Sunday roast – lemon chicken

April 4, 2011

Chicken is not my favourite meat. Therefore, I have really high quality standards when a chicken dish is brought before me.

Well, in comes the classic cookery book “Sunday Roast – the complete guide to cooking and carving” by Clarissa Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott.

Their suggestion for a lemon chicken on page 100 is just a treat.

It is a traditional Greek recipe and you need the following ingredients (4 serves):

– 1.3 kg whole chicken
– 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
– salt and freshly grounded black pepper
– 1 large onion, finely sliced
– 3 carrots sliced
– 1 celery stick
– 6 sprigs of basils
– 2 lemons
– 300 ml of hot water

And what do you do with all this?

Well, heat the olive oil in a casserole and brown the seasoned chicken. Cook the onion slightly until it is transparent. Then add all the vegetables and the basil for a few minutes. Put the chicken back into the casserole atop the vegetables and pour the juice of the two lemons over the chicken. Cut the rind of the lemon in small stripes and sprinkle it over the chicken. Then you add the water and cook for about one hour.

And ‘simsalabim’, magic is done: serve.

Doesn’t it look great: Lemon chicken the Greek way

The asparagus with tomatoes

We had some boiled baby potatoes with it and a side dish of fresh asparagus with tomatoes. All in all super delicious. I could not believe it. The meat was not dried out at all, it was moist and very tender. Chicken can be very tasty. It just needs to be prepared the right way.

A great dish and a great Sunday lunch

Unfortunately, we did not have a Greek wine (no retsina or a nice red from the Greek islands). Therefore a bottle of ‘2009 Yellow Label Merlot’ by Wolf Blass, South Australia had to do the trick.

Beautiful colour

This Merlot is an industrial wine, well made, something for every day. I did not have anything else at hand, and did not want to plunder my already diminished treasures.

The front label of the Wolf Blass Merlot

I just love a straight Merlot. The Yellow Label Merlot is medium bodied with all the characteristics of the grape variety.

It matched the chicken very well, because it was not overpowering and not as fruity as for instance our own Merlot is (lots of cherry in the 2004 vintage).

13.5% alcohol

PS: I love this old fashioned book by Clarissa Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott.

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East meets West – 龙徽

March 26, 2011

Finally, we managed to have a dinner in our new home like in the good old days in Thonglor. All four of us sat on the terrace and enjoyed a family meal together.

The pasta (zucchini) below was just delicious.

I went through my wine fridge but could only produce a bottle of ‘2008 Cabernet Sauvignon’ by Beijing Dragon Seal Winery, China. It was given to me by the hotel manager during my last trip to Beijing.

A bottle of Dragon Seal red wine was one of our first wines when we moved to China in 1990. The winery has quite some history which goes back to 1910 and some French friars in Beijing who started to grow grapes and make wine. Ever since French viticulturists and oenologists have been associated with the brand. The modern Dragon Seal Winery was founded in 1987. Various white and red wines are produced today.

The grapes are grown in Huailai County (怀来县) in Hebei Province about 150 kilometers northwest of Beijing which has a semi-arid climate. The precipitation in this part of China is very low (below 400 mm per year). Mean temperatures range from -7.4 Celsius in January to about 24.4 Celsius in July. Humidity in August-September is between 60 and 70% only.

Product range – screen-shot from the Dragon Seal website

The flagship wines of Dragon Seal Winery are it’s Huailai Reserve, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (50%) and Syrah (50%) which is matured for a year in French and American oak and it’s Cru de Huailai, a 100% Syrah made from grapes grown in Donghuayuan (东花园镇).

Does this not sound very exotic in your ears?

Well, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon is a solid but overall ordinary wine (‘Landweinkatagoerie’). The enclosure consisted of a plastic “cork” (uuh). I was immediately suspicious. 2008 vintage (!), but was the bottle sealed properly?

Yes it was. The wine has only 12% alcohol. The colour was a beautiful dark red. But the taste was OK. It is a rather light wine with pleasant red fruit aromas. We did not regret opening the bottle, and it also matched the pasta somehow. I must try the two flagship wines mentioned above. They won medals at international wine shows. That’s my resolution from this wonderful family meal in Ekamai.

