Another orbit of ol’ Sol is complete, bringing us back once again
to the reasonably-annual Naked Vine New Year’s Feast & Festival of Sloth!
Ground Zero for the festivities |
This year has been challenging around Vine HQ, personally
and professionally. The Sweet Partner in Crime and I decided we needed to get
away for a couple of days to unplug. For both logistical and financial reasons,
we decided to stay close to home. We rented a cabin near Natural Bridge State
Park and Red River Gorge for a couple of nights and decided to take our cooking
show on the road.
Last year’s Feast ‘n Sloth (interrupted slightly by an
exploding car radiator during an ice storm) focused on the cuisine of NewZealand. We cast about for ideas and decided to stay in that corner of the
world. Australia hadn’t been on our list of “interesting cuisine destinations”
until we discovered…Mod Oz!
The lineup. |
One of the hallmarks of Mod Oz, aside from the lovely
sounding combinations of flavors, is the relatively quick cooking time.
Australians, it seems, love to eat but don’t want to spend a lot of time pent
up in the kitchen. Right in our sweet spot! We found some recipes, hit the
store, stocked up on a number of Australian vino selections, packed up Jessie
Louise (Queen Diva of all Beagles) and headed for the Cliff Eagle Chalet.
Just getting warmed up. |
We arrived mid-afternoon. We didn’t want to just show up at
the cabin and start cooking, so we bopped into a nearby Subway for a salad to
split as a snack. We got our keys, unloaded our groceries, split the salad, and
opened our first bottle of wine – the D’Arenberg
2012 “The Broken Fishplate” Sauvignon Blanc ($16). A “fishplate” is part of
a grape harvesting mechanism on a tractor, apparently. The salad – sweet onion
chicken teriyaki, if you’re wondering – hit the spot, raised our blood sugar,
and actually went well with the wine. (As an added environmental bonus, we
ended up repurposing the salad container for all subsequent courses.) The
Fishplate was grapefruity and crisp. We found this sauvignon blanc much less
grassy than many its New Zealand counterparts. Very clean drinking and tasty.
We saved most of the bottle for later.
Chicken & Kumara Curry |
Our hunger slaked for the moment, we settled in for a bit,
tested out the hot tub, watched a little TV, and eventually got around to starting
work our first “official” recipe for the trip: Chicken
& Kumara Curry. (Recipe links will take you over to The Man Who Cooks
for further instructions.) “Kumara” is the Down Under term for “sweet potato.”
We paired this with the Frisk 2012
“Prickly Riesling” ($10). The “prickly” refers to a slight effervescence in
the wine – very similar to a Moscato d’Asti. The flavor is also reminiscent of
an Italian Moscato, although not quite as sweet. Plenty of peach, tropical
fruit, and melon flavors packed therein. The little bubbliness cleaned up the
sweetness, creating a friendly quaff that was also a very nice pairing with our
fabulous curry.
[Subway container repurposing: prep bowl for sweet potato. We
also provided a beagle treat with each course. This time: sautéed chicken
scraps.]
Pleasantly full, we slipped quickly into full flop mode for
the rest of the evening. Come the morn, we took it easy for our breakfast
course. We started our day about as simply as we could: Nutella on toast with a
banana on the side. We wanted to ease into the goodies to come…because, boy
howdy, was there some good stuff coming down the pike.
What's not better with Nutella? |
The good stuff started with brunch, my favorite meal of the
day. However, brunch usually doesn’t come in the form of King
Prawn Salad with Peas, Asparagus, and Sweet
Almond Dressing. One simply cannot do a set of Australian meals without
throwing some shrimp on the barbie and these critters were grilled to
perfection. We paired this loveliness with Wishing
Tree 2009 Unoaked Chardonnay ($11), a creamy concoction packed with green
apples and a little vanilla. On its own, pleasant enough, but when the
creaminess of the wine met the richness of the prawn meat, what emerged was a
little slice of heaven. We picked and slurped and made yummy noises for a good
long while.
[Subway container repurposing: transport tray to and from
the grill. Beagle treat: a few steamed prawn shells.]
Mmm...prawns! |
After watching some basketball, the out of doors came calling.
