Breakfast at Granata's on Dean

A bit off the subject but worthy of your attention is the place to eat breakfast in Albury. Granata's on Dean was owned by the people who ran the Grove restaurant in Wodonga. This is an upsize from their previous venture but their meticulous attention to retain delectable meals and fantastic coffee make it a stand out in the town. Geoff was impressed, but he does come from Invercargill so we leave it to you to decide. If you go, just say Mike and Jocelyn recommended we came. The other thing I would be asking is that you give this blog some loving when you get here, I am sure the content is going to be the best you can get but people have to know it's here.

HISTORY OF WINE 2
Wine was first traded in quantity by the Greeks who were also responsible for the introduction of vines to the South of France. However it was the rise of the Roman Empire, with the relative stability and affluence that the legions brought to the "colonies" which really saw a sharp increase in the trading of vines and wines. Vines were introduced to and established in what we now consider the traditional grape growing areas of France and Spain.

Around this time grapes started to be grown in Germany, this may have been the result of the Roman Army encouraging German citizens to produce wine from wild vines found in the warmer river valleys, especially if they had come from postings in regions of France and Spain where wine was a staple part of the culinary diet and they were missing their tipple.

The establishment of wine growing areas created a crop and it was not very long before Rome's citizens who were well versed in locally produced wines demanded that some of the finished product from other areas be made available for their use. The storage of wine had greatly improved with the introduction of pottery jars which could be sealed, giving the wine greater longevity. However the shape of these containers known as amphorae, which was tall with a narrow base, led to problems when they had to be carted to the docks, packed into the hold of a ship and subjected to rough treatment by man and nature. The result was that often wine was much more expensive to freight because the containers could not be stacked and they were often broken. The Celts had been making barrels since 500 years before Christ, but their introduction in the 1st century AD as a storage container created a relatively inexpensive and hugely more efficient way to transport wine in quantities that would make it affordable to the masses. (that's you and me) The only problem was that wood was porous and the wine was seen to oxidise and spoil sooner. (A comment on the recent debate concerning the merits of cork and other closures).

MY WINE LOG

McIvor Creek Wines is a very small winery situated near Bendigo, Victoria. In what is known as the Heathcote wine region. Today we had some of their 1993 Shiraz. We bought this wine as cleanskin, that is, without labels. This was often seen to be inferior wine, in this case it was not true. It is a deep purple wine with a mellow bouquet and a distinct but very pleasant earthy taste on the front of the plate. I felt that although the finish was limited in it's complexity that it was full of typical Shiraz spiciness and still had an acid backbone exceptional for a fifteen year old wine. At the time of purchase the wine maker told us that the grapes were not grown at Heathcote but at Nathalia, also in Victoria.

For those intending to visit this winery, the part of Victoria where McIvor’s is situated, is beautiful rolling country and when we visited was still very green, despite the drought. By the way, there 26 other vineyards in the area, most have a cellar door.

The McIvor Creek Shiraz accompanied a beautiful meal of baked Lamb Shanks with a rich dark gravy on a sweet potato and leek mash with green beans.

Preparing The Lamb Shanks

I allowed 2 lamb shanks per person, but you might want to vary that depending on the appetites of your guests

I slit the shanks open in about 5-6 places and put slivers of fresh garlic into the openings.

I crushed some rainbow peppers in a mortar and pestle and rolled each of the shanks in the crushed pepper

I skinned and crushed four kiwi fruit over the lamb shanks and left them to marinate while I prepared the vegetables.

Preparing the Vegetables

I topped and tailed the beans, slicing them at a 45% angle and sprinkled some Murray River salt on them while I prepared the sweet potato and leek mash.

I peeled the orange sweet potato and then sliced it about a centimetre thick, then sliced the leeks about 2 cm thick.

A teaspoon of ordinary table salt from the salt pig I purchased from under a potters wheel when we were visiting the Wee Waa winery in North Western NSW. Now there is another story to tell.

Cooking The Shanks

The lamb shanks are baked in a tray with two teaspoons of olive oil for each shank and any juice created whilst marinating poured and spooned over them. This and the cooking juices will form part of the gravy.

Making The Gravy

I removed the Shanks from the roasting dish placing them in the warming drawer under foil.

I then scraped the contents of the tray including the olive oil into a jug, some people prefer to sieve this mixture, but I believe that reduces the texture of the gravy. I then covered the bottom of the tray with water and added a mixture of water, Dijon Mustard and cornflour and brought this to a simmer. Then I added the contents of the jug slowly over a high heat. I find this reduces the incidence of lumps forming in the gray, but it's up to the chef.

Cooking the Vegetables

The beans should be cooked until they are bright green, and should still have some snap in the mouth.

I’m looking for the sweet potato to be just soft and the leeks to be just underdone (they will finish cooking in their own steam). On this occasion I mashed the sweet potato then mashed in the leeks, the result was a crunchy mash with excellent colours. I have also sometime vitamised the sweet potato and leeks together for a finer mash with only glimpses of colour.

For those of you that fancy a lamb meal I've included some pages that specialise in lamb recipes, try one.

http://www.nepalhomepage.com/society/recipes/recipes.html

http://recipes.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Category:Lamb_Recipes

http://www.lambchef.com/

http://www.aussiecooking.com.au/cook/Submitted-Recipes/Lamb

http://www.farmgatelamb.com.au/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=27

http://readysteadycook.ten.com.au/lamb-recipes.htm

http://www.realirishfood-recipes.com/lambrecipes-two.html

http://www.illawarra.net.au/hobbies/lamb.htm

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23373664-5012694,00.html