Crab Linguine with Pinot Gris & Macadamia and prune stuffed pork with Pinot Noir

Do you ever wish you knew what wine to match with a special meal you were cooking?

I do!

I was so pleased when I was offered wine (from Wine Selectors) that I could match with a specific recipe.

They currently have a Chef Series where every bottle is matched by a chef with a recipe you can cook up and impress your friends and family.

So I invited some friends over for feast.

We started with a molten brie topped with garlic and port plum jam

For entree I chose Ben O'Donoghue's Pinot Gris to match with Crab and Rocket Linguine.

A simple and easy recipe where you cook some garlic with basil stalks, add in your tomatoes (I roasted some) and then your crab meat. Wilt in some rocket (and I added some basil leaves).

Remove the stalks and stir in the pasta (I made some fresh spelt linguine), season and serve with a beautiful glass of Pinot Gris. 

It was a beautiful light dish with good flavour, the wine was thoroughly enjoyed along side.

For main I chose Ian Parmenter's Pinot Noir to match with Roast Pork with Prune and Macadamia Stuffing.

Again it is not a difficult recipe, the stuffing consists of bacon and onion (of which I firstly browned in a pan), fresh bread crumbs, macadamias, pitted prunes, fresh thyme, lemon rind, mixed spice, brandy, and egg.

Spread it onto your pork loin, roll up, tie and bake.

My crackling wasn't perfect so I cut off the top and watched it closely under the grill to get some serious crunchiness.

It was so delicious served with some baked pumpkin and parsnip, and sauteed broccoli.

And the Pinot Noir was sensational, an absolutely gorgeous wine that accompanied the food perfectly.

Overall it was a really enjoyable meal, delicious food, stunning wine, a warm lounge room and good friends.

I am very thankful to Wine Selectors for the gift of the wine. 

Roast pumpkin, caramelised onion and goats curd spelt muffins

Recently I was lucky enough to win a copy of Wholefood Baking by Jude Blereau.

It is such an inspiring book with a wealth of information.

The concept of these muffins is so simple and there are many different flavour combinations you could use.

The pumpkin is roasted with chopped rosemary.

More rosemary is finely chopped and combined with the dry mix of seasoned spelt four and baking powder.

You combine the dry mix gently with scoops of roasted pumpkin, caramelised onion and goats curd.

Then mix in the wet of milk, yoghurt, egg and oil.

There is much advice throughout the book to substitute ingredients if need be due to intolerances.

Spoon into muffin cases, top with a dollop of goats curd, sprinkle with pepitas and bake.

They are amazing, so soft and flavoursome.

I tasted one still warm from the oven and couldn't help myself but to eat another....

I cannot wait to bake more from my new book, 

very grateful to Honest To Goodness from whom I won the book.

Banana, Passionfruit and Coconut Loaf

This is a great recipe that Sammy&Bella posted recently.

When I spotted a mountain of passionfruit at the shop I knew exactly what I was going to bake.

It is a simple recipe where you combine the milk, banana, egg, passionfruit (minus the seeds) and butter but I substituted with coconut butter.

Combine with the flour, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon. 

Stir through some oats, I used a beautiful blend of rolled grains from Honest to Goodness.

Spoon in to a tin and top with coconut and the passionfruit seeds.

Bake.

I loved this bread, the coconut and banana really came through with the passionfruit giving it a really yummy twist.

And the texture was amazing, so soft and cake like.

You should be tempted to cook this one! 

Thanks to S&B for another delicious recipe.

Venison Chorizo and Prawn Paella

This is a simple rice dish that is so tasty.

Cook some onions and garlic in olive oil over low heat until slightly browned.

Add the chorizo and brown.

I used Mandagery Creek Venison Chorizo.

Pop in some cherry tomatoes, I love leaving them whole as it adds real bursts of flavour.

Add in a couple of teaspoons of smokey paprika, I use a beautiful one from PureBlends.

Stir in 200g of short grain rice, giving it a few minutes to go slightly translucent.

Add 400ml of hot seasoned stock, top with some sliced green onion.

Let it simmer over low heat.

When the rice starts poking through, top with your green prawns and a handful of peas.

I made this loaf of sourdough using organic Kialla flour from Brasserie Bread,

Turn the prawns over when they are looking half done.

Once the stock is fully absorbed your ready to serve, takes about twenty minutes from when you start to simmer.

Serve with some crusty sourdough.

A simple and delicious dinner that was enjoyed by all.

Live Below The Line

For the past five days we have been participating in Live Below The Line.

This means that you spend just $2 per person per day on food. 

I made a vegetable stock using the onion skins, ends of the celery and ends of the carrot.

So now I have to confess that as a family of four we had $8/day but I didn't actually include the kids lunch in this budget.

But the reason I signed us up was to support those who are in such great need and donate the money we saved.  

I made a vegetable, beef, and lentil ragu and homemade pasta (this made two dinners).

It was a real eye opener, you need to be resourceful, nothing can go to waste and you can't afford to buy quality ingredients.

Chicken drumstick with rice and green veges.

I also used a very small amount of honey but in the real third world I'm guessing they could not afford to buy such a luxury ingredient.

Roasted vegetables with homemade sourdough.

We ate cereal and milk for breakfast, and leftovers from dinners for lunch (this made portion sizes small).

The second dinner of pasta and ragu.

It was hard, and we were hungry.

Especially when you were exercising, made you think of those who physically work so hard yet are paid next to nothing. 

We felt sick due to lack of food.

Pumpkin soup and homemade sourdough.

This was our budget if your interested.

Note: I also used small amounts of oil, salt and sugar.

 

It really is a worthwhile week that I would encourage all of you to take part in next year.

I truly believe we can make a difference.