Fruit Wine Awards

Published 19th June 2010



Without a grape wine industry in the tropics our emerging fruit wine alternative has flourished with wines made from mango, jaboticaba, lychee, Davidson plum, pitaya, mangosteen, ginger and passionfruits, to name a few.This region has the most commercial fruit wineries than anywhere else in Australia and so it’s befitting to hold the 2010 Australian Fruit Wine Awards in Cairns.

Next Saturday fruit wines from all over Australia and New Zealand will vie for the gold, silver and bronze medals; judged by experienced and passionate fruit wine judges Amanda Conrad and Wayne Hewitt from Hobart.

I helped out last year and was surprised to see there were over 60 fruit wines and liqueurs entered with 40 from this region. The judging categories are similar to grape wine; Light Flavoured Dry Wine, Full Flavoured Dry Wine, Light Flavoured Sweet Wine, Full Flavoured Sweet Wine, Fortified Wine (Dessert Wine), Sparkling Wine and Liqueurs. I particularly enjoyed some of the fortified wines and tropical flavoured liqueurs.

Last year the Victorian ‘Thieves & Duffers’ won the Best Fruit Wine of the show and this year’s wine judge Wayne Hewitt’s Rebello had a stunning strawberry sparkling winner. However our local Murdering Point scored the best sweet wine for its Pinnacles Passionfruit wine and de Bruey’s Boutique Wines took out the Best Liqueur trophy with two of their Flagship Coffee Elixer and Tropical Temptation liqueurs.

The Australian Fruit Wine Awards is held each year in conjunction with the Cairns Show Wine Awards in a separate room downstairs in the De Jarlais function centre. This year the new Cafe and Market has been added to showcase local foods of the region.

So on Saturday 26th between 3-6pm you can come along to the public tasting of grape and fruit wines as well as local foods. For more information go to www.cairnswineawards.com.au .

Black Sapote & Chocolate Devils Foodcake

Recipe courtesy of Silky Oaks Lodge Treehouse Restaurant

6/8 serves

What you need:

100 g chocolate
80 g black sapote pulp
125 g butter
125 g sugar
65 g flour
3 eggs




What to do:

Preheat oven to 200°C
Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water.
Whisk sugar, flour and eggs until light.
Fold chocolate and blended sapote into the batter.
Spoon into 6-8 small well greased pudding moulds
Bake for 15 minutes Once baked let the devils rest in their mold for 2 to 3 minute.
Turn them around gently and serve with coconut ice cream, berry coulis and coconut cream and a toasted pineapple slice.

Black Sapote (Chocolate Pudding Fruit)

IN SEASON: May - January

Otherwise known as Chocolate Pudding Fruit or Black Persimmon the Black Sapote originates from Mexico and is about the size of a very large apple and tomato-shaped.

It is not a fruit to be eaten when the skin is bright green and shiny. The crown on top of the fruit should be raised, which indicates the fruit is mature. During ripening, changes of the fruit are dramatic: overnight it turns dark green and later brown-black, and goes from rock hard to soft and mushy. Do not refrigerate until ripe. Ripe fruit or pulp may be refrigerated for a few days, however, freezing is better. Frozen whole fruit or pulp retains its subtle flavour for more than six months, and frozen pulp is suitable for use in any recipe.

The flesh tastes like chocolate, but only when perfectly ripe. The taste is otherwise slightly bitter. Simply cut the fruit in half around the centre and scoop out the flesh and remove the seeds. Very soft fruit has a delicate skin, which may disintegrate when cut.

Flavour is enhanced by the addition of a little rum, vanilla, cream or coffee liqueur (Kahlua or Tia Maria). It makes a delicious ice cream and is also great in mousses, cakes, cheesecakes, muffins, bread and preserves.

Whey to Go - Buy Local Milk

Published 15th June 2010




It’s simple to just buy a bottle of milk from the supermarket and not think about where it comes from or what is actually in the bottle. Buying the local brands can have an enormous positive flow on effect that supports the local dairy industry and the region’s economy.

But there is more to our local milk! It has a purity that can only be achieve when all the milk in your glass comes from a 70klm radius as it does on our southern tableland. A glass of milk from the Brisbane area could be blend of milk from a radius of 700klm. With such a small output of milk from this region the product moves quickly, and because of our hot climate the milk is refrigerated from the milking shed to the consumer. This means our milk is really fresh.

You may not realise that milk takes on the flavours of its environment and our southern tablelands with high altitude and high rainfall produces rich tropical pastures that imbues milk with a definite tropical flavour of its own. Whereas other drier regions use a much higher percentage of silage or grains for stock feed, our lush tropical pasture impart a rich buttery flavour to the local milk. You can be proud that our region’s milk and cream products have won countless awards and in 2009 Dairy Farmers Malanda was named by Dairy Australia as Grand Champion for their full cream milk.

Mungalli Bio-Dynamic Dairy can’t get enough milk to satisfy the ever growing demand for its organic non homogenised product. Their fabulous milk allows the cream to float to the top, just like it used to years ago before homogenisation. This milk is so popular that even the little extra you pay does not deter the consumers.

So check the brand and buy local milk.

Prawn & Avocado Salad

Very healthy, very quick and oh-so yummy!

Serves 4-6

Recipe from www.queenslandprawns.com.au

What you need:

Salad:
1 large iceberg lettuce
1 truss cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Lebanese cucumber, sliced
50g/2oz snow pea sprouts
1 large ripe (Queensland) avocado, chopped
1kg cooked prawns, peeled, but with the tail section left on
Ground black pepper




Dressing:
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced fat natural yoghurt


What to do:

Break the lettuce up and put the pieces into a large salad bowl.
Add the tomatoes, cucumber and avocado. Toss.
Arrange the prawns and snow pea sprouts on top.

