come with me to australia

The next morning, the “coach” let us off at the Willunga Farmers Market right in front of Fino, the restaurant where we'd eaten the night before. And who do you think the first person was that we saw? Sharon, our new best friend , who owned the restaurant. She poked her head out of the Fino window to greet us as she steamed milk and made cappuccino and café latte for the locals. By now, we were locals!

I tried to rally the troops to walk together around the market but off they went on their own. This always seems to happen at every market no matter where we are, - Strada in Chianti or Isles sur la Sorgue. Within minutes, they were back by my side. They’d “done” the market and were ready for another wine tasting (can you believe it?) and lunch.

Coriole is not to be missed. This charming, quaint, little hillside vineyard was bustling. My Ozzie friend, Warren, met us at the door and took us to a big, long table he'd set looking out at the vineyards. “Sit down,” he said! We spent the afternoon tasting their Woodside cheeses, pungent, peppery olive oil and lightly oaked wines, and sharing big platters of food including smoked kangaroo. Was this the closest we were going to get to kangaroo they all wondered as they pushed it around on their plates?


Then back to The Retreat, which meant a rest for some of us and a walk for others. Keith, Louise, Rebecca, Craig and I walked up on the very top of the hill in the vineyards. And suddenly out from behind a vine hopped a huge kangaroo. There were lots of screeches and camera's snapping. There you have it… Our first real kangaroo sighting, at last! And then a little later, we saw a mother kangaroo and a baby joey in the vineyards just a few yards away. Yup, we’re in Australia!

I guess you could say I took the night off as Rebecca Stubbs taught a hands-on cooking class at The Retreat. 'Calm' is probably not a word often associated with chefs at work in a hot, busy kitchen, but this is how I would describe Rebecca. It was a very fun night and the food was really good! I think the best part was watching all the men in class who joined together as a team to master panna cotta and Florentine cookies.

The next day was a rainy Sunday. We packed the “coach” and said our goodbyes to Chapel Hill Gourmet Retreat in McLaren Vale and headed 2 hours north to the Barossa Valley. One rule I always seem to forget when I’m taking groups around is to make sure I know where the next bathroom stop is. Everyone was antsy so when we finally reached our destination, everyone made a mad dash in search of a bathroom. John Angus, our host for the afternoon, pointed in the direction of an outhouse. Startled is the word I’d use! Men ran for the nearest tree as the women stood in line and did what looked like the cha-cha as they waited in line for their turn. They were relieved (lol) when they finally got inside the outhouse to see that there was actually a flush toilet.

I hadn’t told them a thing about Hutton Vale except that John and Jan Angus were our hosts for the day and that we’d have lunch and a wine tasting with them.

I can’t remember who, maybe Craig, walked up to me and said, “What are we doing here? I don't get this place.”

I could see his point. We were standing in the midst of a paddock surrounded by a thousand sheep looking at an old mid-19th century barn about to fall.

“Are you sure we’re in the right spot?” he asked.

“Go inside! Trust me!” I said.

It was just as rustic on the inside as it was on the outside but with flair and refinement. The aroma of the bread baked in clay and the flatbread was intoxicating as they were being taken from the wood-fired oven. An old wooden chopping block dominated the center of the kitchen and a whole side of Tasmanian smoked salmon and house made pâté played centerpiece. We washed everything down with John’s fresh, crisp Riesling. And that was just the beginning. A little later, we sat down to a typical Ozzie Sunday lunch of their own Hutton Vale roast baby lamb and some fabulous lush and jammy Shiraz. We finished with a tasting of some of John and Jan's older vintages from their cellar and lots of stories and laughs.

With a good buzz and full bellies, we headed out late that afternoon towards The Louise, a Small Luxury Hotel of the World, and our home for the remainder of the trip. Everyone conferred; Hutton Vale was the unanimous favorite!

In the lap of luxury at The Louise, I gave everyone, including myself, the “night off” to get some rest and be ready for our last full day together.

See you in the morning!

chocolate cake redux

It all started very simply on my 6th birthday...
A cake I love,
A recipe of my mother's.

Fast forward many, many years
AARP asks a now "matured" 6 year old for her mother's chocolate cake recipe.

