Margaret River - Wineries

or: “don’t listen to Ronnie the Receptionist”

Driving into Margaret River was nothing like I expected. I was thinking of a big sand dune with surfers, but the town feels like an Alpine resort, a bit like Fox in New Zealand.

Heavily wooded in surrounds, there’s the river at the edge of town, and a strip of shops going up a hill with restaurants and supermarkets.

We checked in to some serviced apartments just off the main strip, where they had a very helpful receptionist named Ronnie. She marked a few highlights of spots to visit on a map, told us the good restaurants to check out on the strip, and gave us, on my prompting, what we thought would be the good oil.

After a couple of days, however, I couldn’t help but start to question her judgement…


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Sydney Restaurant Award - Porteño

... or ‘You’re (wood)Fired!’

358 Clevland St, Surry Hills  NSW 2010

ph: (02) 8399 1440

http://www.porteno.com.au/

On my recent literary tour to Sydney, I was thrilled to be hosted by Johnny Taranto; television producer at SBS.  In addition to taking me backstage and introducing me to his colleagues, he was also kind enough to be my local guide while in SinCity.  And JT was quite keen to go to a “pit roasted meats” restaurant in Surrey Hills called Porteño.

“It’s the hottest place in town.  Everyone’s talking about it, and apparently the food is fantastic.  It’s slow cooked meat done over coals …”

So we went.  And we got to do some celebrity spotting while we were there...

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Brisbane Restaurant Award - the Euro

http://www.theeuro.com.au/

181 Mary Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
ph: 07 3229 3686

Bizvegas, man! It’s all kind of Brizzy, and a bit Vegasy too.

The first leg of my book tour saw me landing in Brisbane, the beautiful city on the Brisbane River after which the town is named – a river which, in consideration of being appreciated by the locals, only occasionally floods and wipes away all infrastructure.

And the bits and pieces left behind scrub up not too shabbily...

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Majtes herring serving suggestions

“Matjes” means “soused” in German and Swedish (it’s maatjesharing or just maatjes in Dutch). It is also a type of:

“especially mild salt herring, which is made from young immature herrings. The herrings are ripened for a couple of days in oak barrels in a salty solution, or brine. The pancreatic enzymes which support the ripening make this version of salt herring especially mild and soft.”

I nearly know this… I had to look up this stuff on wikipedia / the Google scenario to work out how to make it palatable and eat it. The computer-net also let me know:

1. (of food, especially fish) preserved in pickle or a marinade."soused herring"synonyms: drench, soak, steep, douse, saturate, plunge, immerse, dip,submerge, sink

Soused also means drunk in English. You may find yourself having to have a few stiff drinks for this food, but you will see why it’s worth the effort… Now read on!

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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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