To make the dressing:
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. It should be pouring consistency. If it's too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons cold water.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and garnish with extra snow pea sprouts and ground black pepper.

King Prawns

IN SEASON: Year round, with peak supply from February through June.

Probably the most popular Prawn in Australia, there are a few types of Kings, and they can be found throughout Queensland.

The Eastern King Prawn is the most popular species but you can pay a little less for the Red Spot King Prawn which is a reef prawn that is found within 30 kilometres of coral reefs in the Gladstone to Bowen region

Suggested coatings include batters (regular or tempura) with a touch of saffron. Crumbs made from brioche make a good match with the sweetness of the prawns. Blend in saffron, turmeric, cumin or ground coriander for added flavour. If curried prawns are on the menu, use a light style of curry with coconut milk so as not to overpower the flavour of the prawn. Prawn cocktail is always popular and can be made more exotic by adding mango or fresh citrus fruits and light dressings or mayonnaise.

Appropriate sauces and accompaniments for king prawns include chilli, coriander, citrus, garlic, curry (light), ginger, tropical fruits, burnt butters, basil (pesto), mayonnaise and vinaigrettes.www.queenslandprawns.com.au

Now the Carnivale is Over…

Published 5th June 2010

Port really knows how to party! …and at the end of this year’s Port Douglas Carnivale there is one thing for sure; this event has proven to become highly successful as a food festival of the region.
With some adjustment to moving Food Wine and a Taste of Port forward to the first weekend and adding two new food events to the end of the 10 day festivities, it did not deter the throng of Port locals, Cairns and interstate visitors to the sell out events.

What a lot of fun there was at the Food Fight at the Sugar Wharf on Thursday evening? Organised by a group of restaurateurs called “Eat Port”, they decided that it was time the industry worked together to promote their establishment. 300 people showed up to barrack for their favourite restaurant, which incidentally was won by Tommy Young of 2 Fish Restaurant; it’s an event definitely not to be missed next year.

Eight rivalling chefs of the Food Fight called‘surrender’ the next evening, to present a stunning eight course degustation menu to 160 guests at Rex Smeal Park. The highlight was the previously filmed cooking demonstration of each course in the respective chef’s kitchens and beamed up on screen before the presentation of the dish. Another excellent event.

Despite the economic downturn of the region, it was encouraging to see a total sell-out of all Carnivale events and the great support for the Port Douglas restaurant industry. …and not to forget that only a week prior to Carnivale, Sea Temple Port Douglas hosted celebrity chef Manu Fiedel for a cooking demonstration luncheon for over 100 guests and dinner for 140 guests. It appears Port is draw card for food.

Baked Scallops wrapped in Bacon

Simply and delicious canape

What you need:

12 scallops, rinsed and drained
6 bacon rashers
3 tblspns lemon juice


What to do:

Cut the bacon slices in half and wrap each half around a scallop and secure with a toothpick.
Place on a baking tray and drizzle lemon juice over scallops.
Bake in the preheated oven at 180c for 15 to 20 minutes or until bacon is crisp.
Serve warm with cracked pepper.

Saucer Scallops

IN SEASON: May - December

Scallop flesh is white to cream when raw and white when cooked. The roe varies from white to orange or pinkish purple depending on species and condition. They have a strong and rich flavour with a medium to firm texture.

Scallops are popular grilled or barbecued, but avoid overcooking, which causes shrinkage…and don’t use too much salt. Grill and then drizzle with lime juice and olive oil, or sprinkle with fresh lemon zest and cracked pepper. Combine with coriander, avocado and chilli salsa on a crispy pappadum.

Create the perfect party dish by deep frying scallops in a tempura batter and serve with a soy, ginger and garlic dipping sauce, or present a potpourri of deep fried seafood types such as prawns, oysters, mussels, finfish, calamari and scallops with tartare, aioli, or fresh lemon juices.

Palates of Port

Spencer Patrick of Harrison's Restaurant

Published 29th May 2010

What has Raymond Blanc, Nico Landenis and Marco Pierre White got in common? Answer: Michelin stars and Port Douglas Restaurant chef/owner Spencer Patrick. Yes, English chef Spencer has worked for all three chefs at their Michelin Star awarded restaurants in the United Kingdom.

At Marco Pierre White’s Cafe Royal Grill Room in Piccadilly, Spencer was head chef at this prestigious establishment where a budding Australian chef named Curtis Stone came to work for him in 1998. In the same year Spencer was ranked in "The London Good Food Guide" as 3rd best chef in London.

Working in Melbourne Spencer met his wife Reina and later they travelled to Port Douglas to set up Harrisons Restaurant named after their son. In this lovely Queensland garden setting in Wharf Street, Spencer applies innovative European methods to the finest local produce to create a cuisine ideal for the Australian tropics.

Last night Spencer joins seven other Port restaurants to produce a fabulous eight course ‘Degustation under the Stars’ culinary event at the Carnivale Palates of Port for over 150 guests. Set in Rex Smeal Park the giant fig tree came to life when illuminated with fairy lights, lanterns and up-lights of soft, atmospheric colours that created an absolutely magical setting. At its base a small stage provided the setting for each of the eight contributing chefs to demonstrate how their dish was prepared and showcased the local produce which it incorporated. A large projected screen showed the preparation processes involved.

Spencer of Harrison’s Restaurant was joined in the kitchen with other chefs from Bucci Ristorante, High Tide Beach Bistro Bar, Salsa Bar & Grill, 2 Fish Seafood Restaurant, Bistro 3, Bel Cibo; and Sakinah House Restaurant.