The Riesling Challenge 2010 Tasting Vineyard v Winemaker

Copied and pasted from the Slow Food Waitakere site, this wine tasting event is a real gem, so if you are in Auckland on the 8th of July, and you would like to learn more about tasting and comparing wines, come and join us! 

 

Presents  The Riesling Challenge 2010 Tasting Vineyard v Winemaker

Sunday 8 July 2012 Time: 2:00pm Address:  5 Waima Cresent, Titirangi

Cost:  Members $20.00, Non-Members $25.00

(limited numbers)

A Little Bit of the History of "The Riesling Challenge:

How It Began:  Neil Charles-Jones came up with the idea for the New Zealand Riesling Challenge

at an awards dinner.  It struck him that for all the talk of good wines being made in the vineyard, it

was the winemaker who always picked up the awards.

How it Worked:  Twelve winemakers were each given 4 tonnes grapes from one vineyard namely the

Mud House "The Mount" vineyard in Waipara Valley.  Each winemaker made 250 cases of wine,

processing the grapes and making the wine in the manner they saw fit.  Resulting in twelve very different

wines, varying from dry through to sweet.

The Tasting:

We will be tasting the resulting 12 wines under the guidance of Mark Compton, who is a well respected

winemaker and educator, with a particular interest in aromatic wines - Riesling being his favourite.

After the Tasting:  We thought it would be nice way to finish the afternnon if you would like to

bring a plate of finger food to share after the conclusion of the tasting, either to be enjoyed with rest

of the wine (if any is left) or a cup of tea or coffee.

RSVP

Laurel McAlpine

Email:  travelbug@connected.net.nz

Ph: 817 5859

N.B.  There will be limited numbers so please book early

Stuffed white cabbage leaves with lentils

This is a first. I like stuffed cabbage leaves but I always use this dark green curly cabbages (like Savoy) to make them, and I never used the round and firm white cabbages that are used to make coleslaw. But I happened to have a big white cabbage and the outer leaves were sort of green... I managed to remove 7 leaves before the cabbage become to compact to pull apart. Then I washed them and boiled them in salted water (which I later used to make vegetable broth for an Asian noodle soup - never waste!). I also boiled a few more cabbage leaves that got broken while I was trying to pull them away: they were going to be used in the filling.

For the filling I used some cooked cabbage leaves, a couple of slices of vegetarian bacon, chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, smoked salt, chili flakes, coriander seeds and smoked garlic. I mushed everything with my hands and divided the filling between the 7 leaves, and then I rolled them up.

I prepared a soffritto with a shallot, half a carrot, a celery stick, and some chopped parsley, all sautéed with a little olive oil. 

I added the cabbage leaves and let them sauté on one side only for a few minutes.

Then I added one cup of tomato passata (Italian tomato sauce) and one cup of vegetable broth. I covered the pot with a lid and let the cabbage rolls simmer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes I added the content of a can of Italian brown lentils (their water included) and simmered everything for another 30 minutes.

Well, I just managed to taste one, the other six were two each for the kids and the babysitter (I was teaching that night), to be eaten with bruschetta (actually, just a baguette cut into slices and the brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and baked until golden and crispy, the kids just love it!!). The result? I was pleasantly surprised: I am not a fan of white cabbage, but in this way it tasted great! Pity that I could not get more leaves out of it, maybe I need to boil the whole cabbage and then try to pull off the leaves... next time I will try. Or maybe I will just go back to use my usual Savoy cabbages! :-)

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

White fondant icing flowers, in black and white

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini ©

This image is for Black and White Wednesday, a weekly blogging event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and for the coming week hosted by Cinzia of Cindystar. The title of the photo is: White fondant icing flowers.

Leek and edamame risotto, Sunday out at the Hobsonville Farmers Market, ice cream at Giapo, and what Trip Advisor says!

Chop one large leek and wash it, then sauté with olive oil until soft. Add one cup of shelled edamame (I used the frozen ones) and sauté until the edamame are starting to cook. Add 400 g arborio rice and stir, when the rice is hot and starting to toast add a glass of white wine at room temperature (not chilled). Stir and after the wine has been absorbed add about 1 l of vegetable stock, one ladle at the time, stirring often until cooked. This risotto is perfect as it is (Vegan) but non-vegans can add grated parmesan cheese if they like, or start with butter instead of olive oil.