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A simple Greek meal with retsina wine

March 16, 2011

My “fat” Greek dinner

I was not very hungry but needed some food. So why not to have a snack in a Greek restaurant, let’s call it Zeus? I needed something light and cheesy and that’s what I got. The ‘tiropites’ or ‘tyropitakia’ (turnovers in English) were filled with feta cheese and served with tzaziki. Very delicious indeed.

Retsina wine

As regards the choice of wine, I also decided on something earthy, simple, what the rural folks might drink. Therefore I ordered the house retsina (Ρετσίνα in Greek), the traditional white (or rose), resinated wine, which has been made for more than 2000 years on the Greek islands. It turned out that this was a very good choice.

I had a very enjoyable evening, a tasty meal and a good wine. God was Greek, as well know.

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Braided River Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand

March 14, 2011

It was about a week ago that we had a wonderful simple but tasty Sunday meal at our home in Thonglor, Bangkok. It consisted of a French fish soup or bouillabaisse.

The ingredients for the fish soup

The soup, ingredients and other dishes

The wine we selected for the meal was a ‘2010 Braided River Sauvignon Blanc’ from new Zealand. Braided River Wines is a family run boutique vineyard near Christchurch which produces hand crafted wines. The winery takes it’s name from the Waimakariri river and it’s braided arms.

The wine comes with a price in Bangkok which is about three times the price in New Zealand. But it’s worth it, I should say. It is what one expects from a typical New Zealand SB. Straw colour with aromas of tropical fruit and grass, beautiful texture, and a long finish. We did not regret to have paid the exorbitant price. In a country with less taxes on alcohol this wine is very affordable. You should try it.

2010 Braided River Sauvignon Blanc

Address:
Braided River Wines
24 Langdales Road
West Melton, Christchurch 7676
Tel.: 03-3421184

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Restaurant review: Wine bar Rutz, Berlin

March 10, 2011

Inside Wine Bar Rutz, Berlin (before renovation)

Well, lent has just started, so why not write about the good life? Since a long time I wanted to tell you about “Weinebar Rutz”, a gourmet restaurant in the middle of Berlin.

My wine-lover-gourmet-wine blogger friend Swetlana Kittke took me there on a beautiful evening. We had a meal together and enjoyed a wonderful German Riesling wine. At the time, I thought I will never forget the wine, but now 3-4 years later I admit that I do not remember which Riesling we had chosen (and I cannot find my notes any more). Nonetheless, the Wine Bar Rutz is a fabulous place.

While surfing the internet today, I learned that the wine bar and restaurant was closed for renovations. It will open again on April 1st. But the event of the year will be its 10 anniversary celebration on April 9th with a special offer of a gourmet meal (249 EURO/person, I hope the wine is included) called “10 years -10 courses – 10 star cooks”.

The modern cuisine

I am usually not a fan of the “designer cuisine” (as a true country boy I like the rustic food of the Mediterranean better) but I must admit that the taste of the dish above, though difficult to identify, was just marvellous.

The team at Wine Bar Rutz is composed of Marco Mueller, a one-star Micheline cook, one of the most innovative cooks in Germany, it is said, Billy Wagner, sommelier and Carsten Schmidt, the general manager. Last year the wine and food guide Gault Millau awarded 17 of 20 point to the restaurant. The wine list with about 600 different wines is very impressive too. Most of my favourite Rieslings can be found there.

Address:
Wine Bar Rutz Restaurant
Chausseestrasse 8
10115 Berlin Mitte, Germany
Tel.:+49-30-24628760
info@weinbar-rutz.de
www.weinbar-rutz.de

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Lunch at the University Cafe in Melbourne

March 6, 2011

University Cafe on a glass of wine

According to the Trip Advisor website visited today, the University Cafe in Melbourne is ranked 665 of 2,131 restaurants in the second largest metropolis of Australia.

When on the farm and vineyard in Glenburn we rarely come to town. This was an exceptional day.

We had visited Melbourne University to inform ourselves about the place since both our daughters, Lucy and Charlotte, intend to enrol their after they have finished their IB in Bangkok. The university people were very friendly and we had an appointment for lunch in Carlton with some very old friends.

Without further ado we jumped into the University Cafe, an eatery right in middle of Lygon street in the heart of Carlton. Before even considering food, we ordered a bottle of crisp Riesling from Delatite Winery, located near Mansfield in the Upper Goulburn Wine Region.

