Rutherglen: My favourite Place

I thought I was done with blogging but it seems only fair to write about my favourite place in NE Victoria. We used to visit Rutherglen once a year but have slowly stepped this up to maybe 6 times. As soon as we got back from overseas we headed straight up with Kirsty. We go straight to the Corowa Whiskey and Chocolate Mill for delicious coffee and a bag full of chocolates. This is an old converted flour mill that has been 'about' to distill whiskey for years. We love their chocolates, especially the White Gold Licorice and the Chocolate covered gingers.

We then head straight to my favourite lunch destination, Wicked Virgin Olives. Laurel is the best cook. Her yummy platter is a must have with John's 2006 Shiraz. Follow this up with one of Laurel's home baked cakes. I love her 'yellow cake', with delicious oozy lemon curd layers sandwiched with cream cheese/ricotta cream. Enjoy this or one of her other treats sitting in the sun or in the quaint mud brick tasting room. 

Walk this off around the Corowa Golf Course/ National Park. Here I am looking silly in my 'going out coat' in the bush, travelling 'light' again.

Did I mention wine? Here are a list of our favourites in no particular order:

Morris

Campbell's

Pfeiffers

Warrabilla

Wicked Virgin

Scion

Dinner is always off to see Lisa at D'Amicos in Corowa. My favourite is the Chicken Capri but the menu is huge and the food always impressive.

Our weekend is not always about food but it goes pretty damn close. No trip is complete without a drive to Renaissance Chocolates for coffee and unique handmade chocolates and friendly chat with Neil and Robyn (more on that later). More fun pics.

Morris Wine Weekend in July: Yes, I found another reason to go back soon after. Morris Wines just happened to be having a fancy dinner weekend package thingy on my birthday. So up the highway we went again. About five courses were matched to some of their best wines. Yes it was cold but who cares!

Delicious food was had by all. I unashamedly started snapping photos of the food and others followed suit.

And then it was Tony's 50th birthday, so off we went again. This time we went to Robyn and Neil's Renaissance Farm B & B. 

We were totally spoilt by Robyn's fantastic cooking, both served to our room and in their lovely dining room. 

happy Birthday Sweetie Pie!

And now for some non-food photos:

So that's 3 trips since we came back. Two conclusions are possible. Either we are seriously 'Two Greedy Australians' or it's time we tried somewhere new!

Having been making yoghurt lately

Maybe you've thought of making your own yoghurt too. On one of our food trips fresh yoghurt was served every day. Since coming home I've made it 3 times and the result is amazing. It is just like doing your own science fermentation experiment but the taste is delicious. I love that I can make a pure product, free from additives and an overload of sugar and/or sweeteners. Please forgive this post with no photos. I have some and will dig them out later but here is the simple recipe that uses no fancy equipment (except maybe a thermometer if you have one, but no dramas if you don't).

Place one litre milk in a large pot. Use full fat milk or light (2%fat), whisk in 50g milk powder to avoid lumps. Heat on the stove, stirring sometimes until a gentle simmer is reached (this will be about 80ish degrees Celsius ), hold this temp for 3-5 minutes. Because it is good to make things in a hurry, cool it quickly by upending 2 ice cube trays into a sink, add some cold water and sit your pot in this. In 5 minutes your milk will be at about 40ish degrees Celsius. Take pot from cold water to stop it cooling further. It should feel like blood temperature. Using your whisk again, stir through 3 tablespoons of fresh pre-made  yoghurt. Tip the contents into a glass bowl. 

Now the trick is to keep your yoghurt at this temperature for 5-8hours until it is set. I usually sit it in a sink of warm water that I change frequently. I cover the sink with a large t-towel to trap in some warmth. You can be creative and use a insulated bag if you want or a slightly warm oven. Do not stir during the setting process. When your yoghurt is set, refrigerate 2-3 hours before eating. You will love it. The lower the fat you use, the longer it takes to set. enjoy!

NB. when adding 3 tablespoons of fresh pre-made yoghurt, make sure you use a very fresh yoghurt with a long use by date, and containing live cultures or reserve 3 tablespoons of a previous batch. 