Recipe is published and creates quite a "stir..."

"Hey, let's have a little contest and ask for photos of the cake," I said.

The rest is history!

I got many chocolate cake photos and lots of reinforcement that yes, the recipe is foolproof. I'm happy you like the cake!

Thanks to all of you for your photos and participation.

To see the winners of the Chicago Metallic cake pans, go to my Facebook Fan Page

another lovely day in australia

That night, Tori Moreton and David Arbon, owners of The Producers, invited us to their interactive winery. "Wear old clothes!" they said. Thanks God we did. We had fun "punching down," a fancy way of saying breaking up the cap of crushed grapes and pushing them back down into the wine so that the cap stays moist during fermentation. Craig and Keith tried their hand crushing Shiraz grapes using the basket press while Jean, Lynn and I tested the sugar levels on the new harvest. Later we sat down for a delicious dinner.

"Will we see a kangaroo this week?" somebody asked as though that alone would justify the cost of the trip. "We could," I said, "they come out at dawn and dusk looking for water!" For the rest of the meal as the sun was setting, everyone's eyes were glued to the windows. We finished with a delicious fresh fig and frangipane tart but no kangaroo to be seen, or so we thought.

As we were driving home late at night, the bus driver suddenly swerved and jerked on the brakes. Everyone was thrown forward a few inches. We missed a kangaroo by inches. The only thing we saw was his tail as he hopped back into the woods. For the rest of the ride, everyone's eyes were peeled.

A good night's sleep and a delicious breakfast at The Retreat is all we needed to be ready for day #2! Off again for a wine and olive oil tasting at Primo Estate. Nothing like getting right back into the swing of a little vino. The first taste was a dark, opulent Sparkling Red, a great way to start the day. Joseph Grilli, along with a family friend, Daniel Zuzolo, tag team making the wine. Daniel hardly looks old enough to drink wine , let alone make it. Parker says his wines are innovative, singular and flavorful. I say they are clean and complex.
I didn't see anybody use the spit bucket at the tasting. I guess Corey swallowed. See below! We know who will be sleeping on the bus ride to our next destination,- lunch.

Whenever I'm in South Australia and get within 50 kilometers of Star of Greece, I never miss the opportunity to eat at this bohemian seaside "shack" overlooking the turquoise waters of the Gulf of St. Vincent.

We saw fish and chips go to another table and they looked and smelled so good, we all ordered them. A little walk on the beach after perhaps? Maybe another nap on the bus?

Get ready because tonight we're eating at Fino Restaurant, named Restaurant of the Year in the 2009 Adelaide Food Awards.

Have you ever met a front-of-house person in a restaurant and felt like you've known that person your whole life? That's Sharon Romeo and she begins the friendship as you walk in the door. I love this girl. She makes everyone feel special and that's a gift.

Chef David Swain doesn't do too badly himself. He pays homage to the seasons with freshly picked, flavorsome and true to the original state vegetables and fruits. He makes you think you've eaten this vegetable or fruit for the very first time. Take Chez Panisse, Zuni and Delfina, roll them into one bundle and you have Fino. Platter after family-style platter of aromatic food come from the kitchen. I can still taste the Woodside goat curd with fava beans, peas and preserved lemon drizzled with Diana Novello First Pressed Olive Oil. Set in the little village of Willunga, way out in the bush, we all toasted, looking into each others eyes and promised we'd be back one day.

"Bye Sharon!" "Bye David!" we said.

"No," they said, "we'll see you tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow???" we all said.


WOODSIDE GOAT CURD, BROAD BEANS, PEAS, LEMON AND SHALLOTS
If goat curd is unavailable, substitute soft fresh goat cheese.

10 ounces drained Woodside goat's curd
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/4 preserved lemon, cut into very thin strips
1 cup fresh blanched broad beans (fava beans)
1 cup fresh shelled English peas

Heat oven to 350 F. Place the cheese, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper in an ovenproof earthenware dish. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. In a frying pan, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the shallots and cook until soft, 7 minutes. Remove the shallots from the pan and add the lemon slices.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to a bowl. Add the broad beans (favas) and peas and simmer 30 seconds. Add to the shallots and preserved lemon and stir together.