Ah, wine from Upper Goulburn, our wine region. Our own little vineyard is located at the most southern tip of this new wine region of Victoria. Delatite Winery, near Mansfield, planted in 1968 is one of the oldest vineyards there.

Delatite is committed to organic practices in the vineyard and winery. The winery was established in 1982 by Robert and Vivienne Ritchie. Today, their son David is running the family business. Delatite is famous for its aromatic wines. Their Riesling has won many international and national awards. The ‘2009 Delatite Riesling’ was a natural choice.

2009 Delatite Riesling

The wine went beautifully with the food, mostly fish and other seafood dishes. The crisp apple and citrus aromas with its finely balanced acids is a great refreshment during a warm summers day. Frankly speaking, I think the Delatite Riesling is the best Riesling the Upper Goulburn has to offer.

Mixed side salad

Ruccola with parmesan

Seafood risotto

Delicious mussels

Seafood pasta

The happy diners: Joe Mauch, Anthony Arthur, Charlotte, Lucy, Rainer and Margit Adam

Overall, the service was good, the quality of the food decent, and the atmosphere despite the lunchtime crowed, to our liking. It was good to meet up with friends and relax.

Address:
The University Cafe
255 Lygon Street | Carlton,
Melbourne 3053, Australia
Te.: +61-03-9347 0328

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Total abstinence!

March 5, 2011

Total abstinence sounds like the death penalty to a wine drinker cum enthusiast. Goodness me what would life be without the wonderful fluid pressed out of mature grapes, delicately fermented, matured in barrels (or steel tanks) and “uncorked” on the dinner table?

Well, how could I know? I found this monument in a little park just outside the Melbourne University Law School. Jurist should be a sober lot, at least in court and when arguing a case. I could not resist taking a photo of the inscription which is so anachronistic to a wine geek.

I hope Thomas Ferguson’s soul will forgive me when I invite you to enjoy a glass of wine, right now. Cheers

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Restaurant review: The Grand Hotel in Healesville

February 26, 2011

The Grand Hotel in a painting in the hotel’s dining room

Lunching in the countryside is a wonderful thing. The picturesque country town of Healesville (population about 7,000 souls) is an ideal destination when holidaying in Victoria. Since my brother-in-law Michael and his wife Helen live there, we often loiter in its streets and seek out the hip and not so hip places of food and wine worship.

A nice place to have a rustic country lunch is the Grand Hotel, right in the middle of the town’s main street. The dining room is a quiet and comfortable place. There is also a bar to the left of the entrance. The staff is very friendly and the service is good.

The menu has a wide selection of dishes, even a Thai style beef salad. We went for the rural, home made type, sausages with potato mash and gravy and fish and chips. Others of our party had lamb chops or the roast of the day.

Sausages

Fish and chips

There was a wide selection of local and not so local wines. We went for a wine from a more distant place, Western Australia. The Valley of the Giants was on special promotion, so why not taste it.

We selected the ‘2010 Valley of the Giants crisp dry white’. Valley of the Giants is a wine-making venture sourcing its grapes from growers in Western Australia. Nothing special so to say, not a boutique vineyard or so, just some people who make “technically clean” wine.

The front label

But the wine matched the occasion. It was a rather hot summers day and a crisp white wine was just the right choice with our meals.

The back label

The Valley of the Giants is a wilderness region in Western Australia attracting many tourists who love nature. In the village of Denmark an ancient forest is to be found of giant tingle trees. One can go on a ‘tree-top-walk’, about 40 meters off the ground.

A happy diner

My suggestion: if you visit Healesville check out the many beautiful places including the wildlife sanctuary and after that have lunch at the Grand Hotel. It’s worth it.

Address:
The Grand Hotel
270 Maroonday Hwy,
Healesville VIC 3777
Tel.: =61-3-5962 4003

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Sauvignon Blanc by Alan Johns, Yering Farm Wines

February 23, 2011

Our girls had played touch rugby the whole day and were very hungry when they came home. It was a wonderful mild tropical day, with sunshine and blue sky. Why not have a Spanish meal: Paella came to mind.

