Fillet of Roast Beef with Red Wine Sauce

For a Dinner Party with Friends

I cooked a fantastic piece of “rosbif” the other day; served with Stephanie Alexander’s “quick” red wine sauce.

I don’t think the wine sauce is actually that quick (in fact I know it’s not, particularly if you make your own stock), but you can make it the day before.

The surprising thing about this recipe is that the roast veg we had with the roast beef and wine sauce (you could always just do a green salad, or some couscous) took much longer than the meat.

... Usually it’s the other way around.

There was so much, I had to call a couple of friends to come over and help us out with the eating, and it was very gratefully received. So good, in fact, I thought I’d make some notes for posterity.

Let’s start with the early things and knock them out of the way in succession, shall we? Find the full recipe and method below:


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Lancefield Farmers Market

Centre Plantation, High Street , Lancefield, Victoria

http://www.vicfarmersmarkets.org.au/market/lancefield-district-farmers-market
Next one: Saturday 26th April 2014 (Anzac Day long weekend)

Ah, Lancefield.  Lancey one day, fieldy the next.

At the foot of the Macedon Ranges, an hour and a bit from Melbourne up the Calder Freeway (past the airport), sits Lancefield. According to Wikipedia:

Lancefield district had a reputation for some of the best fertile soils in Victoria. Prior to being cut up into small blocks during the early 1970s the region produced high yields per acre of potatoes, fat lambs, fat cattle, wheat and other cereal crops.

Its elevation apparently also makes it very good for growing grapes.

But did you know they had a farmer’s market?  Neither did I; but our “rural brethren” around central goldfields Victoria are all over it like a rash.

OK, I know, I know, Armstrong and Miller said it best when they sang it.

Still, this was one of the better ones I’ve been to, and I’d encourage you to go for “sustainable” and organic food, and a nice day out.  Now, read on!

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Le Bon Ton

51 Gipps St Collingwood

Do you like food with a story? So do these guys. The number of things I’d read about the brilliant people behind this establishment are, frankly, amazing.

And this with the place having been open for only a week.  They MUST have a PR agent.

I first read about the Glasshouse Hotel reopening from a post on Facebook by Wally Kempton/Meanie, saying something like “hell yes”. It was a link to a site called the Broadsheet, and reviewed the newly opened hotel.

It was my sister’s birthday recently, and she suggested we go out for tea somewhere in Collingwood, which was great because that meant it was walking distance for me. I suggested this new establishment and she concurred, having already read reviews in Time Out.

“So what’s the story?” I hear you gasp in expectation.

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Caviar and vodka anyone?

I was having a bachelor’s night the other night, cooking for one while my wife was out, and think I hit upon the almost perfect bachelor’s entrée while cooking, if you like a tope and a touch of class without much work.

WARNING: Excessive alcohol consumption is bad for your health.  This is a medical authority warning.

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The Best Fish and Chips in Melbourne?

Can Kit’s Cucina be stooping so low as to make a call out for the best fish and chip recommendations in Melbourne?

Short answer: yes.


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Minecraft Cake

What is Minecraft?  I have no idea (OK, I do, it's a crappy video game), but the kids seem to like it.

Here's an easy way to make a cake with a Minecraft™ theme.  Another winner by Cara, though not as good as her Yoda Cake...

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The Gimlet

While recently reading Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye, I was inspired to:

a)   try one of the Gimlet cocktails the characters kept slamming down, and;

b)  write a piece of short fiction, in the voice of Raymond Chandler.

I had a go at both, and present each here for you to enjoy.  Make the drink, then read the short story!  It didn't make the cut for my new collection Tales of the Dark (just sent to the printer's ~ due out in December), but may whet your appetite for my soon to be released book anyway.

Bon appetite!

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