To serve, dollop cheese, distributing evenly between four plates. Spoon the beans, peas and lemon mixture over cheese and serve immediately.

Serves 4

my favorite pie

If you’re looking for the best pizza in town, don't miss TONY'S PIZZA NAPOLETANA at 1570 Stockton St, near Washington Square in North Beach. Late this afternoon, Lauraine Jacobs, a fellow food writer from New Zealand, and I stopped for a late lunch of pizza margherita and a half-bottle of Umani Ronchi Lacrima di Morro d'Alba 2008.

Tony was away in Naples defending his title as top pizza maker in the world, but his chef produced this amazing pie with a chewy yet soft and delicate yeasty thin crust, and ever so slightly charred on the edges to give it great smoky flavor. It was topped with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella and sweet, sweet basil. I could have eaten two pizzas they were so good. I closed my eyes and for a minute I was eating pizza at L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele in Naples.

And as we left Marni, the wine buyer and manager, handed me a big bag of '00' flour that had just arrived from Italy. So maybe homemade pizzas are on the menu in my kitchen tonight... As you know I pray that my last meal on earth will be a big pizza pie.

my love affair

I don’t know if my love affair will ever end. No, you silly thing, I’m not talking about my love affair with Joe, that's solid, I’m talking about Australia!

It all started very innocently. I love to travel. But this time, it was a special trip, I was invited to teach in Australia. When they asked me, I acted really cool and calm and said, “Oh, that sounds interesting.” Yet inside, I was screaming “OMG AUSTRALIA, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! OMG PINCH ME, IS THIS FOR REAL?”

The year was 1990. That first year I taught 24 classes and did 4 guest chef dinners in a month. The second year I went for two months and did almost twice as many events. I traveled to Australia every year for next 10 years until I got really busy with television in the US. The rest is history!

In my work I do a lot of different things but do you know what my absolute favorite is? I love doing my weeklong culinary journeys in Andalucia, Spain, sipping amontillado sherry watching flamenco dancers… I love my classes in Provence, going from outdoor market to outdoor market, buying everything from striped espadrilles to lavender and salt cod. Or then there's cooking with my students at Il Leccio villa in the heart of Tuscany? And what’s not to love about taking my students to the Veneto where we ride the water taxi up the Grand Canal and eat small plates of Venetian food called cicchetti in dark little bars called bacari. I love these weeks that I put together along the Mediterranean but this time I was planning something different. I knew I was taking a chance. Would they get it?

I was asking people to sit on a plane for 15 or more hours and travel 10,000 miles to see kangaroos and koalas. I really didn’t know if I could convince them that Australian food was more than throwing shrimp on the “barbie.”

I decided to go for it… I put together a fantastic itinerary and sent out an email to 20 friends asking who would be interested in a weeklong culinary journey around McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley, two of the most gorgeous wine regions of South Australia. And to my surprise, 12 people got back to me immediately and said, “Where do I send a check?”

I worked on organizing the trip for a year and then just two weeks ago on March 24, we all met in downtown Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. We got on the ”coach,” as the Ozzies say, and headed out of town towards McLaren Vale, the land where the vines meet the sea. Here we all were at last, riding along through rolling hills and never-ending vineyards, through some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. I heard John say, "Hey, this looks like Tuscany!" I couldn't have agreed more. An hour and a half later, we landed at Chapel Hill Gourmet Retreat, our home for the next half week.

Imagine, we got off the bus, hot and sweaty, and were greeted with a cool glass of Chapel Hill Unoaked Chardonnay 2009. White linen-clad tables were set outside under huge white umbrellas and a lunch of roasted Tasmanian salmon with a crunchy spiced dukkah crust was served. All the while, views over the Onkaparinga National Park and in the far distance, the Gulf of St Vincent, were before us.

I looked around and the stress from work and tension from flying were gone. Everyone’s shoulders weren’t up around their ears anymore. I noticed that people stopped texting and cell phones weren't glued to their ears. People were sitting back in their chairs relaxing, talking and laughing. “This is the life!” I heard Lynn say as another cork was popped. It was then that yes, they got it. I saw it in their eyes, they too had fallen head over heels in love with the land I love so much.

And that was only day #1!
Stay tuned!