Serves 4

On another note, on Sunday I accompanied an Italian photographer to the Hobsonville Farmers Market, a nice covered market in a new residential development which is, I guess, still West Auckland, although it felt like the people were very North-Shore types. 

The kids had langos, the same that they get when they go to the Oratia Farmers Market. They like them, but they prefer gnocco fritto. And then we drove all the way back to Auckland city and stopped at Giapo for ice cream. I had orange sorbet, which came with candy floss and a violet on top. I will talk about Giapo again in the future, it is a bit of a landmark in Auckland's Queen Street, in fact if you go on Trip Advisor you will find Giapo ranked in second place among the 807 restaurants in Auckland... yes Second place, ahead or the French Cafe which is in 5th place although it is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the city... and Giapo is just an ice-cream place! I guess that every business could list itself as a restaurant and cash on the reviews (although I have noticed another ice cream place in the city being only in 348th place...)!

At this point I also had to go and look what Trip Advisor had as number 1 restaurant in Auckland, and found this one (never heard of it, but I don't eat out often...).

Now tell me, do you ever read Trip Advisor's reviews? And if so, what do you think?

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Italian Republic Day in New Zealand

Festa della Repubblica

On 2 June the Dante Alighieri Society of Auckland celebrated the Festa della Repubblica. We would like to thank all of those who attended, including our new Ambassador Alessandro Levi Sandri, Consular officer Donato Scioscioli, and Italy Honorary Consul Mario Magaraggia.

During the speeches Dante's Vice-president Bernadette Luciano announced that the Dante Auckland will make a donation for the earthquakes in Emilia. Anyone interested in contributing with us can contact Alessandra at alessandra@clear.net.nz for more information.

To read this post in Italian, and for more photos, please click here.

Cheese cigars, easy as, and with one hand only!

With one hand only because with the other I was taking pictures :-)!!!.

Cheese cigars are rolls of filo pastry filled with cheese and then fried or baked (I bake them). I just put all my filo pastry sheets on a tray and fold them one by one until I used them all up. Proceed like for a spring roll, rolling the cheese stick up a few times (picture 2 and 3), and then folding in the sides in (picture 4) before continuing to roll. This way you will seal the cheese in. You can repeat it with a second sheet of pastry if you think that the cheese will melt out into the tray (or if you like to have more pastry!).

Once more: this time I put a bit of chopped parsley with the cheese so that it is easier to see. In pictures 5 and 6 you can see how the sides are rolled in.

Last time now, pizza cigars, I put a strip of tomato paste, then cheese, then oregano, roll, fold the sides in, and roll again until the end.  Brush with water and bake at 180 C° until golden in colour.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Soaking olives

I like preserving olives, the step I like best is soaking them in water for weeks, with my little boy who reminds me every day to change the water. I would remember anyway (how could I forget when they are in a big laundry bucket on the kitchen floor?), but it is just so nice to hear him say "Mamma, did you change the water today?". He takes his olives very seriously.






This image is for Black and White Wednesday, a weekly blogging event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and for the coming week hosted by Sihi of Wondering Ladle. The title of the photo is: soaking olives.






I am also adding another photo to today's post, not food, but I photo that I took a few years ago in Modena, my provincial city. And I am thinking of everyone who is suffering in the area because of the earthquakes. 

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Gardening in pots: bok choy

Even if I am supposed to have enough space in my veggie garden I still like to plant a few veggies in pots.  
First of all it is almost winter and things grow really slowly now, but in a terra-cotta pots they will grow faster, and I can move the pots to follow the sun (while I cannot move the veggie garden!). I planted some bok choy in the garden, and some in pots. The pots' plant are ready to eat... in fact I have to hurry up, one started flowering (don't mind having a few flowers, I like to eat them too, they are pretty as well!).

I guess that bok choy is real brassica for beginners: very easy to grow, about 7 weeks from seedlings (about 5 weeks in the pots) and doesn't require much space. No chance of growing broccoli and cavolo nero in pots, unless you like miniatures, but bok choy can even grow in your window boxes (prendete nota lettori italiani che vivete in città). 


