heart.”

So on Saturday when we were wandering about trying to sort out phone connections etc. we stopped into The Good Store at 363 Albany Hwy, Vic Park (for all you readers who are Perth locals: where Cadd’s used to be almost opposite the Heart of the Park shopping centre). And there we found… wait for it…

Splayds!!! Yay! They are producing Splayds again! Not the old style ones (like those shown here and here), but newer ones with a brushed stainless finish, a well-weighted handle, and nice form for the eating part. (I’ve packed them already, so no pics…)

Of course, if you’re an Aussie under about 30, you probably have no clue what a Splayd is, but for those over 30, you’ll be pleased to know you can buy them again. For those of you in North America, you may know them by various other names such as Sporks (though they’re not really like a Spork in that there’s no cutting edge).

Whatever they’re called, they’re a darned useful eating tool! As the bloke running the store said on Saturday, most people would never admit in public that they eat in front of the TV, but that’s where Splayds come into their own. That and stirfries. I can’t eat stirfries successfully with chopsticks, so a Splayd is ideal as you can eat the whole meal with one hand and still scoop up all the lovely sauces and juices.

And the price for a set of eight at The Good Store? $40. Can’t get better than that!

(BTW, the owner of the store said they are selling like hotcakes!)

Seth Godin ranted about Kraft Gaucamole on his blog yesterday, specifically about the list of ingredients that has real avocado comprising less than 2% of the whole, and even less than the salt content! I couldn’t agree more – in fact, it is probably easier to MAKE guacamole than to buy it in a jar… and a helluva lot healthier, to boot.
Here’s my simple top-of-the head recipe for a great guacamole:

• 1 or 2 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded
• 1 finely chopped red chilli (leave it out if you’re not into chilli, or use less; if you’re feeling lazy, use the crushed chilli in a jar but make sure it’s got very little else in it)
• 1 pot of sour cream or Greek-style yoghurt – plain, no fruit!

Mash the avocados in a bowl with the yoghurt or sour cream. Add fresh chilli to taste. Mix light or hard to get the consistency you want. Serve immediately. (If serving later, add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice over the top to stop the avocado discolouring.)

That’s it! Super easy!!

Of course, if you want to get a bit more exotic, you can add finely chopped red capsicum (red peppers for the North Americans), coriander (cilantro for the North Americans), perhaps a small amount of finely chopped tomato, maybe even some very finely diced red onion, lemon or lime juice, cracked black pepper, even cumin powder.

It’s really up to you as to what you put in, but there’s NO EXCUSE for buying guacamole in a jar full of unknown chemicals, flavourings, gums, and preservatives. The excuse of “avocados aren’t in season right now” doesn’t wash – if a fresh ingredient is not available, MAKE SOMETHING ELSE that uses whatever fresh produce IS in season.

I decided to do something different for little gifts this year – you know, the gifts that you need to have on hand just in case you get a gift you weren’t expecting and need to have one in return, or in case people drop in who you weren’t expecting…

For the first time in my life I decided to make a Christmas cake, but mini ones, in muffin pans. The aim is to wrap them in ribbon and cellophane and tie them with some pretty red, green and white thin ribbon.

The first batch is in the oven right now. These are going to be unbelievable! There’s at least a litre of a mixture of whiskey, Grand Marnier, Orange Curacao, etc. in the mix, and massive quantities of raisins, sultanas, currants, dried apricots, mixed peel, red and green glace cherries, walnut, hazelnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. The mixture tastes damned good! Looks pretty ordinary, but tasted terrific – very alcoholic too!

Oh, you want the recipe? It’s an adaptation of this one: http://www.uktvfood.co.uk/index.cfm?uktv=recipes.recipe&iID=514420 Adaptation because no recipe is more than a guideline!

Second stage of my “let’s use up some of that frozen lemon juice and those extra eggs…” afternoon. I haven’t made lemon meringue pie in I don’t know how long – years and years. I love eating it, but just never make it. So today was the day! I used the recipe from my old favourite: Australian and New Zealand Complete Book of Cookery (published by Paul Hamlyn back in 1970!)

First off, I find I have to make shortcrust pastry – which reminded me why I don’t make this recipe… I really don’t like making pastry. It always goes wrong, and it’s fiddly. But anyhow, make the pastry I did, and blind baked it. Then it was on to the lemon filling. And finally, after about 2 hours of making, chilling, rolling, blind baking, whisking etc., I made the meringue topping and got it into the oven. Considering it will all go in a few minutes, I’m wondering whether this effort was worth it! I must say, it looked good when I’d finished!! (though if I did it over, I’d double the lemon filling as there didn’t seem to be enough once I’d added it to the pastry case)

OK, here’s the recipe:

Rich Shortcrust Pastry

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 (4 oz) cup butter (cold!)
• 2 tablespoons castor sugar
• 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• small amount of cold water (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup)

Sieve flour into a cold mixing bowl, add the butter and rub it into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the centre of the dry mix, add the beaten egg yolks and a little cold water. Mix until you have a slightly crumbly stiff dough. Knead the dough a little. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 10 mins before rolling out. Roll out and line a flan tin (or similar) with the pastry. Place some baking paper in the tin – enough to cover the bottom – then add some dried peas or beans or similar to weigh the pastry down. Let the pastry rest for 10 mins, then blind bake in a moderately hot oven for 10 mins. Remove the baking paper and contents, then return the pastry case to the oven for abouther 15-20 mins. Cool.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon filling:

• 4 tablespoons cornflour
• 1/2 pint water (285ml)
• 1 oz butter (1/4 cup)
• grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
• 2/3 cup (4 oz) castor sugar
• yolks of 2 large eggs (keep the whites for the meringue!)

Add all ingredients EXCEPT the egg yolks to a saucepan. Whisk over a moderate heat until boiling. Whisk for a further 2-3 mins. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Whisk in egg yolks. When a little cooler, pour into pastry case (see above).

Meringue:

• whites of 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup (4 oz) castor sugar

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add half the sugar, continue beating, add remainder of sugar, beat until you get stiff peaks and the mix is glistening.

Pile meringue over lemon mixture making sure it covers the pastry edges. Bake in a slow oven for about 30 mins until the meringue is golden.