ANZAC cookie recipe

Last night, Joe and I watched Gallipoli and today I made a batch of Anzac cookies! What’s all the fuss about Australia? I’m leaving on Saturday for a 3 week trip Down Under and I'm very excited! I’ll be teaching in Sydney, Melbourne and taking 12 people on a culinary journey around the Barossa, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley, three beautiful wine regions of South Australia.
It isn’t my first trip to Australia and it definitely won’t be my last. I’ve been teaching and working there since 1990 when my friend Gwenda (from Melbourne, pronounced Mell-bun, of course) saw me teach when she was visiting San Francisco. “Would you ever want to come to Australia to teach? I think Australians would love your style of food!” she said. I acted really cool but I was jumping out of my skin. Honestly! Four months later, I was getting on a Qantas flight with my knives and chef’s jacket bound for Sydney.

I have truly fallen in love with this place. I love spirit of the people, the food, the wine, and I love the geography! I’ve always said that if I didn’t live in my favorite US city—San Francisco, I’d live in Sydney. I've returned year after year teaching and being guest chef in every major city plus the wine regions--Margaret River and the Swan Valley in Western Australia, The Hunter outside Sydney, the Yarra Valley next to Melbourne, Coonawarra, the Barossa, McLaren Vale and Clare in South Australia. I’ve held koalas, sparred with kangaroos, waited at dark for the little penguins in tuxedos to appear and visited Ayers Rock. Australians say I’ve seen more of Australia than they have.

In anticipation of my visit, today I made a batch of ANZAC biscuits. This traditional recipe is associated with the joint Australia/New Zealand public holiday, ANZAC Day, which commemorates the Gallipoli landings during WW1. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.
The lore surrounding the cookie and the holiday is a little murky. Some say the soldiers made the biscuits in the trenches with what they had on hand. I kind of doubt that! More plausible is that they were made by the Australian and New Zealand women for the soldiers. These early cookies were pretty durable, rock hard at best, and could withstand overseas travel from Australia to troops in Europe. In 1915, can you imagine how long it took for cookies to arrive by boat?

The ANZAC biscuits I made today are a far cry from the ones they made in the early 1900’s. Mine are chewy, rich and buttery with a hint of coconut. I love the addition of the golden syrup. I thought I had some in my pantry. I searched but I didn't. The challenge was finding some at the grocery store but after a couple stores, I found it next to the corn syrup, honey and maple syrup.

Golden syrup, also called cane syrup, light treacle or sugar cane juice, is an amber-colored liquid sweetener with a slightly toasty, buttery flavor that’s popular among British, Australian, Caribbean, and Creole cooks. It's made by evaporating sugar cane juice until its thick, syrupy and rich. The brand I see most often on the West Coast is Lyle’s Golden Syrup. You can’t miss the green and gold can with the picture of a dead lion surrounded by buzzing bees. Weird, right? According to Lyle, "Samson was travelling to the land of the Philistines in search of a wife. During the journey he killed a lion and on his return past the same spot, he noticed that a swarm of bees had formed a comb of honey in the carcass. Samson later turned this into a riddle--Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness." It actually says that riddle on the can!

And you’re wondering what you can substitute for golden syrup? Some chefs say absolutely nothing while others say you can combine two parts light corn syrup plus one part molasses OR equal parts honey and corn syrup OR maple syrup OR dark corn syrup (the last two are thinner and not as sweet as golden syrup). Or you could try reducing light corn syrup in a saucepan to thicken it. Have I tried any of the substitutes? No, I've always used golden syrup.

I really should have been packing my suitcase today instead of looking for golden syrup and making ANZAC cookies. But right now, I'm dying for a little taste of Australia.

My blog is also taking a little vacation for the next three weeks with me. The best way to follow my journey is on facebook or twitter @joanneweir1.

G’day Mate!


AUSTRALIAN ANZAC COOKIES

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut
8 tablespoons (4 oz.) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon boiling water

Preheat an oven to 325oF.

Combine the rolled oats, flour, sugar and coconut. Place the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir over gentle heat until the butter is melted. Mix the baking soda with boiling water and add it to the melted butter mixture. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Place heaping tablespoons of the mixture in your hand and roll or form into a ball. Place them on a lightly greased baking sheet 2-inches apart and with the heel of your hand, flatten them slightly to make a 1 to 1-1/2-inch cookie. Bake until golden, 14 to 15 minutes.