The weather was chilly but pleasant. We started the marination of a future
course, bundled up, and headed to the Rock Bridge Trail in Red River Gorge –
one of the loveliest short hikes in the United States. The beagle was in fine
fettle – setting a blazing pace, attempting to clear the woods of rabbits, and
working on clearing brush with her frantically wagging tail.
After a record-breaking turn of the circuit, we returned to the Cliff Eagle for a float in the hot tub and the preparation of our next creation, Mussels in White Wine & Garlic Sauce with Pepperoni and Yellow Pepper.
Beagle in gear! |
After a record-breaking turn of the circuit, we returned to the Cliff Eagle for a float in the hot tub and the preparation of our next creation, Mussels in White Wine & Garlic Sauce with Pepperoni and Yellow Pepper.
Swimming in the broth is permitted. |
What started off as a pretty standard steamed mussel
preparation turned quickly into a headfirst dive into the pile of shells.
Greedily, we pulled the mussels from the shells and let them float in this
rich, delicious broth so that we could simply spoon it all up, bouillabaisse
style. We had this with the rest of the bottle of Broken Fishplate. While the
spice from the pepperoni made a bit of a funky pairing initially, the meshing
improved as the course went on. Delicious.
[Subway container repurposing: shell graveyard. Beagle treat: a few pepperoni slices.]
More relaxation time ensued. Time passed. The sun dropped
below the horizon. As night came on, we removed the final course from the
fridge to allow our marinating meat to come to room temperature. As it warmed,
we did a side-by-side tasting of two bottles of Aussie Shiraz: Mitolo 2010 “Jester” McLaren Vale Shiraz ($14)
and Elderton 2008 Barossa Shiraz ($20). I can’t recall ever doing an
Australian Shiraz regional comparison. We tried them with a couple of cheeses –
an aged Gouda and a Parmesan-esque hard Italian cheese.
As a rule, Barossa Shiraz tends to be bigger, fruitier, and
higher in alcohol, whereas McLaren Vale Shiraz tends to be somewhat more subtle
in its brawny nature. These two bottles illustrated that very rule quite
nicely. The Jester’s main flavors were cherry, bittersweet chocolate, and
slate. It was full flavored without being overly heavy. It brought out some
nice flavors in a rindy, Parmesan type cheese. The Elderton was darker. There
was more of a rich plum flavor with thicker, heavier body and tannin. It was a
better match for the aged Gouda we brought along.
Meat! Meat! Meat! |
[Subway container repurposing: Grill transport. Beagle
treat: trimmed lamb fat.]
With full bellies, we settled in to watch what remained of a
couple of bowl games and eventually New Year’s Eve festivities (but no bone
movies). As the clock neared midnight, we broke out our last bottle, the Paringa 2008 Sparkling Shiraz ($13), to
toast in 2013. The countdown began and I worked on the bottle. The ball dropped
just as I worked the cork out.
Pfft.
The cork was flawed. There was no carbonation whatsoever,
rendering the wine a sweet, vinegary mess. Oh, well – we’d more or less had our
fill by that point anyway. We improved, filling our flutes with what was left
of the Elderton, toasting in the new year with big ass red wine and a Lindt
truffle. A rainstorm started outside and we crashed not long after, listening
to the drum solo on the roof.
Bacon and beans. How can you go wrong? |
New Year’s Day dawned. We were a bit bleary both from wine
and from the random staccato the rain devolved into as the night went on. We
had one more meal at the cabin before departing. An Australian
“Fry-Up” – which is very much along the lines of your usual bacon and eggs
– except instead of a side of potatoes or grits, the Aussies start their day
with a side of baked beans. (“Our beans come from a can, as God intended” one Australian
cooking website helpfully instructed.)
[Subway container repurposing: Bowl for dog food. Beagle
treat: BACON.]
Replenished, relaxed, and ready, we bid adieu to the Cliff
Eagle and said hello to 2013, with a newfound curiosity for Australian wines in
our hearts and palates. We already have something interesting planned for next
year’s jaunt, so watch this space around this time in 2014. It’s gonna be a
doozy.
Happy New Year, everyone!
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