Cape Town - Regulars to the annual Helderberg Wine Festival know to expect a variety of delectable fare as well as the region’s fine wines.
This year the four-day celebration opens with an additional gourmet event, Six Senses, on November 15.
More than 20 wineries will be pouring their ranges and 10 regional restaurants will present tasting portions of signature dishes in the Waterkloof cellar restaurant.
Profits will be channelled to Amorim Cork SA’s CorkLife project, in which used corks are crafted into sustainable items by a group of women in Stellenbosch. Most of the cellars at the wine festival will have bins for used corks.
Five of the Helderberg wineland restaurants are sharing recipes for one of the items they have created for Six Senses. They add up to party food at its best, with two easy-to-make seafood starters and a main course, and dessert. The Welsh rarebit is a classic from yesteryear.
The festival ends on Sunday. Tickets cost R75 for a one-day pass and R120 for the weekend.Both local charities and the Amorim Cork project will benefit from part of the profits.
Plan your itinerary by visiting www.helderbergwinefestival.co.za.
Avontuur Restaurant’s salmon roses
1x80g pkt Franschhoek smoked salmon trout
1 firm ripe avocado pear
Lemon juice
3 large cooked prawns, deveined and peeled
Marie Rose sauce:
1 tbs tomato sauce
1 tbs mayonnaise
Few drops Worcestershire sauce
Few drops Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper
Wasabi drizzle:
Wasabi paste
Soya sauce
1 tbs mayo
Garnish:
Black caviar (optional)
Make the sauce first by mixing the first four ingredients and seasoning to taste. Make wasabi drizzle by mixing wasabi paste with enough soya sauce to make a runny mix. Add the mayonnaise.
Just before serving, portion smoked salmon into three strips. Slice avocado, dip in lemon juice and place on salmon strips.
Dip each prawn into the Marie Rose sauce, place on the avo. Carefully roll each to make three “roses.” Place each one on a plate, drizzle around the wasabi mix, top each with a spoonful of caviar, if using, and add a small side salad.
Blaauwklippen's seared tuna with Asian cabbage salad
150g sashimi grade tuna per serving
Chinese five-spice powder
Black sesame seeds
White sesame seeds
Olive oil
Wasabi aioli
1 cup light mayonnaise
4tsp soya sauce
1½ tsp castor sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
2tsp fresh lemon juice
2tsp wasabi paste
Asian cabbage salad
2 cups finely sliced white cabbage
1 clove garlic, minced
1tsp grated fresh ginger
1tsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 red chilli, chopped
4tsp fresh lime juice
4tsp good quality Thai fish sauce
4tsp soya sauce
2tbs castor sugar
1tbs black sesame seeds
For the tuna: Mix some five-spice powder with both sesame seedstogether. Quantities will depend on how many tuna servings are being prepared. Roll the tuna in the spice mix to cover completely. Place in a hot pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil and sear the tuna on both sides for a few seconds only.
Remove from pan and leave on paper towel until needed. For the aioli combine all the ingredients and mix well.
For the Asian cabbage salad, combine all ingredients and mix well, best prepared one day in advance and kept chilled until needed.
Serve the seared tuna with some aioli on the side accompanied by a portion of the cabbage salad.
Longridge lamb pie with apple jelly
1 leg of lamb
Salt and pepper
Rosemary needles, chopped
Thyme leaves, chopped
2 medium onions
2 carrots
1 bulb (head) garlic
100ml olive oil
200ml red wine
Knob of butter
100ml port
1 leek, chopped
Shortcrust pastry:
250g plain flour
110g soft butter
1 egg
60-90 ml water
Salt and pepper
Chopped thyme
Bake the lamb: r ub salt, pepper and chopped herbs into the lamb.
Coarsely chop onions, carrots and garlic and place on base of roasting tin. Put lamb on top, pour over the olive oil and wine, cover with foil and roast for two hours at 160°C.
Meanwhile, make the pastry: add sifted flour, butter and egg to an electric mixer and process. Slowly add some of the water, seasoning and thyme, and process to a soft dough. Remove from bowl, roll into a sausage, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Test lamb for doneness; it should be very tender. Once done, leave it to cool a little, then pull meat in flakes from the bone.
Strain the pan juices, discarding the vegetables, and reduce pan juice by two-thirds in small saucepan. Stir in the port.
Heat the knob of butter in a frying pan, add the chopped leek and sauté until softened. Add flaked lamb, the reduced stock and check seasoning. Roll out chilled pastry thinly and cut out rounds to fill the hollows in a large-size muffin tin.Add rice or beans and bake blind at 180°C for 4 minutes. Remove rice or beans and return to oven for a further 4 minutes. Leave to cool.
Divide lamb filling between pastry shells, top with pastry lids, sealing the edges and painting tops with a milk or egg wash. Bake the pies at 180°C until golden brown.
Garnish with microherbs and serve each pie with a spoonful of apple jelly.
Winery Road Restaurant’s butterscotch and pecan cheesecake
Base:
220g digestive biscuits
100g butter, melted
Filling:
700g cream cheese
120g castor sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
80g pecan nuts, toasted finely chopped
10-12 pecan halves
Butterscotch frosting:
180g butter
135g brown sugar
6tbs milk
360g icing sugar
3tsp vanilla extract
Line the base of a springform tin with greaseproof paper. Crush the digestive biscuits in a food processor, mix in melted butter and press into base of the tin.
Leave to set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling: mix together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in chopped pecans and pour on to biscuit base. Bake at 160°C for 35-40 minutes until cheesecake is firm around the edges but still wobbles slightly in the centre.
Leave to cool, then refrigerate until fully chilled.
For the butterscotch frosting, combine the butter, brown sugar and milk, and bring to the boil gently, stirring.
Remove from the heat and stir in icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk until the glaze is smooth, then pour over cheesecake and decorate with the pecan halves. Chill cheesecake overnight.
Waterkloof Restaurant's welsh rarebit
The restaurant uses its in-house Healey's farmhouse cheddar for this dish.
30g butter, preferably unsalted
15g flour
130ml dark beer
6ml Worcestershire sauce
3ml freshly ground white pepper
3 drops of Tabasco sauce
180ml fresh cream
5ml Dijon mustard
400ml Healey's mature cheddar
cheese, grated
Salt
Sliced bread
Melt the butter, add the flour and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes without allowing the mixture to brown. Stir in the beer, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and Tabasco and cook for a further 3 minutes.
Stir in the cream and mustard, simmer for another 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in the grated cheese until it has melted and mixture is smooth.
Check seasoning, add salt if necessary.
When ready to serve, arrange bread slices on baking tray, top each with some rarebit and bake at 180°C until lightly browned on top.
Serve immediately. - Cape Argus