Nothing like a good old fashioned blackout to get the kids hyped
up and make for one of their “bestest holiday nights ever”!
As we had already planned to go 10 pin bowling that afternoon, (and
thankfully they still had power on) we had a couple of hard fought
games with yours truly just beating my 12yo son! (I’m still
trying to work out if he was freakishly good or if I’m way
past my prime!)
We
all had such a good time it’s given me an idea for my next
birthday… funky (fortieth..(YIKES!)) disco bowls… I
have a vision!
Well after our bowling fun we got home to a pitch black house and
nothing gets kids quite as excited as giving the order to break
out the candles, and get takeaway!!
We ate our burgers under the soft glow of, well, lots of candles;
I think the boys were trying to out do the Vatican’s performance
the other week, re candlepower.
Amazing how the kids are still asking to play at any time of the
day or night over watching TV, how excellent is that!
Now if I can just convince them to bet their pocket money!!!
How about a New Zealand Sav Blanc for under $13!! Yup
we are selling Nobilo Sav Blanc for $12.99 a bottle so get some
before its gone!!
Food
Chinese style braised beef shin with sticky
jasmine rice
With the weather getting a lot cooler at night I started yearning
for some hearty winter food. Combine that with my love of the Japanese
cooking show “The Iron Chef” and I came up with this
totally brilliant meal last Saturday night.
You can get all of the ingredients in Fishers Mildura as
we have a pretty comprehensive Asian section.
This recipe will serve four adults.
1kg beef shin meat cut into large chunks
1 onion large dice
4 cloves of garlic chopped roughly
1 Tablespoon of Penang curry paste
1 Tablespoon of grated ginger ( I keep fresh ginger in a lunch
bag in the freezer and just grate what I need then pop it back into
the freezer)
1 whole star anise
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
8 dried shitake soaked of at least 4 hours then cut into ¼’s
2 Tablespoons sweet soy sauce
2 Tablespoons light soy sauce
2 Teaspoons of sugar
2 Teaspoons of chopped coriander
750ml beef stock
Now get a pot and splash some oil into it and set it over a high
heat. When it’s almost smoking throw in the onion, garlic
and ginger. After lettingthem fry for a bit and get lightly browned,
chuck in the beef and brown up (tip, don’t stir to often or
it will stew instead of brown)Now when you have some colour in the
meat, spoon in the curry paste then dump in the five spice powder,
star anise, coriander, sugar, beef stock and soy sauces. Bring it
all to a low simmer and let go for 1 ½ hours before throwing
in the mushrooms.
Check for seasoning at this point, adjusting the saltiness or adding
a bit more curry paste to your liking, then continue simmering until
you have tender melt in your mouth meat. Check the meat at its toughest
part, the sinew; it should be soft and gelatinous.
Now for the Jasmine rice, I used Sun Rice Jasmine and to make it
sticky I cooked it in the absorption method as described on the
back of the packet, I like to put some chicken stock powder in the
water to make it that little more tasty.
2 cups jasmine rice
3 ½ cups water1 tablespoon chicken stock powder
Place
the rice, stock powder and water in a pot that you have a lid for
and bring it to the boil, stirring to make sure it doesn’t
catch on the bottom then lower the heat and cover to simmer for
about 13 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let stand for another 5- 10 minutes.
To serve this exquisite dish use a bowl and plonk the rice in the
bottom then spoon on the braise, making sure you get a good spoonful
of the auce as well, then finish off with fried shallots (Asian
section again) and a couple of sprigs of coriander.
Try serving this with an aromatic red like Petit Verdot
or if white be your thing, go for a local Viognier.
We’ve taken the normal price of $17.95 and slashed
it to only $14.95.
That’s outstanding value for an outstanding wine.
Don’t forget our terrific cleanskin range at
$7.50 they represent great value and now we have a Coonawarra Cab
Sav cleanskin as well, to compliment the Chardonnay, Sav Blanc,
Shiraz and Merlot.
Specials
Tatachilla Growers or Partners 2 for $20
Lindemans Cawarra range 2 for $10
Black Douglas Scotch $24.97
Cougar Bourbon $24.97
Jamiesons Run range $10.97
Half Mile Creek 750ml $6.97
Orlando Carrington range $4.97
Brown Brothers selected range $14.97
Tooheys Red Bitter 30 can block $26.97
Boags Draught 24 stubbies $33.97
Strongbow Cider 6 packs $9.97
Plus plenty more in store specials.
This Weeks Tasting
This week at our usual Friday afternoon tasting we have a newie
from Loxton, Salena Estate with a range of five
wines. I haven’t tasted these guys wines yet, so join me for
a slurp and a chat. See you at the tasting corner between
4.30 and 7pm.
The winner of the bottle of Riddoch Cab Sav in last weeks
tasting draw was Graeme Nelson, congrats mate, just pop in and see
us to collect your prize.