Paella in the pot

Paella on the plate

We had just the right wine to go with the spicy and robust Spanish dish. From our Christmas holidays on the farm in Glenburn we had brought with us a bottle of ‘2010 Sauvignon Blanc’ from the Run Rabbit Run series of Yering Farm.

2010 Sauvignon Blanc by Yering Farm Wines

Alan Johns the ower-wine maker of Yering Farm is also making our own wines (Two Hills Merlot). In 2010 Alan bought our Sauvignon Blanc grapes, and these grapes went into the ‘2010 Sauvignon Blanc’ of the Run Rabbit Run series. So we were quasi drinking our won stuff. I do not know what other grapes went into this vintage but I am very proud that Alan made such a good wine with it.

The back label

The Sauvignon Blanc is just the way I like it, fresh, young, zesty, full of flavour with fibrant acids and a good finish. I wish I would have access to this wine here in Bangkok. I urge you to try it if you can.

Address:
Yering Farm Wines
St Huberts Rd
Yering
Victoria 3770 Australia
Tel.: +61 3 9739 0461
Fax: +61 3 9739 0467

Email: info@yeringfarmwines.com

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The five best Riesling wines of 2010

February 18, 2011

Riesling the queen of white wine

Well, let’s be clear from the outset: this is not the result of an orderly wine tasting. I am reminiscing about the most remarkable Rieslings I drank in 2010. The five wines below are the ones I selected, and I call them “my best Rieslings in 2010 – the Man from the Mosel selection”.

As you might know, any recall from memory about events past is a tricky and challenging thing. I also do not have the opportunity to drink these wines parallel to each other (what a shame). But here is my top five list:

1. ‘2009 Dhron Hofberg Riesling GG’, by Grans-Fassian Estate, Leiwen, Mosel.

This is a marvellous Riesling. The 2009 vintage was great. Grans-Fassian is a top Riesling producer from the Mosel. With 95 Parker points the Dhron Hofberg Riesling is just divine. I could not believe my luck when I casually strolled into the cellar door and picked up these treasures.

2. ‘2008 Schieferterrassen Riesling’ by Heymann-Loewenstein, Winningen, Mosel.

Weingut Heymann-Loewenstein is another of the great Riesling producers from the Mosel. The wines are made in a different style from the mainstream. They show great character and have funk. Only on April 30, 2011 the 2009 vintage will be released. I am very excited and cannot wait to taste the 2009 Riesling.

3. ‘2008 Monzinger Halenberg Riesling trocken’ by Emrich-Schoenleber, Monzingen, Nahe

The wines made from fruit grown at Monziger Halenberg are among the best Riesling wines in Germany. The Nahe is the region where my maternal grandfather started to introduce me to wine when I was just a boy. Ever since I love this very diverse region.

Monzingen is a small village next to Martinstein where I spent time with my grand parents. I walked all the different hills and slopes in the vicinity. Emrich-Schoenleber is one of the top producers at the Nahe, a lovely family too where father and son make the wine together.

4. ‘2009 Riesling Leiwen Laurentiuslay GG’ by St. Urbanshof, Leiwen, Mosel

Another wonderful wine from the Mosel. Weingut St. Urbans Hof is located in Leiwen, Mosel. Recently we had a bottle of this Riesling with Sunday lunch. Goodness me what a treat that was. I had only one bottle with me when I came back from Germany in November. The good news is: I will be in Trier in mid March and guess what…..

5. ‘Dr. Mayer Riesling Kabinett trocken’ by Timo Mayer, (Yarra Valley), Remstal, Wuerttemberg

Timo Mayer is an Australian boutique wine maker of the Yarra Valley and a native of Grossheppach, Remstal. He made this wine while travelling in Europe. The grapes come from his brother and the family vineyard. The 2009 vintage was ideal for making this wine. Timo shipped about 60 cases back to Australia. We were so lucky to have access to a few bottles.

You might say, all these wines are German Rieslings, did you not drink others? Well, I did. I tried quite a few Australian ones but that’s usually not my cup of tea. But I am undeterred. My to to list (to drink list) is long.

I admit that I also love Riesling from the Alsace, France. Though they are creamer, heavy, earthy.

I also love Riesling from Rheingau und Rheinhessen, in fact there are so many good German Rieslings it is very difficult to say which one to drink first.

Please let me know what your best Riesling was in 2010.

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