 For some recipes with bok choy please go here.

Pineapple jelly... I mean, agar agar!

We all know of the enzymes of certain raw fruit (pineapple, papaya, kiwi etc) that won't make jelly, or agar agar, set. And also that cooking the fruit first will stop the problem. Or using canned fruit! 

But the only canned fruit I use is mango pulp (to make mango agar agar pudding, in fact) and I was just wondering... wondering... if the Fresh As pineapple powder, having been freeze dried, would still have those enzymes... so I tried. I used 500ml of water, boiled it and added 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of Fresh As pineapple powder and 1 level tsp of agar agar. I simmered everything for one minute and then poured it into 4 individual jelly moulds. I used these colorful ones, when the agar is set you just remove the lid at the bottom and they should pop down. Should. We actually shook them a bit! The pineapple puddings were fresh and fragrant, not too sweet (the sugar ratio was perfect) and I liked the flavor, although my husband and the kids told me that I could have put in a bit more pineapple powder for more zing! I will try a different Fresh As powder soon for more puddings!!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

doconstructed spanakopita: ovvero, budino caldo di spinaci con salsa di formaggio feta al profumo di origano e cracker di pasta filo al burro salato

I though a lot about this, I am not the type to 'deconstruct' dishes, but I wanted to try. And I wanted a spinach pudding, but spinach puddings started to pop up right and left on the MTChallenge, and I wasn't sure if I should add another one... but in the end I decided to go for it, and this is the result!

The puddings are really soft but perfectly set and stable, so you will make an impression with your guests!

Ingredients

For the savory spinach mini puddings:

500 g chopped frozen spinach

Water

100 ml milk

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

3 eggs

Salt to taste

Salted butter to grease the ramekins

For the Feta Sauce:

100 g feta

A sprig of oregano (or a pinch of dried oregano)

A little milk and hot water

For the Filo Crackers:

5 sheets of film pastry

Salted butter, melted, to brush

Boil the spinach with water, then drain but do not squeeze. Put the spinach in a bowl and blend with an immersion blender. Add the milk and blend again. Add the parmesan and eggs and blend again. Taste for salt then add salt. Grease 8 ramekins with butter and fill with the spinach mixture, then cover with baking paper and secure with a rubber band. Place in a roasting pan filled with water (only half-way through the ramekins) and bake at 160° C for about one hour. 

To make the sauce just brake the feta with a fork and thin down with a little milk and a little hot water until you get a creamy consistency. Do not use a blender but just a fork. Add the oregano and set aside.

To make the filo crackers, place 3 sheets of filo on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush with melted salted butter, then add 2 more sheets of filo and brush again. Using a pizza cutter or a knife make some incisions over the pastry to cut it into 8 rectangles, and then each rectangle into 2 triangles. Make sure that the incisions are all the way through the pastry (i.e. the pastry is cut into 16 triangles). Bake with the spinach pudding (on a different rack, of course!) until the top of the filo is golden and crispy.

Remove the puddings from the oven and reverse over the serving plates (they should come out easily, but otherwise just pass the borders with a knife). Add two filo triangles and a spoonful of feta sauce to each plate. Serve immediately as an antipasto. These puddings are soft, moist and creamy and can be eaten with a spoon, or a dessert fork, and are suited to open a formal dinner. My family really liked them, but I guess that they like Spanakopita too!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

With this recipe I take part in the MTCHALLENGE di Maggio 2012

from Menù Turistico

L'EMMETICHALLENGE DI MAGGIO 2012

Dino is famous, and the winner is... (actually, are!)

Is this really me? Says Dino Yes it is me! Look at me, I am famous!

Dino is happy! We were shooting my dinosaur minestrone and I just thought that it would be nice to have a 'model'. I went up to Max's room and picked up Dino, who has been in our family since Max was a baby (11 years), just to see how he looked! Well, I think that Dino is exceptionally cute and well kept too for an 11 years old soft toy! And guess what: he made it, he is in this issue of Little Treasures Magazine, and I can assure you that both him and Max are over the moon about it!

