HOT BITES

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DELHEIM’S WINTER WARMERS French winemakers would wince if asked what their favourite Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon blend is. That’s because it’s sacrilege to a Frenchman to blend the two – not that it presented any problems for Aussie winemakers who pioneered the wine style decades ago!

Stellenbosch producer Delheim’s example, part of the estate’s Lifestyle Range, is the property’s top-selling wine. “This blend off ers the best of both worlds,” said Delheim winemaker Roelof Lotriet of the 2017 vintage. “Its aroma is loaded with typical Shiraz spice and complemented by the mature tobacco leaf notes of the Cabernet Sauvignon. “It’s lovely and juicy, with fl avours of plums and cherries. Every sip lingers with bright red fruit,” Lotriet said. “It’s just perfect for the braai and hearty dishes. Always keep a couple of bottles in the wine rack for the next occasion,” was his advice.

Vegan-friendly, the wine is also a good partner to dishes featuring mushrooms – an ingredient Delheim has also become famous for.

The estate is a prominent educator on edible fungi through its curated foraging excursions in the farm’s forests on the slopes of the Simonsberg. In fact, mushroom mania returns to Delheim in autumn and winter with sumptuous mushroom-inspired recipes on the menu at the estate’s Garden Restaurant. The annual forage this year – available exclusively to Delheim Wine Club members – is scheduled for June 15 and 16 (weather permitting), and booking is required.

38 www.tops atsp ar.co.z a HOMEMADE GNOCCHI WITH PORCINI MUSHROOM SAUCE Serves 2 - 4

Gnocchi ingredients

2 cups of mash potatoes 1 cup fl our 1 egg yolk Salt and pepper 15ml olive oil and 15ml butter to fry the gnocchi

Sauce ingredients

80g dried porcini mushrooms 250g mixed mushrooms (whatever is available) 1 onion, fi nely chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup cream 1 cup vegetable stock ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese Pepper to taste 3 cloves garlic, minced Fresh basil to serve with

Method for the sauce: 1 Place the porcini mushrooms in a medium bowl. Pour the hot stock over the mushrooms and let them soak for 15 minutes. Drain the mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid.

2 Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms and porcini. Cook until the mushrooms are soft, but not browned, about fi ve minutes. Add the garlic. Cook for about two minutes. 3 Add the cream and reserved stock to the sauté pan and increase the heat until the mixture begins to boil. Simmer until thickened, about 5 - 10 minutes. Season to taste. Add the parmesan cheese and serve with fresh basil.

Method for the Gnocchi: 1 Mix the mash potato, egg, fl our and salt until a dough is formed. Sprinkle some fl our on your working surface. Place the mixture onto the working surface and roll into a long sausage 3cm thick. Cut into 2cm pieces and press them slightly with the back of a fork. Bring a pot of water to the boil and place the gnocchi gently into the boiling water. Let them boil until they fl oat on top of the water. Strain them. 2 Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan and fry the gnocchi until golden brown. 3 Serve with the Porcini sauce, some Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

CHICKEN PIE WITH PORCINI AND ESPRESSO SAUCE Serve 4-6

Chicken pie ingredients 45ml butter 250g brown mushrooms 3 leeks, cut into rings 1 whole cooked chicken, taken off the bones and cut into pieces ½ cup cream ½ cup chicken stock Salt and pepper 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves 6 sheets of phyllo

Porcini sauce

80g dried porcini mushrooms 80ml boiling water 250ml cream 40ml espresso coff ee Salt and pepper

Method for the pie: Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Melt the butter in a saucepan and fry the mushrooms and leeks. Add the chicken, thyme, chicken stock and cream. Simmer until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Let the fi lling cool down. Place two sheets of phyllo next to each other with a 4cm overlap and brush with olive oil. Place the rest of the sheets on top in the same manner. Place the fi lling 5cm from the end in the form of a sausage and roll up. Place the chicken sausage in a donut form in a baking dish that has been brushed with butter or Spray & Cook. Brush with some olive oil and bake for 18 - 20min until golden brown.

Method for the sauce: 1 Soak the porcini in boiling water for 10 minutes. 2 Place the soaked porcinis with the water in a saucepan, add the cream and let it boil until reduced by half. 3 add the coff ee and season with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.