Gnocchi with sauce recipe

I made Gnocchi again tonight (third effort since I came home) and this was the best version so far. I went back to being sparing with the flour and kneading gently. I guess it comes down to practice. It was velvety. I followed the recipe from my previous Gnocchi blog but I also incorporated a good handful of finely grated pecorino into the dough mixture. There really is no need to use a fancy ricer. Mashing for a couple of minutes is perfect. 

If you are interested I used a simple vegetable purée sauce. In a pan I sautéed 2 finely diced rashers of bacon, then added 2 diced celery sticks and 2 diced carrots with 1/4 tsp chilli powder. I am avoiding onion and garlic at the moment to make the sauce low fructose to cater for Kirsty's fructose malabsorption. I then added about 6 diced tomatoes, 2 diced zucchinis and a large diced red capsicum. I cooked this with only a splash of water, lid on, until soft. I then added a roughly chopped bunch of fresh basil, cooked for another 10 minutes and blended with my stick blender but not perfectly, some lumps are great.

When my gnocchi was cooked, I just added it to my pan of simmering sauce, tossed it through and sprinkled some finely grated pecorino cheese. If you are interested, check out the Gnocchi recipe 2 blogs earlier.

Gnocchi

I have made gnocchi twice since coming home and both times it has been a success. The second time I kneaded it for a bit longer and incorporated a little more flour and it was inferior to my first attempt, so go lightly with both. This recipe is virtually identical to that of Giuseppe and Pietro from my cooking tour Umbrian Appetites, with some of my learning so thrown in for good measure. I have also made a gluten free version and was amazed by the results using potato flour. This version to follow. Apologies that there are no photos as I was up to my armpits in flour! I am including one from a cooking class to show how yummy a simply vegetable puréed and also because this post will look too boring without a photo!

Gnocchi (to serve 4)

1kg Desire potatoes (the pink ones with the yellow flesh)

1 egg, beaten

200g 00 flour

Salt if you want

1. Wash potatoes, pierce with a fork (leave skins on so potatoes take up less water) and boil until tender. Remove from pot to allow some air drying. Peel whilst still quite warm.

2. Mash with an ordinary potato masher for about 5 minutes until quite soft and fine. Use a ricer if you have one, but honestly I am rapt that it is not necessary.

3. With a wooden spoon, incorporate the egg.

4. Add flour until your dough is no longer sticky, then turn out onto a floured board and knead until you finger imprint springs back in the dough. Do not be tempted to knead beyond this point or add more flour than necessary. I have taken to tasting the dough when I think it is ready. You should still be able to taste the potato.

5. Cover and rest dough on bench for 20-30 minutes.

6. Roll snakes of dough, to finger width, using flour to avoid sticking.

7. Using a non-serrated knife, dipped in flour cut and flick off pieces of your dough to form cute piece of gnocchi. Toss in flour and leave to dry before cooking, eg, one hour if you have it.

8. Add gnocchi to a very large pot of boiling water. Only remove when all gnocchi are afloat but taste to be sure.

9. I tend to drain and then toss into a pan of sauce, already on the simmer. Try just cooking a pot full of yummy veg, eg, lots of tomatoes, carrot, capsicums, beans, or whatever you like best with heaps of herbs and then purée using a stick blender. Goes great with the gnocchi (thank you Pietro).

GLUTEN free version:

Just change the flour to potato flour and gently knead dough. Kneading ends up being more of a gentle folding over technique. Go lightly with the flour. You will need less for a gluten free version. When rolling the snakes of dough, do not use flour or they will fall apart. Some heat from your hand is needed to make perfect snakes. The gnocchi is delicious!

Van appetito!

Recipe: Biscotti (Tozzetti della nonna Lelletta/ Grandmother's biscuits

This recipe is from Alessandra Angelucci Pambuffetti and was made in a cooking class on our Umbrian Appetites Tour. I have since made it and the recipe worked perfectly. I followed all measurements exactly. This recipe is intended to keep well and be on hand for coffee dunking or even dunking into dessert wines. Whatever takes your fancy!