Minestrone with dinosaur pasta and tomato soup with animal crackers

Out now,  Little Treasures Magazine

Pumpkin soup with bruschetta, cauliflower and broccoli soup, red beetroot soup with puff pastry grissini,
and Asian noodles with veggies

And now for the winner of this competition. But I should say winners, in all senses! As usual I put the name through the Randomizer, and below is how they came out:

There were 40 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Fance e Vale
2. Stefania
3. 2 Amiche
4. Michelle
5. Artu
6. Iana
7. Paola
8. Ester
9. Chairina
10. Sastuki
11. Isabella
12. Mariangela
13. Melissa
14. Jennifer
15. Astrofiammante
16. Wagashi Stories
17. Alice
18. Valentina
19. Anotosh
20. Kitchen Flavours
21. Gaia Celiaca
22. Lo
23. Le cognate
24. Mariint
25. La gelida anolina
26. Sandra
27. Barbara
28. Vanessa
29. Katrina
30. Sweet Snow Flakes
31. Elena
32. Natasha
33. Chiara
34. Food, Fun
35. British Mum
36. Cheryl
37. Lucy
38. Lisa
39. Shatzy
40. Veronica

Timestamp: 2012-05-26 07:50:13 UTC

First of all i would like to congratulate Franci and Vale, who have a beautiful blog, La Signora die Biscotti. But this is not the reason why I say winners. When Stefania wrote her comment she said that the first person to write is never picked because she is already number 1 in the list, so the odd weren't with her, but she was graceful enough to start the comments and lead the way for all other entrants. And look at this! She came number 2! I am sure that everyone who knows Stefania will agree with me: she also deserve the prize! So Araba Felice, you won a copy of Party Food For Girls too! 

Thank you to all who entered the competition, I will run more in the future so stay tune, and 

congratulations to the winners, I hope that you will all enjoy the book, and make something from it.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Italian Republic Day with our new Ambassador Alessandro Levi Sandri

Festa della Repubblica con aperitivo Italiano. Presenzierà il nuovo ambasciatore Italiano per la Nuova Zelanda Alessandro Levi Sandri.

Sabato 2 Giugno

Dalle 17 alle 18:30 

entrata $15 p.p. / $7 bambini 

Pizza, focaccia, dolci ed il primo bicchiere inclusi nel prezzo. 

Pagamento in contenti alla porta (non si accettano eftpos o carte di credito)

RSVP entro il 28 maggio: (09)376 3853, o info@dante.org.nz 

Evento aperto a tutti, soci e non soci, vi ringraziamo per girare questa informazione a tutti gli italiani di Auckland. 

Saturday 2nd June

from 5pm -6:30 

$15 p.p. / $7 child 

Prices include a drink and Italian food. More drinks will be available at the bar.

payment at the door on arrival on the day (cash, no eftpos available)

RSVP by 28th May: (09)376 3853, or info@dante.org.nz 

Non Dante members welcome, please feel free to forward this invite to your friends and other Italians.

Address: Freemans Bay Community Centre, 52 Hepburn St., Freemans Bay, Auckland

Plenty of free parking on the road and next to the Community Centre in Pratt St.

We are also pleased to inform you that  Mr  Donato Scioscioli, Italian Embassy Official, will also be present and can assist you with passport applications/renewals and other enquiries you may have. Mr Scioscioli will be available from 10am in the Dante Rooms. If you are planning to see him, please read the information below carefully.

PASSPORT RENEWALS ***IMPORTANT INFORMATION ***:

Prima e durante l’incontro, a partire dalle ore 14, il Responsabile per i Servizi Consolari dell’Ambasciata, Dott. Donato Scioscioli, sarà a disposizione per effettuare la rilevazione delle impronte digitali per i connazionali che prevedono di richiedere, nel corso dei prossimi sei mesi, il rilascio del passaporto, per loro stessi e/o per i loro familiari (si ricorda che per i minori di 12 anni non occorre rilevare le impronte digitali). Gli interessati dovranno presentarsi muniti di documento di identità in corso di validità e di due fotografie (40x35mm – vedi Guida Consolare). Per ulteriori informazioni, e per prendere un appuntamento con il Dott. Scioscioli si prega di contattare la Cancelleria Consolare dell’Ambasciata (tel. 04-4747176 o via email: consolare.wellington@esteri.it).