COCKTAILS FOR WORLD WHISKY DAY May 18 is a day to circle on the calendar. That is the day designated as World Whisky Day. Since the May Day coincides with winter in the southern hemisphere, it seems entirely appropriate to spice things up a bit and add a warming, ginger note to the drink.

Three Ships Whisky 5-Year-Old Premium Select, crafted at The James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington, is a brilliant base for making easy, uncomplicated yet delicious cocktails.

The whisky is a blend of grain and malt distilled in both column and pot stills. Inspired by the iconic Islay malts, this smoky, yet fruity whisky is matured for a minimum of fi ve years in hand-selected American oak casks before being blended and bottled.

It’s robust with aromatic smoke, crisp oak and shortbread on the nose. Ripe pears with a spiciness in the background and a powerful peatiness that fi lls the mouth and leads to an exceptionally smooth and lingering peaty fi nish.

GINGER WHIP

25ml Three Ships Whisky 5-Year-Old Premium Select 200ml Ginger Beer 3 drops of Bitters Simply pour the ingredients together, add large blocks of ice and a mint sprig and enjoy!

Or you could keep it simple and unaff ected – but still delicious – with this suggestion from Monkey Shoulder, the blended malt whisky.

As their marketing blurb states: ”There really are no rules when it comes to drinking Monkey Shoulder, except to have the most fun possible.”

They recommend a combination of scotch and soda topped with an orange wedge as the ideal homage to World Whisky Day – easy to make, and fun to drink.

MONKEY SPLASH

30ml Monkey Shoulder whisky 45ml soda water Orange wedge Pour Monkey Shoulder into a rocks glass. Add ice. Top with soda. Garnish with an orange wedge.

RATTLESNAKE & RISOTTO Sauvignon Blanc is synonymous with summer – but also drinks surprisingly well when the days get cooler, say the folks from Constantia’s Steenberg wine estate. The property’s newly released 2018 vintage Rattlesnake Sauvignon Blanc they believe “is the ultimate nuanced wine with a rich and creamy mouthfeel that is both comforting and expressive of its singular cool climate origins”. Unlike most Sauvignons it is lightly wooded – and means that Steenberg now has three different expressions of the crisp and tangy grape.

With its taste flashes of citrus and spicy acidity set against the creamy texture it’s a wine which can handle winter – and rich foods too. Which is why Steenberg Executive Chef Kerry Kilpin created an equally nurturing risotto dish. Made with a generous splash of Steenberg Rattlesnake, her artichoke, pea and chevin risotto is comfort food made even more enjoyable when paired with a glass or two of this warming, voluptuous Sauvignon Blanc. ARTICHOKE, PEA & CHEVIN RISOTTO

Ingredients:

300ml good chicken or vegetable stock Boiling water Olive oil 1 tsp chopped garlic 1 onion chopped 120g Arborio rice 1 tin artichokes drained and chopped 90ml Steenberg Rattlesnake Sauvignon Blanc 100g grated parmesan cheese 50g butter 100g peas 5g chopped basil 5g chopped parsley 1 log goats’ chevin

Rattlesnake was one of the British vessels which saw action in the Battle of Muizenberg in 1795.

Method: 1 Heat the stock in a pot to a simmer. 2 In a second pot, sweat the onions and garlic in a little olive oil for three minutes without colouring. Add the rice and chopped artichokes and cook for a further two minutes or until the rice starts to become slightly translucent on the edges. Add the wine and stir until the rice thickens and half the wine has evaporated. 3 Turn the heat down, gradually add the stock ladle by ladle. Stir occasionally. As the rice thickens up add more stock, you do not want it to get too thick. Cook for 15 – 20 minutes until the rice is cooked. (The grains should be white in colour but have a firm centre). 4 Add the butter, peas, herbs and parmesan. Season to taste. If you find the rice is a bit thick, thin it down with a bit of stock or boiling water if you have used all your stock. 5 To serve, crumble the goats’ chevin over the top and enjoy with a glass of Steenberg Rattlesnake Sauvignon Blanc.