500g plain flour (preferably 00)

200g sugar

4 eggs (I used very large ones)

50g butter (soften almost to the point of melting, but not quite)

16g baking powder (seems a lot I know, but trust me)

200g of flavourings of your choice (I used dark chocolate chips bad roughly chopped almonds, skin on. Other nuts, dried fruits, chocolate, etc could be used. Be adventurous; I wished I'd added orange zest to mine. Could use cocoa powder, lemon zest, alcohol, etc.

1. Weigh and measure ingredients exactly. Place all dry ingredients on bench, make a well and add eggs and butter to this (yes, every ingredient at once!)

2. Mix all wet ingredients first (with fingers of course),mother slowly incorporate all dry ingredients until you get a lovely dough. Knead for a few minutes until you get a lovely soft dough(not sticky) that is springy to the touch.

Expect to incorporate all flour.

3. Cut dough into 4 equal pieces and shape into 4 long rolls (not too thin).

4. Place on a baking tray with baking paper and bake at 180 for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

5. Cut even sized slices (approx 2cm) and place back on baking trays for a second cooking to dry out. 

Don't over cook or they will be too crunchy ; approximately 10 minutes then turn them over and allow another 5. They should just be changing colour. 

Cool again on wire racks and store in airtight containers when completely cool.

Enjoy with your favourite cuppa or tipple!

The Last Post

Yes we are home and how wonderful it is to be home. Experienced travellers will understand the frustration of jet lag, of waking in the middle of the night and being awake for several hours, fully alert (and sometimes even wanting to eat!). Then there is holiday euphoria and holiday brain. I can't get the smile off my face and can't stop looking at photos but then again my brain has gone to mush. I am resisting routine as long as possible but it is probably time to get with it.

Since coming home I have had so many perfect 10/10 coffees. Thank you Team Hahndorf's. I have even got straight into Italian cooking, right from my first night home. So far I've made chicken cacciatore, my favourite potato and peppers dish(with less oil), gnocchi (including a very successful gluten free version) with a vegetarian sauce and tonight the stuffed zucchinis and meatballs with Adrianno's prize polenta dish( except I can barely remember this one and am going by the photo on my blog).

Whilst this is technically my last blog I will be adding a recipes tab and loading up recipes for those who are interested, obviously Italian ones and gluten free successes. Last night was definitely my most successful gnocchi dish ever. I still plan on adding more photos and comments to my Scotland blogs because I had no idea what I was doing then. My last blog was going to be a 'Blooper Reel' which was Tony's suggestion but after he read my draft he realised that he was the main person of interest, so it has been deleted. Instead here are our favourite photos, highlights and lowlights:

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Scotland. How can I not go back? What a big, wonderful family I have all living on the other side of the world. Scotland is beautiful and we'd both love to see more of it but the time spent with my family was precious to both of us.

2. Food tour 1: Calabrian Table Tour. I don't know why more people don't do food tours. What a wonderful way to have an authentic experience, away from the crowds. You can learn so much about people from their food; about their past and their present. Like other tours meeting other like minded souls adds to the experience. Chrissy and Barb, it would never have been what it was without you.

3. Food tour 3: Umbrian Appetites. And I was worried that a second food tour would be overkill! No way. So many more food experiences and high quality cooking lessons. Just like in the first one we stayed at an amazing Agritourismo. I recommend this style of accommodation for those wanting an alternative to hotels.

LOWLIGHTS

1. Hard pillows (this was more of a Tony problem because there was usually one softish one!)

2. Sub-standard coffees (I won't say any more about this except Tony is still having espressos!)

3. Crowds of tourists and cities in general (My Vatican blog says it all here).

4. Poverty on every city corner. (I struggled with this. It's okay to say just ignore them but how does one reconcile a holiday of plenty with those without a roof over their heads?)

5. Airports (make them smaller please ... Or have instructions for dummies!)

6. Tiny bathrooms (and I needed a manual to figure out how to turn on most showers). Oh, and those horrible male toilets. Why do they have them when there is barely any room to turn around? I was always worried my washing line was going to fall in there .....!

7. I almost forgot this one: smokers! All major cities were the same, passive smoke overload. The only way to have a meal without a massive nicotine fix was to eat inside. Reverse discrimination at its best.

Some of my favourite photos:

Whilst I don't wish to end my blog with anything corny, the last few photos speak for themselves, Oh what fun WE had  ......   xoxo