Immediately remove them from the baking sheet and place them on a cooling rack.

Makes 2 to 2 1/2 dozen cookies

chocolate cake, part two

This is the email I got from my mother yesterday after reading chocolate cake, part one!

Hi Joanne,
Excuse me, what is part 2? And how much better can it get?
Love you, MOM
P.S. I'm crossing my fingers for all who try to make this cake--- trust me, it will turn out really, really well!

She makes me laugh....

Back to my story.... Probably a year ago I submitted the story and the chocolate cake recipe to AARP. I even sent a photo of me at my 6th birthday party eating the cake and licking the icing off the candles. Everything was under control with the magazine, so I thought. Or was it?

A few weeks later, the editor called, "One little glitch, we have to cut the story a little and edit the recipe. We ran out of room! We've got to squeeze the whole story onto one page."

"No problem, do what you need to!" I said.

Months went by and I completely forgot about the chocolate cake story. And then early January, the phone calls, texts and emails started trickling in. Friends, family, students and subscribers got the magazine and loved reading the oh-so-charming story I'd poured my heart into. Making the cake was something else. Let's put it this way.... The chocolate cake hit the fan!

The first comment was about the frosting. Seems in the editing, somehow it went from frosting between the layers and the top to that plus the sides. I knew there definitely wasn't enough frosting in the recipe to frost the whole cake. That brought a few dozen emails. I decided to test the cake and the frosting recipe to see if I could stretch the frosting to make it go around the sides. No way! You'd have to double the ingredients for the frosting!

And then what do you do with the boiling water in the first paragraph? The recipes says to "melt the chocolate and butter in boiling water over medium heat, until smooth." Maybe to an experienced cook that makes sense? To the novice cook, that's complicated. I got a hundred emails about that. So I tested the cake again. Yup, still perfect!

Then there's another cup of hot coffee added later. One person wrote and asked if it was a cup of ground coffee or hot liquid coffee. My, oh my! I had a hot flash!

Someone wrote and said they put the batter into two 8-inch cake pans and as it baked, it ran over the sides and cooked onto the floor of the oven? Oh, that's right, I originally wrote DEEP cake pans. And to think... Removing one little word can make such a difference!

A few people said the cake was crumbly.... And I thought that's what you're looking for in a delicious homemade chocolate cake?

Someone wrote and said "I haven't baked a cake in 53 years but I loved your story so much I decided to make your chocolate cake for my daughter. The flavor was delicious but it was a soupy mess. And my cake was much lighter in color than yours in the picture." I asked her what kind of chocolate she used? "Hersey's chocolate chips," she said. I checked the recipe again. Yup, I said unsweetened chocolate. "And my oven isn't really working very well. It doesn't get hot at all!" she said. "Riiiiiiiiiiiggghhttt!" I said.

"Why was my cake batter so liquid?" a few people asked. Another flash and I decided to make the cake again for the third time. Perfect, nothing had changed.

Someone asked, why was their cake filled with air holes and tunnels? That's easy, I thought, you beat it too much. When you add the dry ingredients, make sure you fold them into the batter gently just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. "Fold?" he asked, "I've folded clothes, how do you fold batter?"

The cake didn't come out of the pan? Did you grease and flour the pan well?
Did you run a knife around the edges before inverting the cake? Did you let it cool enough?

The emails have started to subside now. Little did I know that AARP magazine goes out to 5 million subscribers. I have to admit I kind of miss those emails. I really loved everyone who wrote and told their story, asked their questions. I learned a lot, they learned a lot. And I'm still holding out hope that every once in a while someone in a dentist office will pick up a dog-eared copy of AARP Magazine and see the story. They'll tear out the page, make the cake and write me an email.

So a little vote of confidence from me and my mother. I promise you, the cake is tried and true. I've made it, my mother's made it. We've eaten it our whole lives. Remember what she said in yesterday's email.... She's crossing her fingers for all who try to make this cake--- trust her, trust us, it will turn out really, really well!

photo credit Alexandra Grablewski