Christmas is nearly over! (2007)
There are some brave souls out there who love a big Christmas Day. I have a
friend who will be entertaining 30 or so mostly family with a few strays who
have no where to go. What a Samaritan.
My advice is forget the big bird and I don’t mean the mother in law and
appeal to the last of those die hard Anglo Saxons to stop sweltering over a
roast and Christmas pudding. The first step towards a successful and stress free
Christmas Day is to drop in on a good fishmonger. Poseidon Seafood’s in
Fairfield or Clamm’s in St Kilda are a couple of smart stops. Pre-order and pay
so you can pick up on Christmas Eve.
Prepare a nice salad of pumpkin, black olives, Greek feta and plate of ripe
Adelaide tomatoes sliced with buffalo mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil and
cracked black pepper. A nice bag of waxy potatoes can be scrubbed, sliced,
drenched in olive oil, sprinkled with fresh rosemary, smashed garlic and roasted
until golden.
For a nice BBQ marinade, blend1/2 bunch of coriander, a couple of garlic
cloves and a little olive oil and spread liberally over your fishy purchase,
possibly prawn cutlets or salmon and allow to chill in the fridge while you ice
down the beer and champagne. For dessert you can’t beat lashings of good vanilla
ice cream from Ricketts Point with the season’s best soft fruits. Cherries,
raspberries, strawberries, mangoes and peaches will help convince you of your
own good virtues and are perfect at this time of year.
Above all barbeque at your own pace, a glass in hand and remember kids
screaming in wide open spaces seem strangely less stressful – the wine helps
too!
Alfresco
We have tried and tested Rockdale aged beef from New South Wales which Ray
sampled at Pony in Sydney; Rays comment was “sensational” so we had no choice
but to try it. A grilled rib eye with new season onions, bone marrow and
bordelaise sauce was a triumph. Our test table from the “Outdoor Furniture
Specialists” were mightily pleased. That is if they can remember – a good time
was had by all!
Lunch club members have detected a change or two, lunching outside on the
terrace is now a must and dishes have become light & summery. Good news for
those of us who are acutely aware of our spreading waistlines. Summer will of
course expose our miss spent winter.
Wine speak
Recent additions to the wine list include a Levin Sauvignon Blanc ‘05 from
the Loire Valley. It is a touch dry with hints of green apples, lean, and a
flinty minerality.
Mahi Twin Valleys Vineyard Gewurztraminer hails from Marlborough, New
Zealand. It is a delicate wine, with a soft perfume of lychees and rose petals.
If you dare to ask Matthew he will enthusiastically discuss its virtues and
possibly suggest a dish of “Roasted Murray Bank yabbies, watermelon, tomato &
black olive”
Delving into our cellar has revealed an E.Guigale, La Mouline, Cote Rotie
which we have released onto our wine list. This is a sensational Shiraz with 4%
viognier, light and delicate with mellow tannins and soft pepper. This is a 2000
vintage, which we intended to cellar for at least 10 years but we could not
resist it.
Ray's
Blog
Keep an eye on our new notice board. We will be updating
this page constantly with news and views, a recipe and dates for your dairy.
We are working on a couple of initiatives over the
coming months that include potential dinners with the likes of Vince Colossimo
and The Wog Boys. We are also planning to kick off an interactive page on our
web site where we encourage you to return fire, pass comment or maybe send in a
blog or recipe of your own. You might even win something for your trouble.
If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me
whether the sound of the Bell birds is played through our speakers I’d be a
millionaire. The crested bellbird is common in areas of native forest and of
course outside Fenix. They are surprisingly loud for such a small bird, their
dawn song consists of 3-5 bell like notes and as the day passes their song
becomes more pure and contains fewer harsh notes. Sounds like me.
The male Bell bird eats more nectar than the
females who mainly feed on insects, they often have hairy caterpillars placed
around the rim of the nest and it has been suggested the adults gather them as a
way of keeping a live larder, real foodies. For those who are interested there
is a lovely poem by Henry Kendell who was one of the first Australian poets to
write about the landscapes of Australia and what he saw. The poem is called
“Bellbirds” www.mountainman.com.au/kendall.html.