BITTER GASTRONOMY We think of taste as being exclusive to our tongues but scientists will state that much of what we “taste” is a result of the brain interpreting what we smell as we chew mouthfuls of food. Aroma plays a massive role in what we taste.

For more than a century aromatic bitters have been a key ingredient in drinks and bars. But it’s now stepping over the bar counter and being found increasingly in kitchens with chefs exploring what’s possible – foodwise – with this well-known product.

Starters, mains and even desserts can be enhanced with the judicious shake of a few drops of something like Angostura bitters, now available locally in more than one fl avour variant. Previously, chefs and home cooks would have had to rely on fresh herbs to supply the right taste for whatever they were preparing.

In Trinidad and Tobago where Angostura bitters is made, bitters are frequently added to breads, marinades and soups. Angostura even released a recipe book way back in 1960, called The Secret of Good Taste. Many of the original recipes can be found on the Angostura bitters website at www.angosturabitters.com.

As a “taster” here are two recipes from American chefs, David Baudek of The Kerryman Bar in Chicago and Michael Ring, a Coopers Craft Bourbon ambassador. We think of taste as being exclusive to our tongues but scientists will state that much of what we “taste” is a result of the brain interpreting what we smell as we chew mouthfuls of food. Aroma plays a massive role in what we taste.

For more than a century aromatic bitters have been a key ingredient in drinks and bars. But it’s now stepping over the bar counter and being found increasingly in kitchens with chefs exploring what’s possible – foodwise – with this well-known product.

Starters, mains and even desserts can be enhanced with the judicious shake of a few drops of something like Angostura bitters, now available locally in more than one fl avour variant. Previously, chefs and home cooks would have had to rely on fresh herbs to supply the right taste for whatever they were preparing.

In Trinidad and Tobago where Angostura bitters is made, bitters are frequently added to breads, marinades and soups. Angostura even released a recipe book way back in 1960, called The Secret of Good Taste. Many of the original recipes can be found on the Angostura bitters website at www.angosturabitters.com.

As a “taster” here are two recipes from American chefs, David Baudek of The Kerryman Bar in Chicago and Michael Ring, a Coopers Craft Bourbon ambassador. SQUASH SOUPSQUASH SOUP

Ingredients:

2 Tbsps unsalted butter 2 large leeks, thinly sliced, white and pale green parts only ±1kg butternut (or pumpkin) ±1litre chicken stock 2 cups water 2 Tbsps. brown sugar 1 tsp salt ¾ tsp fi nely ground black pepper ¼ cup cream 2 Tbsps. Angostura aromatic bitters Ingredients:

2 Tbsps unsalted butter 2 large leeks, thinly sliced, white and pale green

Method: 1 Peel and seed the butternut or pumpkin squash, then cut it into two-inch chunks. 2 Melt butter in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Stir in leeks and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are translucent. 3 Stir in squash, stock, water, bitters, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to the boil. Cook soup, uncovered, until squash is tender. 4 Season with salt and pepper to taste. 5 To serve, drizzle with cream and a dash of additional bitters. Method: 1 Peel and seed the butternut or pumpkin squash, then cut it into two-inch chunks. 2 Melt butter in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Stir in leeks and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are translucent. 3 Stir in squash, stock, water, bitters, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to the boil. Cook soup, uncovered, until squash is tender. 4 Season with salt and pepper to taste. 5 To serve, drizzle with cream and a dash of additional bitters.

STEAK MARINADESTEAK MARINADE

Ingredients:

60ml bourbon ¼ cup brown sugar ¼ cup orange juice 1 Tbsp. cherry jam 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced 1 tsp cracked black pepper 1 tsp tamari 1 Tblsp fresh garlic, minced 1 tsp Angostura aromatic bitters Ingredients:

60ml bourbon ¼ cup brown sugar ¼ cup orange juice 1 Tbsp. cherry jam 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced 1 tsp cracked black pepper 1 tsp tamari 1 Tblsp fresh garlic, minced 1 tsp Angostura aromatic bitters Method: Mix ingredients and soak steak for a minimum of three hours or overnight. Keep refrigerated. Cook the steak as per normal. Method: Mix ingredients and soak steak for a minimum of three hours or overnight. Keep refrigerated. Cook the steak as per normal.