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These recipes were partially inspired by the Schubert Dolce 2000, a Wine of the Week in March 2003. They will probably match many other sweet wines as well as the other wines I have mentioned with the recipes. All the recipes are for two people. The recipes include The recipes are original creations by Sue Courtney and no recipe books were used except to find a methodology for a butter sauce. Pear, Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad You will need:
- one fresh pear, ripe but not too squishy - one 125g packet of blue cheese - a handful of walnuts - 1/4 cup cream Wash and dry lettuce and arrange on individual plates. I originally designed this salad, using Camembert not blue cheese, for Pinot Gris. Pork Fillet Stuffed with Pears and Sage
and served with a Chardonnay Beurre Blanc
- Plenty of fresh sage leaves - I used traditional green, variegated and pineapple sage - One 'just ripe' pear - A couple of tablespoons of late harvest style sweet wine - Oil or butter Wash and dry the fillet and split the fillet down the length. Melt oil or butter in a hot pan, add the fillet to sear on all sides to brown.
Remove fillet and wrap loosely in cooking paper. Meanwhile, make the sauce Chardonnay Beurre Blanc
- one lemon - 1/4 cup of chardonnay - 1/2 cup cream - 100 grams of butter Place 2 tablespoons of chopped spring onions into a saucepan with the juice of the lemon and the chardonnay. To serve, slice the pork fillet into small rounds. Arrange on a plate and pour some of the sauce over. Put the remainder of the sauce in a jug to go on the table. This dish is unbelievably good with a sweeter style, late harvest wine. It is also particularly good with a Pinot Gris or a Chardonnay. This dish can be served with either Potato and Pear Rosti, or Honeyed Sage and Orange Potatoes. Green Beans add a striking contrasting colour. Potato and Pear Rosti
- one potato about the same size as the pear - one egg - salt and pepper - oil or butter for frying Beat the egg with the seasonings If using this style of the potatoes with the pork, place on the plate, then place the carved pork on top of the rosti. Spoon the sauce over. Honeyed Sage and Orange Potatoes
- a few pineapple sage leaves - 2 tangelos - 1 tablespoon of a delicately floral liquid honey, such as a South Island Vipers Bugloss honey - 1 tablespoon olive oil - Additional oil and or butter for frying As this dish combines a trio of cooking techniques use an all purpose potato such as Rua or Stroma if you can get them. Rua is a white/yellow skinned potato while Stroma is a light pinky/red skinned potato with a creamy, slightly yellow flesh. The slightly elongated shape of Stroma makes them good for this recipe as the slices will tend to be more even in diameter. Select new potatoes with young tender skins. Wash and scrub any dirt off the potatoes. Microwave whole for 3 to 4 minutes. Slice across the girth of the potato into 1cm widths. Zest about a teaspoon of tangelo skin, then halve the tangelos and juice. Basil and Orange Beans You will need:
- Juice of one orange or tangelo - half a dozen fresh basil leaves - 1 tablespoon of butter This is basically made the same way as the potatoes. Cook the beans in a little water in the microwave for about 90 seconds. Then pan fry in a little butter, add the orange juice and basil to give the beans a gloss and simmer to reduce the liquid. Do not overcook the beans as they need to keep their bright green colour. Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve. Toffeed Peaches Poached in a Gewurztraminer Reduction and served with Marscapone Cream
- 1/2 cup of gewurztraminer reduction (see recipe below) - 2 tsbp sugar - a packet of marscapone cream Cut peach in half and remove the stone. To serve, place in a dessert bowl and top with marscapone cream (or whipped cream). Instead of the Gewurztraminer reduction you could simply use a sweet wine. A 375ml bottle of Matua Valley Late Harvest Muscat 2002, for example, which costs about NZ$12 a half bottle is a reasonably priced wine for this dish. It's not too bad to drink, either.
- one cup of sugar - one cup of rose petals Put the wine, the sugar and the rose petals in a saucepan. I used the remnants of the wines from a Gewurztraminer tasting held late last year. The gewurztraminers I used had some residual sugar and the reduction became quite syrupy, so keep an eye on the liquid as it reduces and if it starts to turn towards treacly, remove from the heat immediately. I actually almost made toffee from the leftovers of a Chardonnay tasting that I reduced, however it didn't set and was instead preserved as "Chardonnay Treacle". Kia pai te kai © Sue Courtney |
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