Geoff is here

This afternoon Jocelyn's son Geoff arrived to stay for a week. This is his first trip to see us in Australia in twelve years, although up to last year Jocelyn visited New Zealand annually and never missed time with him.

So it was high excitement for much of the week as his mother and sister Robyn worked out what they would spend time doing during his stay.The plan was to pick him up from the airport, take him for coffee, than return to our place and chat until the All Black Wallaby Bledisloe Cup match, after which we planned to celebrate another All Black victory. Obviously the Wallabies had other plans and gave the All Blacks their biggest thrashing in a long time, so the evening ended on a despondent note, but with hopes for a turnaround in next weeks game.

The highlight of the evening then turned out to be the meal. Let me first say that what we did was against traditional and conventional practice.

We enjoyed our last bottles of Cedar Creek Shiraz 1997 during the meal of grilled chicken drumsticks with coleslaw and a baked potato after spending the afternoon with some fine beers. This wine was produced by one of Australia's leading wine exporters Cranswick Estate. Cranswick Estate were taken over by Evans and Tate in 2002, at that time staff at the Griffith Cellar door were hopeful that the brand names would be salvaged. However Evans and Tate in their turn have disappeared from the scene after huge losses during the wine glut and a failed rescue attempt by McWilliams Wines. When we lived in Griffith that winery was only about a kilometre from our home and it still saddens me when I drive by and see the deserted buildings. In some wine notes I have from 2001 I say this: The wine was deep purple in the glass and had aromas of plum and spice with hints of oak and in the mouth the wine had black cherry and plum flavours with fine tannins.

Last night the skinless chicken with it's spicy rub and the highlights of the coleslaw’s peppers integrated well with the wine. I found that the wine now 7 years older had aged to perfection. Almost black in the glass and viscose in the mouth the fresh cherry and plum had integrated with the oak and added the complexity of dark chocolate and leather to the package. A great surprise for a quaffing wine and not what a purist would recommend maybe. However appreciation of wine and the food that accompanies it is not limited in Australia to tired clichés and rote responses.

The Australian Governments Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Site has this quote from Sydney based Chef Neil Perry “I think food and wine pairing is important because it heightens the whole dining experience. There are two ways of going about it, what I try to do is look at the flavours and textures in the food and pick up flavours that are similar or comparable in the wine. If you have something that’s flavoured with truffles then an older Pinot Noir can work really well, because of those gamey aromas in the wine and the truffles. But then sometimes you also want to look at some opposing flavours, for example if you have something that’s really quite rich you might want to select a wine to cut through that.

There’s really no right and wrong, on a personal level though it’s better to drink things you enjoy, and many wines go very well with lots of food. I drink red wines with seafood for example.

Really big wines are more difficult to match with food, such as some of those really big Shirazes that Robert Parker goes for – I don’t know what you’re supposed to eat with that stuff. But then at the same time you’ve got something like Rockford’s Basket Press, which is one of the most food friendly wines you can imagine.

Matching wine and food makes it a more complete experience and it keeps adding layers and complexity and makes the whole thing more enjoyable.”

Enjoy we did, whether by reason of the company, the anticipated All Black win or because it was really good I’m not sure. But it really worked on the night.

By the way Shiraz is known by the name Syrah in the US and some other parts of the world, just to give your taste buds some orientation click here

The recipe for the grilled chicken is courteousy of step-daughter Robyn, who was last nights chef.

The Chicken
18 chicken drumsticks
Savoury Rub from Jones the grocer in Albury
Olive Oil
Garlic
Salt and Pepper

The Coleslaw
1 medium Savoy Cabbage
2 Red and 1 Green Capsicum
2 Large Red Onions
250 mls Grated Tasty Cheese
1 Cup Pepita's

The Baked Potato
6 Medium to Large Desiree Potatoes


Preparation
The Chicken
Remove the skin from the drumsticks
Rub in the Savory rubbing mix and place in fridge with garlic to marinate.

The Coleslaw
To keep fresh apply a little lemon to the grated ingredients and add the cheese last. Use whatever you have in the fridge, no rules apply.
Grate either fine or chunky to suit your taste, we had a chunky one last night to allow the capsicum to support the chicken against the red wine.
Toss lightly before placing in the serving bowl to mix ingredients.

The Baked Potato
This is so simple. Wash the potato.

Cooking
The Potato.
Bake for 30-40 minutes in a fan forced oven or 1 hour in a conventional one, until the potato is soft.
Remove from oven and cut a cross on one side of the spud, place some grated cheese prepared for the coleslaw in the slits and place back in oven for 5 minutes.
When you remove the potatoes squeeze to open the cross before placing on the plate.

The Chicken
Place the drumsticks in a tray with a drizzle of olive oil for twenty minutes at medium heat, turn over half way through the cooking.
Put the marinade in the tray to mix with the juices of the drumsticks.
As the chicken has no skin it can easily get overcooked and dry; to avoid this aim for just done and allow the chicken to continue it's cooking as you serve.
For those of us who just love the skin, crisp it in the tray after removing the chicken, takes 10 minutes and is sublime, better than pork crackling.

For those of you who might want to check out some more chicken recipes I have found some great sites for you to explore.

http://www.chicken.mb.ca/recipes.html

http://lifestyle.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=578421

http://lifestyle.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=579285

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/collections/chicken

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/collections/healthy_chicken_recipes.html

http://www.cuisine.com.au/recipe-finder/chicken-recipes?page=6

MY JOURNEY WITH WINE PART 2

As a young person I new so little about wine. The British preferred their tea and a vile coffee and chicory mix. On my first visit to Germany I was told by another traveler that I could get a really nice bottle of wine called "Liebfraumilch" translated Sweet Mothers Milk, very cheap and it gave you a hit. My experience of alcohol was limited to beer, but being adventurous I was determined to give it a a go. Remember this was in the early 60's and the town was Hamburg. I didn't want to appear stupid so I went into a grocers and searched the shelves. Taking to the counter with me my purchase I couldn't wait to get back to our room and have a taste. Imagine the humiliation of opening the containing in front of my laughing friends to find out it was in fact cows milk that tasted just like mothers milk and not wine at all. It was some time after that that I got to try the real wine of that name as I stuck to beer for a while longer.